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The Bitcoin Debacle Shatters the Myth of Virtual Money
Townhall ^ | 03/05/2014 | Peter Morici

Posted on 03/09/2014 11:21:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

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To: txhurl
states can’t print paper but can coin coins.

No they can't. They can make gold and silver coins legal tender but can't themselves mint any coins as money.

41 posted on 03/09/2014 2:14:08 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: Vermont Lt

They’re either hypocrites or don’t under the principal that they claim to support. Too many Conservatives still live in the illusion that the government stats could be trusted. They still think US have low inflation. They believe the “good” job numbers as well because they only look at the headline newsreport


42 posted on 03/09/2014 2:20:30 PM PDT by 4rcane
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To: SeeSharp

No they can’t. They can make gold and silver coins legal tender but can’t themselves mint any coins as money.


What are your favorite sources to illuminate your claim?


43 posted on 03/09/2014 2:38:16 PM PDT by txhurl
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To: SeeSharp

Gold is fine, but you can’t order from Amazon with a gold coin. Bitcoin will be the preferred medium of exchange within 5 years. . And every entity that deals in “money” will adapt or die. Period.


44 posted on 03/09/2014 2:53:29 PM PDT by HMS Surprise (Chris Christie can STILL go straight to hell.)
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To: txhurl
What are your favorite sources to illuminate your claim?

Article I, Section 10, Clause 1

To wit:

"No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility."

45 posted on 03/09/2014 2:56:11 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: HMS Surprise
Gold is fine, but you can’t order from Amazon with a gold coin.

Why not? Strictly speaking, you can't order from Amazon with paper dollar bills either can you? Buying over the web usually requires a intermediary payment processor of some kind. The accounts can be denominated in gold as easily as anything else. All that is needed (beyond the abatement of legal impediments) is a price structure.

46 posted on 03/09/2014 3:05:25 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: SeeSharp

Coin Money. But we can can coin rare-earth minerals, No, we can’t.

This is a most interesting vaunt, what we can and can’t coin, base on what metals we have.

Thank you again for your instructed posts.


47 posted on 03/09/2014 3:06:30 PM PDT by txhurl
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To: SeekAndFind

There are 3 major benefits of Bitcoin that I can see: it’s private, you can easily transfer money, and it has a limit. However, the concept of Bitcoin mining seems to be an absurdity that confers absolutely no value. Ascribing value to the ability to solve complex equation seems to parallel the socialist notion that the value of labor should comport with the complexity of labor. Rubbish.

“It’s not the gold but the face of Caesar—the promise his image carries—that makes a coin money.”

This statement is true in the sense that fiat money does have value even when not backed by PMs. Fiat money is backed by taxation/and or the forceable extraction of resources from the people. In other words, fiat currency is backed by a gun.

Now if Bitcoin or some other crypto-currency could compete with the world wide gangster government fiat currency at the same level, we would have a winner. Perhaps, if Bitcoin successfully found a way to fight back against governments, central banks and agencies intent on the destruction of Bitcoin, we would see an unprecedented advance in personal freedom. Instead of the Bitcoin mining of useless equations, why not develop the means to hack and attack hostile forces?


48 posted on 03/09/2014 3:13:33 PM PDT by grumpygresh (Democrats delenda est. New US economy: Fascism on top, Socialism on the bottom.)
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To: SeekAndFind

For those who are wise money is simply a “hot potato” token of value to be used to facilitate the exchange of physical assets. The higher the inflation, the hotter the potato.


49 posted on 03/09/2014 3:28:05 PM PDT by The Duke ("Forgiveness is between them and God, it's my job to arrange the meeting.")
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To: SeeSharp

Your reasoning is intentionally obtuse. Of course anything can be denominated in anything. 4 eggs equal a pair of socks and so on. Gold is denominated in bitcoins NOW, and will be in the future, depending OF COURSE on what the market agrees upon based in recent tranactions.


50 posted on 03/09/2014 3:48:25 PM PDT by HMS Surprise (Chris Christie can STILL go straight to hell.)
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To: HMS Surprise; SeeSharp

Your reply to SeeSharp is correct. I would also add that Bitcoin is pretty much designed to be digital gold. There is no reason not to diversify one’s currencies into dollars , euros, gold, silver, bitcoin or altcoin. People also recommend bricks of ammo or TP or other goods. The allocation should be based on future transaction needs but also diversity for the sake of diversity.


