Bitcoin Forum

Other => Beginners & Help => Topic started by: fixxi.net on May 23, 2012, 01:50:49 PM



Title: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 23, 2012, 01:50:49 PM



I am just starting with  bitcoin but hoping people can realize how important is that money must be equally created by the people NOT few FAMILIES


I support:

Networking of ways to promote bitcoin to become people owned currency and link it to offline real resources such as production , energy , food.

We must create an ALTERNATIVE to the private banking system otherwise we are all slaves of it.....

I can help  organize agents into intermediaries between the online system and offline prdocution means.... if manage to link this people' currency to offline resources ... we will be creating a real exchange value system.

NOTE: I am not yet familiar with the workings of bitcoin and I am not sure If I will end up supporting it. IT MUST BE A REAL OPPOSITE TO  the private banking system , that is the only thing I will support .

========

MAGENTO Programmers wanted ! I cant post yet in the programming forum .... ( can i please ? )


but ... i need a programmer to create a Bitocoin support for the online services selling venture at fixxi.net  I know there is some plugin already buy I need analytical / etc consultation on this. I want to support bitcoin but facilitating services exchange using bitcoin !!!!


Really excited about this !!!



Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: swissmate on May 23, 2012, 03:28:50 PM
I personally don't think bitcoins may become so big.
It is designed not to be used by everyone.
But I think your idea is pretty good, I'm a programmer but don't feel like joining any project.
But if you need any help or an answer feel free to ask :)


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 23, 2012, 04:43:32 PM
I personally don't think bitcoins may become so big.
It is designed not to be used by everyone.
But I think your idea is pretty good, I'm a programmer but don't feel like joining any project.
But if you need any help or an answer feel free to ask :)

i just started learning about bitcoin , but remeber someone saying it may become as big as the money system. I will keep reading but projects like that are needed for break out from slavery.

I am mostly listening to independent news ( youtube, alex jones ) and I am what they call "woken up" . People are waking UP to the selfish monetary system !!!!

Still need to learn about Bitcoin but again I think for it to become a true replacement of the monetary system IT MUST ADDRESS all drawbacks of the private monetary system. Otherwise not enough people will support it. The average Jo on Youtube now understands the shit that has been going on! ( Youtube Fractional Banking if you need to learn more )


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Samor on May 23, 2012, 07:08:47 PM
I feel that delay due to confirmation is pretty significant delay. I would often like my payments to finish
instantaneously instead of waiting for half an hour or so. Are there reliable work-arounds for this problem?
I know about online wallets and mtgox but as I understand both sides of the transaction need to have the
account on the service and it removes many of advantages from decentralization...


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Stephen Gornick on May 23, 2012, 09:19:41 PM
how important is that money must be equally created by the people NOT few FAMILIES

Well, nearly half of all bitcoins that will ever be issued have been created already, with another 25% created a little over the next four years, and the remaining over the decades that follow.

There is little seigniorage with bitcoin, so there is no transfer of wealth by fiat, instead it is earned by those mining operators who are more efficient than their peers and by those who speculated and profited as the value rises.
  
There have been attempts at alternative currency systems closer to what you are hoping for, but they have not had much success.  For instance, the Occcu might be closer to what you are describing:
 - http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/17199295201

There have been a couple of threads recently describing how Bitcoin might interact with a similar "social currency", LETS:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=81500.0

And some others:
 - http://socialcompare.com/en/comparison/alternative-currencies-monetary-systems



Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 24, 2012, 01:35:10 PM
how important is that money must be equally created by the people NOT few FAMILIES

Well, nearly half of all bitcoins that will ever be issued have been created already, with another 25% created a little over the next four years, and the remaining over the decades that follow.

There is little seigniorage with bitcoin, so there is no transfer of wealth by fiat, instead it is earned by those mining operators who are more efficient than their peers and by those who speculated and profited as the value rises.
 
There have been attempts at alternative currency systems closer to what you are hoping for, but they have not had much success.  For instance, the Occcu might be closer to what you are describing:
 - http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/17199295201

There have been a couple of thread recently describing how Bitcoin might interact with a similar "social currency", LETS:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=81500.0

And some others:
 - http://socialcompare.com/en/comparison/alternative-currencies-monetary-systems



Thanks for the links.

You do know it is stupid to say that something has a limit ? They way you say it as if you decided you willl make 1000 eur / month. But will not take higher salary.

Also not issuing more of currency doesnt mean it is not operating well...

Everytime the government prints money they are stealing from you. So anything other is better


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Stephen Gornick on May 27, 2012, 01:55:43 AM
You do know it is stupid to say that something has a limit ? They way you say it as if you decided you willl make 1000 eur / month. But will not take higher salary.

???

You lost me there.  Are you saying that you believe the issuance rate in the Bitcoin protocol will be altered in some way (e.g.,. made to go higher?)


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Xenophon on May 27, 2012, 11:57:14 AM
@Stephen: Thank you for the links above. I just spent several hours reading.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Bitco on May 27, 2012, 01:33:12 PM
I personally don't think bitcoins may become so big.
It is designed not to be used by everyone.
But I think your idea is pretty good, I'm a programmer but don't feel like joining any project.
But if you need any help or an answer feel free to ask :)

i just started learning about bitcoin , but remeber someone saying it may become as big as the money system.

