A currency based on nothing is doomed to fail. The US Dollar is this currency.

[americanpegasus]

It used to be based on something, which was the gold standard.  Failing that, it was based on the promise that government wouldn't just print a bunch of dollars to save it's ass if it got in trouble.  When every single one of your dollars was exchangeable for gold, the dollar wasn't just a widely accepted means of exchange...  People had a powerful dual faith, both in the natural scarcity of gold and the financial fidelity of the US Government.  When we came off the gold standard they promised us to be responsible stewards of the dollar and not just print a shit-load of them to save their own ass. 
 
But both of those things have changed now. 
 
The gold standard was abandoned, and the dollar has been tarnished by a "post-mine" scam that has destroyed the very foundation of trust on which we built the modern economy.  Moral hazard, my friends.  If you remove the penalties associated with risk from a self-serving creature or organization only a fool would believe that you would not encourage that entity to double down their bets the next time...  And that exactly what we did, and that exactly what is happening as we speak. 
 
If the government had come out and said, "We're totally fucked and we're going to run the printing presses day and night printing new US dollars to sell to anyone who will have them in order to save our ass," there would have been riots.  Instead they obfuscated this mass devaluation of the dollar with complex financial acrobatics which still reduce to the same inescapable conclusion: the US Dollar, as a currency based on nothing, will collapse.  It is inevitable.  It is such a literal pyramid scheme they went ahead and printed a pyramid right on the paper note itself, just so you wouldn't be able to say you weren't warned when it happens. 
 
Before when this mass financial collapse occured, like a wave sloshing around in a bathtub, the economy was forced to recover through the same flawed bathtub system.  There was simply no where else for that value to go.  Even if they increased the size of the tub unfairly, and made one side *way* deeper than the other, the world economy had no choice but to slosh around in that perverted bathtub of corruption. 
 
But now cryptocurrency is about to pull the plug on the entire operation. 
 
That value does have somewhere to go now, and it is into something far better than a paper note whose distribution and integrity has been fundamentally compromised.  Bitcoin and (and my other favorite cryptocurrency, Monero)  are based on something: the social contract between you and every other user, and some of the most advanced mathematical structures on Earth guaranteeing it.  There will only ever be an agreed upon amount in existence, and no single entity can abuse the system for their own gain. 
 
The future belongs to real money, not pretend money based on nothing. 
 
What's in your wallet?

[Hopalong]

It used to be based on something, which was the gold standard.  Failing that, it was based on the promise that government wouldn't just print a bunch of dollars to save it's ass if it got in trouble.  When every single one of your dollars was exchangeable for gold, the dollar wasn't just a widely accepted means of exchange...  People had a powerful dual faith, both in the natural scarcity of gold and the financial fidelity of the US Government.  When we came off the gold standard they promised us to be responsible stewards of the dollar and not just print a shit-load of them to save their own ass. 
 
But both of those things have changed now. 
 
The gold standard was abandoned, and the dollar has been tarnished by a "post-mine" scam that has destroyed the very foundation of trust on which we built the modern economy.  Moral hazard, my friends.  If you remove the penalties associated with risk from a self-serving creature or organization only a fool would believe that you would not encourage that entity to double down their bets the next time...  And that exactly what we did, and that exactly what is happening as we speak. 
 
If the government had come out and said, "We're totally fucked and we're going to run the printing presses day and night printing new US dollars to sell to anyone who will have them in order to save our ass," there would have been riots.  Instead they obfuscated this mass devaluation of the dollar with complex financial acrobatics which still reduce to the same inescapable conclusion: the US Dollar, as a currency based on nothing, will collapse.  It is inevitable.  It is such a literal pyramid scheme they went ahead and printed a pyramid right on the paper note itself, just so you wouldn't be able to say you weren't warned when it happens. 
 
Before when this mass financial collapse occured, like a wave sloshing around in a bathtub, the economy was forced to recover through the same flawed bathtub system.  There was simply no where else for that value to go.  Even if they increased the size of the tub unfairly, and made one side *way* deeper than the other, the world economy had no choice but to slosh around in that perverted bathtub of corruption. 
 
But now cryptocurrency is about to pull the plug on the entire operation. 
 
