Bitcoin Forum

I think the time has come, where it is reasonable to suggest that Bitcoin was not the "purely speculative bubble asset" that many thought it was. There are many examples of ridiculous items which enter massive bubbles, pop, and then fall toward zero, never to recover. Tulip bulbs in the 17th century, or Beanie Babies in the 90's, are two popular examples.

As Bitcoin prices rose wildly and then popped last summer, a non-imaginative person could understandably perceive it as nothing but Tulip Mania. A fair argument, if you didn't understand Bitcoin, I suppose. Bitcoin was a "flash in the pan," a quick, scammy, interesting phenomenon that went away after the early adopters cashed out.

But now, given a full picture of Bitcoin's history, its rise last summer, crash, and rise again this winter, I think comparing Bitcoins to Tulips is naive and unjustified.

Bitcoin is not going anywhere, it seems - the core protocol has survived every attack and misfortune, and now the market value has also survived every attack and misfortune. The market knows these things are not worth zero, which is what many detractors have prescribed.

There will be more bubbles, I am positive. How does a global market price a revolutionary technology such as this? It will take time to figure out. Soon, we will again hear condemnations that Bitcoin will fail because it's too volatile or because it's "deflationary." We'll hear about the greedy early adopters getting rich (though I can't think of anyone more deserving of wealth). Fine, people can continue to argue those things even thought they're fallacious.

But, I think only a fool will now say that Bitcoin was just Tulip Mania, that it's price is destined to deflate to zero. Bitcoin might fail, but the Tulip Phenomenon will not be the cause.

Bitcoin: 1
Detractors: 0

Let's see what we can do in 2012. What an exciting thing to be working on =)

What attacks has Bitcoin itself been subject to? (Not counting attacks against MtGox et al)

I would assume every have-competent hacker on the planet has tried to steal coins or screw with the protocol in some way. There hasn't even been an "outage" of the system, let alone a serious problem. It's almost impossible to imagine that software could be so resilient, which is why I like the theory that Satoshi was actually an artificial intelligence network which created Bitcoin either as a gift to mankind or as a trick for future global domination.  :D

We shall see how Team Bitcoin does in their first contest of 2012, where they play the Mayans at home!  ;D

Yes, I think it is fair to say we've bounced off the $2 bottom now and may be heading for the next bubble. Next time I hear someone trotting out the Ponzi scheme line, I'll reply, "Ponzi schemes don't bounce."

YEAH F*%#% ALL THE TROLLS WHO DON'T GET BTC! WE ARE GOING TO $100 BABY!  :-*

But when can I buy a tulip with my bitcoins from the local flower shop? That's what I'm looking forward to, hopefully in 2012.

go get 'em Flip.  you say everything i want to say but you leave out a zero.

You just gave me an idea, how about you make a Bitcoin flower site! ;D

Here's an example
http://www.proflowers.com/landingSearch.aspx?pageid=Search&REF=FGVSRCHgoogkwd_flowers_e&NoExitPopup=Y&MATCHTYPE=search&keyword=flowers&ADTEXT=7142758644&NETWORK=google&city=Anywhere%20in%20the%20USA

I would if I knew how.  How about I open a gas station, a grocery store, and maybe a car lot also since I can't spend my coins at any of those either. Sad that more people care about speculating with Bitcoin than actually growing the economy.  Hopefully this year we can start to reverse that.

Haha!  +1000  …I must say though, it's funny to now see so many people that were previously proclaiming that price doesn't matter now getting so excited about the price.  ;)

I think the significance of this rally is not so much the higher price as it is that we've now seen bitcoin recover from a pretty severe bursting of a bubble.  People that may have had serious concerns that the decline wouldn't stop until it hit zero may now feel a little more confident about the long term (even if they think this may be another bubble forming).

There's a difference though. The price really doesn't matter for network. Bitcoin works at any price. However, many people are getting excited since they are getting richer. So I think you have to separate personal excitement from Bitcoin excitement.

Honestly people, I'd be willing to bet someone found something useful for bitcoin that might NOT be currency related..

Such as DRM or Voting...  it most likely is something that it's being adopted for that has nothing to do with what it was initially made for.

Volatility won't make Bitcoin fail, but it's a major pain for every merchant trying to offer Bitcoin payment. The only way out is to get the ratio of speculation/(regular use) down. This means the number of users has to go up. Complaining about speculators is not going to achieve this. Using Bitcoin wherever possible will get us there.

Volatility will only be an issue until someone forks the chain and comes up with USDcoin, a new cryptocurrency based on Bitcoin, that maintains constant parity with the BTC/USD exchange rate :-)

Right, everyone will jump on such InflationCoins. To quote evoorhees:

Actually, a USDcoin blockchain would save the US a ton of money in minting costs, no? It could still be controlled by the Federal Reserve, could still be inflationary and so on, just based on Bitcoin... genius, I'm telling you!

That precludes adoption by any government.

The sole reason I strongly believe in Bitcoin's success and viability is it's mechanics regarding the issuance and limited supply. I would not support any similar currency that doesn't include a similar rule so USDcoin or any other fiat currency can kiss my ass.

piper67
 I heard a rumor on FX that something similar was in progress its about 18 month away and designed to get the US off a $14 trillion hook. current us dollars will be effectively worthless worldwide (sorry China, Japan et,al) but the new us dollar I saw an actual print of one the fed is working on will need to be pegged to something a bit more stable than debt upon debt and BTC is from my point of view a good candidate.    reg          128TrjaSuKp7uhqCgTHmFFX1wwR76eTX3P                                                                               

If anyone has any doubts about what will happen with the dollar, you just need to watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KURRO5mcHCw

That's an excerpt out of this speech/lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgMclXX5msc

A raw bitcoin (freshly mined) is not an asset per se, but a set of empty rows in the General Ledger.
By selling your bitcoins to others you're selling them an exclusive right to use those rows to record various transactions.
Only bitcoins that are supported by the actual transactions can be called an asset (the value of which is the value of transactions).

Recent hikes in the price of raw bitcoins are merely the Smart Money attempt to once again capitalize on the unsuspecting bitcoin fans.

Oh, come on. The "inherent value" argument in another guise. Nothing is an asset per se. NOTHING has inherent value of any kind. Inherent Value is a contradiction in terms, since value is always assigned.

There is no value without he (or she) doing the valuing.

One newly minted BTC is an asset, inasmuch as someone out there is going to assign value to the possibility of transacting it.

True, the value must first be assigned in order for something 'with no inherent value' to be called an asset.

In the case of bitcoins supported by the actual transactions, that value is assigned by the value of those transactions.

However, in the case of raw bitcoins (those traded on MtGox, etc), that value is merely proposed (not assigned).

Heh. Potato, potato... you can assign value to the proposal itself. I'll happily take all the newly minted BTC you or anyone else might have, for free!  ;D

What is this "Beanie Babies" you speak of and where can I get many???

I will pay top dollar!

I remember people used to line up for them!

Also, all the people whining about early adopters have had their chance now, to purchase coins when they cost near nothing.

And I hope the big players selling out means that the coins have been distributed to a larger amount of owner. Bigger spread on wealth makes for a more healthy economy imo.