Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money

Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by zeteo on Friday April 12, 2013 @02:22PM (#5540189)

Sorry to submit yet another Bitcoin article, but this one turned out to be somewhat of a revelation for me. Thinking of bitcoins as digital collectibles seems a much better metaphor than thinking of them as money. Collectibles have a fixed supply, and their value depends on some concept that people are interested in. Consider e.g. Nazi memorabilia from WW2: fewer and fewer are discovered each year, the total supply is fixed, their value depends a lot on hobbyists' varying interest in WW2. Bitcoin is also unusual for a digital good in that it has a fixed supply, and its value depends a lot on enthusiasts who are interested in cryptocurrencies, fixed money supply etc.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by sageikosa on Friday April 12, 2013 @03:02PM (#5540402)

Memorabilia market prices vary by the quality and history of the piece; pieces with "richer" history fetch higher prices. BitCoin behaves more like a commodity. I expect derivative instruments based on BitCoin mining rates any day now.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by zeteo on Friday April 12, 2013 @03:15PM (#5540465)

The comparison is obviously to a single type of item. Say "Mauser HSc, excellent condition, provenience unknown". But there's no reason why individual bitcoins can't acquire additional value once history accrues to them. Let's say celebrity X publicly buys a bitcoin and spends it in a well-publicized event. People will probably bid extra to acquire this "famous" bitcoin afterwards.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by jondtaylor on Friday April 12, 2013 @04:00PM (#5540670)

I may be mistaken but I don't think Bitcoins (the units themselves) have an identity like that only wallets are entities. It's similar to how a celebrity would drink water and water would be worth more than the rest. Once the debit and credit occurs who is to say which coins are from what source...

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by TylerE on Friday April 12, 2013 @03:18PM (#5540477)

Bitcoin doesn't work like that. There isn't some sort of serial number assigned, or anything.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by zeteo on Friday April 12, 2013 @03:28PM (#5540526)

Each bitcoin has an attached chain of transactions. If it's a matter of public record that a certain address belonged to say, Stephen Colbert, then you can definitely brag that you own Colbert's bitcoin. (That he donated to the Libertarian Party or something.)

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by sageikosa on Friday April 12, 2013 @03:49PM (#5540614)

While it may be possible to value BitCoins that way, that's not the driving force behind current price tracking, any more than a 1933 double eagle or 1804 silver dollar affects the price of gold or silver.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by zeteo on Friday April 12, 2013 @04:05PM (#5540688)

I'm not saying BitCoins are currently used this way. It was just a thought experiment to prove they can acquire extra value from association with particular people or events. Just like other collectibles.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by jondtaylor on Friday April 12, 2013 @04:02PM (#5540682)

I don't think this is the case. My understanding is that wallets have transactions attached.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by glomph on Sunday April 14, 2013 @09:34AM (#5546855)

There is actually quite a bit of discussion into 'coloured' bitcoins, which would basically work exactly like that.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by redxaxder on Friday April 12, 2013 @03:18PM (#5540479)

Bitcoin is also unusual for a collectible in how much it can be subdivided.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by Ingaz on Friday April 12, 2013 @04:14PM (#5540725)

Bitcoin was not money but a digital resource analogous to gold or oil by design.

I'm a little surprised that in 2013 somebody do not know this.

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Re:Bitcoins Are Digital Collectibles, Not Real Money by tome on Friday April 12, 2013 @04:19PM (#5540756)

Gold and oil both have uses that are not based on them being scarce goods. Gold is arguably more similar to bitcoin than oil is, but neither is really analogous.

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