51 posted on 03/09/2014 3:55:15 PM PDT by palmer (There's someone in my lead but it's not me)
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To: HMS Surprise; palmer
...obtuse

I was being specific and correct. It is you who is being obtuse. What evidence do you have that Bitcoin is a better exchange medium than gold? Gold had uses beyond its utility as a medium of exchange. You can hoard and hide it. You can physically control it. You can even make things out of it. Gold is universally recognized and universally valued. Bitcoin, while no doubt a step forward towards the inevitable collapse fiat currencies, will always remain the province of a handful of tech savvy people.

Gold is denominated in bitcoins NOW

No it isn't. Bitcoin is not denominated in gold or anything else. Gold is not denominated in Bitcoins either. To be denominated in another medium means there is a defined exchange value.

52 posted on 03/09/2014 4:30:07 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: SeeSharp
BItcoins can be hoarded and of course you have to hide the key(s) and keep it under your physical control. What you do not seem to understand is that nobody controls the chain because everybody controls it. On utility and aesthetics, gold and other precious metals are clear winners.

Bitcoin, while no doubt a step forward towards the inevitable collapse fiat currencies, will always remain the province of a handful of tech savvy people.

Incorrect. Bitcoin is designed to be simple and cannot be subverted by someone more tech savvy than average.

To be denominated in another medium means there is a defined exchange value.

You Really need to read up. Bitcoin has a defined exchange value exactly like every other currency and commodity.

53 posted on 03/09/2014 5:26:54 PM PDT by palmer (There's someone in my lead but it's not me)
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To: palmer
Bitcoin has a defined exchange value exactly like every other currency and commodity.

Really? What is the defined exchange rate? In what currency is it defined?

Last I heard the value of Bitcoins fluctuate in relation to every other currency, and in relation to every good on the market.

Bitcoin is designed to be simple and cannot be subverted by someone more tech savvy than average.

I didn't say anything about subverting it. I said non-tech savvy people won't be inclined to use it.

54 posted on 03/09/2014 5:52:50 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: SeeSharp
As I said: Bitcoin has a defined exchange value exactly like every other currency and commodity. Do your homework.

I said non-tech savvy people won't be inclined to use it.

Not after millions in venture money is spent making it easier to use and control. Of course that is relative and in the digital world there will be no easier way to make sure you get what you pay for, for example having the digital good and payment escrowed and using a 2 of 3 signature scheme. The physical world is trickier but there will be innovation in that area unlike cash and credit which are centralized and regimented.

55 posted on 03/09/2014 6:18:34 PM PDT by palmer (There's someone in my lead but it's not me)
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To: palmer
As I said: Bitcoin has a defined exchange value exactly like every other currency and commodity. Do your homework.

Then tell us what it is. Why can't you?

Speaking of homework...

What is the defined exchange value for the dollar? For the Euro? You did say *every* other currency. Last I heard they fluctuate with the market too.

56 posted on 03/09/2014 6:24:04 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: grumpygresh
There are 3 major benefits of Bitcoin that I can see: it’s private, you can easily transfer money, and it has a limit. However, the concept of Bitcoin mining seems to be an absurdity that confers absolutely no value. Ascribing value to the ability to solve complex equation seems to parallel the socialist notion that the value of labor should comport with the complexity of labor. Rubbish.

The mining process serves a number of purposes in the Bitcoin system, none of which ascribes monetary value to the work involved. The bitcoin reward for "solving" a block is an incentive.

The value in the proof of work is securing the transactions in the system from tampering. It requires that any actor attempting to do so, to spend more effort than the entirety of the rest of the network. If they are going to do that, why not just use that expenditure to mine for the reward?

57 posted on 03/10/2014 12:03:58 AM PDT by Database
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To: SeeSharp
Last I heard they fluctuate with the market too.

Now you are starting to catch on. The only currencies that don't fluctuate are the ones in countries run by thugs. However there always is a black market rate which does fluctuate. The ability of a currency to fluctuate is proportional to the thuggishness of its creators. Since bitcoin is completely distributed there can be no thugs. Therefore its exchange rates are always free to fluctuate.

58 posted on 03/10/2014 2:13:33 AM PDT by palmer (There's someone in my lead but it's not me)
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To: palmer
Now you are starting to catch on.

Nope. I've always understood it. You still don't seem to see that you are contradicting yourself though. You agree that the values of Bitcoin and various other currencies fluctuate with the market. Yet you also say they have defined exchange rates. Those are completely opposite positions. Allow me suggest that the position you cannot demonstrate might be the one that's wrong.

59 posted on 03/10/2014 3:01:46 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: SeekAndFind

Bump


60 posted on 03/10/2014 3:16:37 PM PDT by WashingtonSource
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