Topic: The $1000 Bitcoin, yes it's worth at least that. - page 7. (Read 41589 times)

First of all, the value of a BitCoin is rather more speculative than that. Secondly, when the last of block is mined, then what, the value of the energy used to verify transactions, that sounds like a cost, not a value.

How about this, Petrol coins. To create a petrol coin, you must burn one liter of petrol. Over time the cost of creation goes up, and you must burn more and more petrol to create a coin. Now you're saying the value of the current coin is based on how much petrol you need to create the next coin. I say, there must be a system that requires no burning of petrol, cause it's bad for the environment. But here's the killer, if I want to redeem my coin for petrol, I spent almost as much petrol making the coin as it's worth. So I get 1 litre of petrol instead of 2. Brilliant.

PeterSchiff, are you an adherent of the Labour Theory of Value by any chance?

How much money we make has very little to do with how much we work.  Our ability to make money is almost entirely a result of the capital we have access to, and you are no exception to that.  Like it or not, that is simply how a modern free economy works.

I make 100 times more money per hour than an Indian rice farmer.  Is this because I work 100 times harder than him? Of course not, in fact he probably works a hell of a lot harder than me. Is it because I am more intelligent? I doubt it, human beings have roughly the same cognitive skills regardless of their culture and technological state.  

It is simply because I have access to:

* Financial capital - Assets that I inherited, assets my employer allows me to use, etc.
* Social capital - I know people who can help me accessing high paying jobs.
* Information capital - My education, my superior internet access, etc.
* Political capital - if the Indian rice farmer decided to move to Europe and compete with me, the friendly government I am living under would point a gun to his head and kindly ask him to return.
* Cultural capital - I was brought up to think innovatively and independently.

...and the rice farmer doesn't.

So if you think it's wrong to make money from capital and that we should all just be making money from work alone, we would probably all end up living like Indian rice farmers.  Are you prepared to do that? No? Who is the real hypocrite then?


PS. Bitcoin will give the Indian rice farmer access to capital that was so far withheld from him by the banking elites.

yeah, and another 9,980 are getting really bloody wealthy.

Whoever invests now, will be one of the 90,000 that become pretty damn wealthy people.

And then theres the 900,000 that... well you get my point.

You are right, don't buy BitCoin, it is not for you, shift aside .... the thousands of other people queuing up behind you need to get in.

These things have real value, in today's society, oil more so than gold. In fact our entire economic system is tied to oil prices. Unfortunately we are running out of oil, quickly, so perhaps generic energy options will work better.

Bitcoins are not spent energy. Their value comes from the amount of energy required to mine the next block.

Is the value of gold not an illusion? Is the value of oil not an illusion?

Any value is an illusion. As long as that value can be applied long term, stored, and is limited in supply, it just makes the process of creating a price easier

lol, I keep seeing that comment , I'm willing to discuss, and perhaps be persuaded, but so far you're doing a terrible job. Geeks gone greedy, hiding behind some noble notion to change the worlds monetary system.

"They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity."

Ezekiel 7-19

You just made it for me. But let me spell it out, if this scheme is gonna take off, change the world and create uber rich BitCoin pioneers, we "all" need to buy into it, right now only a few geeks have bought into it.

Currency backed by gold, not an illusion. Currency backed by oil, not an illusion. In the future, perhaps we can have currency backed by energy. Aka, energy options, and I don't mean backed by spent energy, like BitCoins.

nothing more than sour grapes

Every currency value is an illusion until the people buy into it...what exactly is your point?

Because the current value of a BitCoin is an illusion, but not if we all buy into it...

imagine if this was 1850 ...


Careful with using history as a guide.  Longevity by itself does not guarantee stability.

There is nothing special about gold.  The only reason it has lasted as a money for 5,000 years is because there was no superior alternative for certain financial needs.  P2P cryptocurrencies may change that situation in a very short time.

IMO there is a real possiblility that gold will lose its status as a major exchange vehicle within less than a decade.  The result will be a crash in the price of gold that reflects its value in jewellery and electronics alone.

I think you should read my article about unfairness and pizza in the BitcoinSun

do they have to now? multimillionaires don't exist today?

you don't have to play btc game if you think that it is not fair... you don't want to have .02 btc for free, but explain why anyone should give any more of free money to anybody?

I must agree with you there .

Inflation is key, whether or not Peter would agree.

Yeah, such risks they took, pales in comparison to when I was stationed in Kosovo, or when I took time off work for my startup. What great pioneers they were, leaving their computers on for 24 hours a day, never knowing if their CPU or GPU would overheat.

Hypocrites

Please don't tell me there are actually some individuals complaining about an "unfair distribution" of Bitcoins... surely such posts are jokes?

Personally, I hope the early adopters of what could be an immensely revolutionary new monetary system make astronomical profits. I can't think of anything more "fair" than for those who took the earliest risks with Bitcoins to enjoy lavish gains from its success, should it occur.

Cheers to pioneers!

There is an established 'early adopter' problem with a gold standard as well.

Now I know that you are not the real Peter Schiff, because he would have never written the above paragraph.