Topic: I am fucking panicking - page 4. (Read 15822 times)

  Wait till China makes a run on US Treasury bonds, then you will see the utility of bitcoin.

I don't see anything fundamental here, though. I mean, I get it, you like bitcoin. (So do I.) And great, there's a niche of tech geeks that like it too. Like this guy--


I'm all for bitcoin as a payment system. I love anonymity and irreversible payments. But it's just so terribly illiquid. No one uses it. Whenever I've had to get cash to people, domestically or internationally, instant bank transfers and teller deposits (no/low fee) do the trick -- and that's how anyone I've ever known wants it (well, aside from those that require wires). I get the credit card fraud thing... and while that may hurt the image of credit cards for those affected by it, the BTC economy being the scam haven it is doesn't exactly help bitcoin's image either (in terms of adoption). I will say that when I have been a victim of CC fraud, the process was easy and my money was never in limbo. In the bitcoin economy, it is the Wild Wild West -- good luck getting recourse when your accounts are hacked, shady companies run off with your money, people defraud you, etc.

I don't live under a rock, but I've met one person, ever, who uses bitcoins and he is strictly a trader. I get that bitcoin can be used as a currency. By and large, it isn't, though. Perhaps someday. I don't think I said anything like bitcoin "won't be mainstream"... but it isn't. If you use bitcoin as a matter of convenience, I guarantee the vast majority of people (including myself) will use fiat as a matter of convenience. That, and as a matter of peace of mind, as I for one don't necessarily want to hold coins for long. Talking as if we are in some alternate reality where lots of people actually use bitcoin -- as many seem to do around here -- is just a pointless circle jerk.

I still see only two fundamental uses -- investment and black market trade. The rest is geek novelty and cult mentality, which, somehow, people around here pass off as utility.

I'm curious -- in regards to products you can buy with bitcoin (and not fiat? more conveniently than fiat?) what are you talking about, some more examples, web sites? From the perspective of someone who isn't actively involved with bitcoin and thus wouldn't be holding it, is this still true? I just don't see it.

A diverse ecosystem is a healthy one.

well you can't save everyone I guess

enjoy your bitcoin banks and investment funds

and your comically confident oxymorons  

are you a total moron or you are here just to piss people off? Go and try to move dollars between exchanges and do the same with bitcoin and then say bs like this. The fiat is limitation over internet not bitcoin. With bitcoin you feel finally free and don't even need any 3rd party institution to help you carry your money over internet for fee. And even if you want to do daily shopping with bitcoin you don't need to wait for 6 confirmations with small transactions but much lower depending on value of bought items. It could be even zero confirmation which is instant if seller decide so.

To compare this to current visa paypass you also have instant payments with zero confirmations but they are not safe because people can steal your money buying a lot of small things which happend already by buying tickets for example. Which means visa cards are not safe too and banks don't give a shit to this and still are promoting these cards even if people don't want to use them.

Well just wait for the Bitcoin banks, Bitcoin ATM's, (more) Bitcoin investment funds.

I know a number of people working on some very, very serious projects.

Bitcoin has gained massive traction in the last few months and this will only continue.

You are freaking out over nothing.

as it should be, what are you even trying to prove besides everything I just fucking said?

All that article is is simply PR talk on their part, nobody can come out and support illegal activities in public, but they can put up a front of legitimacy with the knowledge that people are going to use their coins to still make illegal purchases regardless of whether they acknowledge it or not.

You think Storz & Bickel are anti-marijuana behind closed doors? Fuck no, they'd be out of business. But they know how to find grey areas and work around them.

The problem is that things stuck in a grey area can never become entirely supported by the mainstream population because the majority of people only see things in black or white.

This is my last contribution to this thread.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929256.100-bitcoin-sells-out-as-big-business-moves-in.html

Have a great day dude.

P.S I base my opinions on my own research and analysis too.

When I found BTC it took me two weeks of serious study late last year to really wrap my head around it in a serious way.

I don't see what the problem is - if Bitcoin doesn't get legitimate it will be made illegal - period.

It is extremely easy to pass legislation which would cripple Bitcoin - I am not going to say how in this thread however!

that's a lot of ground work to be doing to be simply buying groceries. If I were looking for a specific good I did not have access to in my area I could see why that would be worth the trouble, maybe something like hmmm drugs?


nobody expects that, which is why devs made new coins.


No I am saying Silk Road put Bitcoin into the public eye and brought in a large number of speculators who were banking on more people using said TOR services and willing to sell off massive amounts when the first sign of a downward trend made itself apparent. Yeah, those people are really down for your cause. The very group you think is going to help bitcoin is going to drive it into the ground.


Because people who use Silk Road aren't buying coins for their fiat value, they are buying them to immediately spend on drugs which are pegged to automatically adjust to the USD value of bitcoins. Nobody was panic selling their coin stash out of fear of losing the ability to acquire the same amount of drugs as before the site went down.


you follow everything that happens in an anonymous ecosystem, must be nice being able to tell bold faced lies on the internet.


