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Posted on 01/20/2014 8:17:37 AM PST by Errant
WASHINGTON -- The baffling Bitcoin boom is either an exercise in self-delusion -- a high-tech Ponzi scheme that will come crashing down -- or an imaginative new Internet technology that will ultimately change how millions of people around the world conduct everyday business. There is little middle ground.
Called a "digital currency," Bitcoin originated in early 2009 with a software program written by Satoshi Nakamoto. Who is Nakamoto? Good question. It's a pseudonym, and we don't know who's behind it -- whether man or woman; individual or group; American, Japanese, Russian or some other nationality. But what seems clear is that Nakamoto owns bitcoins worth "hundreds of millions of dollars," says Jerry Brito, an analyst at the Mercatus Center of George Mason University and a Bitcoin enthusiast.
You can do two things with bitcoins: buy stuff, just as with traditional money; and hold them as an investment or speculation, hoping their price will rise.
Some shopping does occur with bitcoins. The first retail transaction is usually attributed to Laszlo Hanyecz, a computer programmer in Florida, who in May 2010, persuaded someone to order two pizzas for him in exchange for 10,000 bitcoins. Recently, Overstock.com -- an online retailer -- agreed to accept bitcoins; the Sacramento Kings basketball team will do likewise. According to coinmap.org, about 2,600 stores and businesses worldwide accept bitcoins, with concentrations in Western Europe, California and New York.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Bitcoin’s Recent Price Stability Could Point To Growing Maturity
UK reviews Bitcoin tax as global regulators seek to cash in
Texas medical clinic accepts BITCOIN as a form of payment
São Paulo to get first bitcoin ATM in South America
Bitcoin Judged Commodity in Finland After Failing Money Test
Korea's biggest Bitcoin exchange gets $400,000 from Silicon Valley investors
Bitcoin Resumes Service In India
Milton Friedman Predicted The Rise Of Bitcoin In 1999 [Video of Milton at Link]
Bitcoin - another “carbon credits” scheme, similar in many ways to AlGore’s patented scam and sale of non-existent value.
What is the source of “bitcoins” and how is the accounting kept? It is just another kind of “fiat currency” that has not yet been widely accepted, NOTHING backs it.
How much is a bitcoin worth in zlotys or lire?
Captain Obvious says: “It’s totally dependent on what people will continue to pay for it.”
Peer to peer transaction history and protection…
Hmmm sounds kinda disruptive.
If I were disposed to do so, the only thing I would use them for is to purchase illegal drugs on the internet without fear of being tracked.
Not sure, but the last price on the Mt. Gox exchange shows $954.00 US dollars each!
Says you...
After buying a watch with a part of a Bitcoin, I'm looking at replacing my fillet knife on Overstock right now.
Bubble
:)
Very. Revolutionary vs. evolutionary. The blowhard naysayers should pause and educate themselves before spouting off here on FR; but that’s just what some uninformed people tend to do here.
What ever else it is or isn’t it sure isn’t a Ponzi scheme.
Thanks, it's kind of how I see it too. In today's world and knowing what's coming, I'm not sure one could diversify too much. Owning even a few fractions of a Bitcoin might get you through a checkpoint to a tank of gas and someplace safe.
“If I were disposed to do so, the only thing I would use them for is to purchase illegal drugs on the internet without fear of being tracked.”
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I suspect that there are a number of legitimate businesses that will sell you their product at a discount if you pay in bitcoin. You’d be surprised at how many.
Hiding income?
Not so sure now about FRNs though after seeing this video by Mike Maloney:
Hiding income?
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It’s possible (or even likely) that some are. A transaction using Bitcoin is analogous to a telephone conversation using “burner” cell phones at both ends.
You mention carbon credits. In my mind, it seems a bit more like Enron.
Think of BC as a commodity backed currency: time and computational power.
This is true. Everyone thinks the Fed is the source of all monitary evil. Actually it’s the congress with their $trillion deficits that are dooming the economy.
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