2013-03-31 GATA - Is bitcoin better, freer from government rigging than gold?

[solex]

Short, but very nice open letter from Chris Powell, the secretary of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee.

Full title: Is bitcoin a better hedge, freer from government market rigging than gold?

http://www.gata.org/node/12403

It is great that the fierce defenders of gold and silver have an open mind about Bitcoin and even see it as a similar store of wealth.

[1714949538]

1714949538

[1714949538]

1714949538

[1714949538]

1714949538

[1714949538]

1714949538

[sunnankar]

It is great that the fierce defenders of gold and silver free markets have an open mind about Bitcoin and even see it as a similar store of wealth.

[Zangelbert Bingledack]

Floodgates continue to open to keep this meteoric rise going.

[lettucebee]

Gold and silver are heavily manipulated.  They have a million ways to do it.  But there is a very large mythology built up around gold and silver as "honest money" that a whole bunch of people truly believe.  But bitcoin has a lot in common with gold and silver, but in some ways it's better: its portable across borders, its not manipulated at the moment, its anonymous and private.

The gold and silver bugs would be wise to include it in their thinking.  Chris Powell is a smart guy, for the record.

[Kazu]

To be fair, Gold has several advantages over BTC too, and there is nothing to stop the government from manipulating BTC in many of the same says they attempt to manipulate gold.

Bitcoin will always be the "more liquid" of the two commodities, while gold will be the "more solid."

[wopwop]

many people don't get this fundamental difference between Bitcoin and Gold

Bitcoin requires permanent (and, if growing in tx vol, increasing) Energy input to keep the system viable (too little energy input undermines the blockchain and could destroy the currency due to double spending etc). Gold r some atoms formed in a star long ago

In short:
Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained

[Stapleddiet]

many people don't get this fundamental difference between Bitcoin and Gold

Bitcoin requires permanent (and, if growing in tx vol, increasing) Energy input to keep the system viable (too little energy input undermines the blockchain and could destroy the currency due to double spending etc). Gold r some atoms formed in a star long ago

In short:
Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained

Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained: Asic's over Gpu?
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained: All those hired guns and infrastructure needed to maintain security?

Eventually the blockchain could be powered by clothes that generate electricity from your everyday movement.
disclaimer: I dont know whats going to happen but the old way of doing things will have to move over.

[wopwop]

many people don't get this fundamental difference between Bitcoin and Gold

Bitcoin requires permanent (and, if growing in tx vol, increasing) Energy input to keep the system viable (too little energy input undermines the blockchain and could destroy the currency due to double spending etc). Gold r some atoms formed in a star long ago

In short:
Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained

Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained: Asic's over Gpu?
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained: All those hired guns and infrastructure needed to maintain security?

Eventually the blockchain could be powered by clothes that generate electricity from your everyday movement.
disclaimer: I dont know whats going to happen but the old way of doing things will have to move over.

lol @ trying

you know i'm right

bitcoins require permanent energy consumption to maintain its value (# of bitcoins in an account address)
gold does not, it can be left alone sitting somewhere forever and it remains the same, keeping its value (atoms)

I don't know if this actually matters alot, it's just a fundamental difference between gold and bitcoin that cannot be ignored

[Kazu]

many people don't get this fundamental difference between Bitcoin and Gold

Bitcoin requires permanent (and, if growing in tx vol, increasing) Energy input to keep the system viable (too little energy input undermines the blockchain and could destroy the currency due to double spending etc). Gold r some atoms formed in a star long ago

In short:
Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained

Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained: Asic's over Gpu?
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained: All those hired guns and infrastructure needed to maintain security?

Eventually the blockchain could be powered by clothes that generate electricity from your everyday movement.
disclaimer: I dont know whats going to happen but the old way of doing things will have to move over.

lol @ trying

you know i'm right

bitcoins require permanent energy consumption to maintain its value (# of bitcoins in an account address)
gold does not, it can be left alone sitting somewhere forever and it remains the same, keeping its value (atoms)

I don't know if this actually matters alot, it's just a fundamental difference between gold and bitcoin that cannot be ignored

He did have a valid point, though.
You don't need energy to store the BTC (you can shut down your computer), you need energy to protect them. It can also be said you need energy to protect gold from theft.

[Rygon]

many people don't get this fundamental difference between Bitcoin and Gold

Bitcoin requires permanent (and, if growing in tx vol, increasing) Energy input to keep the system viable (too little energy input undermines the blockchain and could destroy the currency due to double spending etc). Gold r some atoms formed in a star long ago

In short:
Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained

Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained: Asic's over Gpu?
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained: All those hired guns and infrastructure needed to maintain security?

Eventually the blockchain could be powered by clothes that generate electricity from your everyday movement.
disclaimer: I dont know whats going to happen but the old way of doing things will have to move over.

lol @ trying

you know i'm right

bitcoins require permanent energy consumption to maintain its value (# of bitcoins in an account address)
gold does not, it can be left alone sitting somewhere forever and it remains the same, keeping its value (atoms)

I don't know if this actually matters alot, it's just a fundamental difference between gold and bitcoin that cannot be ignored

He did have a valid point, though.
You don't need energy to store the BTC (you can shut down your computer), you need energy to protect them. It can also be said you need energy to protect gold from theft.

You certainly need a lot of energy to use gold in an economic transaction.

[wopwop]

many people don't get this fundamental difference between Bitcoin and Gold

Bitcoin requires permanent (and, if growing in tx vol, increasing) Energy input to keep the system viable (too little energy input undermines the blockchain and could destroy the currency due to double spending etc). Gold r some atoms formed in a star long ago

In short:
Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained

Stored Bitcoins requires permanent Energy consumption to be maintained: Asic's over Gpu?
Stored Gold requires no consumption to be maintained: All those hired guns and infrastructure needed to maintain security?

Eventually the blockchain could be powered by clothes that generate electricity from your everyday movement.
disclaimer: I dont know whats going to happen but the old way of doing things will have to move over.

lol @ trying

you know i'm right

bitcoins require permanent energy consumption to maintain its value (# of bitcoins in an account address)
gold does not, it can be left alone sitting somewhere forever and it remains the same, keeping its value (atoms)

I don't know if this actually matters alot, it's just a fundamental difference between gold and bitcoin that cannot be ignored

He did have a valid point, though.
You don't need energy to store the BTC (you can shut down your computer), you need energy to protect them. It can also be said you need energy to protect gold from theft.

You certainly need a lot of energy to use gold in an economic transaction.

About zero,
same as for trades in USD, also zero energy required.

Or super small neglible energy requirements (as in, if you do it in person, energy to move your body, or on the computer, some electricity to run your browser etc), the same small energy requirements that are in Bitcoin NEXT TO the HUGE permanently increasing (as it grows) Energy inflow requirement for keeping Bitcoin alive and viable

So you are wrong trying to make yourself believe its the same

PS: this statement has nothing to do with the bitcoin price, could go up, could go down. just saying Bitcoin needs someone to pay Energy inflow continously to stay alive

[solex]

PS: this statement has nothing to do with the bitcoin price, could go up, could go down. just saying Bitcoin needs someone to pay Energy inflow continously to stay alive

It probably takes more energy to send this across the Pacific than to keep the Bitcoin network running for a year, and there are thousands of these ships needed to keep world trade alive.