Bitcoin Forum

Buying a few is a battle against taxes, fees etc. Move 10$ to mtgox... mmhh... i end up spending what, 50$?

So, bitcoins are lottery tickets.  Cool.

I think the answer to the article is simple: inertia.

It took the internet - one of the most useful thing ever invented in the whole
history of mankind - 20 years to go from being functional to being used by a
sizable fraction of humanity.

I'm pretty sure the story is similar if not longer for other useful technologies:
running water in the house, steam, electricity, the lightbulb, the printing press,
the computer, etc ...

In terms of recent, large-scale successes, Facebook and Google are probably
the things that spread the fastest in the last ~20 years. And both each took
close to 10 years to reach planet-wide adoption.

In other words: it simply boils down to the fact that most people have no clue
of most of what's happening in the world around them, and only start paying
attention to something new once a at least 5 people in their close social circle
has finally hit them squarely on the head with it.

You want to see bitcoin succeed ? Talk about it around you at every possible
opportunity, show it to your friends, demand payment in bitcoins for ever little
transaction you do. If you want to start a forest fire proper, you must light small
fires in as many possible corners of the forest as possible.

And yes: you're going to get weird looks from people who'll be thinking "what
a dork". Bear with the pain. People said the same thing to early internet adopters.
Who's a dork now ?

I offer to give Bitcoins away to friends and family.  No takers.  Bitcoin is still too technical to use, or rather it is just too different. 

"Does my computer have to be on for me to receive Bitcoins?"
"GAAAAAA!!!!"

Try harder.

I personally got 4 friends and 2 family members to buy some.
One friend lost his wallet when he formatted his hard drive (of course I taught everyone how to back up ... didn't listen).

But I believe the others still have their BTC safely secured.

That was my initial reflex as well.

That, my friend - and feel free to tell your wife - is shortsightedness
pure and simple.

The way you do it is: you immediately sell the person the coins with
a comfy margin atop the gox rate, go back home and buy back the
exact BTC amount you sold.

Net effect:
    . You made a profit, leveraging your expert skills (i.e. you know how to procure BTC)
    . You injected value in the bitcoin ecosystem, thereby increasing the fiat value of your own BTC
    . The size of your stash is unchanged
    . You potentially sired a convert

As a matter of fact, this is exactly the way I operate with every single thing I purchase
with bitcoins: buy BTC on GOX, spend BTC on stuff, stash didn't move.

The whole shebang takes slightly longer, but goes a long way in advocating bitcoins.

Such a nice turn of phrase !

Permission to re-use ?

http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-reasons-a-lot-of-rational-people-dont-buy-just-1-Bitcoin

That's from 2 Peter 3:5.

Ah, and there was another friend who wanted to buy BTC from me. I wanted to sell him some, but my wife strictly vetoed it.
"We're not selling until Bitcoin reaches $30-$40, I don't care if it's just a small amount".

If (and that's a big if) Bitcoin one day becomes huge (say 1% of the world's economy), 1 Bitcoin will be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $10,000,000.

I'm not really able to quantify the chance that the above scenario will happen, but I argue it's more than zero, and even more than 0.0001.

So, by my (biased) opinion, "every rational person" should spring $5 today and buy 1BTC, because the downside if he lost his entire investment is minimal.

I for one am looking forward to 2019 ;)

I think the answer to the article is simple: inertia.

It took the internet - one of the most useful thing ever invented in the whole
history of mankind - 20 years to go from being functional to being used by a
sizable fraction of humanity.

I offer to give Bitcoins away to friends and family.  No takers.

We're solving this problem in the DCAO.

The Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa (http://dcao.com/)?

http://dcao.org

Yeah, I just found that. You should put that in your sig.

BTW, it's down right now. http://www.isup.me/dcao.org

I expect to see Bitcoin go mainstream in 2012 thanks in part to some major investors of an invention of mine.

Also, when Bitcoin Magazine gets out in the air, it's going to start picking up some major glances and interests.

Sounds like the bullshit Bruce Wagner fed us.

Well, you just did, and until I see anything more than hot air from you, my suspicion that you are just a hyper remains.

To think that you could make Bitcoin go mainstream within 2012 is a joke. Or perhaps you have a different definition of mainstream than me. Because if you don’t, you should be buying up all Bitcoins at the current rates, even if you have to take a loan, as well as anyone else who knows about your plans, because it would mean prices way beyond $1000 in 9 months max.

Currently, I do not see that crazy buying happening, so some or all of what you have said must be bullshit.

Sorry for the harsh language, but I hate this type of "announcement". We don’t need anymore penny stock behaviour.

Adoption and usage is most definitely related to the value, though, at least in the long term. Remember how Silk Road picked up in May? And of course it influences the value also because speculators gain more confidence as they see adoption increase. If they see the opposite, like from June to December, price will decrease.

Or do you think a market cap of barely 40 million will satisfy a "mainstream" currency? ;D