This is pretty funny.  It reminds me of some comments made on a mp3 forum about 15 years ago, where people were debating whether non-techies would ever download music.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: jefferson53 on May 27, 2012, 05:21:32 PM
I personally hope that Bitcoin will succeed in the future. All we need is a critical number of people willing to risk their money in order break free from the chains of the governments. Bitcoin need not replace the current system. What it needs is to gain a status equal to those of other currencies.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on May 27, 2012, 05:58:55 PM
This is Steve with fixxi.net

I am really supporting efforts to create a money system that is fair to all people and not only the bankers.

My view on the private banking system are here. community.fixxi.net/threads/299-USA-VOTE-Ron-Paul-in-2012-!!!-Last-chance-to-break-free-from-the-grip-of-banks

I am just starting with  bitcoin but hoping people can realize how important is that money must be equally created by the people NOT few FAMILIES

Add me in facebook to stay in touch. ( fixxi.net in facebook)

I support:

Networking of ways to promote bitcoin to become people owned currency and link it to offline real resources such as production , energy , food.

We must create an ALTERNATIVE to the private banking system otherwise we are all slaves of it.....

I can help  organize agents into intermediaries between the online system and offline prdocution means.... if manage to link this people' currency to offline resources ... we will be creating a real exchange value system.

NOTE: I am not yet familiar with the workings of bitcoin and I am not sure If I will end up supporting it. IT MUST BE A REAL OPPOSITE TO  the private banking system , that is the only thing I will support .

========

MAGENTO Programmers wanted ! I cant post yet in the programming forum .... ( can i please ? )


but ... i need a programmer to create a Bitocoin support for the online services selling venture at fixxi.net  I know there is some plugin already buy I need analytical / etc consultation on this. I want to support bitcoin but facilitating services exchange using bitcoin !!!!

Add me in facebook , Steve Green (   fixxi.net in facebook ) to stay in touch !!!

Really excited about this !!!

A GROUP OF BANKERS HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF OUR LIVES , TIME AND WORK ,

WE ARE NOT THAT STUPID.

WE MUST TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS : OUR BASIC LIBERTIES !

Is this you? http://www.linkedin.com/in/svetoslav


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: gnpeer on May 27, 2012, 07:04:59 PM
IMO only revolution or total banks crash could force average "normal" people to commonly use bitcoin. Without that it will be interesting thing for some geeks and blackmarketers.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: gilgil on May 27, 2012, 07:20:04 PM
Remember that "normal" people can use bitcoin as a tool to avoid their fiat currency's inflation - so I see scenarios where countries that go to quantitative easing or heavy money printing actually push smart people to gold, bitcoin and such, with bitcoin being easier to handle than gold... 


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: David_Benz on May 27, 2012, 08:23:55 PM
I sure hope so!


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Ippolit on May 27, 2012, 09:34:40 PM
IMO only revolution or total banks crash could force average "normal" people to commonly use bitcoin. Without that it will be interesting thing for some geeks and blackmarketers.

Bitcoin ~= Linux imo. In all the visible markets it'll just be its own dedicated group of hippies - even in a revolution normal people will just stockpile gold, guns and food first - but slowly and quietly it will take over more professional markets like international money transfer and financial applications one by one, and in 15 years' time we'll all be using Bitcoin without even realizing it.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: gnpeer on May 27, 2012, 09:43:33 PM
IMO only revolution or total banks crash could force average "normal" people to commonly use bitcoin. Without that it will be interesting thing for some geeks and blackmarketers.

Bitcoin ~= Linux imo. In all the visible markets it'll just be its own dedicated group of hippies - even in a revolution normal people will just stockpile gold, guns and food first - but slowly and quietly it will take over more professional markets like international money transfer and financial applications one by one, and in 15 years' time we'll all be using Bitcoin without even realizing it.

I'm afraid that governments won't let spread bitcoin too much. No control = evil = terrorist etc.
Professional markets will ruin it like it killed everything else...


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: alexKKK on May 28, 2012, 07:35:31 PM
I hope Bitcoin become very strong for next several years, mostly as result of difficulty increase, attract investors, followers and become more user friendly for usual shops ! !!


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Panama Jack on May 30, 2012, 01:05:31 AM
Yes, I'm excited about bitcoin. I'm of the mind that it could someday become the world's reserve currency. Pretty exciting.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 30, 2012, 10:33:47 AM
This is Steve with fixxi.net

I am really supporting efforts to create a money system that is fair to all people and not only the bankers.

My view on the private banking system are here. community.fixxi.net/threads/299-USA-VOTE-Ron-Paul-in-2012-!!!-Last-chance-to-break-free-from-the-grip-of-banks

I am just starting with  bitcoin but hoping people can realize how important is that money must be equally created by the people NOT few FAMILIES

Add me in facebook to stay in touch. ( fixxi.net in facebook)

I support:

Networking of ways to promote bitcoin to become people owned currency and link it to offline real resources such as production , energy , food.

We must create an ALTERNATIVE to the private banking system otherwise we are all slaves of it.....

I can help  organize agents into intermediaries between the online system and offline prdocution means.... if manage to link this people' currency to offline resources ... we will be creating a real exchange value system.

