81–90 of 268 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
does bitcoin have an intrinsic value? if so, what?
Does dollar have an intrinsic value? Actually, can you even define "intrinsic value" without going in circles or defining it simply as current value?
An agreement between two or more parties.
Bitcoin is the first Internet-wide payment system where transactions either happen with no fees or very low fees (down to fractions of pennies). Existing payment systems charge fees of around 2 percent to three percent As long as consumers are paid in their local currency and vendors pay their employees, their taxes, and their other costs in local currency, then bitcoin as a payment technology has similar costs as cr…
I got tired arguing with people with vested interest in Bitcoin that Bitcoin is not cheaper. You see a lot of people on Reddit getting super excited buying junk at Overstock and saying: "The banks got nothing!" without realizing that: 1) Coinbase sold their bitcoins at Bitstamp. 2) When more people sell than buy, Coinbase needs to wire money from Bitstamp to their European bank account and then to their US one; 3) Ov…
> In other words, this over complicated process involves a lot
> more banking activity than credit cards!
Go watch this 11-minute Khan Academy video to see how much banking activity goes on behind the scenes when you swipe your card: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPxQQNyCxas
Bitcoin isn't free, but it's far, far, cheaper than credit cards, and gives far less money to banks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is absolutely correct. One other key point: Marc and his portfolio companies (among others) are deliberately evading regulations. Those regulations have real costs, which is why they are worth evading at all. Were companies like Coinbase to actually comply with U.S. law, they'd each have to spend $20 million on money transmission licenses and associated bonds (not including legal fees). These costs are not prese…
Huh. An 'unfair competition' lawsuit by someone with a nominally competing payment product ('FaceCash') ... After reading your CrunchBase profile, where I saw that you have your own competing product, and looking at the list of defendants in that lawsuit, may I just say that while I don't bear you any ill will (and in fact I wish you well), I don't hope that you win this. That doesn't mean much since I base that opin…
Sure, if BitCoin didn't exist, you'd have to do a lot of things yourself that the BitCoin network now makes trivial. But why should those companies be forced by law to pretend that BitCoin and its network don't exist? And don't have the properties that they have?
I don't think this is a good interpretation of the situation. Bitcoin does not natively provide anti money laundering which is one of the primary purposes of money transfer regulation. Bitcoin also doesn't provide consumer protections that many people want.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The usd has intrinsic value - it saves you from years in jail if you cough up as much as Uncle Sam requires of you every year.
You've only claimed it had value to Uncle Sam here, we're far from “intrinsic”.
> The practical consequence of solving this problem is that Bitcoin gives us, for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer. The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to over…
The reason I feel bitcoin is a scam is due to such misunderstandings. Bitcoin is not what makes any of this possible, the research happening for 20+ years in the background is. Bitcoin is just a marketing term, a specific implementation of those principles that derives its power just from the number of clients installed across the world with it. All the arguments that Andreessen gave are not Bitcoin's, but are rather…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does dollar have an intrinsic value? Actually, can you even define "intrinsic value" without going in circles or defining it simply as current value?
If we take 'intrinsic value' to mean 'having some use other than to simply trade away again to someone else, or being backed by something with intrinsic value', then the dollar has intrinsic value in that it is backed by freedom from being prosecuted by the US government for non-payment of taxes.
Hypothetical situation: Water holds "intrinsic value" to me, for obvious reasons (in much the same way as your freedom from US government prosecution). I know a guy who will trade me some water from some snail tails. Therefore, snail tails are "intrinsically valuable".
I reject your definition of "intrinsic value". Sounds sorta' like "regular value" to me.
There are only $1 trillion cash/coins in circulation. Everything else is debt. http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/current/h41.htm
The USD is a debt based currency, so that is expected. Bitcoins are a proof of work based currency, but unfortunately it acts more like a commodity at the moment.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I got tired arguing with people with vested interest in Bitcoin that Bitcoin is not cheaper. You see a lot of people on Reddit getting super excited buying junk at Overstock and saying: "The banks got nothing!" without realizing that: 1) Coinbase sold their bitcoins at Bitstamp. 2) When more people sell than buy, Coinbase needs to wire money from Bitstamp to their European bank account and then to their US one; 3) Ov…
> In other words, this over complicated process involves a lot > more banking activity than credit cards! No, it's still FAR less banking activity than credit cards. You have no idea what happens behind the scenes when you swipe! Go watch this 11-minute Khan Academy video to see how much banking activity goes on behind the scenes when you swipe your card: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPxQQNyCxas Bitcoin isn't free…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The reason I feel bitcoin is a scam is due to such misunderstandings. Bitcoin is not what makes any of this possible, the research happening for 20+ years in the background is. Bitcoin is just a marketing term, a specific implementation of those principles that derives its power just from the number of clients installed across the world with it. All the arguments that Andreessen gave are not Bitcoin's, but are rather…
I think it's safe to refer to most cryptocurrency methodologies as "Bitcoin" when talking to the masses. Making a casual relationship between misunderstandings of technology and a given implementation of it doesn't make a truth.
> The criticism that merchants will not accept Bitcoin > because of its volatility is also incorrect. Bitcoin can be > used entirely as a payment system; merchants do not need to > hold any Bitcoin currency or be exposed to Bitcoin > volatility at any time. Any consumer or merchant can trade > in and out of Bitcoin and other currencies > any time they want. I'm having trouble understanding this point of view because…
One of the big reasons that the US moved towards central banking and eventually paper currency is stability.
Any finite commodity is subject to rapid swings when supplies are constrained. In recent memory, copper, silver and electricity are all commodities whose price went crazy when either demand got wacky high, or supplies got very limited.
In history, the economy was traditionally very vulnerable to economic shock in the fall, because when agriculture dominated the economies small banks were starving for capital as they waited for the harvest (and payment of crop loans). Any hiccup would rapidly cascade through the system and lead to bank runs.
With the fiat system, capital is made available to smooth the bumps. Instead of a depression and widespread bank failures in 2008, the central banks flooded the markets with capital and blunted the impact of the crisis and avoided panic.