Bingo. And actually that $10 fee is just to send the USD to an Indian bank. The worker will then have to convert to Rupees at X% additional loss. |
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Received an email today from Dwolla, with them announcing they've passed $1m in daily transactions. They've got a nice infographic chart showing their growth since December. Now, of course, it is strikingly similar to the growth of interest in Bitcoin (starts jumping fast in May, right as Bitcoin started getting traction). However, they're not mentioning Bitcoin AT ALL in either their email or graphic. It's understandable of course, but I found it amusing. Am I wrong in speculating that a significant part of their growth is due directly to Bitcoin? My guess is that they have a love/hate relationship with Bitcoin, as it's bringing them massive business, but is also likely to make them obsolete before they ever truly succeed. Thoughts?  |
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Also 6.8m is not 10% it's about all of them.
Maybe you misread? The 621k number is roughly 10% of the total bitcoins in existence (6.8m). |
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I would imagine that a singularity such as what Kurzweil describes would require a new monetary system to exponentially increase the efficiency of trade - by an order of magnitude at least. Bitcoin surely satisfies that criteria. Hey... maybe Satoshi really was an AI and it created Bitcoin to start the singularity. Like the match in the kindling?! Oh gosh!!  |
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Interesting statistics from BitcoinWatch.com
Total Bitcoins: 6.8m
Bitcoins sent last 24h: 621,000
This means almost 10% of all Bitcoins in existence are moving around every day! (unless this figure is abnormal?) Likely the majority is just people moving coins around between wallets, but it does indicate a very active and dynamic environment, no?
Remember also that simple day trading at an exchange is not going to show up here, because the coins aren't really moving around, it's only ledger notations within Mt.Gox or Tradehill, etc.
Interesting?
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It will be interesting if bitcoin ever gets picked up on the FOREX exchanges, those guys are used to making highly leveraged trades, which isn't directly possible with bitcoin. Until then I wouldn't expect it to trade like a normal currency.
Why aren't leveraged trades possible? I can leverage-trade myself right now by getting a loan in USD and buying BTC with that money. What kind of leverage are you talking about? |
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Freelancer.com, odesk.com, and elance.com...
ONE of these sites will adopt Bitcoin, because they are in intense competition with each other. The international/cross-border dynamics of these services is perfect for Bitcoin. I imagine these companies are watching the Bitcoin space to see how it develops. When it's more mature, they'll be racing to jump on board before their competitors.
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(24 x25 x9)^34 = about 7.97 x (10^126)?
If every particle in the known universe could create a billion addresses a second for the entire age of the universe, they would generate about one-quintillionth of the possible addresses. I dunno dude I've been repeatedly hitting refresh at instawallet.org... |
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I was wrong.
Well this at least shows greater maturity than 98% of the comments on the forums, no? |
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Long-term, gold is more deserving of the term "money" than anything else mankind has ever used.
As JP Morgan said, "Gold is money, and nothing else."
The US Dollar is but another experiment in fiat paper currencies... and only about 35 years old, since it was delinked from gold in the early 70's. The US Dollar as a money has declined in value steadily since it was created. Gold as money has maintained its purchasing power throughout thousands of years. I know which one I trust more.
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I wish people would stop comparing Bitcoin to a venture/business. It's not an organization, it's a set of protocols that other ventures are built on top of. I think it would be more correct to compare ventures MtGox and BitEscrow to things like Juno e-mail service or Geocities. Sure, those may fail, but the underlying protocol, like e-mail's POP3/SMTP, or web's HTTP, remain intact. The underlying protocol of Bitcoin will likely remain in tact as well, with just upgrades and bug fixes along the way.
That's actually a very appropriate way to look at it - as a protocol. |
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It's not finished. The protocol is incomplete; we all rely on it being somehow worked out in the future. And, seriously: it's 2011. Bitcoin transactions are SLOW.
LOL what are you talking about?? In certain circumstances the confirmations can be slow, but you don't need 99.999999999% certaintly for most transactions (and indeed you don't have that now with credit card swipes either, do you?) Try this and then tell me transactions are slow: 1) Open page at instawallet.org (bookmark that URL, because it's now your unique wallet) 2) Send a btc there from a client that is caught up on the block chain or from a site like MyBitcoin.com Watch the screen on instawallet.com... the transaction comes through FAST. Very fast, actually. And what you will see, as the BTC economy matures, is that most wallets will be held in online service providers (like Instawallet etc). Transfers from these trusted sites will be instantaneous when paying others. You will find that BTC transfers become as fast or faster than standard financial transactions, because there are fewer checkpoints/middlemen needed to confirm the trade. Do you think Diner's Club cards when they were launched in the 1950's were this fast? =) |
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As long as mining is still as profitable as it is right now, prices will keep sliding lower overall. Bitcoin *real* US$ value is between $1 and $5 right now depending on electricity cost and work put in to mine them. It will take a major change in bitcoin usage for price to start rocketing again anytime soon. We need services services and more services for that to happen.
