I don't see it? If the price is 2.1BTC then it does not matter what bitcoin you send, the price is the same. The price you PAY for a bitcoin varies, but not the value. I might be able to sell you a dollar for $1.05, however that does not mean dollars have lost their fungibility.
And some coins or bills with specific history, serial number or print are worth more. Misprint, etc. That doesn't mean that the dollars isint the same value. Imagine if you could own the very first Genesis BTC, it would be like owning the very first bill ever made.
That doesn't mean a btc to another, the value is different.
I understand its easier to do than real money, but is this not the same thing as saying "We won't accept any Bills that became in contact with cocaine in their lifetime."?
You don't see shops rejecting bills because they came into the money of criminal once, so, why would this become a problem for BTC?
You don't see shops rejecting bills because they came into the money of criminal once, so, why would this become a problem for BTC?
You don't see shops rejecting bills because it is illegal for them to do so. Fiat is fungible because governments enforce it.
Bitcoin has no central authority to enforce anything, so it's fungibility must come at the protocol level.
I see what you mean, but its fungibility isint being called to question right now, and if it does, then we can come up with a solution then, or just enforce it by law. And then maybe, money doesn't need to be fungible, when its a decentralized entity like Bitcoin. But its still fungible.
You will always receive the amounts you're supposed.
Any different value to BTC would be attributed by the buyer.
Its like having a guy that will pay more for bills print on a certain year. It doesnt actually change the value of the bill. Its just a damn entity that decide he,s going to pay more or less based on his criteria.
Bills arent indistinguishable from one another. And Bitcoin is not either. If this boil down to being able to spend it without revealing all the previous transaction, than so be it, wait for sidechains.
I believe fungibility is an issue from a technical standpoint that a business can create a black list of addresses that contain "tainted" coins.
The issue is not as made a spectacle of the block size debate but it is still an issue that will need addressing either now or later.
I prefer to be proactive so if the developers/community want to be reactive that is their choice with associated consequences (who knows what these are yet as we are in uncharted waters).
Enforce what by law? Fungibility of bitcoin? What government or technical feature will do that? If the plan is to create a protocol enforcement mechanism and it is rolled out 100% successfully then I agree that would be a good step. Anything else is just hogwash and hand waving.
Wrong. bitcoin is distinguishable from other bitcoin on the chain. Hence you can see coins from one address and coins from other addresses. Meaning each coin has a distinct history on the block chain making them DISTINGUISHABLE from a protocol level.
