... but not the country! I've seen this sort of thing happen before where one side insists that the real, uncorruptable threat be absent at any future meetings, so that they can perhaps try to work a flanker. I don't think that this tactic will do them any good. He will still be there in the background. As others have recently Tweeted, "Mission Accomplished."
https://twitter.com/hashtag/MissionAccomplished?src=hash"The superhuman effort to honour the brave people of Greece, and the famous OXI (NO)
that they granted to democrats the world over, is just beginning." (Yanis Varoufakis)
He can now come out and say what he really wants to say without being bound by any ministerial restrictions. Incidentally, he was elected to the Greek Parliament with the highest number of votes.
Just because Varoufakis may have appeared in Max Keisers' show, why on earth do you think that "connection" has any value for bitcoin let alone startcoin?
Have you actually read any of the stuff Varoufakis wrote and said about Bitcoin?
"The Crash of 2008 has infused our societies with enormous scepticism on the role of the authorities, both government and Central Banks. It is quite natural that many dream of a currency that politicians, bankers and central bankers cannot manipulate; a currency of the people by the people for the people. Bitcoin has emerged as the great white hope of something of the sort. Alas, the hope it brings to many people’s hearts and minds is false."
(...)
"In brief, while apolitical money is a dangerous illusion, a Central Bank that is democratically controlled (as opposed to the indefensible notion of an ‘independent’ Central Bank) remains our best hope for a form of money that is for the people and by the people. Bitcoin, despite its many interesting features, can never be that."
http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2013/04/22/bitcoin-and-the-dangerous-fantasy-of-apolitical-money/To very quickly answer your question in the very short time I have available - Yanis Varoufakis is crypto-currency aware. That can only be helpful.
First, Yanis was talking about Bitcoin in the context of it being the basis for a national currency ...
"there can be no de-politicised currency capable of ‘powering’ an advanced, industrial society." Some time ago, it had been suggested that Bitcoin could be that, not only for Greece, but also for Scotland if it had voted for independence in its referendum. If Bitcoin could be controlled by a democratically elected central bank, it would be perfect - but intrinsically, Bitcoin is by its very nature, is decentralised. However, he doesn't argue against Bitcoin being a hedge, like gold, or silver.
Secondly, Yanis identifies two fundamental flaws with Bitcoin -
again as the basis for a national currency:
Roughly stated: the first revolves around security and the Bitcoin 'elite' who could manpulate the coin. I would also throw in any person, or group who could commit a so-called 51% attack.
The second, revolves around the deflationary aspect of Bitcoin, scarcity value - it being modelled on gold, volatility e.g. speculators who can affect price stabilty, the fact that most Bitcoins have already been minted at a time when goods and services were virtually non-existent - with new goods and services having to compete for a finite supply of Bitcoins etc. etc.
Startcoin, on the other hand, has been 50% pre-mined. This bolsters security and helps prevent a 51% attack - something that Maxcoin was very vulnerable to at times, as are most other alt-coins. It seems that Max has learnt from this experience.
As far as elites are concerned, when the price has risen fast, there have been free give-aways to aid distribution far and wide. Of the 50% pre-mine, 90% is to be donated to projects and active users of StartJOIN - much evidence of that will be seen this week. There are also bounties offered for porting existing technologies to StartCOIN.There have been concerted efforts to get Startcoin into commercial use, ATMs etc.
In short, Yanis was talking about Bitcoin in the context of being the basis solely of a national currency e.g. if Greece had to abandon the Euro. To my knowledge, neither Bitcoin, nor Startcoin, have ever claimed to be the basis for a national currency. I'm sure that, as alternative back-up currencies, or hedges, Yanis would agree that Bitcoin and Startcoin are just fine.
Besides the reservations he has about Bitcoin that you outline, he also used complimentary words to describe Bitcoin: a "brilliant algorithm" ... "that made something remarkable possible" ... and that it has "many interesting features."
It could also be argued that Startcoin is closer to Yanis's ideal than Bitcoin, based on security and distribution considerations.
Now that he has resigned as Greece's Finance Minister, I hope to see Yanis Varoufakis back regularly on the Keiser Report TV programme.
