Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by manidoraisamy on Thursday April 18, 2013 @10:06AM
(#5570637)
Gold has demand/supply based on industrial/ornamental value. But, what value does Bitcoin have?
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by mckoss on Thursday April 18, 2013 @11:08AM
(#5571013)
Bitcoin provides for secure transmission and storage of value independent of a trusted 3rd party (and backed by the largest distributed super-computer in the world). Isn't that enough?
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by manidoraisamy on Friday April 19, 2013 @09:25AM
(#5576488)
That explains it's currency nature. But, does it have any intrinsic value of a commodity like gold?
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by tiemand on Thursday April 18, 2013 @10:04AM
(#5570626)
I think thats an interesting perspective. Just as gold is a finite quantity so will Bitcoin be a finite quantity when it reaches 21Mil coins.
I can imagine that in future Bitcoins can be used as a "reserve" currency that backs another currency
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by Jtsummers on Thursday April 18, 2013 @11:10AM
(#5571033)
A major problem with BTC as a reserve currency is the way it is generated (mining) and reclaimed (fees). An entity with significant computational power would be able to maintain significant control over the reserve currency. It's feasible that early adopters, then, would be holding significant percentages of the reserve currency. What would motivate later adopters to convert when they have perfectly viable reserves already (gold, USD, etc) that's more equitably (well, from their perspective at least) distributed?
Second problem, it requires a major shift in the motivation of many adopters (anti-fiat, anti-fractional reserve banking).
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by GaryRowe on Thursday April 18, 2013 @12:28PM
(#5571495)
Bitcoin is a protocol. There is nothing stopping the UN from creating their own currency using the Bitcoin protocol with all the characteristics they require of a reserve currency.
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by Jtsummers on Thursday April 18, 2013 @01:06PM
(#5571749)
It's also a thing that is attempting to be a currency/commodity. I suppose in any discussion we should make clear which aspect we're talking about. I was talking about the currency/commodity aspect as that's what this entire thread was started on. For the protocol, I agree with you.
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by danielweber on Thursday April 18, 2013 @10:51AM
(#5570909)
Gold is constantly mined, the amount increasing. It was acceptable as a currency-backer only because the amount mined tended to grow at the pace of the rest of the economy, although there were years when more or less was mined and this caused issues.
Bitcoin has these issued baked into the protocol.
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by deelowe on Thursday April 18, 2013 @11:01AM
(#5570976)
Except gold has intrinsic value for various applications(though that value is much less than the market price).
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by kintamanimatt on Thursday April 18, 2013 @11:26AM
(#5571151)
You could also argue that physical currency also has intrinsic value for various applications too. Paper currency can be used as quasi-Post-It notes, kindling, etc. Coins can be melted down and used for manufacturing goods, etc.
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by betterunix on Thursday April 18, 2013 @10:03AM
(#5570624)
So other than trade and accounting, what is Bitcoin useful for?
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by cjg on Thursday April 18, 2013 @10:50AM
(#5570906)
"but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order... what have the Romans done for us?"
Re:Debate HN: Is Bitcoin a currency or a commodity?
by betterunix on Thursday April 18, 2013 @11:33AM
(#5571191)
That's not the point. If Bitcoin has no uses other than trade and accounting, it is not a commodity.
In fact I'd say that's what bitcoin is, digital gold. Just as gold still remains an important holding for central banks, I have to wonder if at some point a second digital/crypto currency will be developed that somehow uses bitcoin as its stable base/commodity but which solves the issues that all the economists are whining about.