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This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

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Re: This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

#31

Post by astrodust »

rthomas6 wrote: post #21
astrodust wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could this comment be more Hacker News? There are not 7 billion people that this will impact. How many of those have no access to a computer of any sort, including a mobile phone? How many are under the age of ten? That cuts out a huge chunk from that figure. Then subtract all those too old to care about Bitcoin or internet anything. Then remove from that those that have little faith in anything they can't touch and…

>How many of those have no access to a computer of any sort, including a mobile phone? Irrelevant to your point, but less than you might think. Currency transfer using texting is popular and highly functional in several poor African countries. I agree with your assessment that these people won't be affected by Bitcoin, but using mobile phones to send money is actually VERY common in some poor countries.

Yes, mobile phones are big in Africa, this I understand, but you're admitting you need a mobile phone to do this. Many people do not have one and aren't likely to get one soon for a host of reasons.

There are people that will never have the chance to own a mobile phone. They have other priorities, like fresh water, AIDS or malaria medication, or a reliable source of food.

Re: This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

#32

Post by astrodust »

panarky wrote: post #29
astrodust wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could this comment be more Hacker News? There are not 7 billion people that this will impact. How many of those have no access to a computer of any sort, including a mobile phone? How many are under the age of ten? That cuts out a huge chunk from that figure. Then subtract all those too old to care about Bitcoin or internet anything. Then remove from that those that have little faith in anything they can't touch and…

> At this point Bitcoin isn't even as popular as Cuban Pesos. Bitcoin replacing the US dollar is unrealistic. But if it's this valuable at the Cuban-peso level, how valuable will it be when it's as popular as, say, Canadian dollars or South African rand?

It's not even at the Cuban Peso level and it's highly unlikely to eclipse the valuation of all currency for any developed country.

Canada is the 11th largest economy in the world, slightly behind Russia and India. South Africa is less than a quarter of that, but still way bigger than Bitcoin.

Cuba has a GDP of $68B. Is there that much Bitcoin being exchanged for goods yet?

I'd be impressed if Bitcoin transactions have eclipsed the economy of EVE Online.

Re: This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

#35

Post by pmelendez »

astrodust wrote: post #31
rthomas6 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>How many of those have no access to a computer of any sort, including a mobile phone? Irrelevant to your point, but less than you might think. Currency transfer using texting is popular and highly functional in several poor African countries. I agree with your assessment that these people won't be affected by Bitcoin, but using mobile phones to send money is actually VERY common in some poor countries.

Yes, mobile phones are big in Africa, this I understand, but you're admitting you need a mobile phone to do this. Many people do not have one and aren't likely to get one soon for a host of reasons. There are people that will never have the chance to own a mobile phone. They have other priorities, like fresh water, AIDS or malaria medication, or a reliable source of food.

"They have other priorities, like fresh water, AIDS or malaria medication, or a reliable source of food."

I am from a country with ~50% inflation and +30% of poverty (under the government scale, it is arguable to be way higher) and I can tell you that in that context you are overestimating people's priorities.

I have seen people with a minimum wage salary and without anything to eat but having smartphones and/or having cosmetic surgeries.

Re: This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

#36

Post by panarky »

astrodust wrote: post #32
panarky wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At this point Bitcoin isn't even as popular as Cuban Pesos. Bitcoin replacing the US dollar is unrealistic. But if it's this valuable at the Cuban-peso level, how valuable will it be when it's as popular as, say, Canadian dollars or South African rand?

It's not even at the Cuban Peso level and it's highly unlikely to eclipse the valuation of all currency for any developed country. Canada is the 11th largest economy in the world, slightly behind Russia and India. South Africa is less than a quarter of that, but still way bigger than Bitcoin. Cuba has a GDP of $68B. Is there that much Bitcoin being exchanged for goods yet? I'd be impressed if Bitcoin transactions hav…

> I'd be impressed if Bitcoin transactions have eclipsed the economy of EVE Online

You say that like it's a bad thing. Looks like upside to me.

