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For everyone out there who wants to pay bitcoins using PayPal I found a hack that worked (be aware: this might take sevwral hours the first time.) Buy Linden Dollars - Take them out in bitcoins. Simple but takes hours of waiting the first time to get verified etc the first time.
Paypal is always super expensive... I really recommend using cash at an ATM with Bitme: http://howdoyoubuybitcoins.com/from/bitme/
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To say Bitcoin has no inherent value is not quite accurate. The inherent value of the Bitcoin comes from the electricity required to power the computational cycles to "create" it.
Cost does not equal value. And it goes the other way around anyway. Higher prices lead to more people mining.
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Cost does not equal value. And it goes the other way around anyway. Higher prices lead to more people mining.
Correct. The problem being the use of the word inherent to describe value. There is no such thing as inherent value unless you are describing a use and not the price someone would be willing to pay for something. For example, wood can be used to fuel a fire but that doesn't tell us anything about its' inherent value in exchange. That it has inherent value on these terms is obvious enough. For me it has almost none be…
For example not everyone likes shiny things but gold is also compact, protective, conducting, nonreacting, testable, etc.
Wood has a thousand and one uses but it's a bad currency because in addition to being bulky it's easy to make more wood. But in certain circumstances it would work fine.
There is barely any use people can get out of bags of sand, so it wouldn't work as a currency. Salt looks similar but used to be hard to get and is important to food and living, made a great currency.
Bitcoins by themselves don't have value. You could make a hundred knockoff block chains and they wouldn't do you any good. The bitcoin network as an entity that you can trust is where anything useful is actually derived from.
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You've misunderstood that defintion. Economically speaking fiat is a currency that exists by rulemaking instead of having an inherent value— it's constructed. The definition doesn't say who does the constructing or how. Bitcoin is a fiat currency— the fiat is embedded in the software that runs on and is enforced by all the Bitcoin nodes, it's the rules that make the currency exist and work. It's largely immutable, pa…
Fiat does not imply constructed. The notion that gold (or tulips) are valuable are equally constructed ideas by humans. Nothing has 'inherent' value apart from the value humans perceive these things to have. No, the only thing fiat implies is manipulation - the ability for a government or person to mess with the value of a currency by 'willing it to be.' Bitcoin is not fiat.
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Exactly. People take note - Bitcoin is NOT fiat currency. Fiat is latin for 'let it be done.' As in governments can create new money at will. New bitcoins can't be created on demand by anyone.
You've misunderstood that defintion. Economically speaking fiat is a currency that exists by rulemaking instead of having an inherent value— it's constructed. The definition doesn't say who does the constructing or how. Bitcoin is a fiat currency— the fiat is embedded in the software that runs on and is enforced by all the Bitcoin nodes, it's the rules that make the currency exist and work. It's largely immutable, pa…
I disagree on many points, but the easiest to argue is that it does, in fact, have inherent value. At its most general, that value is in allowing people to make exchanges they wouldn't otherwise be able to make. In particular, that sadly seems to be centered on drug trade. The fact that someone designed the mechanics has little to do with it.
Back when BTC was close to USD$30, I was wondering how much meat there was to it. I had enough that if the market was going to vanish it would be a damn shame if I didn't cash out (so to speak) before that happened. After a bit of thought I decided to hold on to the BTC. I made a comment to a skeptical friend that "bitcoin can't fail." Then came the compromises and the price of BTC dropped like a stone.
I was disappointed, but I didn't feel like I'd lost my tiny fortune. When I made the statement to my friend, I knew what people were using it for. I was confident they would continue to find value in it and the price would rise once again. My prediction has been satisfied. I don't feel like my confidence was ill-placed, or that I got lucky to see the rebound and no edict has repaired the shaken confidence of BTC traders.
I think bitcoin is an extremely interesting concept, and the economics around it are equally interesting. I bought a tiny amount when the prices were around the $11 mark, and its insane to think of the price-shift. I made a couple bucks off the price shift, but now I'm honestly thinking that the price will fall back down. Despite serving the needs of many SR/SatoshiDice people, I dont think they're quite at the point…
The problem with all fiat currencies is they have no inherent value; it is all in the eye of the beholder. So what is an "appropriate" price is quite difficult to determine. Most currencies are driven by being effective monopolies wherever they are issued, so the market price remains somewhat stable. Even so, many professional economists have opined that the exchange rates even between major currencies are way too vo…
This is why so many are coming out in favor of metal-backed currencies, because it restrains governments in what they can print to pay their own bills and their ability to devalue the savings of the populace (as Venezuela just did minutes ago, devaluing the savings of its citizens by 47% in one fell swoop).
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Or the other vice, SatoshiDice[1]. [1]: http://satoshidice.com/
Drugs, gambling...get hookers in there, and you'll have a legit currency. ;) No, seriously, once a currency gets to the point hookers accept it, it's indisputable that it's real.
It wouldn't surprise me if bitcoins were already being exchanged for escort service or some kind of "hookup" business via side channels already.
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The price jumped from $13 to $22 over 1 month, not 12 hours. http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg60ztgSzm1g10zm2g2...
Youre actually right. It jumped from around 15.50 to a bit above 20 in one day. The point stands though, very short term, massive spikes.
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Drugs, gambling...get hookers in there, and you'll have a legit currency. ;) No, seriously, once a currency gets to the point hookers accept it, it's indisputable that it's real.
If you wanted to make the 'Uber of prostitution', you'd probably find Bitcoin helpful.
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That is confused. If I smash the hope diamond and then get the pope and four world leaders to urinate on it— then surely the resulting mush would be the most rare and costly constructed substance on earth. It would also be worthless.
Film it and it would be some pretty great performance art. ;)