Topic: Biggest misconception in Bitcoin - page 2. (Read 4482 times)

What is a definable in objective terms and is constant. Nothing is constant. What I'll charge for my time isn't constant, what you'll charge for your time isn't constant, what I'll charge for gold, silver, copper, bitcoin, lumber, corn, or armchairs isn't constant.

That doesn't work as a definition for money because money by definition isn't constant, its affected by the money supply & money volatility, neither of which are constant. Its also affected by people's psychological want for that form of money.

A unit of account is any method of expressing the worth of account. In other words, I can't use armchairs as a unit of account because 3 armchairs doesn't mean anything to anyone. 3 Bitcoins, however, does, because it means something somewhat standard to most people.

Okay Einstein, why don't you enlighten us and give us an example of something that is a currency?

It doesn't have to destroy them to have a major impact. Just competing with them would be game-changing.  If Bitcoin or an even better iteration of the technology does eventually supplant fiat systems, all the better.

Dont get me wrong. The protocol is a great tech innovation, and will no doubt influence the world going forward.

But it wont destroy banks or replace government issued fiat.

That is my goal. 

Sublime, you may be trolling, but I'll engage in discussing this train of thought.

I think your underestimating the potential intrinsic value of bitcoin.  You compare them to baseball cards,  yet a baseball card can not be traded nearly instantly with high security anywhere in the world.

Bitcoin's value is that it allows you to accomplish something that previously has required the might if an entire nation to do.  Money only has value because there are laws in place that encourage you to honor it's value.   

The very nature of bitcoin however is that the security of your store of value does not depend on expensive anti-counterfieting technology, millions of highly paid bankers, politicians, and the backing of the largest military in the world. See where I'm going with this?

Really think about all that goes into what allows the fairly common event of being able to hand a complete stranger a piece of cloth-paper with some fancy ink on it and that stranger transfer to you a valuable item such as food, clothing, shelter, transportation, or entertainment. That every day occurrence is possible due to the massive financial and governmental industries.

Now think about how much of that store of value is needed simply to guarantee its own value.  Traditional currencies require a massive middleman, imagine what the world would look like if you could utilize all the benefits of a traditional currency at a fraction of the cost.

Now, will bitcoin ever become the sole currency of the world? No, but the feature sets of of a variety of crypto currencies could eventually replace a significant portion of fiat currency.  You can see around you how many fiat systems are collapsing under thier own weight.

No one could have predicted how the ability to send information nearly instantly and with high security anywhere in the world would change it.  I'm speaking of the Internet of course.

Bitcoin simply adds the ability to guarantee uniqueness and ownership to a piece of information, but as with currency, these attributes are highly valuable.  Who knows how bitcoin may (or may not) change the world?

It is hugely important. It causes asset price inflation and distortion of the global economy.

http://howestreet.com/2012/12/wake-up-investors-money-is-imaginary/

It is computer data and as such, should not be considered currency and/or a means to build wealth/prosperity.

It is being used to fool us into going cashless.

What will you do if they turn your power and/or chip off ?

 

how would you give change in gold, especially when an ounce trades at $1300+? you certainly can't cut the coins/bars up..

you brought this up before and it was as pointless then as it is now...

Does it really matter what word you use to describe it, whether you call it money, a currency, a commodity, a technology? Who cares whether it is a 'unit' of something or not? That has nothing to do with the actual function that bitcoin provides and you are basically just starting a pedantic argument over an insignificant semantic issue.

Also, whether the word 'currency' is correct or not is hardly the misconception of the century and I think there are far more significant misconceptions you could concern yourself over (such as the misconception that Bitcoin can easily be shut down, etc.)

I can go with that, a quasi currency like the dollar. I disagree with beer for gold being silly.

how about we call it by what it is? a quasi currency. it would be silly to buy a beer with gold, but it definitely wouldn't be silly to buy a beer with BTC.

You cant define things in terms of themselves. When you say bitcoin is x about of satoshi it is like defining an inch as a millionth of an inch

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/11/08/from-walmart-to-bitcoin-the-ceo-behind-the-chinese-exchange-sending-bitcoin-to-new-highs/?fb_action_ids=194121050772391&fb_action_types=forbessocial%3Acomment&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%221941210



"China has been known as a nation of savers, who are always saving for a rainy day,” says Lee.  ”Bitcoin is a digital asset, like real estate, gold, or stock. It is just one more option now. With Bitcoin hard-coded to be limited, it’s like a collectible.”"

The owner of the second largest soon to be the largest exchange would disagree.

Fine call them assets.. I dont care what you call them.. The point is they are not currency.

In my opinion, I see Bitcoin as both a stock and a currency. But at the moment i see it as a stock, as who would buy something with an asset that is increasing in value when you could use something stable like fiat to buy the goods. Later when Bitcoin stabelises i will see it as a currency  

Nintendo games were not a good store of value either, but wait another 100 years and see how much people are willing to pay for a contra game.   

I didnt say it was a good store of value.

Because if you can realize that bitcoin is not currency because it is not a UNIT then you can realize that the US dollar is not currency because it is not a UNIT.

That is what Ron Paul is really asking Ben when he asks can you define a dollar for me. He is really asking what is the UNIT called a dollar equal too?

Na I said it doesnt make sense as a store of value. A cell phone is a store of value, but every tech is guaranteed to fall in the wake of a new better tech.