Bitcoin Forum

i've been waiting for this.

wow, that's the absolute worst performance i have ever seen come from Jim Rickards.  talk about fear mongering. ::)

and then, he didn't even have his facts straight:

1.  oil never hit $400.  max was $149 in 2008.
2.  there has never been a billion counterfeit Bitcoins created.

http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2013-06-18/malka-rickards-debate-bitcoin-utility-longevity

my respect level for Rickards just went down at least 2 notches.

Rickards claims Satoshi doesn't understands economics.  i'd say Rickards doesn't understand game theory.  which is quite surprising to me.

Yeah, Mr. Rickards' arguments against Bitcoin were rather flimsy (and full of concrete inaccuracies, like the counterfeit bitcoins... where did he even get that from?).

*sigh*

Also, why was it so short? Is that just an excerpt, or is that the whole bitcoin debate?

The first link isn't working for me.

This one works okay

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/bear-and-bull-the-great-bitcoin-debate-yOOpf~n4TQqRl~K_I~Tg6A.html

Yep same first doesn't work yours does

Damnit Jim are you an idiot!
They do understand monetary economics you retard!
It used to be 400 ......
Billions of dollars of counterfit bitcoins!
....................................................................... Scratches of list of informed people

*sigh*

What a trainwreck from Rickards.

I think he became the new world record holder for most fallacies and strawmen packed into the shortest amount of time.

Potentially a career-ending videoclip for him if Bitcoin really takes off.  He will never live it down.  Very stupid move to put yourself on public record about a topic whose resolution has a good chance of going against you.  So irrational, it almost makes me think he must know something we don't?  Maybe he has secretly built the world's most powerful quantum computer in his spare time?

the only thing that i can think of as to why he did such a hatchet job on Bitcoin is:

1.  he really doesn't understand the concept.
2.  he really thinks the gov't is going to go full on war vs. Bitcoin.  he could be right about this but wrong about the outcome.
3.  he is so far down the rabbit hole in his investment into gold it has clouded his mind.

the clouding could be real as how in the world could he say oil went to $400?

anybody see the whole debate?  sounds like there should be a later segment.

Rickards describes "a lot of problems with it, we'll get to it in the main program".

So they had more discussion specifically on Bitcoin, or was Bitcoin just something he'ld bring up later during the event?

Bitcoin had it's own segment, a debate moderated by Kashmir Hill. Just wish they would put the video up.

I want to see it!!! It will air somewhere sometime eventually, right?

Sorry I was thinking of the wrong debate.

Here is the full video to this one though. OP please use this link:

http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2013-06-18/malka-rickards-debate-bitcoin-utility-longevity

Edit: Whatev, I'll just post the full one

Interestingly, back in March, Bob Rice, managing partner at  Jim Rickards' Tangent Capital gave an accurate and somewhat positive analysis of Bitcoin! Something here doesn't add up.

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/bob-s-daily-buzzword-bitcoin-EJ04CzJbQsKJ6CqAsDI_WA.html (http://www.bloomberg.com/video/bob-s-daily-buzzword-bitcoin-EJ04CzJbQsKJ6CqAsDI_WA.html)

Just watched the full video. I wonder how the audience voted afterwards!!

$500... doesn't seem that far out.

He was probably referring to this:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=823.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=823.0)

Although I doubt he understands the difference between then and now.

just had a chance to listen to the whole thing.

i never realized how much of a statist Jim Rickards really is.  how many times did he use the fear-mongering tactic of child sex and pornography?  he should be ashamed it was so absurd.  once again, i say prove it to me.  where's the evidence?

even if it's true, USD represent a much larger source of cash that drives this disgusting practice.  where's Rickard's outrage at the USD?

Rickard's strangely enough used the deflationary argument against Bitcoin while totally ignoring the fact that his gold money accomplishes the same thing.  Malka should've pinned him against the wall on that one.

Rickard's also brought up the "no electricity and no internet" arguments that we've debated many times on this forum.  if those things happen, the entrenched fiat/banking system would be up the creek as well.  not to mention national security and all forms of communication.

unfortunately, if i had to choose, i'd have to say Rickards won the debate only b/c he went overboard on the offensive attacking Malka incessantly.  naive observers probably respond better to fear mongering than the unknowns about Bitcoin.  

Hey everyone, let's keep in mind that it's typical in a formal debate to argue a side that you don't necessarily agree with.

Maybe Jim Rickards thinks bitcoins are just fine, and he came up with lousy anti-bitcoin arguments just because he was arguing the "con" side and had to come up with something.

*shrugs*

That's very similar to my experience of watching Karl Denninger take on the Bitcoin.

There are people who talk big about being "pro-freedom", but once a technology appears with a credible chance of moving the discussion out of the realm of the abstract, vague future and gets into practical applications that could actually happen in the near term, you get a chance to see where they really stand.

I will be in a panel with Rickards at a conference in Bratislava in October (or September, don't remember the date now). I would be glad for tips even though I think I can handle it on my own. Sorry for being short, I'm at another conference right now and I haven't watched this video yet.

*shrugs*

Actually, Rickards' final summary speech brings up a lot of points that are worth discussing. He did a nice job of putting together some of the major threats...

looks like i was wrong about who won the debate.  i happily stand corrected:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-19/debating-bitcoin-will-the-cryptocurrencys-merits-be-its-undoing

i also went back and listened to the debate once again and Malka did better than i had originally thought.  i guess i was just taken aback and aghast at Rickards tactics and ignorance.

It's funny how Rickards looks like he has a pair of horns b/c he's standing under a giant "U".  :D

Malka wasn't too bad. I would have used the end to address Rickards points directly though.

Also I would have ended with something like "Now let us be as hard on our regular currencies as we are being with Bitcoin. Does anyone really believe that the dollars they have right now will even be worth more in 5 years?"