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Bitcoin -- Boom or Bubble?
Real Clear Politics ^ | 20 January, 2014 | Robert Samuelson

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bitcoin; bubble; crypto; cryto; currency; pyramid; scam; scheme; shamwow
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To: DManA
Not only congress, but the central government. It's the same story over and over. All governments eventually get themselves trapped in downward spiraling debt cycle and wind up debasing whatever currency is being used - even if gold or silver.

The ONLY solution is to put the power of the purse into the hands of the people - the ones who have the most to lose. This technology might just make that possible. At least that's what I would hope would happened, and on a global scale. Money is indeed the "ROOT" of evil. The more it can be kept out of the hands of a few, the better!

21 posted on 01/20/2014 9:24:55 AM PST by Errant (Surround yourself with intelligent and industrious people who help and support each other.)
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To: Errant

1 Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

It’s the love of money that is a root of evil. Money can be used for good purposes as well as bad purposes so it is the intent of a person that makes the use of money turn out to be bad or good.


22 posted on 01/20/2014 3:10:31 PM PST by Redcitizen (Never bring a tank to a Chuck Norris fight.)
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To: alloysteel
Bitcoin - another “carbon credits” scheme, similar in many ways to AlGore’s patented scam and sale of non-existent value.

With one significant difference: it wasn't created by government for political purposes. That explains much of its attractiveness.

23 posted on 01/20/2014 4:26:06 PM PST by BfloGuy ( Even the opponents of Socialism are dominated by socialist ideas.)
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To: TWhiteBear

and hold them as an investment or speculation, hoping their price will rise.


I don’t think they are an investment in the traditional sense.

The stock market, dollars, bit coins and lottery tickets all have a lot in common.


24 posted on 01/20/2014 4:36:48 PM PST by PeterPrinciple
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To: grania

People have tried to educate me, but I just can’t get my arms around the concept.


NEVER invest in something you don’t understand.


25 posted on 01/20/2014 4:37:52 PM PST by PeterPrinciple
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To: Redcitizen
It’s the love of money that is a root of evil

That's one way to look at it, another is cut the root in order to eliminate an evil. Governments also desire/love money. Its "root" sucks the lifeblood from the governed to ensure its own existence, growth and to enrich its supporters. The "beast" requires pruning from time to time.

Matt. 6:24 ...You cannot serve both God and money.

26 posted on 01/20/2014 5:24:42 PM PST by Errant (Surround yourself with intelligent and industrious people who help and support each other.)
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To: PeterPrinciple
The stock market, dollars, bit coins and lottery tickets all have a lot in common.

Two are fundamentally different. Both dollars and bitcoins exist primarily to serve as a medium of exchange.

27 posted on 01/20/2014 5:28:03 PM PST by Errant (Surround yourself with intelligent and industrious people who help and support each other.)
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To: Errant
Francisco’s Money Speech: "So you think that money is the root of all evil?”
28 posted on 01/20/2014 5:28:20 PM PST by Sawdring
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To: Errant

and hold them as an investment or speculation,


Did you not read the article? We can hold them for investment and speculation.


29 posted on 01/20/2014 5:40:08 PM PST by PeterPrinciple
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To: PeterPrinciple

Of course you can, but that’s NOT their primary purpose. Both the dollar and bitcoin were designed to be used as a medium of exchange; quite difference from stocks.


30 posted on 01/20/2014 6:00:37 PM PST by Errant (Surround yourself with intelligent and industrious people who help and support each other.)
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