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WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

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Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#111

Post by JoeAltmaier »

mtgx wrote: post #110
smsm42 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I like the idea of digital currency, but the knowledge that it is based on completely useless computations (gold at least has many practical applications and looks nice) annoys my programmer side. I know money do not have to be otherwise useful, but still the feeling is there.

Compared to the Federal Reserve that creates money out of thin air, whenever they want, and dilute the value of the currency in the same time? That doesn't worry you at all?

"Whenever they want" says it all. When its needed. Bitcoins work on an algorithm, that is insensitive to need. Which allows boom-and-bust coinage.

Here in the US Midwest, in museums there are old coupons, tokens, wooden nickels printed by local banks, business, bars(!) and pressed into service in the 1800's when coins became scarce. The US Mint didn't respond for years, leaving us essentially without money. Caused a local recession.

Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#112

Post by mkr-hn »

GaryRowe wrote: post #104
Groxx wrote: post #20

Wow, that's big news. Now they just need a client that doesn't take days to download the block chain :| Seriously, I wonder if one of the bigger barriers to bitcoin adoption is the lame official application.

You can use a Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) client like MultiBit (see http://multibit.org ). From scratch it takes about 5 minutes to start using Bitcoin.

That client requires Java.

Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#114

Post by paddy_m »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #111
mtgx wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to the Federal Reserve that creates money out of thin air, whenever they want, and dilute the value of the currency in the same time? That doesn't worry you at all?

"Whenever they want" says it all. When its needed. Bitcoins work on an algorithm, that is insensitive to need. Which allows boom-and-bust coinage. Here in the US Midwest, in museums there are old coupons, tokens, wooden nickels printed by local banks, business, bars(!) and pressed into service in the 1800's when coins became scarce. The US Mint didn't respond for years, leaving us essentially without money. Caused a…

For monetary policy to respond properly the fed has to read aggregate demand and react accordingly as quickly as possible. There are extreme incentives for the fed to keep interest rates low to encourage borrowing and economic growth, there is little encouragement to think long term and turn up the interest rates so that currency is protected.

Bitcoin may be flawed, but at least its obviously and predictably flawed. This stability should in the long run allow for much better planning on an individual level.

Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#115

Post by wcoenen »

Groxx wrote: post #20

Wow, that's big news. Now they just need a client that doesn't take days to download the block chain :| Seriously, I wonder if one of the bigger barriers to bitcoin adoption is the lame official application.

Some improvements are coming for version 0.8: https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=16

Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#116

Post by Jayschwa »

smsm42 wrote: post #89
mrb wrote: post #54

Another recent news is stunning for Bitcoin, but somehow got unnoticed: A company pouring $1M+ to develop a 65nm Bitcoin mining chip: http://blog.zorinaq.com/?e=69

Personally, I like the idea of digital currency, but the knowledge that it is based on completely useless computations (gold at least has many practical applications and looks nice) annoys my programmer side. I know money do not have to be otherwise useful, but still the feeling is there.

The purpose of the computations is to secure the Bitcoin network, which is useful.

Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#117

Post by omni »

Breakthrough wrote: post #23

Muhuhahaha ( evil laugh ), and my parents thought I was crazy when I told them there was a new digital currency you kept in files, that had no inflation, was (almost) completely anonymous, and - get this - that it was real and traded on actual markets. When I started talking about Bitcoin mining, that was when they seriously thought I was going off the deep end. And really, most non-tech-savvy people would think the…

No inflation? Which mythical currency are you talking about? It obviously isn't Bitcoin. Bitcoin's value sank like a rock in late 2011.

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#tgSzm1g10zm2g25zv

Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#118

Post by mvleming »

zizee wrote: post #63
mvleming wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to read on thoughts about how a digital currency will change economic policies, the market, and just things in general. If its decentralized (i.e. the currency is not distributed from a central bank), then presumably you can't deflate or inflate the value of the currency in order to encourage economic growth (am I getting this right?). Also I'm wondering what Bitcoin means in terms of banks. If I don't need…

If I don't need a physical safe to hold my money anymore, then obviously banks will be forced to go digital as well right? I'm no expert, but I don't think that most banks would actually hold paper notes for every dollar they are storing for their account holders. In reality banks are already pretty much digital for most transactions. What I am wondering is when* various governments are going to start enforcing exist…

Oh no not at all, you're right. I'm not sure if this is the correct terminology but, googling it, I think it's called reserve requirement. "The reserve requirement sets the minimum reserves each bank must hold to demand deposits and banknotes." [1] An example they give is Hong Kong whose banks must hold 25% of their liabilities.

During the subprime mortgage, American banks (and some foreign banks but I can't recall them) were deregulated in a way that allowed them to have a higher ratio between their liabilities and what they actually held. This meant they could increase their financial investments without really having the money. I can't remember the exact ratio but it was something like 40-1.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_regulation#Reserve_require...

Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#119

Post by mvleming »

javert wrote: post #76
mvleming wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to read on thoughts about how a digital currency will change economic policies, the market, and just things in general. If its decentralized (i.e. the currency is not distributed from a central bank), then presumably you can't deflate or inflate the value of the currency in order to encourage economic growth (am I getting this right?). Also I'm wondering what Bitcoin means in terms of banks. If I don't need…

There is absolutely zero concensus on these things, within and without the bitcoin community. So, you can chat with people about it, but there are no "canonical" answers to those questions, except to the degree that you can answer them yourself to your own satisfaction. Intentional inflation and deflation of bitcoin is impossible, but one could imagine the creation of a digital currency where it would be possible. Yo…

Interesting. Alright, I'm going to look at the different sides and decide what I think.

Re: WordPress.com accepts Bitcoin

#120

Post by fghh45sdfhr3 »

omni wrote: post #117
Breakthrough wrote: post #23

Muhuhahaha ( evil laugh ), and my parents thought I was crazy when I told them there was a new digital currency you kept in files, that had no inflation, was (almost) completely anonymous, and - get this - that it was real and traded on actual markets. When I started talking about Bitcoin mining, that was when they seriously thought I was going off the deep end. And really, most non-tech-savvy people would think the…

No inflation? Which mythical currency are you talking about? It obviously isn't Bitcoin. Bitcoin's value sank like a rock in late 2011. http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#tgSzm1g10zm2g25zv

That is not inflation. That's a price swing of a commodity. Apples and oranges. Price swings can go both ways. Deflation is extremely rare.
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