Bitcoin

@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

I like the idea of an unregulated, mostly anonymous way to exchange value.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I like it, but as a techie I'm definitely intrigued by it.

maxdancona wrote:

There is also an upper limit to the price. When Bitcoins start to become prohibitively expensive, other forms of digital currency will be developed to take its place (which will put downward pressure on the price of Bitcoins). As a user. I am not tied to Bitcoin... I am perfectly happy switching to the cryptocurrency that meets my needs at the time.

That's a valid point. If and when that happens, we will be looking at a system of private banks, each issuing their own brand of money on a competitive market. Banking systems like that have existed in history, but to my knowledge they have rarely been beacons of stability, even though they were nominally based on physical gold. So I don't think the volatility of Bitcoin is coming from its technology. But I admit my knowledge is a little rusty, and that I need to read up on the subject.

Max Dancona wrote:

Bitcoins are the first widespread iteration of cryptocurrency, and yes it has problems and instability.

But I am not willing to abandon the idea that we can have a mostly anonymous means of transferring economic value over the internet.

I think you are conflating Bitcoin's considerable merits as a cryptographic system, peer-to-peer network, and all that, with its economics. I also think it's important to distinguish the two.

1 Reply

@Thomas,

Thomas wrote:

InfraBlue wrote:
The mere fact that Bitcoins are deemed valuable enough to steal testifies to their worth.

Not really. I bet there were burglars stealing tulips in 1636 Holland, too.

Single tulip bulbs selling for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman? I wouldn't doubt that there were tulip theives in Holland at the time, either.

In regard to bubbles, the real estate bubble at the end of the first decade of this century comes to mind.

Isn't the value of anything set at any particular point in time, though?

This is a different issue from volatility, however.

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@InfraBlue,

1 Reply

@Thomas,

I actually agree with Thomas here. There's a rich history of such private monetary systems and, and he indicated, it isn't all that stable. That said, the unfolding Greek Drama and today's crash in China's stock market and the flatlined trading flap on Wall Street today remind us that perfect stability isn't to be found anywhere.

The technology behin Bitcoin is certainly impressive, but as events have already shown, it isn't perfect, and human traders can still do harm. My principal reservation about it resides in my personal cvonviction that the governments of the world are not going to tolerate such an uncontrolled thing if it ever threatens to become a truly significant form of exchange.

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@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan-

What is the point of your posting other than to make fun of a man with a speech impediment?

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@gollum,

That's a joke video from a joke website.

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@georgeob1,

Taxation for bitcoin transactions will be the target of all governments.

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@tsarstepan,

Money value created out of air is a dangerous token. "Bitcoin" should have been the warning. Worthless "bit" of coin.

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@tsarstepan,

I let my graphics card mine Ethereum when I'm not playing World of Warcraft.

It doesn't make much money, but it's more than if I didn't do it at all. And it'll slowly build if I just let it keep running in the background.

If it doesn't come to anything in the end, I haven't really lost anything. The GPU temperature stays at reasonable levels. Perhaps my GPU cooling fan is getting more wear that it would otherwise have. But cooling fans are cheap, and I bet that when I replace my graphics card in a few years the original fan will still be going strong.

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@cicerone imposter,

All money in a modern economy is created out of thin air (and in more primitive economies it was dug out of the dirt).

Where do you think dollars come from?

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@maxdancona,

Quote:

All money in a modern economy is created out of thin air ...

Yea, but, the US dollar has been king for quite a long time.
Darrell Francis, Economics BA, graduate-level work in monetary policy
Answered Aug 4, 2016
The US dollar is the official currency of the following countries:
Ecuador
El Salvador
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Palau
Panama
Timor-Leste
The United States (obviously)
It is also used several non-US territories, such as the British Virgin Isles, Caribbean Netherlands, and Turks & Caicos Islands.
6.9k Views · View Upvoters

Also, I have traveled extensively throughout the world, having traveled to 88 countries. The US dollar has always had a good exchange rate in the majority of countries. The exception in my finals days of foreign travel was Cuba where the US dollar is discounted by 10% plus the currency exchange fee. That is the reason, people visiting Cuba should take Canadian dollars or Euros.

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@cicerone imposter,

Thank you CI. Legitimately recognized existing currencies have the financial and regulatory backing of legitimate democratic governments. Bitcoin? By design? Do not.

The system exists to help money launderers, tax evaders, etc.... It shouldn't be legitimized.

Fun facts on Bitcoin and the future of lawlessness of that dangerous system.
March 2018 story:
'Child porn links could make Bitcoin blockchain illegal'
This week:
BitcoinSV ‘feature’ exploited to store child abuse imagery on the blockchain
I had a more legitimate site reporting this on Facebook. Seen it earlier this morning. When I find it again or another mainstream news source? I'll post it here for proper citation.

The whole system exists so that it can't be hacked and edited. Once something is in the portfolio, it can't be edited out.

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@tsarstepan,

Yes. I don't bother doing that kind of investigation, but keep us posted. Appreciate your efforts.

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@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

The system exists to help money launderers, tax evaders, etc.... It shouldn't be legitimized.

Data Ledgers like BlockChain can be exploited in numerous ways, just like any other form of Data Ledger, and like the Internet itself.

Ultimately, BlockChain technology is going to be incredibly beneficial to world economies, providing far most cost effective ways to transact business in various forms. But just like innocent people, they can be carriers of nasty parasites.

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Bitcoin was invented in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, or a digital currency, that uses rules of cryptography for regulation and generation of units of currency. Bitcoin falls under the scope of cryptocurrency and was the first and most valuable among them. It is commonly called decentralized digital currency.

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