Re:What’s Not Being Said About Bitcoin
by Groxx on Friday February 28, 2014 @01:55PM
(#7320705)
True, stupidity is a powerful force :)
I'm loathe to resort to "gold is/was a currency" but it does fit reasonably well. Its value is so far beyond its actual usable-as-a-thing value that it really doesn't matter if it's zero or not. If the gold market collapses, because that's completely possible, it takes every stockpile down with it and everything they propped up. Unless your argument includes that gold is stupid and not a currency, in which case we can at least agree we're being consistent :) It's hard to argue in favor of Bitcoin if you're not in favor of gold, and I'm not equipped to argue gold.
On the trust aspect: honestly, I trust algorithms more than governments. 1+1=2 has outlived every government in existence. Plenty of governments have exploded violently and without general awareness until it happened and I see no reason why X won't. "Safe" investments pop sometimes. Bitcoin is undeniably much more volatile, but that doesn't make it untrustable in the long run.
(for the record, my interest in Bitcoin is almost purely as a protocol. I just fail to see why it can't be considered a currency.)
I'm loathe to resort to "gold is/was a currency" but it does fit reasonably well. Its value is so far beyond its actual usable-as-a-thing value that it really doesn't matter if it's zero or not. If the gold market collapses, because that's completely possible, it takes every stockpile down with it and everything they propped up. Unless your argument includes that gold is stupid and not a currency, in which case we can at least agree we're being consistent :) It's hard to argue in favor of Bitcoin if you're not in favor of gold, and I'm not equipped to argue gold.
On the trust aspect: honestly, I trust algorithms more than governments. 1+1=2 has outlived every government in existence. Plenty of governments have exploded violently and without general awareness until it happened and I see no reason why X won't. "Safe" investments pop sometimes. Bitcoin is undeniably much more volatile, but that doesn't make it untrustable in the long run.
(for the record, my interest in Bitcoin is almost purely as a protocol. I just fail to see why it can't be considered a currency.)