NOTE: I am not yet familiar with the workings of bitcoin and I am not sure If I will end up supporting it. IT MUST BE A REAL OPPOSITE TO  the private banking system , that is the only thing I will support .

========

MAGENTO Programmers wanted ! I cant post yet in the programming forum .... ( can i please ? )


but ... i need a programmer to create a Bitocoin support for the online services selling venture at fixxi.net  I know there is some plugin already buy I need analytical / etc consultation on this. I want to support bitcoin but facilitating services exchange using bitcoin !!!!

Add me in facebook , Steve Green (   fixxi.net in facebook ) to stay in touch !!!

Really excited about this !!!

A GROUP OF BANKERS HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF OUR LIVES , TIME AND WORK ,

WE ARE NOT THAT STUPID.

WE MUST TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS : OUR BASIC LIBERTIES !

Is this you? http://www.linkedin.com/in/svetoslav

Fixxi.net is here http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=186806957&trk=tab_pro


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 30, 2012, 10:36:14 AM
You do know it is stupid to say that something has a limit ? They way you say it as if you decided you willl make 1000 eur / month. But will not take higher salary.

???

You lost me there.  Are you saying that you believe the issuance rate in the Bitcoin protocol will be altered in some way (e.g.,. made to go higher?)

Hey, You understand deeper Bitcoin .... I have no clue how it works  yet .... I only meant that there should be no limit by design in the growth of any given thing ... 



Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 30, 2012, 10:39:23 AM
I personally hope that Bitcoin will succeed in the future. All we need is a critical number of people willing to risk their money in order break free from the chains of the governments. Bitcoin need not replace the current system. What it needs is to gain a status equal to those of other currencies.

Yes , that is the problem .. the banking currencies have monopoly ...

We must act to develop people's currency that is not controlled by single families ...  the devaluation of through Interest rates and Fractional banking.

We must link to the offline world ... I will be trying to support through letting people exchange services on Fixxi.net ... will help people to trade outside of bank's money..


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 30, 2012, 10:51:18 AM
IMO only revolution or total banks crash could force average "normal" people to commonly use bitcoin. Without that it will be interesting thing for some geeks and blackmarketers.

Well yes but never say never.... problem is organization, banksters have major organization though control of the exhcnage system which results in everyone working for them.


Re bitcoin I will be helping by letting people exchange service through fixxi.net but more is needed, especially getting offline  people to use accept Bitcoin as  pay for their labour. For that to happen other people who create products and services must have started accepting bitcoin.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 30, 2012, 11:01:58 AM

According to this Video bitcoin does have the IDEA to be a people-owned currency !!!!!!!!!!!!!11

What are we waiting for guys , LETS DRIVE THIS GLOBALLY !  Everyone will be 10 times or so richer if it werent for bankers monopoly.

Perform community development

Integrate with your website

Try to facilitate offline people accepting this ...

Do not let a central control of Bitcoin ...

Learn about bitcoin ... everyone must fully udersntand it before we accept it and IT MUST be a fair alternative to money. Only offline people don't understand the slavery of bank's money.

This is something to be excited about..

My mindset is international. I try to look beyond imperialistic , racial , etc views.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYTqvYqXRbY


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on May 30, 2012, 12:46:03 PM
This is Steve with fixxi.net

I am really supporting efforts to create a money system that is fair to all people and not only the bankers.

My view on the private banking system are here. community.fixxi.net/threads/299-USA-VOTE-Ron-Paul-in-2012-!!!-Last-chance-to-break-free-from-the-grip-of-banks

I am just starting with  bitcoin but hoping people can realize how important is that money must be equally created by the people NOT few FAMILIES

Add me in facebook to stay in touch. ( fixxi.net in facebook)

I support:

Networking of ways to promote bitcoin to become people owned currency and link it to offline real resources such as production , energy , food.

We must create an ALTERNATIVE to the private banking system otherwise we are all slaves of it.....

I can help  organize agents into intermediaries between the online system and offline prdocution means.... if manage to link this people' currency to offline resources ... we will be creating a real exchange value system.

NOTE: I am not yet familiar with the workings of bitcoin and I am not sure If I will end up supporting it. IT MUST BE A REAL OPPOSITE TO  the private banking system , that is the only thing I will support .

========

MAGENTO Programmers wanted ! I cant post yet in the programming forum .... ( can i please ? )


but ... i need a programmer to create a Bitocoin support for the online services selling venture at fixxi.net  I know there is some plugin already buy I need analytical / etc consultation on this. I want to support bitcoin but facilitating services exchange using bitcoin !!!!

Add me in facebook , Steve Green (   fixxi.net in facebook ) to stay in touch !!!

Really excited about this !!!

A GROUP OF BANKERS HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF OUR LIVES , TIME AND WORK ,

WE ARE NOT THAT STUPID.

WE MUST TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS : OUR BASIC LIBERTIES !

Is this you? http://www.linkedin.com/in/svetoslav

Yes , how did you know ? Everyone add me also in facebook Steve Rila !

It was a lucky guess. I simply took a stab in the dark when I noticed that Steve Green, Steve Gavrilov and Steve Rila were all blessed with the same first name. It was during some reverse engineering that I stumbled upon several more Steves linked directly and indirectly via information gleaned from WhosIS and the like, i.e. phone numbers. Are all those Steves with different last names you as well? BTW, welcome to the forum.

