Topic: Bitcoin is not the problem its the current users. (Read 1676 times)

I just like most others when first hearing of Bitcoins was excited, confused and intrigued. Now that I know a little bit more  (my knowledge is still minimal respectively to others on this forum) I feel that Bitcoin is currently undergoing a power struggle. Between the speculators and the believers.

My understanding of the Bitcoin was a decentralised currency giving the people the control. A currency which was controlled through the consumers demand and not the governmental supply. I'm sure many others see the Bitcoin in a similar light, yet at the moment the Bitcoin is nothing more than a speculators dream.

It's ironic that statements from a governmental organisation can inflate and deflate the value of the Bitcoin so greatly when the whole point of the Bitcoin is it decentralisation. You see the way I see it, the Bitcoin is nothing more than a traders tool at the moment. It's current purchasing power is fairly weak and it's extremely volatile. Ofcourse this is expected at the current Supply level, yet it's not helped by the speculators not trusting in the technology and vision of the Bitcoin and hoarding there coins away when governments issue statements.

From a businesses point of view how could I accept a currency that could potentially be worth 40% of what it was worth upon accepting it. Currently a lot of people pin the value of the USD to the Bitcoin. However to truly fuel the biteconomy we need to spend the BTC we have and covert them into USD (and yes we need to volatility to settle). 

The way I see it for the coin to succeed we need the right users behind it. Because ultimately it is only worth what we make of it.

I actually see it being more of an image issue.

Majority of people out there have heard that bitcoin is used for lots of illegal activities, if not that, then its loved by the anarchocapitalists and ultra libertarians who want to take down the government.
 

I actually see it being more of an image issue.

Majority of people out there have heard that bitcoin is used for lots of illegal activities, if not that, then its loved by the anarchocapitalists and ultra libertarians who want to take down the government.

While these may have been some of the founding principles, like any rebellious teenager, bitcoin will need to, and is stepping into adulthood.
 

I feel that Bitcoin is currently undergoing a power struggle. Between the speculators and the believers.

Global economics was a fixed game before, now it isn't

I feel that Bitcoin is currently undergoing a power struggle. Between the speculators and the believers.

Your exactly right, no other money swings 50-200% a day, I can't possibly think of another currency currently in existence that has as much volatility as Bitcoin does.

http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/DXY:CUR

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=USD

I mean, you can't just for instance check all this paper based currency and see all the volatility there on many charts can you? And there certainly couldn't be a whole market out there that is dedicated to trading on this volatility right?

Except that no other kind of money swings 50-200% a day and at this volatility why would merchants even bother with such a "currency"?

To be honest, it makes sense not to spend right now. In the grand scheme ot things there's not much to spend your coins on, and BTC is at a low at the moment and is essentially half what it was worth at its peak. So if you bought in at $1000-ish, it'd be silly to spend now as you'll be losing money, hold for a couple of months and you'll probably be back in profit.

What a nightmare for the inflation based world economy   How can I buy more crap if I must wait for the value to rise? And how can i afford to buy crap if the value rise to fast? I think the value must settle in order to work.

I'm pretty sure that there's a lot of people out there who are both speculators and users. I am currently more speculator than user, but as soon as bitcoin starts to become accepted in places I spend Stirling, I'll become a user. You can't bash people for not using something that they're unable to use. I'll be really excited to buy my first bitcoin pint!

To be honest, it makes sense not to spend right now. In the grand scheme ot things there's not much to spend your coins on, and BTC is at a low at the moment and is essentially half what it was worth at its peak. So if you bought in at $1000-ish, it'd be silly to spend now as you'll be losing money, hold for a couple of months and you'll probably be back in profit.

I don't think it's right to say 'users' are at fault.

People have the right to do as they please with their BTC.

Although this is constantly debated I believe that we should let people enjoy Bitcoin as they so wish.

Just to add my two cents to the conversation.... I don't know if there are any exact hard numbers on something like that.  There was an interesting article/interview I read the other day on coindesk though. The researcher talks about in their findings the majority of bitcoins aren't moving although it's impossible to know if that's because the are being hoarded, lost, or in cold storage (obviously it's a combination of all 3 but knowing what %'s each make up is probably not possible).

I would also argue though that it's just common sense...... it's dangerous to talk about only people you know and apply it to everyone, but all the bitcoin enthusiasts I know personally aren't spending many bitcoins and if they are it's a lot less than they were a 6 months to a year ago.  Also this isn't any sort of scentific data but I think just following the forums on here gives a trending picture of people wanting to hold bitcoin and wanting to buy as the price goes down, but not as many peopel talking about going out and buying things with them.

Again, none of what I just said is hard facts and data and you're right it's in assumption but IMO it's a pretty safe bet/assumption.  Of course I've been wrong before in life, but only once or twice  


edit:  sorry forgot the coindesk link , great article imo.... http://www.coindesk.com/researcher-tracks-bitcoin-movements-anonymity/

I don't see what the problem of that would be, but what figures do you have to back this up? Any comment on the number of spenders vs hoarders seems to be based entirely on assumption at the minute.

I am not arguing that the speculators are not important or useful to the Bitcoin economy. Yet currently the speculators are probably out weighing the actual users of the currency.

I just like most others when first hearing of Bitcoins was excited, confused and intrigued. Now that I know a little bit more  (my knowledge is still minimal respectively to others on this forum) I feel that Bitcoin is currently undergoing a power struggle. Between the speculators and the believers.

My understanding of the Bitcoin was a decentralised currency giving the people the control. A currency which was controlled through the consumers demand and not the governmental supply. I'm sure many others see the Bitcoin in a similar light, yet at the moment the Bitcoin is nothing more than a speculators dream.

It's ironic that statements from a governmental organisation can inflate and deflate the value of the Bitcoin so greatly when the whole point of the Bitcoin is it decentralisation. You see the way I see it, the Bitcoin is nothing more than a traders tool at the moment. It's current purchasing power is fairly weak and it's extremely volatile. Ofcourse this is expected at the current Supply level, yet it's not helped by the speculators not trusting in the technology and vision of the Bitcoin and hoarding there coins away when governments issue statements.

From a businesses point of view how could I accept a currency that could potentially be worth 40% of what it was worth upon accepting it. Currently a lot of people pin the value of the USD to the Bitcoin. However to truly fuel the biteconomy we need to spend the BTC we have and covert them into USD (and yes we need to volatility to settle). 

The way I see it for the coin to succeed we need the right users behind it. Because ultimately it is only worth what we make of it.

Except that no other kind of money swings 50-200% a day and at this volatility why would merchants even bother with such a "currency"? And if regular people don't use it as a currency, then the only use of Bitcoin remains in it's anonimity (drugs, tax evasion) and volatility (speculators) - both niche markets, meaning it will NEVER grow to the point where the price might become stable on the size alone.

I am not arguing that the speculators are not important or useful to the Bitcoin economy. Yet currently the speculators are probably out weighing the actual users of the currency.