Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?

Post by jfruh » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:36 PM UTC

jordanb wrote: post #16

bunderbunder wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's an analogy you really want to draw. The Euro's current problems are due to governments with Euro-denominated debt being unable to take the easy way out of servicing their debt by printing money. One of Bitcoin's defining features is that it's impossible for governments to devalue the currency by just printing money. Since both currencies behave the same way in this regard, a Bitcoin economy would…

"Easy way out of servicing their debt" is a facile misrepresentation of the problem. The problem for a country like, for instance Spain, is that their current account balance has gone highly negative. This can be due to government overspending or private overspending and contraction. In fact Spain didn't have a big public debt problem before the crisis. Their problems stem mostly from contraction of the private secto…

Post by omarchowdhury » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:43 PM UTC

georgemcbay wrote: post #40

DTanner wrote: post #8

I really like the concept of "metacurrency" that this article talks about. This is exactly the area I think Bitcoin will be most successful. I don't ever see it replacing the dollar, or even credit cards. The one thing that Bitcoin really excels at is the instantaneous transfer of unlimited amounts of money from one place in the world to another. Rick Falkvinge talks about this a bit in his "four drivers" series: htt…

"The one thing that Bitcoin really excels at is the instantaneous transfer of unlimited amounts of money from one place in the world to another." I'm being somewhat pedantic here but Bitcoin is absolutely terrible at this, because Bitcoins are inherently not unlimited. On a less pedantic note, I'm not sure Bitcoin is any better than the alternative of a Bitcoin-free world for your example usage. Lots of "real" US Dol…

Post by weavejester » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:47 PM UTC

omarchowdhury wrote: post #43

georgemcbay wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The one thing that Bitcoin really excels at is the instantaneous transfer of unlimited amounts of money from one place in the world to another." I'm being somewhat pedantic here but Bitcoin is absolutely terrible at this, because Bitcoins are inherently not unlimited. On a less pedantic note, I'm not sure Bitcoin is any better than the alternative of a Bitcoin-free world for your example usage. Lots of "real" US Dol…

Bitcoins are inherently unlimited - they can be divided down to 8 decimal places for a total of 2.1 quadrillion units.

Post by georgemcbay » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:50 PM UTC

omarchowdhury wrote: post #43

georgemcbay wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The one thing that Bitcoin really excels at is the instantaneous transfer of unlimited amounts of money from one place in the world to another." I'm being somewhat pedantic here but Bitcoin is absolutely terrible at this, because Bitcoins are inherently not unlimited. On a less pedantic note, I'm not sure Bitcoin is any better than the alternative of a Bitcoin-free world for your example usage. Lots of "real" US Dol…

Bitcoins are inherently unlimited - they can be divided down to 8 decimal places for a total of 2.1 quadrillion units.

Post by jacquesm » Thu, Dec 22, 2011, 12:01 AM UTC

thinkcomp wrote: post #30

tptacek wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a reason no-one else is discussing this angle; this thread isn't about you. The tactic you're employing here and on every other money thread is so common that Wikipedia has a name for it: "coat-rack arguments". You're using HN threads about money transactions as coat-racks for comments that are nominally germane (ie, "Bitcoin allows low-cost and regulation-free &c and ...") but really about your personal dram…

First, I won't stop; certainly not because you and your colleague say I should. Second, I didn't post an advertisement, or a job offer, or a discussion about a random topic. I posted a federal lawsuit about money transmission that is directly related to Bitcoin's purported goals and the title of this article. Enough people have contacted me, some of whom read Hacker News, and some of whom do not, who fully support wh…