~Bruno~


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on May 30, 2012, 05:12:11 PM
Quote

It was a lucky guess. I simply took a stab in the dark when I noticed that Steve Green, Steve Gavrilov and Steve Rila were all blessed with the same first name. It was during some reverse engineering that I stumbled upon several more Steves linked directly and indirectly via information gleaned from WhosIS and the like, i.e. phone numbers. Are all those Steves with different last names you as well? BTW, welcome to the forum.

~Bruno~



Yes , All me ... have few names because I (try to ) deal with different kinds of people: Recruitment Agents in Europe, Clients Worldwide with online work .. . Also I am talking to myself all the time so had to name everyone lol ... actually no a human brain can't process logical though without talking to itself , can it ?

Glad to see there is some ID checking here .. hopefully filter out some of the bad guys ...

Later !


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: ludo0777 on May 30, 2012, 07:22:12 PM
I think it would be cool if it became so popular paypal actually let you buy them!  :'(


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: knight22 on June 01, 2012, 07:53:21 PM
I hope Bitcoin will kill the banks


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: TRUERELIGION on June 01, 2012, 08:00:11 PM
one can only hope that we succeed, because everyone is sick and tired of what is going on recently... It could be but we have to make it more accessible for the average joe. But then there's governments who want to protect their interests. Only time will tell.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: supermandead on June 02, 2012, 05:56:15 AM
imo bitcoin won't be so big that everyone will be using it because not alot of people know alot about it. some people just plain dont know anything about it, so what are the chances they'll use it as a currency?


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: cyberagorist on June 08, 2012, 09:01:24 PM
I'm afraid that governments won't let spread bitcoin too much. No control = evil = terrorist etc.
Professional markets will ruin it like it killed everything else...
This depends on us. If we use bitcoins, or other alternative currencies, without caring about governments, they cannot do much.

There is already the Tor network, and alternative banking may be done using Tor hidden services.

What is necessary for this to work on a large scale in a reputational network, with volitional arbitrage. See http://ilja-schmelzer.de/network (http://ilja-schmelzer.de/network) for the concepts which have to be realized yet. But once such a system works, governments cannot do much to destroy it. To forbid it is simply not sufficient.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: bremer-btc-user on June 09, 2012, 11:06:08 AM
I strongly hope that bitcoin gets widespread over all sensible people in the.

Concerning that the class of politicians an Banks the FED and the EU managers do really nothing to prevent the people's wealth from melting to nothing, bitcoins are IMHO the only existing fair opportunity to store and keep value exept gold or other commodities.

But bitcoins have a great advantage over other commodities: they are not in possession of the winners of the old system.

I do my savings in bitcoin and wait for the fiat currencys to fail, wich will happen soon and worldwide (cause nearly all fiat currency are derivates of the USD).

The Question is not "IF" but "WHEN" and "HOW", the crisis is so big, that maybe only WW3 could keep the current system alive...

I hope that every indivudual on this planet will wake up before this will happen...

Does anyone know that the system would be dead tomorrow if only 5% of all people (maybe less) would withdraw their money from their bank accounts???

Bitcoins would be unaffected...


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Riddleman on June 09, 2012, 11:56:23 AM
Even though it would be great if this would happen, nope.. It's too complex for some people and believe it or not, the majority of the world doesn't have a computer ;)


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Kazimir on June 09, 2012, 12:45:38 PM
Does anyone know that the system would be dead tomorrow if only 5% of all people (maybe less) would withdraw their money from their bank accounts???

Bitcoins would be unaffected...
Actually, bitcoins would skyrocket :)


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: bremer-btc-user on June 09, 2012, 12:53:47 PM
Does anyone know that the system would be dead tomorrow if only 5% of all people (maybe less) would withdraw their money from their bank accounts???

Bitcoins would be unaffected...
Actually, bitcoins would skyrocket :)

i hope it will do anyway  ;)


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: manman523 on June 10, 2012, 03:53:34 PM
I dont think so, I think the limit on bitcoins is 21 million. We wold need much more then that for it to be a universal currency especially for governments and such.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: bremer-btc-user on June 10, 2012, 04:37:09 PM
I dont think so, I think the limit on bitcoins is 21 million. We wold need much more then that for it to be a universal currency especially for governments and such.

regarding the fact that every bitcoin can be divided into 100 000 000 units so far it's easy to back all existing fiat currency by bitcoin just now...

the satoshi Client is prepared to display the ammounts in milli- or even micorbitcoins to overcome the problems with thinking in fractions of bitcoins.

It really is no problem at all

we all became familiar with ammounst of debt that is published in billions and trillions, so why there should be a problem to manage millis and micros?

both of them weren't usual just about ten years ago...


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Kazimir on June 10, 2012, 05:02:48 PM
I dont think so, I think the limit on bitcoins is 21 million. We wold need much more then that for it to be a universal currency especially for governments and such.
This max supply of 21 million is an arbitrary number and says absolutely nothing.

It's the amount of units in which you can divide this supply, that counts!

Following the current specs, there would be a max supply of 2.1 quadrillion units (satoshi's) available. That's a LOT. Much more than there are cents in any other currency in the world (although they are unlimited because governments and banks can create them out of thin air as much as they desire - which is the cause of an entirely different plethora of problems, but that's an entirely different discussion).

