the core protocol has survived every attack and misfortune What attacks has Bitcoin itself been subject to? (Not counting attacks against MtGox et al) I would assume every have-competent hacker on the planet has tried to steal coins or screw with the protocol in some way. There hasn't even been an "outage" of the system, let alone a serious problem. It's almost impossible to imagine that software could be so resilient, which is why I like the theory that Satoshi was actually an artificial intelligence network which created Bitcoin either as a gift to mankind or as a trick for future global domination.  |
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I think the time has come, where it is reasonable to suggest that Bitcoin was not the "purely speculative bubble asset" that many thought it was. There are many examples of ridiculous items which enter massive bubbles, pop, and then fall toward zero, never to recover. Tulip bulbs in the 17th century, or Beanie Babies in the 90's, are two popular examples.
As Bitcoin prices rose wildly and then popped last summer, a non-imaginative person could understandably perceive it as nothing but Tulip Mania. A fair argument, if you didn't understand Bitcoin, I suppose. Bitcoin was a "flash in the pan," a quick, scammy, interesting phenomenon that went away after the early adopters cashed out.
But now, given a full picture of Bitcoin's history, its rise last summer, crash, and rise again this winter, I think comparing Bitcoins to Tulips is naive and unjustified.
Bitcoin is not going anywhere, it seems - the core protocol has survived every attack and misfortune, and now the market value has also survived every attack and misfortune. The market knows these things are not worth zero, which is what many detractors have prescribed.
There will be more bubbles, I am positive. How does a global market price a revolutionary technology such as this? It will take time to figure out. Soon, we will again hear condemnations that Bitcoin will fail because it's too volatile or because it's "deflationary." We'll hear about the greedy early adopters getting rich (though I can't think of anyone more deserving of wealth). Fine, people can continue to argue those things even thought they're fallacious.
But, I think only a fool will now say that Bitcoin was just Tulip Mania, that it's price is destined to deflate to zero. Bitcoin might fail, but the Tulip Phenomenon will not be the cause.
Bitcoin: 1
Detractors: 0
Let's see what we can do in 2012. What an exciting thing to be working on =)
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Not sure if you have table space for this... but a laptop or LCD sitting on the table with the bitcoin WebGL globe on it would be a great attention getter and conversation piece. You could also show the BitcoinMonitor.com page... these things should demonstrate visually how Bitcoin is something new and different, and the tech crowd should be quite receptive.
Even better - put one of these visuals on a large LCD tv behind your booth.
Good luck!
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If you never sell then you never really have a profit. The real world in which we live still revolves around government issued currencies. Need to take profits at some stage.
For some of us, our "sell" was selling USD for the real currency of Bitcoins. I cash out of USD at every opportunity. |
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I just don't get why people think there should be zero profit for mining.
It's not that there should be "zero profit." Rather, profit for miners will tend toward zero, always. This is not unique to bitcoin mining, but is a phenomenon of all markets - profit rates tend toward zero as competition chases efficiency. It's an asymptote, of course, but it's important to understand the tendency. Further, since all miners don't have the same electric and component costs, mining will always be unprofitable for some people in some areas. |
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in a nutshell, every country will take turns devaluing their currency to try and keep exports alive. aka printing.
Cypherdoc is absolutely right about that... here's hedge fund badass Kyle Bass on this topic: http://dont-tread-on.me/?p=11919 |
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as long as there is no break in the code we will never see those lows again.
I don't think that's an outlandish statement. |
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I see too much blind optimism. Everyone thinks bitcoins will rise to the moon again.
Remember some points.
1) Bitcoins are as useless now as they ever were
A few days ago I got paid a few thousand dollars by someone overseas. Happened instantly, with no fee, no delay, and at 11pm in the evening. Bitcoin is a useless as the automobile. |
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I've done a bit of manual arbitrage on Ruxum as well, but the fact that they don't have an API makes it kind of pointless for me. Also, their fees for getting money in and out are pretty ridiculous (same reason I'm not trading at CryptoX yet).
I get an uneasy feeling that Ruxum will just drop off the map soon as well...
Crypto now supports BitInstant so it's much cheaper to get money in. You can also deposit Mt.Gox codes at crypto so you can get USD from Gox over to Crypto with zero fee (and you can use Bitinstant to get USD from Crypto back to gox for about 1%) |
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Every time someone posts a link to that amazing globe I'm renewed with awe and inspired at the system we're all building.
tl;dr - how fucking cool is that globe?!?!
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Currently, bitcoin stores some sort of value.
The most obvious store is the electricity from the miners, which is roughly a function of bitcoin difficulty, and of course the price of electricity where you live (and the efficiency of your hardware etc).
This aspect of the value of bitcoin reflects the bare minimum value. Bitcoins should be worth at least the cost of electricity miners put into their creation.
No, sorry. This is totally false. The only value a bitcoin "stores" is the purchasing power it retains, which purely a function of supply and demand. The cost of electricity has little to nothing to do with how much a Bitcoin should cost. To illustrate, imagine if suddenly tomorrow everyone's electricity costs 100x more. Does that mean a Bitcoin must sell for $500 (given current price of $5)? No. Supply and demand is all that matters. |
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This is most certainly temporary. Bulls are going to get mauled in the coming days and weeks. Sorry guys.
Just wanted to highlight this gem  Proudhon was not just certain, but "most certain." |
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This is an interesting topic...
I wonder, since bitcoins are divisible to 8 decimal places, and coins are churned and spent and divided and recombined, does this not mean that long term one would expect all accounts to have some fractions of "tainted" coins? Just like every person's normal dollar wallet probably has some bills that were involved in sketchy activity.
All coins will end up being tainted, and thus it wont' matter and it will be a meaningless observation.
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I wish I were smart enough to know what you're talking about, but it sounds interesting! |
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Hi all,
Willing to pay 1 btc for access to Shutterstock for a day. Any takers? Please contact me via skype: evoorhees
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Great work man!!! I liked the animated cartoon bitcoin rainbow kitty with the amazing music  |
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Could "technically feasible" be Bitcoin's out?
Great point... it is not technically feasible to stop btc payments to anyone. |
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And what currencies? Terms of Service?
Currencies are shown on deposit or withdraw page - you can select any currency shown there. Terms of Service is... where all are, at the bottom in the footer on every page. It says, "Terms of Use" =) |
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