Bitcoin At 10: Still Waiting For The Revolution

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One of the first bitcoin machines in the US, it didn't remain long at this location in Albuquerque.

Amanda Kooser/CNET
Ten years ago, kynghidongduong.vn as the global economy was in the middle of the worst meltdown in generations, a savior was born. At least, that was the hope. On Oct. 31, 2008, a [ paper outlining a new "peer-to-peer electronic cash system" called bitcoin] quietly appeared online.
A decade later, bitcoin and the blockchain technology that underlies it are among the most talked about innovations, but there's often vociferous disagreement about whether they're leading a revolution or a bubble bursting in slow motion.

Over the past several years, I've attempted to use cryptocurrencies across the real world and gone down the rabbit hole of blockchain technology, but the most detailed analysis I can offer is that the future still seems cloudy.

It's easy to imagine a tomorrow in which blockchain and bitcoin
are the next Internet: a ridiculously disruptive set of technologies that change nearly everything they touch and remake the world in their own image.

But many others say the tech is flawed without a solid use case (aside from [/news/cryptocurrency-cybercrimes-mean-easy-money/ buying drugs and other illicit things off the dark web]) and uses so much energy a[/news/bitcoin-is-actually-going-to-ruin-the-world-climate-scientists-say/ recent study found it is a significant contributor to climate change].



























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Right now various blockchain startups promise to use the peer-to-peer transaction technology to revolutionize everything from our financial system and how we vote to improving today's maligned social networks. Some even offer [/news/walmart-picks-blockchain-to-track-food-safety-with-veggie-suppliers/ better ways to get fresh fruit into your shopping cart].

And yet, whenever I have made an earnest attempt to use the original blockchain the way it was originally envisioned, the experience has been far from revolutionary.



























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Back in 2014, with a total of 10 bitcoins to my name, I tried to complete a road trip around the US Southwest using only bitcoin. I mapped out the limited bitcoin ATMs and establishments willing to accept the cryptocurrency in the region. As a backup, I secured an oddball debit card backed by a Polish bank that allowed me to deposit bitcoin into an account that I could then tap into using the card connected to the Mastercard network. In theory, the card was simply a means of converting bitcoin to dollars at the point of sale, which was kind of a cheat, I suppose.

The whole experiment failed miserably.

The [ ], tour bali giá rẻ employees at cafes and other establishments advertised as bitcoin-friendly had no idea how to accept the currency and some of the funds I moved to my bitcoin debit card also went MIA, never to be seen again.

The dream of an alternate currency was more of a nightmare in the wild in those early days.