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Bitcoin hits $10,000

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Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#321

Post by BorisMelnik »

RexetBlell wrote: post #241
will_brown wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>No one likes to talk about that though, they like to demonize bitcoin which actually does something gold could never do. Just playing devils advocate, but you can't replicate/duplicate gold. On the other hand I could create 21M cryptocoins on a blockchain (calling them Bitcoin2 or even just Bitcoin if it pleases). I can make them function identically, similarly or more efficiently than Bitcoin. I can create a new bl…

Why can't you replicate gold? What is gold? It's some elementary particles (like quarks) arranged in a certain way that we all agree are valuable. We could easily agree that some other arrangement is valuable (such as Aluminum).

good point...also what happens if we start digging on Mars, or some other planet and find 1000 tons of gold?

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#322

Post by jeffwass »

bobcallme wrote: post #58
pishpash wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gold is used in electronics. It's actually a good conductor. Bitcoin is not even good for transactions, its supposed primary purpose, right now.

> Bitcoin is not even good for transactions, its supposed primary purpose, right now. How so? I buy lunch with Bitcoin and a few weeks ago I paid for a car repair with it. If I need more, I just go to a bitcoin vending machine near by.

I'm curious - do you report your capital gains on the bitcoin you transact in?

(Assuming you bought it for cheaper than the price you transact at)

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#323

Post by paulgb »

aphextron wrote: post #204
dpweb wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

`100k puts the market at cap at a trillion, it’s not that crazy if you remember that Gold is several times that`. Similar things heard during every irrational bubble. I believe people often trot out the 'actual worthlessness' of fiat currency, to support a misguided idea that btc must be the democratic antidote which will free countless millions from the financial enslavement of the global financial machine. Currency…

>Currency is currency BECAUSE its sponsored by government. And the payments system only works because you are indemnified. By the FDIC. By Chase Credit Cards. That is, the evil banks. How so for btc? I'm not sure that's true. What makes a currency is it's usage. If enough people agree to the value of something, it's irrelevant whether a government sponsors it. You see this all the time with small towns using local "c…

I clicked a bunch of links from that list but couldn't find a single example that backs your point. Most of the local scrips seem to either be defunct/broken links or backed by a trusted institution who promises conversion back to the US dollar (BerkShares, Detroit Cheers).

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#324

Post by rdiddly »

kayhi wrote: post #95
0bsidian wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me try to make the case for why Bitcoin could be a useful beyond greed. I can't really think of many reasons why you would use crypto to pay for a coffee or a sandwich if you live in the West (or frankly, even most developing nations). On the other hand, I can definitely see the utility in a censorship-resistant digital medium to store wealth. To me, this latter use case has much, much more potential to serve the…

I've read this before ... oh wait, you keep posting these examples

Five times in the past day, to be exact!

Here's the other four...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15792805

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15787235

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15787155

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15786568

"I can totally just casually think of certain use cases right off the top of my head here spontaneously, let me see here... [PASTE]"

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#325

Post by programmarchy »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #278
programmarchy wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would the value crash? Typically, artificially restricting supply raises prices, like with drugs and other contraband.

This is restricting demand, not restricting supply.

That doesn't seem right. Usually restricting demand is done by raising prices, with the causality working in the other direction. If people want Bitcoin (say because their government is inflating their fiat currency and they want a safe haven) and purchasing Bitcoin is prohibited, you'd have pent-up demand which would push prices up.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#326

Post by lokedhs »

drcross wrote: post #243
will_brown wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>No one likes to talk about that though, they like to demonize bitcoin which actually does something gold could never do. Just playing devils advocate, but you can't replicate/duplicate gold. On the other hand I could create 21M cryptocoins on a blockchain (calling them Bitcoin2 or even just Bitcoin if it pleases). I can make them function identically, similarly or more efficiently than Bitcoin. I can create a new bl…

>On the other hand I could create 21M cryptocoins on a blockchain (calling them Bitcoin2 or even just Bitcoin if it pleases). I can make them function identically, similarly or more efficiently than Bitcoin. I can create a new blockchain (network) or put these coins on an existing blockchain (say the Ethereum blockchain). How much would you pay for all 21M Bitcoin? How much would you pay me to create you 21M Bitcoin2…

"Econ 101: The price of a currency is based on people's trust in that currency."

Right, but how many people really trust Bitcoin? And by trust, I mean trust that it will retain its value for the foreseeable future.

I have trust that the Euro will retain its value, so I feel confident pricing my product and services using it. On the other hand you'd be crazy to price anything in Bitcoin.

No one has trust in Bitcoin as a currency. Some people have some degree of trust in it as an investment vehicle, which is fine. That doesn't make Bitcoin a currency any more than gold is.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#327

Post by rspeer »

beaner wrote: post #210
int_19h wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are from Venezuela or Zimbabwe – The government has issued capital controls and is devaluing currency by the day. You transfer your wealth into Bitcoin in order to offset capital erosion due to hyper-inflation. When the situation stabilises, you transfer your Bitcoin back into fiat. How exactly do you transfer your wealth to BTC in this scenario? There aren't many people willing to sell BTC in exchange for a ra…

People in Venezuela are actively trading lots of bitcoin every day, in person. You can see this in the LocalBitcoins data: https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins

This is a pretty misleading response.

So, okay, some of the fortunate people who do have access to USD/EUR are trading it for Bitcoin on LocalBitcoins, not just storing it. But you're making it sound like this is a graph of ordinary Venezuelans trading their hard-earned bolivar into lucrative Bitcoin, which it almost certainly isn't.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#328

Post by lokedhs »

3pt14159 wrote: post #151
chrischen wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably just covered > 50% of the population of the earth there. If that isn’t “ordinary people” than what is? People aren’t all rural farmers anymore.

No I'm not. Major cities are Toronto, NYC, Chicago, Tokyo, etc. Not Vilnius, Ottawa, or Brussels.

Brussels is the centre of power in the EU. I have nothing against Toronto, but just because its population is higher doesn't really award it the status of being more "major".

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#329

Post by sobani »

BorisMelnik wrote: post #321
RexetBlell wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't you replicate gold? What is gold? It's some elementary particles (like quarks) arranged in a certain way that we all agree are valuable. We could easily agree that some other arrangement is valuable (such as Aluminum).

good point...also what happens if we start digging on Mars, or some other planet and find 1000 tons of gold?

187,200 tonnes of gold has already been mined. So another 1000 is going to be a blip. At 1M it could become interesting though :)

https://www.gold.org/about-gold/gold-supply/gold-mining/how-...

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#330

Post by coolspot »

keymone wrote: post #286
bb88 wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is a BTC? BTC is man made, and depends upon computers and software. And the people who control the software can change their minds, if they so choose. So what a BTC is now, may not be what it is later, including its scarcity. See also the ETH and BTC forks. Gold on the other hand exists naturally in nature, and doesn't change based upon someone else's whim. So no, BTC is not like gold.

BTC is what the distributed consensus says BTC is. You can’t fake that without pouring billions into building up mining infrastructure to organize a 51% attack and even then the distributed consensus will simply fork around your amazing achievement of successfully doing a single double spend? So yeah, BTC is definitely not like gold, it’s way better.

By "distributed consensus" you mean couple chinese guys who own all bitcoin mining?
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