No I have not, I base my opinions off my own logic and reasoning and that way if I am wrong it is my own damn fault.

Bitcoin hasn't outgrown shit, the size of your egos have you twat

keep welcoming increased regulation and mainstream support while turning your back on the very things that made it what it is today. See how it plays out, I'm sure those investors and entrepreneurs really give two fucks about the long-term future of Bitcoin

I for one don't ignore it. I think it's way over rated.

I don't take drugs and never used silkroad, but I think that people generally will have a positive idea of it in the long run.

You cannot fight drug use by force. There should be a legitimate non-profit organization providing "clean" drugs, proper therapies, and activities for the drug addicts. Legalizing weed will be a step in the right direction.

That way you would kill the black market, the related corruption, and the exposure to unsafe substances immediately.

Here I go, fixin' shit again!

Of course the black market aspect is there - but it is NOT the only reason BTC exists and to say BTC relies on black market transactions only for its current value is in fact a very outdated and incorrect point of view.

Silk Road's popularity was about the same when the value was $13 so are you saying all the rest of the increase of the market cap is from other black market activity only?

When SR was down for over 48 hours (and no one knew if it was coming back) it hardly affected the price of BTC at all.

I don't use the service at all but as I actually follow everything happening in the Bitcoin ecosystem I was aware of this.

Have you done a google news search for Bitcoin yet?

EDIT: Here I'll help you: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=uk&tbm=nws&authuser=0&q=bitcoin

I hope it helps you realize Bitcoin is far, far more than just a tool for the black market. It could be argued Silk Road was important in the evolution of Bitcoin - but now? Bitcoin as a whole has outgrown it and I would argue it is irrelevant as more and more investors and entrepreneurs are seeing the more revolutionary aspects which Bitcoin brings to the table.

Obviously, without going into details here, I would point them towards:

-Several exchanges
-Localbitcoins
-Bitcointalk
-Local bitcoin forums

I know it can be hard for some people to buy them, but it's basically because of the restricted financial system and early stage of adoption. Funnily it also highlights the state of our freedom quite apparently. ;-)

I always feel that people expect a complete / finished product when they first hear about bitcoin. It has a lot more headroom to grow in my opinion and not just in terms of acceptance. This past 1 year showed pretty decent progress. When I started mining there weren't even any shop accepting it. Now I always check if something can be bought for bitcoin first.

Again, I understand if it's not convenient for everyone at this very moment but it can easily change (or not).

And I'm glad it works for you, believe me I am not trying to disparage what Bitcoins did for this field as a whole. I just am pointing out the fact that


Should be a good indicator of how this speculation


is going to play out

I am fully supportive of any cryptocurrency that is willing to work with the supporters who make it possible. Bitcoin turned its back a long time ago


the average person using bitcoins to buy drugs isn't going to be filling out some shitty survey especially via a fucking google doc link. Only those with small minds IGNORE the black market aspect

It is a common myth that BTC is for black market purposes only.

This article shows that most Bitcoin users do not even take drugs (I am in this demoagraphic): http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-10/demographics-bitcoin

Many people, including me, are captivated more by the technological aspects of the currency, and how different it is to anything which has come before, more than the black market aspect (myself included).

It is as revolutionary as the invention of the Internet itself, and is the first P2P currency to EVER be created.

Only those with small minds only focus on the black market aspect.

A cursory google news search for BItcoin will reveal much activity from angel investors and legitimate companies doing things which have never been done before.

Stop spreading this trash talk.

I find shopping with BTC a lot more convenient. I don't need to give away the necessary details for charging my account. By the nature of my work, I travel awfully lot. I got sting by card fraud many times which is quite annoying.

I can do international transfers very quickly and without horrendous wait times and fees. I can buy desired things which are not sold in my country (electronics, domains and many more).

As I said it previously, the usefulness of BTC is highly dependent on personal circumstances and geolocation.

Saying that it won't be mainstream is ignorant in my opinion. maybe it will maybe it won't. time will tell.

@desired username

let's pretend I am completely new to bitcoins, never even heard of them before you told me about them. I ask you how I can acquire said coins

What would be your response?

That line is: "I got my finances with my family/friends fully in bitcoin now." That means that I do the petty transactions among my friends and family in bitcoin. that's all. It doesn't mean that I have everything in bitcoin.

I can't seem to understand your stance on decentralization. On what level do you think it's centralized?

The thing is, I can find lots of things to do with bitcoins. But in virtually all cases, it is much faster, convenient and liquid to use dollars. None of the bitcoin revolutionists here have explained -- what can you do with bitcoin that you can't do more easily with fiat?

You can store value / invest. And you can buy drugs in mail.

What else?

uhh, the third line of your post?


Bitcoin is not decentralized, don't kid yourself


Regulated by who? And I do find uses for cryptocurrencies, I just accept and understand the fact that I will never be paying my rent with it