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Bitcoin is Stupid and Does Not Deserve an Emoji (blog post) (thedabbler.patatas.ca)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by smallpatatas@lemm.ee to c/technology@lemmy.world

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35 crypto companies got together to make a change dot org petition called "Bitcoin Deserves an Emoji".

F that

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[–] Chozo@fedia.io 1 points 3 months ago (18 children)

I don't mind there being an emoji for cryptocurrency. It's a relevant thing in modern society whether we like it or not, so there's no reason it should be excluded. But just not Bitcoin, specifically. Even though Bitcoin is the one that kicked off crypto, it's still a brand name, which would result in auto-rejection according to the Unicode Consortium's guidelines.

If there was a more general-purpose icon/symbol that could represent cryptocurrency in general, that'd be more appropriate. But it can't be Bitcoin.

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (17 children)

I wouldn't think Bitcoin has, or can, be trademarked or copyrighted, as it is an open-source protocol/technology where even the creator is unknown?

Either way there isn't a generic symbol for cryptocurrency. This emoji will go the way of the save icon, where in a couple generations most people will have no idea what it relates to, but know that it's a symbol for cryptos.

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[–] noodlejetski@lemm.ee 0 points 3 months ago (11 children)

an emoji for cryptocurrency

💩🪙

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[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (8 children)

Why in the world would you have "emojis" as part of Unicode anyway?

We already have a way to have endless "emojis" without administrative stupidity, it's called JPEG.

If you need to show text as that, we've had smileys since 90s.

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[–] dhork@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Maybe we don't need a Bitcoin emoji, but we absolutely need a Doge emoji.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago

Lol, doge

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 0 points 3 months ago

🐶 there's already one

[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago

I think I should post a 1000 word essay about why I dislike the merman emoji.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If we're not getting an asshole emoji this will suffice.

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[–] TootSweet@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Cryptocurrency is speedrunning ruining everything. We might as well have a laugh at the cryptobros' expense in the meantime.

[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 months ago (5 children)

I loved the concept at first, the idea of a decentralized currency all handled by encryption, and transactions permamently stored in a public ledger for all to see.

Then the cryptobros and the scammers caught wind of it and it's all downhill from there.

[–] TootSweet@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (20 children)

If you want the name of a payment techology that isn't snake oil, isn't blockchain-based, isn't a cult, doesn't claim to be a currency, doesn't work on proof-of-work or proof-of-stake, but actually does provide certain privacy guarantees for your basic purchasing needs, is cryptographically secure, and can be used with only FOSS, I recommend looking into GNU Taler.

The only downside is that it's not really supported anywhere at all yet. But I do hope it becomes a real thing some day.

[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 months ago

Thanks, I'll read on it :)

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[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago

Scammers use the technology because it actually works and does what it says it does. And criminals and scammers and such are generally the first ones to adopt a new technology. Such as bank robbers adopting the automobile in order to get away faster.

[–] Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Did they or did a bunch of media get pushed that told us all what these crypto bros were doing like shitting on beaches and taking our jobs.

Seriously though I'm picking up on a trend that a lot media has a greater influence on opinion then I've ever seen before

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[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 0 points 3 months ago

It already has a codepoint. ₿

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago (13 children)

Bitcoin has the right idea, but did not execute it properly, primarily because it was the first and technology has improved and it has not. Monero is actually doing what bitcoin was meant to do and acting as a transactional currency, medium of exchange, and store of value.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 months ago (5 children)

Look at my totally stable store of currency bro, trust me bro, this is totally useful as a means of exchange and you can trust in its future value bro, just believe me.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Now, overlay that price chart with a transaction count chart averaged out over say 90 days and what you will notice is that big spike up to 400 and above was at basically no transaction volume which makes it seem more like that was hype. Looking at the price chart over shorter timeframes such as a year will show you that the transaction count is actually increasing now and the price is staying quite stable.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

"Ignore the glaring flaws and look only at the parts I tell you to" is great fiscal policy and inspires a lot of trust. You nerds are basically sending PGP emails to each other and pretending it's money. It isn't — it's literally nothing.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Well, we will just have to agree to disagree.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 months ago (3 children)

No, because the rest of us have to deal with the environmental destruction wrought by your virtual paperclip maximizer. it affects everyone.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Fine, go after the industries that are doing more, such as industrial processing for making glass and other things that require high temperatures, the global transportation industry, etc.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Why would I "go after" an industry producing something useful, rather than grifters powering GPUs to do absolutely nothing of value? We can get to the glass industry once we've culled the useless garbage first.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Monero is CPU based. And actually we are providing something of value in that we are providing a private currency not controlled by any government where no government can tell you you can or cannot use it because they have no power to stop you from doing so. Now, whether you believe that is something we need in this world or not is a different value set.

