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1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

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Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#121

Post by mrb »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #96
btilly wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

Correct. The fixed number of coins I referred to is 21 million.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_Currency_Supply

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#123

Post by ewillbefull »

Unoeufisenough wrote: post #116
moonchrome wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>trading volume over a 30 day period is more than $20 million dollars Again - as a currency this is insignificant. I agree that bitcoin is a great technical accomplishment but talking about it's price as it has any meaning outside of a few hackers playing traders is not realistic.

@moonchrome is right. One of the world's large credit card networks processes on the order half a trillion dollars in a typical 30 day period. So bitcoin has a way to go yet before it's volume is significant compared to other ubiquitous electronic payment methods. Consider that they need to grow by a great many orders of magnitude to become globally economically significant, yet consider that the supply of bitcoins i…

If you don't think we should be discussing bitcoin -- which is very different from any other currency out there -- simply because it hasn't reached the trading volume of Visa... I don't know what to tell you. Demonstrates pretty clearly the narrow window of information you're willing to consider.

(This on a website for hackers and startups. Pfft.)

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#124

Post by 385668 »

ewillbefull wrote: post #123
Unoeufisenough wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@moonchrome is right. One of the world's large credit card networks processes on the order half a trillion dollars in a typical 30 day period. So bitcoin has a way to go yet before it's volume is significant compared to other ubiquitous electronic payment methods. Consider that they need to grow by a great many orders of magnitude to become globally economically significant, yet consider that the supply of bitcoins i…

If you don't think we should be discussing bitcoin -- which is very different from any other currency out there -- simply because it hasn't reached the trading volume of Visa... I don't know what to tell you. Demonstrates pretty clearly the narrow window of information you're willing to consider. (This on a website for hackers and startups. Pfft.)

I'll agree with you on that, but I think a good point was raised. As an inherently deflationary currency, particularly once the maximum number of bitcoins are created, wouldn't the natural thing for people believe it will eventually be incredibly valuable be to hoard them? I'm not saying that a deflationary currency cannot ever work, but with an inflationary currency, there is greater worth in spending one's money on goods or investments that will accrue worth at a greater rate than the inflation, no?

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#125

Post by adrianwaj »

Unoeufisenough wrote: post #116
moonchrome wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>trading volume over a 30 day period is more than $20 million dollars Again - as a currency this is insignificant. I agree that bitcoin is a great technical accomplishment but talking about it's price as it has any meaning outside of a few hackers playing traders is not realistic.

@moonchrome is right. One of the world's large credit card networks processes on the order half a trillion dollars in a typical 30 day period. So bitcoin has a way to go yet before it's volume is significant compared to other ubiquitous electronic payment methods. Consider that they need to grow by a great many orders of magnitude to become globally economically significant, yet consider that the supply of bitcoins i…

"So if you actually believe in bitcoins, why would you ever spend one? If you don't believe in bitcoins, why would you ever accept one?"

Because you have to, and there is no other realistic or better choice.

As such, it's interesting to see when and how such situations arise.

"Bitcoin Seeks New Life in Africa: A digital currency without a central bank could be ideal for economies where the mobile phone is king but the banking systems are weak."

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/427287/bitcoin-seeks-ne...

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#126

Post by c1oder »

wmf wrote: post #95
c1oder wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Bitcoin fills a niche that other payment methods can't. IMHO, that's the only value in it.

Bitcoin enthusiasts just have too high expectations for it.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#127

Post by 385668 »

ghshephard wrote: post #67
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you buy with them? I know of only a few things that are only acquirable via Bitcoins, or that couldn't be acquired more cheaply using dollars.

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

Several friends of mine prefer to pay for their VPNs anonymously, they get two VPNs, pay with bitcoin, don't give their name to the VPNs, and tunnel one into the other for pretty much complete anonymity online, provided they don't do something stupid like log into facebook from the VPN.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#129

Post by nhaehnle »

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.

> I thought the value of gold or silver was always constant

What is the unit in which value is measured? There is no SI unit for value, and it seems unlikely that it would ever be possible to define one - it would basically require very surprising breakthroughs in psychology.

Hence people do the pragmatic thing and measure value in the currency that is predominantly used in their life. They use USD or EUR or whatever as their unit of value.

And in that sense, the value of gold and silver is clearly not constant, as a sibling comment explains.

Re: 1 Bitcoin Worth 10 USD

#130

Post by nhaehnle »

Animus7 wrote: post #66
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?

This argument never made sense to me. If I were designing a Ponzi scheme intending to defraud people, I wouldn't base it on a 100% transparent network of open source software using public domain crypto functions, where the wealth creation is by design not only randomly allocated, but mathematically capped to a static trickle rate. It's like the most badly designed Ponzi scheme ever.

It seems like people just throw around the term "Ponzi scheme" without any understanding of what it actually means, saying that "Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme" or "fiat currencies are a Ponzi scheme", when those statements simply do not make any sense.

A Ponzi scheme is when you offer an interest bearing or dividend paying investment, and you have to use the money obtained from new people buying into your investment to pay out the interest or dividends.

That's a very clear definition, and Bitcoin obviously does not fit - and it wouldn't fit the definition even if Bitcoin weren't based on a transparent protocol and open source implementations.

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