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Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

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Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#61

Post by SyneRyder »

fat0wl wrote: post #28
drewblaisdell wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Notice how none of the tech-giants want to get involved with it. Chamath Palihapitiya, Kevin Rose, the Winklevii

missing from that list -- Google, Yahoo, Amazon... actual retailers with products I don't care what VC hipsters are doing, and who the hell were the Winklevii before they started hyping bitcoin?

You might have missed the news that Baidu (basically China's equivalent of Google) have started accepting Bitcoin as payment for their services. It's unlikely that Baidu is able to do that without approval (or at least guidance) from the Chinese Government. That's partly what has sent Bitcoin soaring, the theory that China views Bitcoin as a viable alternative currency to USD, and they want to dominate it before other countries do.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/18/investing/bitcoin-china/

Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#62

Post by fat0wl »

drewblaisdell wrote: post #45
iand wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are mistaken if you think it's an alternative. From their site: "Buttercoin is a free, white-label bitcoin exchange"

I think he is either a troll or has an axe to grind about this issue for some unmentioned reason.

Neither. I'm a signal processing engineer & generally a good guy. And I think the digital currency ecosystem is interesting but I do think that Bitcoin's system (carrying out automated rules from benevolent leader) is kindof a farce.

But I don't even care about that so much -- the reason I have an axe to grind is because all the interest seems to be fueled by greed. So these hypocrites rail against "the systemmmm" but really all they want is a new system in which they start out with the upper hand -- which they believe they have due to early adoption, investment in mining rigs, and collective delusions of bidding wars / price will go up up.

If Bitcoin were now the same way it was back in the day when it was a nerd trying to buy a pizza because he believed in the merit of the technology, I would think that is pretty endearing. But let's all just admit it -- it's NOT. It's a platform of collective greed and anyone who can resist the urge to try to make a buck off it would probably do better to go gain some knowledge and try to accomplish something more interesting than a "futristic-anarcho" (whatever) copycat version of Wall Street.

Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#63

Post by dragonwriter »

nilkn wrote: post #59
dragonwriter wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seriously? How about buying a house? Buying a car? Going to college? Going on vacation? ... In all those cases, saving USD as dollars is generally a suboptimal idea (unless its over a particularly short term, but that gets back to the short-term liquidity, not long-term investment, case.) Using the dollars to buy investments that are expected to be worth more when converted back to cash is what you usually want to…

That's a fine idea, but few people will do that in practice because they don't want any risk at all in losing the money they're saving for those things. People generally invest for the very long-term, like retirement, not for things like house downpayments.

> few people will do that in practice because they don't want any risk at all in losing the money they're saving for those things.

Many people do it in practice. Stuffing dollars in your mattress is "saving dollars". Loaning money at interest who will aggregate it with other money and invest in productive assets is an indirect investment in productive assets other than dollars.

Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#64

Post by grey-area »

triptychs wrote: post #35
grey-area wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the beginning of this year, the price of a US dollar has declined by more than 98%, from BTC 0.074 to just over BTC 0.001! Consider the last month: 2013-11-01 212.87 USD = 1 BTC 2013-11-22 733.71 USD = 1 BTC If you think Bitcoin is a great investment and can sell your BTC to get other assets in at a high point, this is a good thing, though slightly worrying because of the boom and bust pattern and extreme volat…

Just to comment on this part: >I like the idea of a currency which doesn't allow politicians to introduce inflation, but perhaps we should have one which has a finite set of tokens on setup, and doesn't attempt to also attract people as some sort of investment with mining etc. I'm sure someone will correct me, but as I understand it this is how Ripple[0] works. From my recollection (I haven't checked in on how Ripple…

Thanks for the link, that looks interesting (as a currency). From their FAQ they look like a Bitcoin inspired currency which tries to define all the parts necessary for independent digital payments:

Payment Network (with protocol)

Exchange

Currency

All in one place. The advantage to that if you trust them of course is that you can expect the exchange/payment processor isn't a buggy webapp sitting on an insecure VPS with multiple ways to be hacked (I hope!). If you don't trust them it's even more scary than bitcoin though.

I wish alternatives to Bitcoin got half the attention Bitcoin has been getting on HN over the last few months - a currency is not a success because it constantly shoots up in value, quite the reverse.

Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#65

Post by colanderman »

nilkn wrote: post #48
dragonwriter wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A similar question can be asked about USD: why would you ever save it instead of spending it immediately, since it's only going to lose value over time due to inflation? Except for relatively small amounts for liquidity for known or potential immediate needs, it doesn't make sense to hold US dollars (or any other modern fiat currency), it makes a lot more sense to invest them in productive assets which can be conve…

> What motivation to save USD? Seriously? How about buying a house? Buying a car? Going to college? Going on vacation? ... Most people cannot save up enough for these things overnight, and they aren't going to put their downpayment savings fund into stocks because it's not worth the risk of losing it for them.

Um, you know there do exist lower-risk investment vehicles than stocks, right? Back when there was inflation, you'd be a fool not to put the $10,000 you're saving for a house into a 1- 2- or 5-year CD. And investing in I-bonds for their kids' education is still something parents do.

Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#66

Post by grey-area »

jerguismi wrote: post #37
grey-area wrote: post #3

When businesses actually price products or services in a digital currency as opposed to accepting it, we'll know it has arrived and is ready to rival national currencies.

I don't see pricing as significant goal with Bitcoin. Other currencies can be used for pricing. I use bitcoin myself, and never by from stores which price the goods in Bitcoin, because they are most certainly rip-off prices. The good way is to price in fiat, then use something like bitpay exchange rate at checkout.

I don't see pricing as significant goal with Bitcoin.

If that's the case, it's not a currency. I do think this is something Bitcoin needs to address if it is to be taken seriously as a medium of exchange.

Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#67

Post by rfnslyr »

jzwinck wrote: post #13
rfnslyr wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: Where can a Canadian passively invest $50 - 200 a month safely and watch their investment grow?

The TSX Composite Index: https://www.google.com/finance?cid=9291235 There are others if you have a more specific interest: http://web.tmxmoney.com/indices.php?locale=EN

I meant into Bitcoin.

Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#69

Post by mrb »

grey-area wrote: post #3

When businesses actually price products or services in a digital currency as opposed to accepting it, we'll know it has arrived and is ready to rival national currencies.

Then you will miss the moment when "Bitcoin has arrived".

You see, if anything the last 5 years has taught us, is that Bitcoin's adoption can continue to dramatically increase despite wild volatility. (Data point: Bitpay signed up 10,000 merchants through a period when 1 BTC was sometimes losing 50% of its value intra-day!)

Volatility is unfortunate, that's for sure, and it is expected to decline over time as trading volume increases. But if you want to measure Bitcoin's success/adoption, look at actual adoption, instead of volatility.

Re: Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

#70

Post by grey-area »

mrb wrote: post #69
grey-area wrote: post #3

When businesses actually price products or services in a digital currency as opposed to accepting it, we'll know it has arrived and is ready to rival national currencies.

Then you will miss the moment when "Bitcoin has arrived". You see, if anything the last 5 years has taught us, is that Bitcoin's adoption can continue to dramatically increase despite wild volatility. (Data point: Bitpay signed up 10,000 merchants through a period when 1 BTC was sometimes losing 50% of its value intra-day!) Volatility is unfortunate, that's for sure, and it is expected to decline over time as trading…

Actual adoption as a currency requires pricing in that currency, that requires stability.
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