Furthermore, should the need arise (which won't happen anytime soon), this could be easily adjusted and we could increase the precision to 16 decimals and even beyond that. This would allow for a worldwide supply of no less than 210 sextillion units. Every single person on earth could have more of these units than there are cents of any other currency in existence.

So, no, this is not a problem :)


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: manman523 on June 10, 2012, 05:32:00 PM
I dont think so, I think the limit on bitcoins is 21 million. We wold need much more then that for it to be a universal currency especially for governments and such.
This max supply of 21 million is an arbitrary number and says absolutely nothing.

It's the amount of units in which you can divide this supply, that counts!

Following the current specs, there would be a max supply of 2.1 quadrillion units (satoshi's) available. That's a LOT. Much more than there are cents in any other currency in the world (although they are unlimited because governments and banks can create them out of thin air as much as they desire - which is the cause of an entirely different plethora of problems, but that's an entirely different discussion).

Furthermore, should the need arise (which won't happen anytime soon), this could be easily adjusted and we could increase the precision to 16 decimals and even beyond that. This would allow for a worldwide supply of no less than 210 sextillion units. Every single person on earth could have more of these units than there are cents of any other currency in existence.

So, no, this is not a problem :)
What I mean is that it is a finite amount, unlike the currencies we have now that are completely arbitrary. The entire system of currency governments rely on would have to be uprooted for bitcoins to work and I just cant imagine that happening.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Raoul Duke on June 10, 2012, 06:02:13 PM
What I mean is that it is a finite amount, unlike the currencies we have now that are completely arbitrary. The entire system of currency governments rely on would have to be uprooted for bitcoins to work and I just cant imagine that happening.

Just because something is different it doesn't mean it won't work.

I bet horse riders also said cars would never work... But then there were some few visionaries who started using them and look at roads today!


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Kazimir on June 10, 2012, 06:02:28 PM
What I mean is that it is a finite amount, unlike the currencies we have now that are completely arbitrary. The entire system of currency governments rely on would have to be uprooted for bitcoins to work and I just cant imagine that happening.
The fact that governments and banks can currently create money out of thin air as they see fit, is the exact problem that is leading towards the collapse of the dollar and euro, and the current monetary system in whole! See also the documentary "Money as Debt" (mentioned in this topic (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=86061.0)).

You see, there is a finite amount of value in the world. Products, goods, services - stuff that people need and want, and therefore have value (of course these can be created or produced, which costs work). Money is merely a measurement to express this value, and to easily trade them. Essentially, money is just advanced bartering. When I go to the bakery and want some bread, I don't have to paint the baker's house in return, I can just give him some 'coupons' that he can give to a painter later to have his house painted (or spend it otherwise, as he sees fit).

By printing billions of extra dollars, banks do not intrinsically create more real value. They are not actually solving any problem! They're only temporarily covering holes with newer, bigger holes. This can only hold for so long. Almost every single dollar or euro on the planet, came into existence as debt. This total debt is way, WAY beyond all the work or value that we could possibly ever actually produce. The end of this ridiculous system is nigh.

Governments and especially banks will indeed not be happy at all to adopt Bitcoin as an alternative to the old fashioned money that they control. Well, too bad. Luckily we don't need them.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Kazimir on June 11, 2012, 08:28:56 AM
I don't feel Bitcoins will replace our usual currencies. But more work alongside them.
Well, maybe not in the same way that the Euro didn't replace the US Dollar.

But I expect that Bitcoin's significance will become much, much larger, and become at least one of the major currencies.

I guess every currency will have its own "market" or area of use. US Dollars for example may remain useful for physical (offline, i.e. cash) payments in the U.S. Like when buying fruit on the market or doing groceries and stuff. Same for the Euro in European countries. Bitcoin is typically best suited for any online payments and transactions, and I also easily see credit cards (which are essentially just electronic transactions, currently based on old fashioned currencies) being replaced by Bitcoin alternatives (easier, cheaper, more secure). Mobile phone solutions will also greatly improve practical usability of bitcoins in everyday situations.

Considering that the vast majority of nowadays financial traffic is already happening online / electronically, I see Bitcoin playing a major role in the future, becoming one of the (if not THE) dominant currency world wide.

The only reasons why it may still take a while: (several years at least)

  • Bitcoin is still way too complicated for Average Joe, they won't be able to even grasp this whole concept yet, and understand its ingenuity, let alone knowing how to keep their wallet safe and not doing stupid things to get their wallet stolen
     
  • Banks and governments won't be happy about this, and probably start suggesting laws or launch media offensives against Bitcoin once they realize how big this shit is gonna be (and how much it will take their power, control and monopoly on money away)


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: cyberagorist on June 11, 2012, 10:55:33 AM
I expect bicoin will be the currency for extralegal payments in the darknet.

In the legal environment it will not play a big role, simply because it will be forbidden once it becomes important. But this will be without influence on extralegal markets. 

One question is, then, how important these extralegal internet markets will be, in comparison with legal markets, in the future. I think, the main problem of these markets is that there is actually no reliable reputational system.  Once such a system will be created and works, extralegal market will become increasingly important.

