Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users • Hacker News Board

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#51

Post by kgo » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 9:24 PM UTC

cjensen wrote: post #18

Speaking as someone who knows a lot about economics, I think PT Barnum put it best...[1] Economics is very clear in predicting how this will end up. Bitcoins have no intrinsic value and therefore the long-term price will be precisely zero. Each generation has its tulips [2]; each generation claims that the persistence in tulip price means that there is permanent intrinsic value; each generation is disappointed [3]. T…

Define 'long term' Government's crumble making the long term value of any currency 0.

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#52

Post by OafTobark » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 9:26 PM UTC

modeless wrote: post #30

OafTobark wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't really have a choice in some cases. Coinbase creates new wallets for referrals and maybe other transactions rather than use the existing wallet

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Coinbase does not create new wallets for any transaction. It creates new bitcoin addresses, but all addresses are contained in one wallet.

Fair enough. Wrong word usage but I think thats what the original commentator meant. If not, my fault. That said, unless you have multiple Coinbase accounts, then I fail to see how you could have multiple wallets if they are not synonymous with addresses

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#53

Post by differentView » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 9:30 PM UTC

erikpukinskis wrote: post #29

cjensen wrote: post #18

Speaking as someone who knows a lot about economics, I think PT Barnum put it best...[1] Economics is very clear in predicting how this will end up. Bitcoins have no intrinsic value and therefore the long-term price will be precisely zero. Each generation has its tulips [2]; each generation claims that the persistence in tulip price means that there is permanent intrinsic value; each generation is disappointed [3]. T…

I don't think "intrinsic value" is a term in economics. It's a term in investing. Economics is far from clear about predicting how Bitcoin will end up. The professional economics world has yet to seriously weigh in about Bitcoin. I just searched the top 10 journals on this list: http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/whorrace/journals.htm and none of them appear to have anything published about Bitcoin. That said, Bitcoin do…

Why should I use Bitcoin as oppose to other digital currencies to send money to my grandma?

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#54

Post by konaseer » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 9:37 PM UTC

i too signed up in coinbase end of november ,carried away by the hype( before the crash that is)! but thankfully didnt buy any BTC. there may be others like me.

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#55

Post by seiji » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 9:42 PM UTC

adrianwaj wrote: post #27

cjensen wrote: post #18

Speaking as someone who knows a lot about economics, I think PT Barnum put it best...[1] Economics is very clear in predicting how this will end up. Bitcoins have no intrinsic value and therefore the long-term price will be precisely zero. Each generation has its tulips [2]; each generation claims that the persistence in tulip price means that there is permanent intrinsic value; each generation is disappointed [3]. T…

Just no intrinsic value to you... yet. But ask people in Cyprus who have had their money confiscated by their bank if they think bitcoins would've been valuable to them, or people in China who've walked across the border with a thumbdrive of bitcoins/litecoins/??coins. Ask anyone who has made an overseas funds transfer if doing so was quicker and more painless than at bank. Volatility is offset by the overall price r…

walked across the border with a thumbdrive of bitcoins/litecoins/??coins.

What about walking across the border with the account credentials of a WoW character with a lot of gold?

intranet of cryptocoins for budgeting and spending.

Is there a way to make a "trusted bitcoin" for internal use only where you don't have to do all the computation? I guess at that point it could just be a centralized Excel spreadsheet for all anybody inside the company cares.

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#56

Post by dubfan » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 9:46 PM UTC

WoodenChair wrote: post #45

lingben wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you know even basic economics you know that bitcoin is not currency

You mean "a system of money in general use in a particular country" (Oxford). Yeah definitely not a mainstream currency yet. That's why we use the polite term "alternative currency" which is short for "a system of money in limited use across many countries."

But it's still not a currency, kind of like how "alternative medicine" isn't really medicine.

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#57

Post by pg » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 9:49 PM UTC

Incidentally, Coinbase's graph has an almost misleadingly modest aspect ratio. If you want to compare their growth to other growth graphs you've seen, compress it by at least half horizontally.

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#58

Post by minimax » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 9:55 PM UTC

Do you actually have to wire up a bank account in order to create a coinbase account? How many coinbase accounts actually have any money in them?

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#59

Post by jedi_stannis » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 10:02 PM UTC

differentView wrote: post #53

erikpukinskis wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think "intrinsic value" is a term in economics. It's a term in investing. Economics is far from clear about predicting how Bitcoin will end up. The professional economics world has yet to seriously weigh in about Bitcoin. I just searched the top 10 journals on this list: http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/whorrace/journals.htm and none of them appear to have anything published about Bitcoin. That said, Bitcoin do…

Why should I use Bitcoin as oppose to other digital currencies to send money to my grandma?

There is no central controlling authority you need to trust to not seize your digital currency.

Re: Coinbase Crosses 650,000 Users

#60

Post by reillyse » Wed, Dec 18, 2013, 10:03 PM UTC

Kudos for a stunningly misleading graph. The manipulation of numbers is impressive.

Whats wrong with it? Bitcoin to USD has dropped by 50% in the last few days. By taking a "monthly average" and graphing that they've been able to hide this discrepancy.

However there is no legitimate reason to graph the "monthly average" instead of just the price. It's a line graph so it can deal with a range of numbers quite well. In fact the graph has a total of 6 data points for the BTC to USD line, the whiff of BS is strong on this one.