"If XXX is long-term viable ... it's going to be created."

I disagree. For instance, games can have multiple nash-equilibra.

On what, the universe's part? True, it doesn't particularly care what you think, but you don't have much choice but to deal with it. Math simply is. If a cryptocurrency can be made to work, it will be made to work. Contrariwise, if it can't be made to work, it will collapse, no matter how vigorously BitCoin advocates yell the contrary.

Again, I'm not the one making it this way. I still think collapse is the more likely outcome. I'm not lifting a finger to help or putting a single shiny penny into BitCoin or anything like it. I assume you're trying to reassure yourself that you can dismiss my statement as arrogance on my part, but I have nothing to be arrogant about here.

What if we unplug the Internet?

Positing extremely radical, society destabilizing measures like "unplugging the internet" does not lend much credence to the idea that Bitcoin can be controlled.

There may be other less drastic ways, of course, like leaning on ISPs to choke off blockchain traffic or something. I'm sure the bigger, scummier ones like Verizon and Comcast would even jump at the opportunity to curry more favor with the government in exchange for rent-seeking opportunities down the road. But it seems to me that these half-measures would just accelerate the rush to develop alternatives and detours around such roadblocks.

"Shut down the internet" is not a serious idea.

It seems to not be as prevalent an issue around here as it is other places, so I'll throw out a friendly reminder: Don't Feed The Trolls.

These posts consist of little more than one-line insults. Leave it alone.

Honestly I didn't even realize I was trolling until I slowed down and gauged the responses from everyone.

I'm honestly just worked in to a bit of a stressed out frenzy here in San Francisco...

...and I'm taking a break from this bullshit. No more HackerNews for me... it is driving me, and I think a bunch of other people, batshit insane...

I'm also looking forward to getting out of SF for a couple of weeks and hopefully not hearing anyone talk about fucking Bitcoins or Google busses or Seasteading...

Interesting. I feel like the only person around here who isn't in the thick of it in Silicon Valley. Hacker News is it for me, as far as that is concerned.

Take a breath. Look around. Maybe you're doing great things down there, maybe you aren't, but chances are that nothing is as big of a deal as you're making it.

I know that I'm really nobody in any position to say this, but I will do it anyway. Relax.

Get out of SV. Get out of SFCA. There is more to life than greed. Hacker News is a refuge of scoundrels seeking to enrich themselves and/or corroborate their lack of humanity.

And how is "BitCoin is a mathematical fact of the universe" a serious idea?

And how is Bitcoin itself not an "extremely radical, society destabilizing measure"?

Bitcoin is a "mathematical fact" just like what we currently believe are unbreakable cryptography systems. The two are strongly related. Can't have one without the other, and can't avoid having cryptocurrencies if you have strong encryption.

So Stross's argument quickly moves from economics to freedom of speech: The only way to really eradicate cryptocurrencies is to make use of strong encryption outside of government-supervised uses a crime.

The it can't be made to work, as per the post you're replying to.

That's even harder than banning BitCoin.