Bitcoins will be especially important during the development of the extralegal markets, until a reliable reputational system exists. The reason is that it is safe - once you have them on your account, everything is fine. The alternative on the free market are currencies backed by real values, but they have to rely on trust - you have to trust that the obligation to return some real values once you present internet money is reliable.  This is impossible without a reliable reputational system.

On the other hand, bitcoins will simplify the creation of a reputational system. The point is that one way to improve reputation of a pseudonym (pseudonymous reputation is the key for extralegal markets) are guarantees from persons who already have reputation: Somebody with reputation offers some compensation for those cheated by the pseudonym.  It makes the system much easier if there is an established currency to be used in such guarantees.

The very point that the value of a bitcoin itself does not depend on the reputation of somebody who creates bitcoins is the useful point here.

Another, quite different question is if the bitcoin survives once a state-independent reputational system works. Once it works, it would be much more reasonable to own obligations for real values (once these can be trusted) than to use bitcoins which do not have any inherent value.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Equilux on June 11, 2012, 03:56:15 PM
A friend of mine told me about the way they started using mobilephone-credit in parts of Afrika;

Some guys who have the only, or one of the few, mobilephone in a certain village will run a telephone service for other people. That's pretty straightforward, you just pay the guy to use his phone, but what als started to happen is that when your brother who lives in the city want to send you some money fast, he buys $20 worth of phonecredit, calls the mobilephone guy in the village, tells him the the credit number (essentially giving him the $20 worth of credit) and he than gives you $20 out of his pocket.

Nearly instant wire-transfers in countries were vast areas don't even have basic needs. I would guess Bitcoin would fullfill a similar role, when enough people know about it.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: lazyxness on June 11, 2012, 07:35:51 PM
if bitcoins will replace money id be glad to we got a head start lol


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Ineedbtc on June 11, 2012, 11:41:43 PM
I don't think it can  :P


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Rugatu on June 11, 2012, 11:43:18 PM
I don't think it can  :P

You have to believe...

Until then let's build some services for them  ;)


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Kazimir on June 12, 2012, 12:11:58 PM
I don't think it can  :P
Why not?

Because Bitcoin "lacks" something, compared to dollars, euros, or gold?
Or because the general public will never pick this up?
Or because banks and governments will try and suppress it (in favor of their own currency system, which they control and benefit from) ?


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: fixxi.net on June 12, 2012, 01:02:48 PM
I don't think it can  :P
Why not?

Because Bitcoin "lacks" something, compared to dollars, euros, or gold?
Or because the general public will never pick this up?
Or because banks and governments will try and suppress it (in favor of their own currency system, which they control and benefit from) ?


Having received some answers here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=84932.msg937152#msg937152 , I still support the development of  bitcoin but it DOES not have the potential to be THE NEW honest money system OF THE PEOPLE.

The problem is bitcoin seems to be tied too deeply with the current model and seems like at the end it will simply make existing bankers maintain status quo while making some early Bitcoin adopters richer in the process.

It is a great way to have the community publicize the Bitcoin currency by giving participants parts of the currency through the mathematical system ( which I don't full understand ) and frankly off top of my head I don't see other way.

However this method of politicization favors those who engaged early and therefore is more likely to result in an exchange system within a certain community. However this community seems like will be a subset of the current monetary system. It will operate within its tentacles.

It is evident that it benefits early adopters and this gives bias to a small group of people. That similarity with the existing money system is what makes Bitcoin just another currency in the current system. A currency mostly addressing the benefit of its early adopters rather than the benefits of the actual value creator at particular time and space. This is a huge similarity with current model and benefits a small group. For that reason I now look at Bitcoin more like another currency in the baksters's world rather than the "real liberal currency" which unfortunately bitcoin is not.

An issue is that bitcoin is being traded for USD meaning that at any time the banksters see Bitcoin has gotten stonger they can simply buy out a large share of Bitcoin and that way getting control of the currency effectively diminishing its liberty prospects. In fact banksters may have done that  already.

In fact banksters ( investors , people with currency )  may be partially behind Bitcoin and probably are.

It is also 100 % certain  that provided Bitcoin success down the road those with Bitcoins will eagerly trade bitcoins to the banksters getting rich in USD and becoming part of the existing power system. So all bitcoin participants participate for personal gain ... which is fine. But an honest alternative would have a common good element that goes to others.

The problem my friends is that banksters enforce the current money system through force: guns , police, jails.  Any system that is so similar to the existing model is bound to integrate in it later on because that would be the clever choice for people ... compared to going to jail or worse.

These are the reasons I now believe Bitcoin is not that "absolute honest alternative" that I thought it was and I think its potential is to eventually integrate with the existing model making banksters richer and bitcoin adopters richer as well. But maintaining the status quo for the rest of people.

So it is business as usual for humanity.

In the mean time I will keep looking for that honest alternative but now I suspect such may not exist at the moment. And maybe will not exist any time soon. Every social structure people have ever created,  few at the top have always concentrated the power, perhaps that is just being human and looking for a "honest alternative" is just stupid. Personal survival and personal being is at the top of the moral value system of all of us and other's wellbeing goes down down the list.

Like I said I welcome bitcoin ,  will use it,  and come back from time to time to see what is new ... but to humanity it is "business as usual"

add me in facebook: facefixxi and fixxi.net

Later

PS: SORRY for all the typos ...