[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

no government can tell you you can or cannot use it because they have no power to stop you from doing so

I mean they can kick down your door and seize or hack your PC. That threat is enough to stop most people, making the currency pretty useless in countries that have cracked down on it.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

If the goons are kicking down your door, there's not a whole lot you're going to be able to do to stop them from doing so, because they will find something against you. On average, the typical US adult commits three felonies per day. So if they want you, they will get you. Obviously, that's done by making more and more things illegal to make more and more people criminals.

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[–] YtA4QCam2A9j7EfTgHrH@infosec.pub 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I don’t know if this argument is the winner you thought it was. A currency where people aren’t using it as a means of exchange because of price fluctuations is a failure.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

No, no, hear them out. It's actually super great that when you walk into the grocery store the loaf of bread is $1.50, and by the time you walk to the bread aisle it's $0.72, and by the time you walk to the cashier it's $2.10. This is actually super great, because there's also a medium country's worth of electricity being consumed to enable that.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

When i pick up a loaf of bread its 0.012, and when i check out its 0.012. Currentsies are going to shift against each other. The exact same thing would occur if you walked into a store in, say, Germany and handed them dollars. Also, do you mind telling me how much energy the banking system uses to run their equipment, build their buildings, have their employees come to their branches, move armored trucks full of cash, etc. Like, I can understand the power use thing being an issue. But if you want to go after something that would make more of a difference, how about figuring out thermal bricks or something for industries making glass? Which produces a hell of a lot more greenhouse gases than crypto mining does. Industrial processes are a huge polluter. Or how about the global transportation system?

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[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago

It fluctuates with an I narrow range, and as it gets more adoption, that range is continuing to narrow. As a matter of fact, I sell items for Monero and I keep my prices completely stable and people do come to buy things. https://xmrbazaar.com/user/shortwavesurfer2009/. I have my prices set in such a way that they will stay stable until at least December 1st of 2024 at which time I will update them if need be.

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[–] smallpatatas@lemm.ee 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

True bitcoiners 🤝 no-coiners "Bitcoin should be illegal"

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[–] glowie@h4x0r.host 0 points 3 months ago

Can't believe I wasted brainspace reading that garbage

[–] quinkin@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago

Should just be a generic crypto currency symbol with a rub being pulled from under it.

[–] Atropos@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Lack of emojis and also having an emoji are both good for bitcoin.

Being stupid is good for bitcoin too, probably.

[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 0 points 3 months ago

cryptocurrency

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Bitcoin is stupid, but the point of Unicode is that we have a symbol for everything that has a commonly recognized symbol or representative value, or even uncommonly recognized.

If ⅌ gets a character, or all the symbols of the Byzantine musical notation system, I'm not sure why a typically recognized symbol for a cryptocurrency shouldn't.

The weird bit is that they put together a petition. All you really need to do is submit a proposal and show that it's a notable symbol and not owned by anyone in particular or a brand icon.

Here's the proposal to add "goose" to Unicode. They even added a few joke-y bits, but they made a valid argument that "goose" is a symbol that people recognize. And now... 🪿

[–] lunarul@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't disagree with the overall comment, but there's a difference between character and emoji. ⅌ got a character, but so did ₿ already.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There really isn't a difference between a character and an emoji beyond an emoji being a stylized rendering of a character, or a character whose use is intended as a pictograph.

https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr51/#Introduction

They're all just Unicode code points, although I suppose there's some distinction between the characters with more context specific meaning or the ones that are more apt to modification a la 🧑‍⚕️👩🏿‍⚕️. But you've also got 💲 and $, where "bold dollar sign" is often represented as green, but "dollar sign" tends to be represented in contextual style. Is ☣ a character or an emoji? What about the thousands of "other symbols" as defined by the Unicode spec which may or may not have special character renderings depending on your platform and font?

And yeah, I didn't know that character existed, so now it's doubly confusing why anyone is asking for anything. The symbol has meaning, and it's in the big book of meaningful symbols. Not sure what more they want.

[–] lunarul@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

There's no ambiguity. Emoji are characters in the emoticons code block (U+1F600..U+1F64F). Emoji are indeed a subset of characters, but anything outside that block is not an emoji.

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