That value does have somewhere to go now, and it is into something far better than a paper note whose distribution and integrity has been fundamentally compromised.  Bitcoin and (and my other favorite cryptocurrency, Monero)  are based on something: the social contract between you and every other user, and some of the most advanced mathematical structures on Earth guaranteeing it.  There will only ever be an agreed upon amount in existence, and no single entity can abuse the system for their own gain. 
 
The future belongs to real money, not pretend money based on nothing. 
 
What's in your wallet?

Did not bother to read all the bs. You know what would happen to the exange rate if you printed more dollar than you could back up? If not you should go and read about it.

[oblivi]

Unfortunately it will take a couple years more of crisis for something to happen. People is not going to care if the system we live under is complete nonsense as long as they can pay for their starbucks coffee and buy the new xbox from wallmart. As long as everything seems normal under the surface things will not change. Once this system of infinite debt starts crumbling and people start researching for alternatives then anyone holding 1 BTC will be the new 1% and so be it.

[Meuh6879]

in 100 years, 67 monetary union ... 67 FAIL.

that why Bitcoin will win at the end ... it's simply a question of people ... of trust ... of time.

[americanpegasus]

Did not bother to read all the bs. You know what would happen to the exange rate if you printed more dollar than you could back up? If not you should go and read about it.

 
 

   
 
 
 
Oh wait.  You're serious. 
 
Allow me to laugh even harder then. 
 
   
 
 
 

[Snorek]

You are forgetting something. Money are based on something - trust. A fiat money currency generally is issued by government or central bank and these institutions can guarantee its value.
Unfortunately this system has many flaws and it is considered to be the biggest economic scam in the history of mankind but is at the same time the pillar of our modern society.

[Hopalong]

Did not bother to read all the bs. You know what would happen to the exange rate if you printed more dollar than you could back up? If not you should go and read about it.

 
 

   
 
 
 
Oh wait.  You're serious. 
 
Allow me to laugh even harder then. 
 
   
 
 
 

Laugh all you want. Or get some education....

[Hopalong]

You are forgetting something. Money are based on something - trust. A fiat money currency generally is issued by government or central bank and these institutions can guarantee its value.
Unfortunately this system has many flaws and it is considered to be the biggest economic scam in the history of mankind but is at the same time the pillar of our modern society.

It is not a scam. A cardhouse maybe but not a scam...

The total amount of money in a country has to be backed up of something. If not you get hyperinflation and the excange rate drops trough the floor.

The excange rate of a currency is a measure of how much it is trusted. If it raises the others trust you. It can be manipulated but most countries can fight of traders.

If you realy think the fiat in your country is about to fall the smart approach is to get the bigest morgage you can get and buy something that hold its value.

[jonald_fyookball]

OP, right on dude... you're preaching to the choir as far as me at least, but I agree.
The dollar has already lost like 95%+ of its value in the last century.

Still, it won't collapse overnight.  It's still the reserve currency and
that takes time to change.  But yeah, most of us know fiat currency
has serious limitations and thats why we love Bitcoin.

[americanpegasus]

You are forgetting something. Money are based on something - trust. A fiat money currency generally is issued by government or central bank and these institutions can guarantee its value.
Unfortunately this system has many flaws and it is considered to be the biggest economic scam in the history of mankind but is at the same time the pillar of our modern society.

 
 

 
 
The horse and buggy was also a pillar of modern society at one point... as was the railroad. 
 
Modern society is more fickle than we might like to believe. 
 
Cryptocurrency is about to redefine what 'modern' really means.

[americanpegasus]

Laugh all you want. Or get some education....

 


 
 


Please excuse me if I don't participate in the latest modern bubble.  If that doesn't make me a good little citizen, I apologize, but I assure you I am quite educated on the subject. 
 
Now, did you want to continue discussing the topic, or were you content with your little white flag of ignorance waving in the wind? 
 
Can you explain this to me, since I'm such a simpleton:  In that chart there is a line that has a steady and predictable increase for decades.... and then suddenly, right during the bank bailouts it goes nearly vertical.  Why did this happen?  Why shouldn't that concern me?

[americanpegasus]

It is not a scam. A cardhouse maybe but not a scam...