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: cyberagorist on June 12, 2012, 06:25:57 PM
I still support the development of  bitcoin but it DOES not have the potential to be THE NEW honest money system OF THE PEOPLE.

The problem is bitcoin seems to be tied too deeply with the current model and seems like at the end it will simply make existing bankers maintain status quo while making some early Bitcoin adopters richer in the process.

It is a great way to have the community publicize the Bitcoin currency by giving participants parts of the currency through the mathematical system ( which I don't full understand ) and frankly off top of my head I don't see other way.

However this method of politicization favors those who engaged early and therefore is more likely to result in an exchange system within a certain community. However this community seems like will be a subset of the current monetary system. It will operate within its tentacles.

It is evident that it benefits early adopters and this gives bias to a small group of people. That similarity with the existing money system is what makes Bitcoin just another currency in the current system. A currency mostly addressing the benefit of its early adopters rather than the benefits of actual value creator at particular time and space. This is a huge similarity with current model its bias to a small group. For that reason I now look at Bitcoin more like another currency with the  banksters rather than the "real honest liberty" which unfortunately bitcoin is not.
I don't think it matters who are the early winners. The important point is that it cannot be traced.  If the early winners are part of the establishment, that's even good - it makes it less likely that bitcoins become illegal, because there will be an influental lobby behind it.



Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: stevebc on June 14, 2012, 03:30:21 AM
To me the big problem is security of the bitcoins.

I would seriously consider putting a fair chunk of change into BTC longterm (basically betting on the currency's long term success) but I am not confident in my abilities not to either have my wallet stolen, or 'lose' it.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Kazimir on June 14, 2012, 12:51:27 PM
To me the big problem is security of the bitcoins.

I would seriously consider putting a fair chunk of change into BTC longterm (basically betting on the currency's long term success) but I am not confident in my abilities not to either have my wallet stolen, or 'lose' it.
Yep, you're right, you have to be quite aware of what you're doing in order not to put your bitcoins at stake. And you're not alone, most people are no security experts with dedicated linux machines and whatnot.

The good news is: both the ease of use and the security / safety issues will be greatly improved in due time. This system is still in its infancy. Give it a few more years and Bitcoin (or rather, the client software to process it) will mature and evolve to a level that is easy AND safe to use for the Average Joe. The future is nigh!




Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: bangzilla on June 14, 2012, 01:50:40 PM
i think bitcoins have a bunch of issues that can perhaps one day be resolved.

right now i see it as a linux like system, only the tech geeks have the patience and technical aptitude to set it up. even to obtain bitcoins you need a wallet, then you need to go over to an exchange and place a market order or limit order, pretty complicated.

also the price instability from speculators make it risky for a business to start accepting as payment.

and of course security.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: herpaderpa on June 14, 2012, 04:05:01 PM
I think it's either going to stay a relatively niche thing, albeit much bigger than it is now, or the empty suits in big government will declare them illegal


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: cyberagorist on June 14, 2012, 04:05:46 PM
right now i see it as a linux like system, only the tech geeks have the patience and technical aptitude to set it up. even to obtain bitcoins you need a wallet, then you need to go over to an exchange and place a market order or limit order, pretty complicated.

Hey guys, that's a luxery problem.

I remember the time when I have used one of the first pseudonymous remailers, after penet.fi (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPenet_remailer&ei=jgnaT5alCYrKtAaNwNGiCA&usg=AFQjCNHSSCSBxtawSKmp6mSPvhGtcBFZbg&sig2=NQMlAWBHzvNVDIuzKLJm_g) failed (alpha.c2.org (http://www.iks-jena.de/mitarb/lutz/anon/alpha.html)) In comparison, what is available today is easy and straightforward to use.

And I believe that this will simplify in future even more. You install a program and run it.  And you don't have to care much.  Ok, there always remains some danger of installing the wrong program - but this is not a danger for a network.  Those who install the correct software will be part of the network, and will be safe using it.







Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: thezerg on June 14, 2012, 05:44:45 PM
Folks bitcoin has no mandate to "replace" the money of today.  It is simply another commodity/currency.  You could use it alongside your country's currency just like you'd use a currency of a foreign country -- that is, rarely to buy a coffee, but often if you are "visiting" that foreign country.  Its a very bad idea for the longevity of BTC for users to position it as a replacement for your country's currency, :-) so let's not do that.

So where is the bitcoin "country"?  Well its not really a physical place but a set of circumstances.  BTC has some properties that make it very useful for certain types of transactions. 

Meta-currency
First off, its good for sending money to someone very far away.  You can do this with bank transfers but that is not economical in small amounts, and is much slower then BTC transfers.  Also it means that both people need bank accounts.  Right now there is some time, difficulty, and expense getting your money into BTC and on the receiver's side getting BTC back into your $.  But these issues will be smoothed out as BTC gains popularity.  But you know within minutes that you've got the BTC and can send out the product -- even if it might take you a few days to convert that BTC to Euros.  In this way it is a meta-currency; it makes conversion between currencies easier and cheaper.

