You can fork the Ripple system if you like. Client is open source, server not yet but you can ask them afaik. If you don't trust them with their promise of better decentralization soon, and if you have a better solution to prevent spam and fake accounts than the usage of XRPs, then go ahead.

A kingdom with a benevolent monarch is well off. But there's no guarantee the next monarch will be as benevolent as Gavin.  

But yes, I surely do hope Bitcoin will remain or improve decentralization. Would also somewhat prove wrong anti-capitalists and Marxists who insist that every system based on markets and money always ends up in hierarchy and centralization of power.

We could try to find something to merge-mine that is also very valuable.

What kind of database would be worthwhile to have in such a distributed way without requiring to trust a central administrator or website? Maybe something like wikipedia?

Kind of like we already have a solution and we're looking for a problem.

why do i have to pay to be living on the planet I was born on. 

So this coin would essentially be totally controlled by MtGox (i.e. their reserves).

Well the gold standard free banking era had banks aka investments too.

True. Examples of ways to end poverty are these:

• Cut out middle-men and those who are in the way of innovation and progress, by holding monopolies on territory, patents, currency, and tariffs. States, banks, big oil, big corporations must be circumvented.
• Spread cheap (or free and open source) technologies: Hydro- and aquaponics, 3D printing, solar power (underlies Moore's Law!), industrial hemp. Self-sufficient individuals will be less corruptible to do things that are morally wrong (like joining the army), strengthen the establishment and perpetuate the status quo.
• Give a fish vs Teach how to fish: Go to poor areas and look for the reason why developments don't happen. What keeps them from helping themselves and self-realization? Ask them what they want; donate basic necessities, infrastructure and education (without making them dependent on Monsanto like today).

cos of Ripple, mainly. It's Ripple's main forum somewhat actually.

srsly though, I think Marxists may see Bitcoin as transitional, mainly because it's immaterial.

There presumably won't ever be state enforcement behind it (see pirateat40).

In that sense, Bitcoin might just be a distributed, better reputation system.

From each according to his brain wallet, to each according to his performance. 

long waiting list at mtgox, and for sure not sellers, but people are hesitant to buy when they look at the charts because its... intimidating.

Guess that's also a reason for the consolidation phases... hesitation.

Until the sudden breakthru...

Bitcoin is not a Ponzi.

In a Ponzi, if there are no more buyers, it collapses.

On Bitcon exchanges, if there are no buyers, the price would remain constant.

Bitcoin is a global borderless potentially anonymous value transfer system. It uses its own units of accounting which have to be kept scarce in order to be valuable (I don't think it doesn't matter much in this context if they would have been designed to slightly inflate forever or eventually cap out at 21 million, except the capped variance surely has always been more appealing to libertarians).

If people choose to invest, all they need to do is to hold some of the 21 million units whose value is determined by supply and demand. So they act like an asset, a share. But it's a share in an openly and transparently developed system, which is quite a novelty. And it's taking away real market share from PayPal, Western Union and others, which surely are not scams or pyramid schemes either. Good related read: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=168858.0

Now that doesn't mean there isn't any risk if people choose to invest. They have to know what they're doing. There are risks. There could be a total loss. There could be a better competitor. Governments could outlaw exchanges and merchants accepting it.

If it keeps going, Bitcoin (or a successor, for that matter) will probably go through the hype cycle, multiple times over, fractally.



But it will probably stabilize when it has reached ubiquity and mass adoption, as this is only a matter of depth. We're far from everybody on this planet having used it at least once, directly or indirectly, or at least heard of it.


This refers to a thing called Gresham's Law. This only is valid when the weak currency that people want to get rid of (USD) is enforced by a government. If there is no such enforcement, then think again. People may want to get rid of their weak and devaluing means of exchange (corn, cattle), but merchants will prefer the strong ones (gold, silver, bitcoins).

viele gesellianer und sowas kommentieren da anscheinend

Das gibt dem Song gleich einen ganz neuen Spin.


Zhou Tonged - Holding (Billy Joel - The Longest Time)


 

is this the bible code or something else?

Good thread. Exactly.

either you get it, or you don't

survival of the fittest...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njp8bKpi-vg



Even if there is no malicious intent behind the central banking system, it reminds me of software engineering. Hack after fix after patch on an already broken system, leading to all kind of unintended, un-managable consequences.

Sometimes it's better to rewrite and start anew...

price above > $500 is not justified as long as a single site like SatoshiDice apparently is still an issue and seems to cause some headaches.

His name is Robert Paulson.