Replies

Re: "How many Bitcoins?"

A critical question.

Unless investors know how many Bitcoins are in circulation (aka - "the float"), it is impossible to calculate the value of one Bitcoin.

As of today, every Bitcoin sale, purchase, or transaction is purely speculative.

Second issue - in a strict legal sense, how do you prove ownership of any particular Bitcoin?

Since anonymity is a central feature of Bitcoins, you have no legal recourse if someone hacks into your account, and moves your Bitcoins to a new account.

Final issue - Block Chain.

I do not get it.

Anyone with basic computer skills could have created Block Chain 30 years ago.

Buy a public website.

Publish a "Write Once - Read Only" Excel Spread Sheet.

Conceal millions of Crypto Coins behind 64 random character passwords.

Presto - Block Chain!

In spite of my current doubts, I think digital currency will eventually dominate business transactions.

Until someone turns off the electricity, anyway!

Not sure of your point.

No one disputes any of that.

The number mined is a known number. I don’t know what they are exactly. You are using stock valuation terms applied to Bitcoin. That’s not going to work. The value is a peer to peer agreement, not based on float—you are not valuing assets across shares.

It’s a bit more complicated than a spreadsheet. LOL

One of the beauties of bitcoin is you cannot get charged back. It is meant for grownups who understand they are exchanging value. Legally, you possess the private keys that hold the bitcoin on the blockchain. If you don’t own the keys…you don’t own the bitcoin.

I hear the “EMP” thing a lot. If your power goes off for more than a day or so…your entire financial system will go away. Well over 90% of financial transactions are “digital” these days.

If the power really goes out, you better have cash, gold, food, and bullets.

Unless investors know how many Bitcoins are in circulation (aka - "the float"), it is impossible to calculate the value of one Bitcoin.

It is impossible too to calculate the tonnage of gold that's been mined and lost over the centuries. If someone dumps 10,000 bitcoin in the market, the price will go down. It's the same if a mining company discovers 1,000,000 ounces of gold in Nevada. It's not a big deal. The market price will simply reflect the increase in supply.

As of today, every Bitcoin sale, purchase, or transaction is purely speculative.

Commodities that fulfill the store of value function are mostly speculative: gold, baseball cards, rare coins, antique furniture, French impressionist paintings. You purchase the commodity with the hope that someone in the future pays more for it (store of value). Fiat cash is good for daily transactions, but it is considered to have poor store of value. It will most certainly be worth less 20 years later.

how do you prove ownership of any particular Bitcoin?

You're the only one who knows the passcode for an amount of Bitcoin at a particular address. You prove ownership by moving that bitcoin from one address to another.

you have no legal recourse if someone hacks into your account, and moves your Bitcoins to a new account.

That's correct. If someone else knows the passcode to your bitcoins, they are at risk of being stolen. This is what happened at the Mt. Gox exchange in 2012.

Anyone with basic computer skills could have created Block Chain 30 years ago.

The beauty of the blockchain is its mathematical encryption (it is impossible to decode backwards) and its simplicity. You're right, bitcoin should have been invented 20 years before it was created. But sometimes the simple ideas are hardest to realize.