Bitcoin is unlikely to achieve a stable value in the foreseeable future, but that doesn't matter. Bitcoin is not destined to be used directly in ordinary commerce. Think about how HTTP is built on top of TCP/IP. In the same way, we will build new, stable currencies on top of bitcoin. They will be pegged to dollars, gold, oil, and anything else your heart desires.

I wrote a paper about this future, and if you come to the bitcoin conference in San Jose in May, you can hear me talk about it and ask questions at the "Bitcoin in the Future" panel.

The take-away is that buying bitcoins now is the best way to bet that these "child currencies" will be successful. They depend on bitcoin, and if they are successful, bitcoin values will go up.

The deflationary nature of bitcoin will be a problem hindering commerce denominated in bitcoin for the foreseeable future. However, bitcoin is not destined to be used directly in ordinary commerce. Think about how HTTP is built on top of TCP/IP. In the same way, we will build new, stable currencies on top of bitcoin. They will be pegged to dollars, gold, oil, and anything else your heart desires.

I wrote a paper about this future, and if you come to the bitcoin conference in San Jose in May, you can hear me talk about it and ask questions at the "Bitcoin in the Future" panel.

The take-away is that buying bitcoins now is the best way to bet that these "child currencies" will be successful. They depend on bitcoin, and if they are successful, bitcoin values will go up.

OP is both absolutely right and absolutely wrong.

Absolutely right in that price fluctuations will make bitcoin difficult to use for normal commerce for the foreseeable future. Absolutely wrong in that he assumes this problem will kill bitcoin.

Additional protocol layers will be built on top of bitcoin which will provide stable currencies pegged to dollars, gold, oil, or anything else your heart desires. Think about how HTTP is built on top of TCP/IP. That is how we will build new, stable currencies on top of bitcoin.

I wrote a paper about it, and if you are going to the bitcoin conference in San Jose in May, you can come to the "Bitcoin in the Future" panel and hear me talk about it and ask questions.

The take-away is that buying bitcoins now is the best way to bet on the success of those "child currencies"

Stability will come to the bitcoin economy via distributed exchange of colored bitcoins and other similar currencies built on top of bitcoin (and thus driving up bitcoin values even further(. I personally doubt whether bitcoin itself will ever be stable enough to use for your groceries.

I know my answer, which I will divulge later in the thread if asked (I don't want to skew the poll before you vote). What do you think?

If you are not a forum member or you are stuck in the newbie section, you can also vote in the reddit version of the poll:

http://www.freeblogpolls.com/polls/1256870-imagine-it-is-10-years-from-now-and-you-have-to-pick-up-a-few-items-at-the-grocery-store-after-scanning-your-items-you-pull-out-your-smartphone-and-scan-the-qr-code-on-the-payment-screen-and-touch-authorize-payment-how-did-you-pay

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1bqou8/poll_how_will_you_buy_groceries_in_10_years/



Also, don't forget to leave some kind of comment if you like this poll and want other people to vote. Just voting doesn't bump the thread back to the top.

Anybody posting innovated ideas on this forum needs a thick skin. There are large numbers of ideas here, most of which are crazy, stupid, fraudulent, unworkable, etc. Consequently there are people who go around calling nearly everything crazy/stupid/fraudulent/unworkable and they feel pretty good about themselves because they are right most of the time.

I've been through the cycle several times now, and I've learned to just read through the comments looking for anything which gives ME doubt about my idea. Then, if I'm still happy with my idea, I just thank people profusely for their intelligent comments (whether or not they were intelligent) and announce that I haven't seen anything to convince me my idea won't work, and that I am proceeding. That usually quiets the criticism. You might post your response to a couple valid criticisms that other people might be wondering about, but don't get into arguments which distract you and the community from your goal.

Thanks for doing this, whether or not you succeed.

Hey Lindsay,

What's the food situation? I don't see anything on the website about that. Is some food included? Lunch maybe? Will there be venders selling food for bitcoin?

I haven't had breakfast yet this morning, so all I can think about is food

Thanks!

I believe that colored coins will be able to do everything Ripple can do. Maybe not every feature right away, but there is no technical reason any Ripple feature can't be implemented with colored coins.

Colored coins will bring some price stability in that two people who trust the same issuer of USD colored bitcoins can conduct trade denominated in USD if they desire. That allows them the convenience and stability (for now) of USD and the anonymity and low transaction fees of bitcoin simultaneously.

Obviously colored coins are going to be a hotbed for fraud, although some institutions may have enough trust to issue USD, gold, oil, and other commodities and have people trust them. If people want to trade these currencies and commodities without trusting an issuer, that is when you need the MasterCoin protocol.

I hasten to add that none of this requires a hard fork of bitcoin - just some additional layers on top of the bitcoin protocol. Coloring bitcoins adds a very thin new protocol layer, but much more is coming.

What topics would you guys like to see addressed in the "Future of Bitcoin" panel?

I created a poll and discussion about it here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=165206.0

Please go vote!

I've been predicting this kind of thing would happen for a long long time (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7985.0)

Good luck to you!

A brokerage hidden in TOR??

Holy smokes, it's starting!

I hope to have the next revision of the 2nd bitcoin whitepaper ready to go with a close-to-final MasterCoin specification by then, but I don't want to be accused of using the panel as a platform to enrich myself. I may bring it up casually if it seems appropriate and not too self-serving.

For those who don't know, MasterCoins are a special kind of colored bitcoin, NOT an alt coin, so please don't start harping.

I've been in this exact situation before . . . in 2011. Look at the log chart above. In terms of percentage gains, the run-up then was MORE dramatic (though this one may get bigger at some point).

I remember my friends and family all told me to sell at $30. I didn't. Then during the long decline they were all shaking their heads and saying "I told you so - sell before you lose it all". I just smiled and held on.

Even now, I'm not rich (I only ever invested $200). I wish I could have talked my wife into a bigger investment then, but I'm not complaining. That $200 has been the best investment of my life.

-1 on scammer tag. That's not what the scammer tag is for, and it's incredibly silly to expect forum moderators to intervene in this situation. If you don't like how coinjedi runs his betting site, you are free to choose a different one.

Disclaimer: I use betsofbitcoin occasionally, but I don't have anything at stake for this bet.

I'll be sitting on a "Future of Bitcoin" panel at the 2013 conference in San Jose, and I'd like some community input about what topics you would like to see addressed.

The poll reflects my biases and interests, and is pretty much what I'm currently hoping to communicate. If you don't see an important topic in the poll, please post it as a comment.

Please keep in mind that the conference attendees are very savvy, so I don't want to bore them with stuff they probably already know.

I think it's possible that the PR person for "Mircea Popescu's Options Emporium" might consider Tradehill a potential competitor. Perhaps MPOE was hoping to start offering a similar set of services.

I have personally spoken to Jered many times, by email, over the phone, and via other channels, and he's in a very short list of bitcoin businesspeople I trust. Michael Hendrix is also on that list, and . . . that is it. They both have the unique distinction of having run a big bitcoin business, handling lots of money, and then closing it down without an implosion. Very very few have done that.

Thread updated to have a tentative date when the interviews were most likely first broadcast

Since we are reviving old prediction threads, I revived my own:

I'd like to go on the record again saying that Bitcoin price increases are just getting started.

I'd like to go on the record again saying that Bitcoin price increases are just getting started.

I'd like to go on the record again saying that Bitcoin price increases are just getting started.