Why will prices move lower as long as mining is profitable? Regardless of miners' profit, the same supply of coins is released each day. In fact, if they are less profitable you may see miners sell more of them to pay for various things (depends on their demand curve and I don't pretend to know it). Also, why is the "real" value between $1 and $5? Because that's what it costs to make? Since when is the value of something determined by its production cost? I could hire 10 workers at $10/hr for 10 hours to dig a hole for me. Does that mean the "real value" of the hole is $1000? No. Don't confuse cost and value. Look at the US Gov... do you really think it's WORTH $3-4 trillion per year just because it costs that much? |
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Ray Kurzweil has some nice insights into measuring innovation and growth from a technology perspective.
Yeah how do we get HIM to check out this Bitcoin thing?! Hopefully he'd see how it will bring about the singularity faster, be making all commerce more efficient. Rumor is he takes like a billion vitamins a day so he has a chance of living until the singularity, but he'd be better served by advocating true free market money. |
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I believe that YouTube channel is owned by Meze Grill's owner. Sure, the intro wasn't so great, though it wasn't THAT wrong. I liked when he said "the company's valuation is $100m"... like it's a stock or something. It's very hard for people to REALLY get their heads around the idea of a de-centralized currency. It's truly a paradigm shift... and thank goodness it's arrived. |
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For Bitcoins to avoid being supplanted by an alternative electronic currency in the future, the supply of Bitcoins must grow in proportion to the total value of transactions undertaken using the system.
^ that statement is false, but it goes back to the fierce debate over whether a "deflationary" currency can really work. I think it can, and would prove superior to an inflationary currency. The number of units of a money in a society matters not, so long as A) there are enough units to permit small purchases easily (eight decimals more than qualifies) and B) the number of units of a money doesn't change suddenly or significantly (Bitcoin's predetermined minting rate solves this issue). Prices adjust to money supply, and so long as money supply is predictable and smooth, then the actual amount of the money matters little. |
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While sleezy, I don't think it's a big deal. These types of sites are common... try out offers from vendors and earn rewards. As Bitcoin becomes successful, a million similar services will bloom... they're like the mushroom fungus of the healthy forest ecosystem |
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I think the most not-direct-investment money (setting aside mining) is being spent on creating exchanges, and, of course, you can come out ahead in that bitcoin related business almost regardless of what the price does.
Actually most "investment" in bitcoin is occurring in the creation of new businesses around it. But, you don't see them until they appear, months after they started production. The people who really believe in Bitcoin are building businesses, not speculating on the currency (though that's fun too =) |
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I wouldn't trust CNN. They are beholden to the existing system of Big Business, Big Banks, etc.
Notice the Bitcoin "taking off like a rocket" at the beginning, implying hyperinflation or too many coins in circulation.
These stories *never* focus on the actual value of BTC -- what makes them special. It's the fact that you can't hack or fake them. Hacking or faking them would be MORE difficult than just mining some real ones. The aspect of how the block chain is un-hackable, and becomes more-so with every increase in processing power the Bitcoin network undergoes.
I mean, what if I started a website called Matthew Bucks and people deposited money there, and sent money between accounts -- basically like Paypal.
How is Bitcoin different than that? That's what I'm talking about. This isn't another Beanz, Paypal, or any other digital micro-currency. It's actually a PRODUCT albeit an electronic one. What you're PAYING FOR is a private key that gives you access to a cryptographic item that is used to transfer wealth between people anywhere in the world. And they're quite liquid.
That's one thing that repeatedly gives me pause every time I'm tempted to think Bitcoin is finished. Everything else, I have to go with the naysayers (not enough practical uses, no places to spend them, users are mostly speculators, etc.)
Slam the mainstream media all you want, but when they put out a fair and reasonable piece, you should acknowledge it. The video was very balanced and, IMO, well done. Letting your own biases cloud your judgement would be ironic given that you're critical of CNN for that very same thing... |
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Why not just make a post in the forums. Most of the people on the daily paul dont like the idea, tough crowd lol.
Anyone can make a post in a forum, and it's more likely to stir up debate instead of drive traffic to WeUseCoins.com. I like putting money where my mouth is, and nobody can debate with a banner ad. You might be right about the "tough crowd"... but I bet many of them would click a banner that put Bitcoin and End the Fed on the same graphic  |
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