Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
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Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
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Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#2When researchers and policymakers begin to have even an inkling of Bitcoin’s deeper significance – more than “anonymous digicash created by evil hackers to buy contraband from drug dealers” – there’s a better chance that banks and governments of the world will start to get serious about cleaning up the global mess they’ve created.
Can bitcoin's unregulatable nature really provide an example for how establishment financial systems should be better regulated? Bitcoin can be an alternative, it seems, but not a "city on a hill" to fiat currencies, and their financial systems.
Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#3When researchers and policymakers begin to have even an inkling of Bitcoin’s deeper significance – more than “anonymous digicash created by evil hackers to buy contraband from drug dealers” – there’s a better chance that banks and governments of the world will start to get serious about cleaning up the global mess they’ve created. Can bitcoin's unregulatable nature really provide an example for how establishment fina…
What makes you think Bitcoin is unregulatable?
Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#4What is Bitcoin's deeper significance? I don't know much, but here are some sketches.
1) Bitcoin has the potential to destroy the tools of monetary policy. 2) Bitcoin has the potential to hide taxable income from governments. 3) Governments with dwindling tax bases may react by printing traditional currency, hastening the flight to Bitcoin in a vicious cycle. 4) Traditional currencies may collapse as people rush to convert them into Bitcoin. 5) Unable to tax coercively, traditional governments may collapse.
What might replace them? Toll roads and kickstarter philanthropy in Randian democracies?
(Is this in the ballpark for Bitcoin's potential impact or not?)
Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#5Quote from article:
> This past June Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem gave a Bitcoin-friendly report to Parliament. He said: «Bitcoin is not electronic money… At present its eventual I'mpact on the real economy seems negligible…Bitcoin is not a financial product as defined by law. (Mediation in) the purchase or sale of Bitcoins is not a financial service either, so the Financial Supervision Act does not apply.»
This is the same Dijsselbloem who said that deposit confiscation on Cyprus is not a template for similar confiscations in the rest of EU: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-19/cypriot-bank-accoun...
This is the same Dijsselbloem who said that Cyprus is a template for "haircuts" on deposits in the EU: http://www.businessinsider.com/dijsselbloem-cyprus-deal-is-a...
When time comes, all these guys will change their minds 180º without blinking. Fortunately, it will be too late.
Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#6When researchers and policymakers begin to have even an inkling of Bitcoin’s deeper significance – more than “anonymous digicash created by evil hackers to buy contraband from drug dealers” – there’s a better chance that banks and governments of the world will start to get serious about cleaning up the global mess they’ve created. Can bitcoin's unregulatable nature really provide an example for how establishment fina…
How do you think Bitcoin's unregulatable nature differs from the unregulatable nature of physical cash?
Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#7What is Bitcoin's deeper significance? I don't know much, but here are some sketches. 1) Bitcoin has the potential to destroy the tools of monetary policy. 2) Bitcoin has the potential to hide taxable income from governments. 3) Governments with dwindling tax bases may react by printing traditional currency, hastening the flight to Bitcoin in a vicious cycle. 4) Traditional currencies may collapse as people rush to c…
If we're talking about deep significance, I also think Bitcoin could be a tool to help support world peace (hear me out!)
My understanding of one facet of the UN is that by promoting trade between UN nations it makes war between these nations more costly and difficult thus reducing the chance that war would break out.
If correct a globally accepted and popular currency which can be freely transferred across borders between citizens of every nation could help depopularise outbreak of war between nations.
You can criticise this view in many ways, but I think it's undeniable in principal that open trade between nations would serve as a barrier for initiation of war and conflict. And raising barriers against this behaviour is only a good thing.
Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#8What is Bitcoin's deeper significance? I don't know much, but here are some sketches. 1) Bitcoin has the potential to destroy the tools of monetary policy. 2) Bitcoin has the potential to hide taxable income from governments. 3) Governments with dwindling tax bases may react by printing traditional currency, hastening the flight to Bitcoin in a vicious cycle. 4) Traditional currencies may collapse as people rush to c…
If things continue going as they were for the last years: government printing money and people trying to move savings anywhere but in the currencies, then yes, all printed currencies will become worthless and if people run to Bitcoin, it will be impossible to have "budget deficits" and very hard to tax many people.
Without government people would have to find ways to voluntarily pay for things they like to have. E.g. roads, insurance etc. Some roads will be paid, some roads will be sponsored by merchants that do business on the streets, some roads will be owned by big malls etc. The market is different from the state not in that it does something differently, but that there are millions of ways to satisfy demand instead of just one.
Read more on possibilities in "Practical Anarchy": http://freedomainradio.com/FreeBooks.aspx
Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#9> there’s a better chance that banks and governments of the world will start to get serious about cleaning up the global mess they’ve created
Never gonna happen. Bitcoin is the cleaning we need. There's absolutely no incentive for governments or banks (which are in bed with governments) to make things better for those, who are not in the club.
I don't think Bitcoin's gonna wipe out the very idea of government, but it certainly has a potential to give rise to free economic zones, where no government can have its way. And their success can, in turn, convince even more people that they don't really need anyone to govern them.
Re: Bitcoin, The Economic Singularity: From Holland with Love
#10When researchers and policymakers begin to have even an inkling of Bitcoin’s deeper significance – more than “anonymous digicash created by evil hackers to buy contraband from drug dealers” – there’s a better chance that banks and governments of the world will start to get serious about cleaning up the global mess they’ve created. Can bitcoin's unregulatable nature really provide an example for how establishment fina…
How do you think Bitcoin's unregulatable nature differs from the unregulatable nature of physical cash?
1. Your cash can be devalued by printing more cash: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing
2. If you move or store cash, it can be confiscated by the police: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/nation/july-dec13/assets_08-1...
Bitcoin is impossible to "print" more than scheduled and it's much easier to transport and store safely than cash or gold.