Topic: 2013-04-07 SeekingAlpha - Bitcoin: Buyer Beware, This Is A Classic Bubble And .. (Read 4949 times)

 I fully support using that methodology on any comments or rebuttals.  Guaranteed to drive the metalbugs crazy.

Maybe we should call gold "the gold" and silver "the silver", then.

This guy actually did research, and you guys call it FUD...really? He read everything that was available on Bitcoin and you call it out as a lame FUD attempt. -_- Bitcoin isn't some miracle wonder support.

Really ? lol

Ever wonder you see such inflammatory, unresearched garbage on Seeking Alpha.

Simple

The more inflammatory it is, the more it gets linked to, the more the author gets paid.

Article provides yet more evidence that any writer who calls it "the bitcoin" instead of just "bitcoin" is usually a newbie who hasn't studied Bitcoin long enough and will therefore contribute nothing but already debunked fallacies.

The thing is that Bitcoin doesn't resemble gold (or a multi-metal standard) anyway. Sure, there's a limited supply... for each particular chain, but because OPEN SOURCE there's no limit to the number of competing chains that could emerge. Some chains may grow like a religion (e.g.: the $180 chain), while others may struggle and be labelled heretics (Litecoin, Novacoin, PPCoin, etc.). I see the competition as the real decentralisation. The whole "distributed server" thing (and all the convoluted crap to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks) seems like a distracting side-show to get the system bootstrapped.

Bitcoin's real power seems to lie in the fact that it efficiently uses the freedom of information, and various other freedoms (cooperation, collusion, public discussion, etc.) that modern society allows, to potentially create... something that is superior to and less susceptible to corruption than fractional reserve.

My perception is that the author is very much against returning to a fixed money supply, such as a gold standard, and is terrified that Bitcoin might be the impetus to lead governments in that direction. He is trying to discredit Bitcoin in any way he can -- flawed logic, half-truths, hyperbole, slander, and innuendo.

Believe it or not, people don't even know who created the bitcoin, or who is behind it. The whole concept was created by a pseudonymous person or group named Satoshi Nakamoto.

Yes, classical idiot who did not even research one bit...

Miracle wonder support = Wonderbra?

The 800lb Gorilla:

Reading about this bitcoin, I noticed that no reporters were asking the most important question, who gets the money for the newly issued bitcoins? There are 25 bitcoins generated every 10 minutes, or about $35,000 currently. In the articles I read, no one bothered ask who gets that money. Under our current monetary system, there is zero personal incentive for Ben Bernanke to print money, zip. Ben prints the money and gives it to some bond holder; the bond holder gets US dollars for their bond, the bond then gets deposited at the Fed. No one personally benefits from the newly printed money. Ben didn't print the money and run off and build a mansion, he simply transformed an illiquid asset into a liquid asset, that is it. The bond was purchased in the open market at market rates. The interest from the bond gets returned to Congress. Ben has absolutely no financial incentive whatsoever to print money. His incentive is keeping his job by following the monetary guidelines defined in the Fed's charter (for more info read about the Fed's duel mandate of low inflation and full employment.) Under the bitcoin system, there is a huge incentive to cheat and print money, and when those bitcoins are printed, we have no idea where the money goes, and that isn't a joke. It could be some guy paying for his mansion in the Canary Islands, or Kim Jung Um funding a new missile program for all we know.

The way bitcoin explains the system in their Wiki is similar to the way the gold standard was implemented back in the 1800s, they even use similar language. Sorry about the linking to a Wiki, but because of the secrecy of this bitcoin, there aren't a lot of credible sources. This Wiki however is linked on the front page of the bitcoin website as a source for more information. I take that as a sign of confidence/endorsement from whoever is behind bitcoin.

Bitcoins are awarded to Bitcoin nodes known as "miners" for the solution to a difficult proof-of-work problem which confirms transactions and prevents double-spending. This incentive, as the Nakamoto white paper describes it, encourages "nodes to support the network, and provides a way to initially distribute coins into circulation, since no central authority issues them."

Note how they use the term "incentive" to print bitcoins. Two years ago, the incentive was under $1 to create a bitcoin, now it is over $140. That is an incentive to print money out of thin air if I've ever seen one (more on this topic below). Also the miner analogy is way off. Miners in 1849 had to work long hard hours to discover an ounce of gold and have it minted into coins. Gold is called a precious metal for a reason; it is of very limited supply. There is no shortage of electrons and pushing a button on a keyboard doesn't count as hard work. As the hackers recently proved, all it takes is a push of a button and the bitcoins evaporate. This literally could be the ultimate Ponzi scheme, only this time Ponzi is hidden behind a collective network of computers. Gold can work as a currency because it is inelastic. You simply can't print gold out of thin air. That is not true for a bitcoin. A hacker can "print" as many bitcoins as there are electrons in a blink of an eye.

This guy actually did research, and you guys call it FUD...really? He read everything that was available on Bitcoin and you call it out as a lame FUD attempt. -_- Bitcoin isn't some miracle wonder support.

This guy actually did research, and you guys call it FUD...really? He read everything that was available on Bitcoin and you call it out as a lame FUD attempt. -_- Bitcoin isn't some miracle wonder support.

That is not true for a bitcoin. A hacker can "print" as many bitcoins as there are electrons in a blink of an eye.