Why Bitcoin Matters For Bankers

American Banker ^ | March 16,2014 | Marc Hochstein

[HMS Surprise]

You are a woefully ignorant Luddite.

[P-Marlowe]

It is clear that you are incapable of rational discourse.

There's a sucker born every minute. It is clear you were one of them.

[P-Marlowe]

You want to buy a PM Coin?

[PreciousLiberty]

“Bitcoin is air.”

And air is made up of elements. Gold, for instance, is an element. Does that mean gold is worthless?

Air is very plentiful. Bitcoins are not, more like gold.

You may not see the point of BTC, but enough other people do that they’re worth over $600 each. Feel free to not participate. :-)

[P-Marlowe]

Feel free to not participate. :-)

Don't worry. I won't.

What I don't like is all these people promoting bitcoin on Free Republic like it is some kind of miracle money. Well, it is a miracle money. It's a miracle that anyone believes that it is money.

There's a sucker born every minute and IMHO everyone who thinks that bitcoin is a long term investment is a sucker.

I will be proven right on this.

This is a Bernie Maddoff Ponzie scam if there ever was one. The only difference is that nobody in the Bitcoin arena really knows who the Bernie Maddoff is. In this case the Bernie Maddoffs are all anonymous. When the SHTF, there will be nobody to sue. Your money will be gone and you won't have a clue where to find it. And you won't find it because when you buy a bitcoin, you are buying hope and when hope is gone, it is gone.

[PreciousLiberty]

“Bitcoins are not only a fiat currency. But they can be summarily declared illegal by any government tomorrow. Then all you will be holding is a computer filled with worthless electrons.”

BTC are certainly not a fiat currency. Do you know what that actually means? BTC is the opposite, if anything.

BTC “could” be declared illegal, but that looks very unlikely in the US and most other places. Major US retailers are taking them - TigerDirect and Overstock.com to name two.

Both BTC and gold are attractive, for different reasons. You do recall that gold was illegal in the US for quite a long time, don’t you? Which would be easier to confiscate and/or get out of the country?

By the way, as to “The dollar might lose 10% of its purchasing value in the course of a year” just remember that past performance does not guarantee future results... lol

[PreciousLiberty]

“This is a Bernie Maddoff Ponzie scam if there ever was one. The only difference is that nobody in the Bitcoin arena really knows who the Bernie Maddoff is. In this case the Bernie Maddoffs are all anonymous. When the SHTF, there will be nobody to sue. Your money will be gone and you won’t have a clue where to find it. And you won’t find it because when you buy a bitcoin, you are buying hope and when hope is gone, it is gone. “

Well, at least you’ve confirmed that you’re utterly clueless.

No single entity controls BTC, by design.

As to “buying hope”, you’re buying an exchange token - it is worth what someone else is willing to give you for it, just as is a US dollar. It has unique advantages, the primary one being that you can transmit any amount of wealth around the globe you choose, for a very low fee.

It’s fun watching it give some folks fit... :-)

[P-Marlowe]

BTC are certainly not a fiat currency. Do you know what that actually means? BTC is the opposite, if anything.

A fiat currency is any currency that is backed by trust and not backed by a hard currency such as gold, silver, palladium, or other such commodity.

Since Bitcoins only exist in cyberspace and are not made of the material that gives them value, then they are a fiat currency.

An ounce of Gold will always be worth an ounce of gold. While the price in fiat currency to purchase that ounce of gold may change, since the currency carries with it its own intrinsic value, it is REAL money.

Bitcoins have no value other than what some idiot is willing to pay for one. You say they are worth $600 but I wouldn't give a plug nickle for one since a true plug nickle has about 5 cents worth of nickle in it.

Bitcoin is a ponzie scam. Somebody is getting rich off it, and you probably can't even tell me who it is.

[PreciousLiberty]

"A fiat currency is any currency that is backed by trust and not backed by a hard currency such as gold, silver, palladium, or other such commodity."

