11–20 of 32 posts
This seems to be a significant disadvantage, to say dollars, where no record of a transaction exists.
Am I missing something (that's what I'm assuming)? Or is having a list of all transactions viewed as a strength?
Bitcoin doesn't have this vulnerability, unless the majority decides it does. There cannot be rapid inflation due to "printing" bitcoins, unless the majority decides to allow it. The system cannot declare bankruptcy, because it's not backed by anything which can determine its intrinsic value.
It's a foreign currency that no single anything controls. It can wax and wane in value compared to other currencies, as any value-exchange system can, but if it becomes "the" currency, it'll be the first stable, totally-trustable currency ever, because transactions and amounts cannot be faked. Assuming quantum computers can't be made cheap enough to allow attacking the system to be valuable, as it relies on public key cryptography and difficult hashing functions (not sure how quantum computing effects hashing functions).
It's not the best-written criticism (incidentally, why was the title changed for submission?) but it has a point. Right now, Bitcoins ain't worth jack-shit as a currency in any denomination larger than "a few". If I have a hundred thousand dollars, I can buy a Porsche. If I have a hundred thousand bitcoins, I can't buy anything, because I doubt I'll find a buyer for a hundred thousand bitcoins. I'd be interested to k…
Keep in mind thats BTC-USD trades, not "notional value spent".
Apparent largest transaction was 400k bitcoins: http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=1346.0
It would be difficult to transact 100k BTC with one counterparty, but could be reasonably accomplished in a few days via electronic exchanges (mtgox).
Cohen's GMU colleague Russ Roberts interviewed BitCoin's Andresen a few weeks back. Roberts, normally hyper-critical, was ecstatic over it. A great podcast: http://goo.gl/mNcQW
Cohen's GMU colleague Russ Roberts interviewed BitCoin's Andresen a few weeks back. Roberts, normally hyper-critical, was ecstatic over it. A great podcast: http://goo.gl/mNcQW
Gavin didn't do a very good job explaining things in that one, unfortunately. I recently found the Omega Tau podcast covering Bitcoin, and he does much, much better: http://omegataupodcast.net/2011/03/59-bitcoin-a-digital-dece...
Can someone explain the velocity of money argument to me? The blog post seems to be: 1. If btc are liquid, everyone will want to move btc wealth out to some other store of wealth and btc will fail. 2. If btc are illiquid, then it fails by definition. Currently btc are at this stage. Here's why I don't get it: 1. If they ARE liquid and its easy to convert btc value to other value, why would everyone want to move value…
Can someone explain the velocity of money argument to me? The blog post seems to be: 1. If btc are liquid, everyone will want to move btc wealth out to some other store of wealth and btc will fail. 2. If btc are illiquid, then it fails by definition. Currently btc are at this stage. Here's why I don't get it: 1. If they ARE liquid and its easy to convert btc value to other value, why would everyone want to move value…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_exchange
q, m, v, and p remain relatively constant in that transaction unless the liquidity event causes a persistent decrease in the price level (no evidence that the current BTC market could support it, but also c.f. above my comments about immature markets and liquidity).
I don't understand what he is saying. Aren't dollars just worthless pieces of paper? They are only worth something because people accept them as payment. Obviously at the moment investing in BitCoins is rather speculative, but so is investing in other currencies (and dollars don't have the best reputation anymore, either). If he converts everything into dollars and dollars are being devalued, he loses. Is he saying t…
Aren't dollars just worthless pieces of paper? Apparently not. Try spending dollars in a store (both in the U.S. and many places besides) and see if it works. They are only worth something because people accept them as payment. Including the U.S. government as payment for debt. If the most powerful government in the world says dollars have value, it's not so easy to lose all of that value, even without it being a bac…
So what exactly can I get from the US government in exchange for dollars? (I am not a US citizen).
I don't understand what he is saying. Aren't dollars just worthless pieces of paper? They are only worth something because people accept them as payment. Obviously at the moment investing in BitCoins is rather speculative, but so is investing in other currencies (and dollars don't have the best reputation anymore, either). If he converts everything into dollars and dollars are being devalued, he loses. Is he saying t…
Aren't dollars just worthless pieces of paper? They are only worth something because people accept them as payment. Some of those people are the IRS, who will throw you in prison if you don't turn over a sufficient quantity of said paper. That guarantees a minimum level of demand for dollars.
Okay, if I'm understanding how transactions work, all transactions are public, as they need to be validated by the P2P network. This seems to be a significant disadvantage, to say dollars, where no record of a transaction exists. Am I missing something (that's what I'm assuming)? Or is having a list of all transactions viewed as a strength?