I don't pretend to know the future of Bitcoin. If nothing else it's demonstrated the possibility of transmitting real value across borders without banks or governments.

That capability is worth a lot more than the GDP of Cuba.

I don't know if Bitcoin or something else will solve this problem, but now that everyone knows what's possible, it's as inevitable as any other obvious invention.

And whatever solves this problem will be worth a hell of a lot.

Re: This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

#37

Post by GhotiFish »

Atroxide wrote: post #30
viraptor wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are not. It's possible to divide, but there are limits. Edit: not sure why this is downvoted. You can't divide one Satoshi, unless the protocol is updated.

You realize there is no down-voting right? And your post isn't being voted for because it is irreverent. Lets say that the value of a BC goes up to 1 Million USD somehow (which is REALLY unlikely), a Satoshi is still worth a penny. We understand that it can't divide infinity and yes you are right by saying it, but for this discussion, we are able to divide a bit-coin as much as needed, and besides- if it ever gets to…

well, he's wrong and he's not wrong. If bitcoin becomes a global exchange, then it will be worth a fair bit more than one million each.

but the protocol can be changed to have more significant digits, so things can be divided more.

Re: This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

#38

Post by astrodust »

pmelendez wrote: post #35
astrodust wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, mobile phones are big in Africa, this I understand, but you're admitting you need a mobile phone to do this. Many people do not have one and aren't likely to get one soon for a host of reasons. There are people that will never have the chance to own a mobile phone. They have other priorities, like fresh water, AIDS or malaria medication, or a reliable source of food.

"They have other priorities, like fresh water, AIDS or malaria medication, or a reliable source of food." I am from a country with ~50% inflation and +30% of poverty (under the government scale, it is arguable to be way higher) and I can tell you that in that context you are overestimating people's priorities. I have seen people with a minimum wage salary and without anything to eat but having smartphones and/or havi…

That's the paradox of places like Africa. You have massive amounts of intense poverty, but technology still trickles down.

I'm still skeptical a currency created by crytoanarchists and supported by people with money to burn on ASIC hardware will have a meaningful impact on those with virtually nothing. If I'm wrong, so much the better.

Re: This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

#39

Post by viraptor »

Atroxide wrote: post #30
viraptor wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are not. It's possible to divide, but there are limits. Edit: not sure why this is downvoted. You can't divide one Satoshi, unless the protocol is updated.

You realize there is no down-voting right? And your post isn't being voted for because it is irreverent. Lets say that the value of a BC goes up to 1 Million USD somehow (which is REALLY unlikely), a Satoshi is still worth a penny. We understand that it can't divide infinity and yes you are right by saying it, but for this discussion, we are able to divide a bit-coin as much as needed, and besides- if it ever gets to…

There is downvoting for comments. You just cannot see it without high enough karma.

Regarding Satoshi being always worth something - yes, in theory that should be the case. Unless some huge changes take place. Major exchanges disappearing, issues with the protocol, introduction of blacklists, lots of other things we cannot predict at the moment. It doesn't even have to be a penny - if it was headed too quickly towards that line, I would expect everyone to panic because they could never recover the theoretical amount in local currency.

Re: This bitcoin graph has become so accurate again at the moment, it's scary

#40

Post by viraptor »

GhotiFish wrote: post #37
Atroxide wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realize there is no down-voting right? And your post isn't being voted for because it is irreverent. Lets say that the value of a BC goes up to 1 Million USD somehow (which is REALLY unlikely), a Satoshi is still worth a penny. We understand that it can't divide infinity and yes you are right by saying it, but for this discussion, we are able to divide a bit-coin as much as needed, and besides- if it ever gets to…

well, he's wrong and he's not wrong. If bitcoin becomes a global exchange, then it will be worth a fair bit more than one million each. but the protocol can be changed to have more significant digits, so things can be divided more.

> but the protocol can be changed to have more significant digits

As I wrote: "... unless the protocol is updated.". There are still reserved bits available. But then everyone would have to update their software. And if we're talking about a global, usable currency, that means updating millions of hardware devices to support it.

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