“Bitcoin Is Worse Is Better § Irreversible Transactions: Meta-Scams”, 2011-05-27 ():
2011 essay on how Bitcoin’s long gestation and early opposition indicates it is an example of the ‘Worse is Better’ paradigm in which an ugly complex design with few attractive theoretical properties compared to purer competitors nevertheless successfully takes over a niche, survives, and becomes gradually refined.
The irreversibility of Bitcoin transactions makes for some unusual dynamics in exchanges, along with the entire altcoin ecosystem (probably the most interesting altcoin scam to me was the Bytecoin scam+anonymity innovation). I learned of an interesting example in May 201311ya, when a Reddit post introduced me to a Tor hidden site which offers you double your money back if you send it some bitcoins. A scam, right? Well, it is a scam, but it’s not quite the scam it looks like…