Bitcoin Forum

Deals in dark helped bitcoin take off, says chief scientist

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/22/us-currency-bitcoin-idUSKBN0ND0YN20150422

Without dealings in the "grey areas" of the global economy, bitcoin might not have grown to be worth the $3 billion it is today, according to Gavin Andresen, the closest thing the digital currency has to a CEO.

Andresen, a self-confessed "all-around geek", is chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, a non-profit group he helped set up three years ago to support and promote the digital currency

Strange, because Andresen should know as well as anyone that high profile takedowns of the largest black market websites have always resulted in zero impact on the transaction volume. And let's not forget that the transaction volume is an impeccably correct record, indeed it is derived from (currently) the most veracious public record ever kept.

But that doesn't mean what he says isn't true. I think its very logical that the black market gave bitcoin a huge head start and is likely still one of the biggest uses for bitcoin and likely will continue to be, though I think it's safe to say its grown past the 'dark' uses and started to break into the mainstream but we've still a long way to go.

I hope Bitcoin in the future will experience the same evolution with other technologies that have become mainstream, and the exchange rate will increase the same as before.

I think that's illogical, precisely because of the point I was making (which you were, er, replying to?)

Gavin Andresen should keep his mouth shut. Even during the peak of dark market activity, less than 10% of the transactions were diverted to such websites. Most of the transactions were accounted by gambling, freelancing, short trading.etc. In fact, I'd say that if the negative publicity from the dark markets were absent, then we should have had a $20 billion market cap by now. 

No publicity is bad publicity.  :)
I am sure a lot of people heard about Bitcoin for the first time just because of its association with Silk Road.

That I don't know. Payment processors such as Visa and Master took many years to reach their current USD 100 billion plus market cap, and that too with the help of banking cartels. So I'd assume that it will take many decades for Bitcoin to reach trillions in market cap.

I suppose he has not taken into consideration, what the negative impact it had to Bitcoin adoption too? How many people read this FUD and then decide that they would not risk investing in Bitcoin because of these practices?

The amount of people who joined Bitcoin for these practices, has surely been canceled out, by the amount of people, who "moved on" because of this reputation that has been fabricated by the media.

You cannot stop anyone from using or trying to use ANY currency or technology for "Dark" practices. Bitcoin has offered law enforcement a tool to track some of these practices, we generally call it the "blockchain" and it's surely better than fiat.  :o

Reuters just invalidated any credibility they had with that one comment, how can they get it so fucking wrong? Bitcoin isn't a fucking company, it was designed to be decentralised for a reason.