How many articles have been posted to HN now saying this exact same thing? We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency. However, the problem is not with the currency system but rather the people buying and selling BTC. Bitcoin itself has everything it needs to become a legitimate currency. The author also may not have realized that the coins are divisible (to 10^-8) and that all Bitcoins will be mined by 2140 (not 2040 as he claims).
Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
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Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, they can be subdivided by up to eight decimal places.
And I believe that they could be changed to divide even further if necessary in the future.
$0.01 / 0.00000001 BTC = $1,000,000/BTC
i.e. If BTC gets to be more than $1,000,000 apiece, this will be necessary to perform USD transactions down to the cent. Otherwise, it's not a problem
Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#13Sorry to submit yet another Bitcoin article, but this one turned out to be somewhat of a revelation for me. Thinking of bitcoins as digital collectibles seems a much better metaphor than thinking of them as money. Collectibles have a fixed supply, and their value depends on some concept that people are interested in. Consider e.g. Nazi memorabilia from WW2: fewer and fewer are discovered each year, the total supply i…
Memorabilia market prices vary by the quality and history of the piece; pieces with "richer" history fetch higher prices. BitCoin behaves more like a commodity. I expect derivative instruments based on BitCoin mining rates any day now.
The comparison is obviously to a single type of item. Say "Mauser HSc, excellent condition, provenience unknown". But there's no reason why individual bitcoins can't acquire additional value once history accrues to them. Let's say celebrity X publicly buys a bitcoin and spends it in a well-publicized event. People will probably bid extra to acquire this "famous" bitcoin afterwards.
Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Memorabilia market prices vary by the quality and history of the piece; pieces with "richer" history fetch higher prices. BitCoin behaves more like a commodity. I expect derivative instruments based on BitCoin mining rates any day now.
The comparison is obviously to a single type of item. Say "Mauser HSc, excellent condition, provenience unknown". But there's no reason why individual bitcoins can't acquire additional value once history accrues to them. Let's say celebrity X publicly buys a bitcoin and spends it in a well-publicized event. People will probably bid extra to acquire this "famous" bitcoin afterwards.
Bitcoin doesn't work like that. There isn't some sort of serial number assigned, or anything.
Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#15Sorry to submit yet another Bitcoin article, but this one turned out to be somewhat of a revelation for me. Thinking of bitcoins as digital collectibles seems a much better metaphor than thinking of them as money. Collectibles have a fixed supply, and their value depends on some concept that people are interested in. Consider e.g. Nazi memorabilia from WW2: fewer and fewer are discovered each year, the total supply i…
Bitcoin is also unusual for a collectible in how much it can be subdivided.
Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#1621st century Beanie Babies
Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#17How many articles have been posted to HN now saying this exact same thing? We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency. However, the problem is not with the currency system but rather the people buying and selling BTC. Bitcoin itself has everything it needs to become a legitimate currency. The author also may not have realized that the coins are divisible (to 10^-8) and that all Bitcoins…
>We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency.
Collectibles are a very specific kind of commodity. The price of potatoes doesn't vary because there are potato enthusiasts out there extolling their virtues.
Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#18Sorry to submit yet another Bitcoin article, but this one turned out to be somewhat of a revelation for me. Thinking of bitcoins as digital collectibles seems a much better metaphor than thinking of them as money. Collectibles have a fixed supply, and their value depends on some concept that people are interested in. Consider e.g. Nazi memorabilia from WW2: fewer and fewer are discovered each year, the total supply i…
Bitcoin is also unusual for a collectible in how much it can be subdivided.
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Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#19I hope it's not considered ad hominem to point out that the man who wrote this piece considers fiat currency in general a mistake:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiswoodhill/2013/03/06/the-fia...
Dude is just really into gold, which apparently has intrinsic value?
Re: Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money
#20How many articles have been posted to HN now saying this exact same thing? We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency. However, the problem is not with the currency system but rather the people buying and selling BTC. Bitcoin itself has everything it needs to become a legitimate currency. The author also may not have realized that the coins are divisible (to 10^-8) and that all Bitcoins…
>We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency. Collectibles are a very specific kind of commodity. The price of potatoes doesn't vary because there are potato enthusiasts out there extolling their virtues.
I think that closest analogy are the goldbugs.