2012-10-29 European Central Bank - Virtual Currency Schemes

[Stapleddiet]

so, indeed, further action from authorities can be reasonably expected

It would be really nice if you were a bit more precise in your use of language. Authorities? What or who gives them authority over what/whom? I certainly didn't give them any authority..

I also prefer to call them the factually correct: small gangs of thugs with guns.

The authorities were originally described in The Hypostasis of the Archons if that helps.

[ben-abuya]

I'm pretty sure this was written by several different authors. You can just feel the sections by the young, inquisitive guy, excited by this new technology, being thrown together in a hodgepodge with sections from the staid old career bankers, trying to protect their trade.

[molecular]

Could have a negative impact on the reputation of central banks, assuming the use of such systems
grows considerably and in the event that an incident attracts press coverage, since the public may
perceive the incident as being caused, in part, by a central bank not doing its job properly;

it's job being to control the fiat money supply?

I have to ask again: does bitcoin inflate the fiat money supply?

[molecular]

TLDR: Whats it say? I heard its quite neutral. Correct?

It is surprisingly neutral, yes, and it's fairly accurate as well. One of the best neutral reports on Bitcoin ever, definitely.

+1

A very well written and constructed article.

While it is mostly uncontentious, there are a few points that would be worth addressing: the various risks assigned to Bitcoin. ... They don't quite seem to draw that parallel.

For the most part I thought it was a very well written objective analysis of Bitcoin.

The do get into some advocation for the current systems like fiat currencies and central banks .... but what do you expect. Really, all the issues they raise with Bitcoin apply to their current fiat paper franchises. The 'trust in central banks' sludge is just oozing out of the report.

The bottom line is it seems they are now aware of their new competitor, realize it is not currently a threat but could become one so they will watch it. Just like postal services, news organizations and the copyright industry have been decimated so likewise when they try to catch it I doubt they can.

+11, most accurate assessment.

EDIT: do we now have 3 threads about this?

• this one
• http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=121271.0
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=121186