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1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

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Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#91

Post by jimktrains2 »

sylvinus wrote: post #27

Am I the only one to think Bitcoin is just a big Ponzi scheme benefiting the first users/creators who got all the first ones?

Yes, the people who got it when it was cheap are making out now, but that doesn't preclude others from using it as a currency.

I mean, the point is that it's a currency. It's designed to be a currency which isn't governed by any one person or group of people (except those that created it, but at that point it becomes governed by math and logic, not the whims of the creators).

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#92

Post by wmf »

sylvinus wrote: post #27

Am I the only one to think Bitcoin is just a big Ponzi scheme benefiting the first users/creators who got all the first ones?

It's not a Ponzi, but it does have built-in volatility due to the fixed rate of coin generation. Some even say that Satoshi designed Bitcoin as a bubble machine because it would generate the press coverage that Bitcoin needed to take off. I prefer to think that the volatility is an unforseen side effect of Bitcoin's naive economic policy.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#93

Post by jimktrains2 »

greyerzer wrote: post #82

One problem that I have with Bitcoin is its complete dependence on the strength of its crypto. While breaking it may seem impossible at the moment, advances in computation speed and cryptanalysis may one day lead to it being broken. This would basically make Bitcoins worthless overnight. Of course traditional currencies can be forged as well, but printing huge amounts of forged bills and bringing them into circulatio…

It's not just speed, but number of nodes. If someone could, lets say in 10 years, build a block-chain of equal length to then-current one, they would still need to control > 50% of the nodes a significant portion of the network sees.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#94

Post by jimktrains2 »

taligent wrote: post #14

I really don't get Bitcoin. What is the point in a currency that ranges from $2 USD to $12 USD in a year ?

The people who view bitcoins as a currency don't like these huge fluctuation. Just like in a country-issued currency doing this, it causes problems doing trade.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#95

Post by wmf »

c1oder wrote: post #73
ghshephard wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct - in fact (unless you were a speculator) you wouldn't want to hold onto anything in bitcoin for more than the time required to clear a transaction.

Bitcoin seems to be more like payment method than currency.

But when judged as a payment method it has such poor usability that it seems pointless.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#96

Post by jimktrains2 »

btilly wrote: post #37
mrb wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as its crypto primitives remain secure (SHA-256, Elliptic Curve crypto, RIPEMD), if the Bitcoin economy continues to grow 5x, 10x, 20x, etc, then its value should increase 5x, 10x, 20x, etc, because there is a fixed number of coins available. Both of these assumptions are likely. So I would say, yes, this exchange rate should last (of course there will be some bumps on the road, bubbles, crashes, etc).

there is a fixed number of coins available. Not necessarily true! There is slow growth in coins. But if it takes off then we know all of the primitives to make a second bitcoin. Establish one with a price peg to existing bitcoin. If you maintain it long and well enough, it will become accepted as equivalent. Once that happens you've done a big one-time increase in the supply. In fact I would recommend doing this at s…

It's asymptotic growth of coins. There will never be more than x number of bitcoins. (I forget the value x is exactly, but it is a finite, pre-definded number).

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#97

Post by sp332 »

technotony wrote: post #12

If you look at this data over the max range ( http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#tgSzm1g10zm2g25zv ) then it looks a lot like the Gartner Hype cycle ( http://bit.ly/N1XCnb ). I wonder if Bitcoin is past the trough of disillusionment and ready for a serious explosion?

Did you shorten a link to a Google Images search result? Here's the actual page with the image in it: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1447613

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#98

Post by ghshephard »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #75
ghshephard wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that 99% of the non-speculative drivers for BitCoin currency are purchases from SilkRoad.

I lack the courage or foolishness to make such purchases.

Not everything on Silk Road is particularly illegal. And I'm sure the LEA have better things to do with their time than chase down some consumer of 1200mg of modafinil.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#99

Post by sp332 »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #90
hollerith wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>in the past 2 weeks we've seen its value appreciate by 50%, something that just doesn't happen with traditional currencies It happens with gold, which could be viewed as a traditional currency.

To be pedantic, and to note I'm not an economist, I thought the value of gold or silver was always constant, it was the currencies based on them that inflate or deflate.

Nope. As more gold was mined during gold rushes, the value of gold decreased. As people found more uses for gold and demand outstripped supply, the value increased. And of course the relative value of gold and silver changes over time.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#100

Post by moonchrome »

cs702 wrote: post #64

In the view of many HN members, Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme. In the view of other HN members, Bitcoin is an experimental crypto currency, the use of which is unlikely ever to expand beyond idealistic hackers, online gamblers, and underground characters. In my view, Bitcoin is likely to gain wide adoption worldwide over the long haul -- that is, over a period of many years or even decades. Its price is therefore bound t…

Many people don't realize how small Bitcoin is. It's trading in the $1M range. That's like few hundred people playing with their savings - low liquidity = high volatility - talking about this as something significant/newsworthy is silly.
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