the rejection is in.  gold collapsing:

Swiss Reject Save Our Swiss Gold Referendum

https://smaulgld.com/switzerland-reject-save-our-swiss-gold-initiative/

prior to SC's, i was vocal against CP and other Bitcoin 2.0 platforms as well as other altcoins.  but that was only b/c i see all these things converging to Bitcoin in the end as the one money that will rule all and b/c the asset enabling platforms are premature.

but now i perceive SC's as the greater existential threat b/c it involves Blockstream trying to enable a source code change that will enable their own business model.  not only do i consider that unfair, i consider it a threat to Bitcoin as Money as i've beaten to death.  i don't want to see intra-protocol speculation built into Bitcoin itself effectively converting it into a WoW trading platform.

given all that, CP and the others become merely competitors willing to compete with Bitcoin on a level playing field which i am all for.  they may even push Bitcoin to become better which is also good.  the 2500 BTC proof of burn was interesting with XCP coming out the other end into the CP platform.  i listened to one LTB podcast of the core dev who sounded intelligent.  Patrick Burns is involved whom i admire.  i wish him well altho i still think these alternative asset platforms are way too premature.

there is no way, imo, that these things can get going w/o Bitcoin establishing itself on the worldwide stage as a bonafide, apolitical, secure, time tested, and generally accepted form of money first and foremost.  all those other assets and altcoins are Bitcoin derivatives at best.  we need to grow the market cap orders of magnitude greater in size and bully our way onto the Forex exchanges and into the gold/silver markets.  that takes years and patience.  we need outsiders to have to "buy in" to BTC on MC to participate.  but the great thing is, we are doing it.  it's happening.  but for this to continue, we need to avoid politicizing and manipulating the source code rules so that outsiders can be confident they are not buying into another FedStream system.  Bitcoin has evolved to a public good and NO ONE should be allowed to manipulate it except for purposes of improving its core function as MONEY.

Very soon everyone here is gonna realize we don't need no stinkin SC's nor do we need no stinkin gold.

leverage

this is what all the goldbugs want you to believe.

it was the paper market that allowed the elevation to today's values in the first place. 

it's over.

perhaps the most important chart of the day:

Gold collapsing.  Bitcoin UP.

Fleeing from rubles:

let your imagination run free, young Jedi.

i used to think asteroid mining for gold was a joke until Philae:

http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/11/nasa-investigating-asteroid-mining/

yes it will.

it might not look exactly like it does today but its essence will be with us.

if Citi's William Buiter can think of Bitcoin as gold, why can't we?  this is THE opportunity we cannot afford NOT to seize going forward:

"Gold as an asset is equivalent to shiny bitcoin," he wrote in his note to clients.

http://www.coindesk.com/citi-chief-economist-bitcoin-closest-commodity-gold/

yes, free gas for all!:

i don't want to do anything.  but i will go along with whatever Gavin and the others decide together.  if they decide to leave it, fine.

at least it will be done on mainchain and doesn't involve breaking Bitcoins sound money function.

absolutely.  i've avoided the word "investment" in deference to SOV but i kinda view them the same.  clearly, i bought BTC in expectation that it would go UP in value, not just stay flat.  hence, the title of this thread.  the upside potential is enormous IF we can keep these apparatchiks from changing the source code which will screw up Bitcoin as Sound Money and change it into a WoW trading platform.  keeping Bitcoin as Money will allow us to consume the fiat Forex markets and gold itself.  we are on our way but just at the beginning.  the apparatchiks will become rich if they jump on board even now.  in the end, we want to force all outsiders to have to "buy in" to the BTC currency unit on the main blockchain which will send us to the Moon and provide badly needed revenue to our security providers, the miners.

here's the other part of Andreas quote that i missed:

“I would count myself as one of them. I understand parts of bitcoin, but I don’t think I can predict where this thing is going. I don’t think I can predict even a fraction of the applications that are likely to be built on bitcoin. None of us know. This is unchartered territory. The reason it’s unchartered territory is because nothing like bitcoin has ever happened before."

given i am probably the first VC to have ventured into the space in a significant way, yes, it probably would've been a good idea.  problem is, i don't have a need or desire to reveal or display myself out in public as an "authority" even tho my early involvement could have easily allowed me to do so given the quality of Bitcoin assessment i see from guys like you.

look at what Andreas said last night which is very true to this day:

“(It’s) a good idea. Because the truth is very few people really understand what bitcoin is exactly, and how it works,” he says.

“And I don’t mean a few politicians; I mean very few people in general really really understand bitcoin."

http://www.startupsmart.com.au/financing-a-business/gst-on-bitcoin-would-be-monumentally-stupid-says-digital-currency-expert/2014112413685.html

i've always said that "most ppl are going to lose money investing in cryptocurrencies"-cypherdoc.

that is going to be so true as i keep seeing idiots throwing their hard earned money at all the wrong places.  i can't imagine alot of these Blockstream investors really understanding Bitcoin as well as me and others in this thread.  we've been discussing the high level economic and game theories here for years.  we're not deeply technical as guys like gmax but i understand Bitcoin pretty darn well from a technical side.  and i see that as an advantage, not a liability.  experience counts as well out in the real world of finance.

this is how you tell we are NOT in a bubble.

this displays such a lack of understanding about what Bitcoin is it's laughable and sad at the same time.

let me say this loud and clear:  YOU CAN'T DO THAT.

the BTC unit is what drives the miner greed to assemble what is called the blockchain ledger in the first place.  w/o the unit, there is no ledger or blockchain.

and yes, we need that greed to exist on the MC and stay there so that tx fees can grow to a self sustainable level as block rewards decrease.

there will be more QE.  do you know what that means?  value will flow to the soundest form of money on the market, just like it has the last 6 yrs.  and which currency has that been?  BITCOIN.

“the unfolding deflationary quagmire into which we are sinking will get worse and there will be more Fed QE.”

SocGen's Edwards: Deflationary 'Quagmire' Will Spur More Fed Stimulus

http://www.newsmax.com/Finance/Societe-Generale-Albert-Edwards-Federal-Reserve-inflation/2014/11/24/id/609261/

don't let the apparatchiks screw things up by changing the source code to their own advantage.

poor Blockstream investors.  $21M down the drain on a hair brain idea of separating the currency unit from the blockchain.

that is how you know we are not in a bubble.