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Re:Swiss to vote on proposals to treat bitcoin as foreign cu... by marme on Monday December 23, 2013 @01:37AM (#6953363)
I think it is actually a bad idea for bitcoin to be treated like a currency. People should not push for it to be treated like a currency because then that only leads to regulation. It should be treated like a financial vehicle or commodity because that is what it is. Just like people openly trade Treasury bills or other bonds on the open market, people now openly trade bitcoins. I can take T-bill certificates anywhere in the world and they will most likely be able to find someone to trade with for real currency just like I could take bitcoins and trade them for other currency. The difference is that T-bills can be freely traded without being controlled banking regulations. There are already problems brewing in china from the government rulings about banks rejecting bitcoins as a currency
Re:Swiss to vote on proposals to treat bitcoin as foreign cu... by downer87 on Monday December 23, 2013 @03:04AM (#6953544)
Not only that, why should bitcoin be enshrined as the only special crypto-currency worthy of recognition?

Not until we know who Satoshi Nakamoto is. Until then, bitcoin is just another internet clusterfuck.

Don't tell me it's not relevant who he/she is. It is relevant. It's a clear demonstration of our own incompetence. Without that information in hand, we're nothing more than rats following a pied piper.

Re:Swiss to vote on proposals to treat bitcoin as foreign cu... by algorias on Monday December 23, 2013 @03:22AM (#6953571)
> why should bitcoin be enshrined as the only special crypto-currency worthy of recognition?

I agree, but the reason you state has nothing to do with it. Who the fuck cares who Satoshi is? Why does it matter, given that the protocol operates independently from its original author and research can be done on it without his/her permission? Finally, who is this we you keep talking about?

Re:Swiss to vote on proposals to treat bitcoin as foreign cu... by robryk on Monday December 23, 2013 @04:21AM (#6953668)
The point here is that Satoshi is believed to have access to wallets with a great number of early-mined bitcoins. The wallets were unused since a few years and can be used to suddenly increase the amount of bitcoin in circulation, which'd devalue it significantly.
Re:Swiss to vote on proposals to treat bitcoin as foreign cu... by VMG on Monday December 23, 2013 @10:29AM (#6954699)
You're right, all crypto-currencies should be treated equally.

But your flawed reasoning regarding the significance of Satoshi Nakamoto's identity is the reason they chose to be anonymous.

Just for the sake of argument, assume that it is Hal Finney. What now?

Re:Swiss to vote on proposals to treat bitcoin as foreign cu... by downer87 on Tuesday December 24, 2013 @02:35AM (#6958631)
If it was Hal Finney, then we'd actually know who it was. There would be a degree of closure.

Without that closure, there's a mysterious gaping black hole that only adds to all the other uncertainties that come naturally with a new frontier like crypto-currency.

If we can't answer fundamental questions about the bandwagon we're expected to jump on, worse yet, when we're told that we shouldn't even ask, then it is correct to be suspicious about the motivations of those who might herd us, and toward what ends they might march us into.

Re:Swiss to vote on proposals to treat bitcoin as foreign cu... by VMG on Tuesday December 24, 2013 @12:17PM (#6960177)
> There would be a degree of closure.

There would be relentless questioning of him, his views and his motivations.