Oxford Dictionary definition of "fiat money" (I'll ignore the "paper" part - after all a whole lot of US dollars exist only in computer memories...):

Inconvertible paper money made legal tender by a government decree.

Note the word "government". That's the biggest difference with BTC - it's independent of any government. It may well outlive almost all other current currencies.

[P-Marlowe]

That's the biggest difference with BTC - it's independent of any government. It may well outlive almost all other current currencies.

Not a chance. Dream on. It won't make it into 2015.

It's a ponzi scheme and you are a sucker.

[SkyPilot]

I have some Amway literature for you Tsonic.

[TsonicTsunami08]

Luddite, That is a precise definition of this person. Well stated.

[P-Marlowe]

Amway currency. Let’s all throw a Bitcoin party!

[SkyPilot]

As I might have mentioned P-Marlowe, I have little faith in the US Dollar because it (as all fiat currencies) are in big trouble. Currencies are based on good faith, which has been shattered by fraud, deceit, and manipulation.

But these Bitcoin threads smack of a pyramid scheme sales job.

I remember the first time an Amway cultist attempted to corner me. I was flying with a new co-pilot, and I reached into my flight bag to grab a small peanut butter cup candy. He stopped me, and said: "I can make thousands of dollars a month selling these, and so can you."

The rest of the flight, he gave me his pitch, until I finally got him to shut up. In the course of that, I must have agreed to allow him to call me later to discuss it, since I was in no mood on the descent to the airport. And call he did. For days - telling me I had to get all of my friends and family in on this "deal of a life time." All the other pilots finally had to get leadership to eventually deal with him.

[PreciousLiberty]

I meant to comment on this logic gem:

“An ounce of Gold will always be worth an ounce of gold. While the price in fiat currency to purchase that ounce of gold may change, since the currency carries with it its own intrinsic value, it is REAL money.”

So, an ounce of gold will always be worth an ounce of gold. A dollar will always be worth a dollar. And, amazingly, a BTC will always be worth a BTC.

So what exactly makes gold worth anything? It has limited industrial usefulness. It’s considerably worse than steel for most utilitarian purposes. It doesn’t tarnish, it’s shiny, it’s an unusual color, and it’s fairly rare. Women like it for jewelry. That isn’t much, in terms of “intrinsic value”.

If the “SHTF” as you put it, gold will be worth a whole lot less than it is now. Jewelry is overrated in survival situations. I expect I’ll be out of BTC *and* gold before anything like that happens.

[PreciousLiberty]

So there, “SkyPilot”, you claim:

“Bitcoin is structured like a pyramid scheme, each wave of adopters increases the base of the pyramid and the paper gains of anyone further up.”

So, please enlighten us as to why the value of gold has skyrocketed over the last few decades? Is gold also a “pyramid scheme”?

I look forward to your doubtless enlightening answer.

[P-Marlowe]

I don’t have a lot of faith in the dollar either.

That is why I started the P-Marlowe coin.

It is currently selling for $800 each and I, as creator of this currency, promise never to mine more than a million of them. When they become the coin of the realm, each coin will be worth about a trillion dollars in today’s money.

So buying up a couple of dozen of them now would be the investment of a lifetime.

Better get on this bandwagon quick. The price can only go up.

PMC=$800 US

[SandwicheGuy]

Bitcoin is air. You want to buy some air? I’ll sell it to you for a dollar a gallon.

Oh please, Prescient One, elucidate on flight MH370 since you obviously know everything and are willing to share your thoughts. Oh wait, I have to pick my nose.

[SkyPilot]

That is why I started the P-Marlowe coin. It is currently selling for $800 each

Darn it! I remember when the P-Marlowe coin was selling for 0.65 cents! What a dummy I am.

I actually started a SkyPilot coin in February, but it hasn't caught on yet.

In any case, we know that Satan sure has a plan about all of this:

And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Revelation: 16-17

[TsonicTsunami08]

Did I enter the Democratic Underground website? This discussion has devolved into a childish, rug biting blurb. I wouldn’t raise it to the level of imbecilic. My apologies to subimbeciles everywhere.