The total amount of money in a country has to be backed up of something. If not you get hyperinflation and the excange rate drops trough the floor.

The excange rate of a currency is a measure of how much it is trusted. If it raises the others trust you. It can be manipulated but most countries can fight of traders.

If you realy think the fiat in your country is about to fall the smart approach is to get the bigest morgage you can get and buy something that hold its value.

 
 
If I tell you that you can stake yours and your family's financial future on shares of the cardhouse I've built, that's a scam.  Especially in Oklahoma. 
 
Now, you say that the total amount of money needs to be backed up by something.... what is that?  What is backing up the US Dollar right now?  Why should anyone want a US Dollar? 
 
Do you really even understand what money is, at its heart? 
 
Cryptocurrency is something that holds its value because no one is propping up its value or making false claims about it... it is a mathematical object that humans all compete to own a share of.  No one can dillute its value or commit fraud with it.  It is quite simply the most powerful financial asset that humans have ever created. 
 
I will admit that land is better than fiat, but intelligent people are already competing to own a share of the public and private global ledgers of our species.

[Hopalong]

Laugh all you want. Or get some education....

 


 
 


Please excuse me if I don't participate in the latest modern bubble.  If that doesn't make me a good little citizen, I apologize, but I assure you I am quite educated on the subject. 
 
Now, did you want to continue discussing the topic, or were you content with your little white flag of ignorance waving in the wind? 
 
Can you explain this to me, since I'm such a simpleton:  In that chart there is a line that has a steady and predictable increase for decades.... and then suddenly, right during the bank bailouts it goes nearly vertical.  Why did this happen?  Why shouldn't that concern me?

I can see you are visiting conspiracy theory forums by the way you bombard us with stupid pictures. I guess links and youtube videos is next. By education i dont think those forums are good. Try books.

[americanpegasus]

I can see you are visiting conspiracy theory forums by the way you bombard us with stupid pictures. I guess links and youtube videos is next. By education i dont think those forums are good. Try books.

 
  
Yes, you're right.  It's probably a better idea to ignore the digital global sum of human knowledge in favor of one person's opinion printed on the remains of a dead tree.  
  
But, since that might take a while, why don't we get back to you (in all your amazing educational glory) explaining to little simple me why that line on that chart went from a steady predictable rise (which we could put faith in) to an absurd vertical rocketship?  
  
You know the chart I'm talking about?  
  
This one?  
  

  
Or would you like to continue ignoring my point while attacking me personally some more?  This is a traditional tactic of a troll/shill trying to distract attention from the topic at hand, by the way.  Oops, sorry.  There I go talking about things I learned outside of books again.  
  
Bad citizen!

[roadbits]

official currency only have extrinsic value because that is what we agree they are worth. If we agree they are worth nothing then they have no use

[americanpegasus]

official currency only have extrinsic value because that is what we agree they are worth. If we agree they are worth nothing then they have no use

 
 
Excellent.  Now we are getting somewhere.  China has a bigger population.  Russia has far more land. 
 
Why is the U.S. Dollar worth so much more to the average human than the paper that these countries print? 
 
Why is a bitcoin worth $278?

[bt62567]

Fail thread

 

https://i.imgur.com/7qyZCHK.jpg

[achow101]

Then what is Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies based on? They are not based on anything. They, like the US dollar and all other fiat currencies in the world are based on value given them by society. And if you really think about it, what gives gold its value? Nothing, but what people are willing to pay for it. I don't think it is the fact that there is nothing to back the currency, but the fact that it is centralized and that centralized power can just keep printing more and more without limits. I think what gives Bitcoin its value is like what gives gold its value; there is a finite supply. I'm sure that if we found some planet full of gold and people started mining it that gold's value would suddenly plummet from the new massive influx of supply, just like what is happening to the dollar.

[jonald_fyookball]

official currency only have extrinsic value because that is what we agree they are worth. If we agree they are worth nothing then they have no use

 
 
Excellent.  Now we are getting somewhere.  China has a bigger population.  Russia has far more land. 
 
Why is the U.S. Dollar worth so much more to the average human than the paper that these countries print? 
 
Why is a bitcoin worth $278?

This article may help:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency

[americanpegasus]

This article may help:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency

 
 
Shhhhh.... We build to that.