Virtual Products
Second, its good for buying a certain class of product; basically products that the receiver can use without exposing his identity.  The issue is that in today's system, fraud is like a hot-potato.  Its passed via "charge-backs" along the path of the money until it ends up in the merchant's (or the producer of the item) hands.  In the old days, this worked because the town store clerks knew their customers personally.  In the mail-order and early internet days it still worked because the merchant had an address and the cops could just stake out that PO box or knock on that door (in fact this IS why some merchants do not ship to PO boxes... they are very expensive to watch).  However... how does the system work for downloadable music and video?  For virtual items in MMORPGs?  For cloud computing hosting services?  For buying (with your "fiat" currency) bitcoin itself?  The short answer is that its a total fail and so fraud is pretty rampant... costing the merchants of these services a lot of $.

Of course, Bitcoin does not "solve" fraud; in the same manner as cash it mostly puts the financial loss on the person who lost the money, not random merchants.  But it is perhaps more "fair" because it encourages the proper person to be more careful next time.

In practice though it ALLOWS these merchants to sell these products at a low overhead, and keeps fraud prevention where it should be, with law enforcement.

Bad or Unknown Credit
It also allows merchants to sell physical products to people anywhere within the world regardless of their credit.  Most of those of us in the first world don't really understand, but its actually non-trivial to get a paypal account if you are from certain countries, simply because paypal doesn't trust the person due to a lack of credit history, etc.  Or perhaps you DO have a credit history and its not good.  With BTC these people can still partake in the global economy.  They pay BTC (essentially cash) to the merchant and the merchant sends the goods.  The merchant does have the opportunity to rip the customer off by not shipping the item, but that merchant has a reputation to maintain -- and the buyer has the internet to voice his complaints.  The opposite is not really true in our current system -- the merchant's bad review of "Joe" from "some country with no consumer credit ratings" is not going to affect his subsequent purchasing or reputation (especially if "Joe" is not even his real name).



Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: Kazimir on June 14, 2012, 07:28:27 PM
Folks bitcoin has no mandate to "replace" the money of today.  It is simply another commodity/currency.  You could use it alongside your country's currency just like you'd use a currency of a foreign country -- that is, rarely to buy a coffee, but often if you are "visiting" that foreign country.  Its a very bad idea for the longevity of BTC for users to position it as a replacement for your country's currency, :-) so let's not do that.

So where is the bitcoin "country"?  Well its not really a physical place but a set of circumstances.  BTC has some properties that make it very useful for certain types of transactions. 
By suggesting that Bitcoin is 'simply' another commodity/currency, you really miss some of the essential attributes of Bitcoin. There is something fundamentally wrong with pretty much any currency in existance. Euros, Dollars, Pounds. Each and every one of them is rotten by nature. Because they are created and controlled by banks who have no interest except their own profits. Slowly destroying our civilization and enslaving 99% of mankind in the process (see Money as Debt (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=86061.0) if you think this is an exaggeration) is absolutely no issue at all for them. Profit, power, control. That's what these fiat currencies are really about today.

You may have a point in assigning the role of various currencies to their respective 'territories'. Euros are used in Europe. Dollars are used in the US. Yens are used in Japan. Bitcoins are used online. Guess which of these areas is heading for an unprecented boost in the decades to come.

Who benefits from an uprise of Bitcoin? Everybody except banks. Customers, buyers, sellers, traders, service providers, you name it. Obviously Bitcoin still has to mature, and it will take years until the majority will be able to actually understand Bitcoin, and grasp the true nature of this concept. But they will, eventually. Bitcoin is here to stay.

I guess old fashioned money like euros and dollars (I mean actual paper bills and metal coins) will still keep its purpose. When buying fruit at the market, they might come in handy (at least until you can pay with smartphones and QR codes everywhere). But the majority of all financial traffic takes place electronically. Today this is still done by/through banks, but with Bitcoin, we can do just fine without them.


Title: Re: Can bitcoin become the currency of the people and replace money.
Post by: cyberagorist on June 14, 2012, 08:53:20 PM
@thezerg:  I agree with much of your posting - bitcoins have a large value in a situation without a reasonable reputational system in the darknet.  They allow for transactions where only one side has to loose a reputation.

But once we succeed to estasblish a reasonable system of trust online, and once I have no longer any problem to trust a bank which works as  a Tor hidden service, this advantage of bitcoins disappears.  And, instead, real values (that means, online promises of trustworthy people to give you these values) will be able to beat bitcoins.

So, bitcoins are an important intermediate thing - they will be helpful to establish online trust. But, once online trust is established, with a lot of trustworthy online banks in the darknet, they will cease.

@Kazimir:
Quote
I guess old fashioned money like euros and dollars (I mean actual paper bills and metal coins) will still keep its purpose. When buying fruit at the market, they might come in handy (at least until you can pay with smartphones and QR codes everywhere). But the majority of all financial traffic takes place electronically. Today this is still done by/through banks, but with Bitcoin, we can do just fine without them.
Yes, we can.  But, clearly, we have to make a certain step toward it - to give up legality.

If bitcoins become important enough, states will forbid them.  But who cares - this will be similar to filesharing and copyright - the state cannot enforce it. 

Nonetheless, there is a mental barrier for many people - they want to be law-abiding citizens. 

But, in the long run, it depends on the ability of the law enforcement agencies to enforce such laws.  Once they appear unable to enforce them, people will use them.  Simply because it gives large enough advantages - you don't have to pay taxes for illegal transfers.