This really only tells us that more Bitcoins are moving through the blockchain.  That doesn't tell us that actual spending is increasing.  With the rise in prices and plentiful press, it's logical that "transactions" are up because Bitcoins are moving to and from wallets.  So "transactions" being up really only equals increased activity not necessarily increased spending.

I doubt that the US government is particularly concerned about bitcoin at this point, aside from figuring out potential ways to regulate and tax it (which I think is what the hearing on November 18 will be about?) I'm not sure why they would want to "take it over", but if it reaches a point where they feel it's a threat in the form of money laundering, I'm sure they would just close the exchanges down or forbid banks from allowing bitcoin transactions, which would essentially destroy it.

Someone needs to get a bitcoinica clone going for litecoin.

We already had a whole thread in the main section of this forum and not one shred of definitive proof so, just because a "Bitcoin" company says it, doesn't make it true.  And this thread certainly doesn't help that argument either.  Just saying.  I personally agree though.  Why spend something today that could be worth a lot more tomorrow?  I regret every Bitcoin spent.  Maybe Bitcoin will defy logic and then again...maybe we'll just make as much money as we can before it implodes.  Only time will tell.  In the end, don't be mad at me, I didn't write the article.

Not enough USD reserve on Bitstamp, you cannot buy on Bitstamp at the moment.

BTW I was one of the only people to call the last spike a bubble when it was happening, took a lot of heat for it, but was ultimately correct and bought back in for around $70 - giving me more than double the coins I had previous to the post.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=169651.0

so at least I have a track record - on record.

only this time I will be very cautious about buying back in, I have traded many chinese "instruments" (which is basically what bitcoin is now), and I can tell you straight up that they are crazy, the go to even more extremes than western markets - in both the up and the down. I think it goes with the asian culture of feeling more comfortable being in a group, they seem to have less of a sense of individuality, so they are even more comfortable in a herd mentality. But that is just my psyche 101 on them, it could be BS.

FTFY  

Seriously though, others have made that same statement but there seems no actual proof.

So many of you confirm this writers theory as to why Bitcoin will fail as a transaction currency.  The more expensive it becomes, the less you spend.  Interesting.   

http://www.businessinsider.com/if-you-believe-in-bitcoin-you-should-never-buy-anything-in-bitcoin-2013-11#ixzz2kM39YlIJ

True/false?

If so, seems like a fun thing to tell the press about. Not only are we reaching new all time highs, but we're doing it at the fastest rate ever!

So, would your criticism of the dollar be made moot if a superdollar was created which was worth say 1 million normal dollars?

No, but for the sake of argument we are assuming that the dollar is like Bitcoin and limited to a certain number of dollar units.

What you've said is no different than any Bitcoin exchange, so I fail to see how this is a relevant point.  In fact, how many recent stories of Bitcoin defaults and disappearances do we have?  I see 2 right now on the front page of Coindesk.com.  And let's not forget Tradefortress, Mr. RippleScam himself, who turned out to be the scammer after all.  

I think many people's opposition to Ripple is they simply don't understand debt or IOU's.  They run to put money on exchanges and then bash Ripple.  They cheer at the mere thought of Paypal accepting Bitcoin but bash Ripple.  Ignorance at it's finest and that is understandable.  New financial tech that requires people take control of their own finances does need to come with a certain amount of education.  Maybe it's fairer to say, Ripple hasen't been the best at educating people beyond tech, but then the same also holds true for Bitcoin.

I think that's pretty much going to be the view of Ripple as more infrastructure comes online.  Most people will never even know they are using Ripple and won't care that it is powered by Ripple.  Just like people use websites and don't know and don't care they are powered by Wordpress.  Or as has been repeated constantly, email and SMTP.  People don't care how it works, just that it does.  That's the beautiful thing about Ripple, it's a true protocol that can operate completely transparently. People know the weaknesses of Bitcoin and it scares them because just as Erik V. said, "the only thing that can kill Bitcoin, is a superior currency" and they worry that Ripple will provide that.  So fear, causes them to miss that which is amazing about Ripple as a payment network and distributed exchange and more importantly the benefits it provides to Bitcoin, by making up for many of it's weaknesses.  

Op now its 541,000 buy wall between 400 and 402 so yes....unless a WHALE comes along...I see a downtrend to exploit real soon...converesely the whale seller could stay risky and push their sell walls to a higher number such as 450-475ish...good for my longs...all bad for my short.

You guys literally don't get it.  Only 5 percent can take profit.  95 percent have to get burnt.

Since the thread started, Bitcoin increased in value 37 times over and its still very much at the geeks and early adopters stage.  In 2 years it would be surprising if Bitcoin was worth less than $10000 and that assumes that it still is at early adopter stage.  Even if only one small country in the world adopts it, Bitcoin will shoot over $100,000 per coin.

Yup, pretty much. It has been extremely conductive for their exporting strategy.


Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2013/10/06/what-if-china-stops-buying-u-s-government-debt/

FWIW though, in the last few weeks, this strategy appears to be shifting, but still, they hold most of the treasuries.

Everyone please, stop the madness !

I don't wanna see any more posts (probably americans) with people saying saying China wants to see the USD go down.

This is outright wrong, you need to stop reading this Wall observer and go read the newspapers first.

China is the absolute #1 investor in USD. Get your facts straight.

Why people should care if XRP is "premined" ? Why everything should follow Bitcoin step by step ?

Mining is the way Bitcoin distribute coins, Ripple chose a different distribution scheme. It's not a scam, it's only a difference. Everything that is different than Bitcoin is not a scam.


People only care what is the most useful. If Ripple is most useful than Bitcoin people will use it and won't give a fuck about those bullshit premined concerns.