Crypto-Currencies and Bitcoin

[OptimusPrime]

Why do you say bitcoin isn't money? I've had the exact same argument from the opposite end of the spectrum, and I've always put forward that bitcoin is money.

To me, 'money' is the one or one of few widely accepted methods of payment in a society. I'm guessing Bitcoin is growing in people using it for transactions, but I read something recently that said 8% of people that own Bitcoin bought it to spend it as currency. The rest bought it as some kind of investment.

Which makes sense. Gresham's Law will tell you that given the choice of spending dollars, which are worth less and less every day, or Bitcoin, which are not, people are going to spend their dollars and hold their Bitcoin.

Historically, when money would emerge in a society, it was from trading commodities until you had a reasonably consistent value of these commodities relative to one another, and the one or ones that had the most desirable traits, durability, divisibility, scarcity, etc. became used as a store of value for indirect trade. There is none of that for Bitcoin, no background for what things are worth. Could that eventually develop? I suppose anything is possible, but does it have the traits people want in money? It is definitely divisible and scarce. It's portable as long as the technology to use it is available. Is it durable? You can't hold a bitcoin in your hand. I suppose if people trust technology enough, they could eventually consider their 1s and 0s to be durable. But then the technology to use it becomes just as much a part of the money. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems too complicated to be widely accepted, without the force of a gun anyway.

Which gives me another thought. The government would never force people to use Bitcoin, because they have no control over it and can't siphon off what they want. There is talk of the Federal Reserve coming up with a crypto-currency. I could see us heading there. A currency that we can't hold in our hands and the government can track our use and has complete control over? They would be all over that. Which makes me really hope that I'm right and people would never accept crypto-currencies as the money in society.

 

[Cavatt]

My rich friend told me not to bother and he is rich and I am not

 

[The Oi]

My rich friend told me not to bother and he is rich and I am not

Your rich friend didn't make any money off of Bitcoin and he could have but didn't.

 

[Cavatt]

Your rich friend didn't make any money off of Bitcoin and he could have but didn't.

He just like, "I guess I'll buy an apartment building instead"

 

[Huber.]

I noticed a lot of talk about it recently. It peaked at 11k and now it's down to 9k. This makes me feel better.

 

[Triplethreat]

I noticed a lot of talk about it recently. It peaked at 11k and now it's down to 9k. This makes me feel better.

It's had a major corrections.

Seems like the ole pump and dump to me. Institutional investors got involved and started buying large blocks which likely contributed to the massive jump. Once they started selling off the corrections happened.

 

[Triplethreat]

Bitcoin’s daily trading volume had surpassed $10 billion in the past, but is currently stable at around $8.6 billion. It is likely that with large-scale hedge funds and investment firms, the daily trading volume of bitcoin will surge, allowing the cryptocurrency to become more liquid and adopted by the mainstream.

“My new price target for bitcoin is USD $48,000. Will it take approximately 7 months to reach that? ” said Lee.

Financial Institutions Enter Bitcoin Market

Square, the most widely utilized financial app in the US finance market, has officially integrated bitcoin, enabling its millions of users to purchase, sell, and store bitcoin on the Square application.

Almost immediately after its integration of bitcoin, the market valuation of Square increased by more than $1 billion, from $15 billion to $16.1 billion.

It has become significantly more difficult for financial service providers in the traditional finance sector to dismiss bitcoin, as integrating the cryptocurrency allows companies to penetrate the $336 billion cryptocurrency market. As existing financial service providers move to implement bitcoin, the market valuation of the cryptocurrency will rise, contributing to its next rally.

 

[The Oi]

He just like, "I guess I'll buy an apartment building instead"

Sounds like a pussy.

 

[Maximus]

http://realcavsfans.com/community/index.php?threads/bitcoin.41892/

 

[TopGun]

Imagine mining bitcoin for fun back in the day, losing a great deal of it (as in, just misplacing the wallet info).. not giving a damn.. and seeing what it's worth now.

Not going to lie this is me. Used to leave my PC mining during the day while I was at work. Had something like 10 bitcoin and it was worth like $20 so i didn't care too much at the time. Fuckin A.

 

[Man Called X]

Imagine mining bitcoin for fun back in the day, losing a great deal of it (as in, just misplacing the wallet info).. not giving a damn.. and seeing what it's worth now.

Not going to lie this is me. Used to leave my PC mining during the day while I was at work. Had something like 10 bitcoin and it was worth like $20 so i didn't care too much at the time. Fuckin A.

Apparently I wasn't alone in this.

 

[gourimoko]

Not going to lie this is me. Used to leave my PC mining during the day while I was at work. Had something like 10 bitcoin and it was worth like $20 so i didn't care too much at the time. Fuckin A.

Yep.... Bingo..

Shit .. lightweight makes me wanna vomit... And I work with bitcoin almost every other day, working on a massive cryptocurrency web project right now. Just.. ugh..

 

[Triplethreat]

Is crypto-currency the future of currency?

It will all be on your phone, computer, web based, no paper etc?

I just feel like it would be too unsafe for this to be possible. But with the way technology is going....

 

[Maximus]

Is crypto-currency the future of currency?

It will all be on your phone, computer, web based, no paper etc?

I just feel like it would be too unsafe for this to be possible. But with the way technology is going....

Until the grid goes down...

 

[Cassity14]

Until the grid goes down...

I'm not sure if you're joking, half-joking, or being serious. I'm not trying to be an ass when I say that either.

My immediate reaction when I read his post was the same as what you typed, but if the grid went down for an extended period of time today (I'm talking like more than 5 years), wouldn't paper currency lose all of its value anyway? I don't think it'd take more than about 6 months for society to fall into an economy based solely on goods and services.

Maybe I'm pessimistic in that regard.