Interesting Tidbit on Pirate - Charging rates on large BTC transfers?

[Grinder]

My opinion is that pirate isn't as smart as people give him credit.

That's certainly another possibility. He's had so much help from people running pass-throughs, making up reasons why this could work, and generally defending him, that he could pretty much just sit back and watch the money roll in.

[ldrgn]

Okay, lets say we have an obscure newfangled currency we invented, of which we have shitloads on hand, but for some reason common Earthlings don't seem to think our wonderful newfangled currency is actually worth much, if worth anything at all.

snip

OK, apologies if I strawmanned your explanation but here's what it sounds like to me.  You've got Pirate backers with assloads of BTC.  They're giving BTC to pirate (let's say half, bs number) which he uses for the interest.  The backer's gamble is that the popularity of Pirate's scheme will drive up the value of the BTCs they didn't give to Pirate, putting them ahead and growing bitcoin.

This still doesn't beat out starting/investing in a business: if you took half of your BTC and started a business, not only would the half not invested grow in value as the BTC economy grew but the business could pay you back your initial investment through dividends and equity sales.

It also doesn't explain why Pirate's having a bitch of a time paying people back.  Your model has Pirate's backers and Pirate never touch any USD so why is he taking so long to repay?  Pirate himself has said on IRC that he doesn't keep BTC around.

[markm]

Remember that bitcoin looked back then to many observers as if it was tanking. Its not like you could have sold a few tens of thousands to finance a business without driving the price into the ditch...

-MarkM-

[ldrgn]

Remember that bitcoin looked back then to many observers as if it was tanking. Its not like you could have sold a few tens of thousands to finance a business without driving the price into the ditch...

-MarkM-

You have to solve the chicken and egg problem of creating new Bitcoin businesses somehow.  Why not get the first mover advantage and dominate a market?  Why not use all these really cool unique to BTC advantages and create a killer app?  Becoming the next Google is the reward, dropping the price down in the short term is the risk.  You'll always have the True Believers as customers even if the BTC trades at .01 USD again.  Adding more speculators won't solve the chicken and egg problem.  I don't think bringing in speculators would even give you more customers down the road - they're all in it to take a profit and get out.

I don't think anyone with business sense and BTC would follow through with what you're describing.

edit: the chicken and egg problem is "I don't want to start a BTC business because I have to work with USD suppliers.  There aren't enough B2B BTC businesses yet so me operating a business just drives down the price."  This is pretty flawed - even if people are just running through the BTC system like Silk Road customers do it's just short-term pushes up and down in the exchange rate that balance out.  Also, you can solve it by growing a pair and diving in yourself (as I explained above).

[markm]

Yeah it would have made more sense right at the start, not after the $30+ bubble.

-MarkM-

[ldrgn]

Yeah it would have made more sense right at the start, not after the $30+ bubble.

-MarkM-

Before or after the bubble it's still a giant BTC-wide pump and dump.  You're saying all the big hands (Pirate backers) are in it to wring the later masses dry?  Bitcoiners may be dumb but I don't think the community is rotten to the very core like you're saying.

[markm]

Of course they're not. Pirate is contacting all the passthrough operators as we type to arrange the payouts, it just took a little longer than he hoped.

-MarkM-

[unclescrooge]

Like I've been saying all along: BTCST popped up right around the time MtGox dark pool trading ended.

[markm]

Yeah it would have made more sense right at the start, not after the $30+ bubble.

-MarkM-

Before or after the bubble it's still a giant BTC-wide pump and dump.  You're saying all the big hands (Pirate backers) are in it to wring the later masses dry?  Bitcoiners may be dumb but I don't think the community is rotten to the very core like you're saying.

Why so negative? It wouldn't be a pump and dump, it'd be a pump up to some decent operating level and keep on trucking. All this hovering in the low double digits is silly, its peanuts, way to small to make bitcoin useable as a unit of account in any decent size projects. It needs to get into at least the three digits range and stay there, still on a good strong steady bull-run.

-MarkM-

[markm]

Of course they're not. Pirate is contacting all the passthrough operators as we type to arrange the payouts, it just took a little longer than he hoped.

-MarkM-

Oh he is is he? Should I stay up then?

If we are both being sarcastic/ironic, then absolutely. Otherwise maybe not...

-MarkM-