What's kind of crazy to me is that people don't think that if bitcoin really gets successful companies like paypal, visa, google etc. won't just come out with their own 'coins' backed by more user friendly software and possibly other incentives while maintaining anonymity.
Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
61–70 of 80 posts
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#62The article suggests that government can't get rid of bitcoins. But given the upper limit on the number, couldn't the government simply buy them all?
And how will they buy them? If they started buying them all the price would skyrocket and people would be more likely to hold onto them. And which government? The Chinese, The Russian the US? We'd see all nations suddenly rushing to buy bitcoins, and I'd be a billionaire.
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#63What's kind of crazy to me is that people don't think that if bitcoin really gets successful companies like paypal, visa, google etc. won't just come out with their own 'coins' backed by more user friendly software and possibly other incentives while maintaining anonymity.
Big corporations are in the inverse business of anonymity, they don't even want you to have a nickname (Google+?) and they want to get all the information they can from you (what you like, your address, etc). Plus, they have to respond to the US government/law.
So i don't think someone would trust anonymity to any of those big corporations.
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Generally you have to jump through some number of extra hoops to work legally in a nation of which you are not a citizen. Different nations have different numbers of hoops, but they all have at least a few, to my knowledge.
Correct, the Schengen agreement only allows you to stay (and work, usually) for up to 3 months without a visa. For longer periods, you need a visa or a work permit (but it is usually much simpler to obtain if you come from the Schengen area).
EU nationals do not need a work permit to work in another EU country and live there for that purpose.
http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/migrant-worker/...
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
And most importantly Americans are highly mobile; Michiganders can head off to Chicago or Atlanta so while the prospects for Michigan itself remain bleak, people aren't trapped. Hmm, don't Spaniards legally have the same ability to move to Germany to take work on equal terms with Germans? What prevents this from happening in practice? Language barrier, prejudice, or ... ?
Generally you have to jump through some number of extra hoops to work legally in a nation of which you are not a citizen. Different nations have different numbers of hoops, but they all have at least a few, to my knowledge.
Moving from Ireland to the UK, all I had to do was register for a national insurance number. Took all of 10 minutes.
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Generally you have to jump through some number of extra hoops to work legally in a nation of which you are not a citizen. Different nations have different numbers of hoops, but they all have at least a few, to my knowledge.
Correct, the Schengen agreement only allows you to stay (and work, usually) for up to 3 months without a visa. For longer periods, you need a visa or a work permit (but it is usually much simpler to obtain if you come from the Schengen area).
The Schengen Agreement only defines the region within which there are no borders, it does not define who can work where and for how long.
In addition, any EU citizen is free to work in any EU member country with no restrictions. For example, as a UK citizen I can choose to work in Germany without needing a visa, despite the UK being outside the Schengen Area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_for_workers
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#67What's kind of crazy to me is that people don't think that if bitcoin really gets successful companies like paypal, visa, google etc. won't just come out with their own 'coins' backed by more user friendly software and possibly other incentives while maintaining anonymity.
Big corporations are in the inverse business of anonymity, they don't even want you to have a nickname (Google+?) and they want to get all the information they can from you (what you like, your address, etc). Plus, they have to respond to the US government/law. So i don't think someone would trust anonymity to any of those big corporations.
'cept for the clever marketing.
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#68Western Union (Business Services) employee here. I disagree with the author on many levels: 1. Government regulations. Wire transfer industry is a HIGHLY regulated industry. There is no way BitCoin will be able to operate without complying with AML (AntiMoney Laundering) and AntiTerrorist regulations. Many names/countries/organizations are on OFAC list. Thus, the minute you transfer a wire to Mohammad or to someone i…
I don't think you understand what bitcoin is...
The point (mentioned in the article) is that while such regulation does exist, there's absolutely no way to apply it to bitcoin, if used properly.
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#69What's kind of crazy to me is that people don't think that if bitcoin really gets successful companies like paypal, visa, google etc. won't just come out with their own 'coins' backed by more user friendly software and possibly other incentives while maintaining anonymity.
These are all centralized companies - if they go out of business what happens to your money? What if the company decides to print more of this money for itself?
Napster went out of business becasue the government shut it down. Bittorrent is still going strong. Bitcoin is p2p like bittorent. There is no central point of failure.
Re: Bitcoin's comeback: should Western Union be afraid?
#70"The original run-up in prices could easily be explained as a speculative bubble, and the subsequent decline as the popping of that bubble. But if that were the whole story, then the value of Bitcoins should have continued to decline"
What a stupid statement to make. By definition, a bubble grows, then bursts, then things are back to normal. Similarly, the stock market did not indefinitely continued to decline after the dot com bubble... It is like the author is saying "the price of this stock should decline in the future because it has declined in the past".