the FUD campaign started

[EuroTrash]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22026961
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/03/bitcoin-currency-bubble-crash-not-rocking-financial-markets

This reminds me of 18+ years ago, when the public disregarded internet geeks by labelling them "hackers" or perverts of some sort anyway.

Why so much hatred? What do you think?

UPDATE: more negative press coming today

http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2013/04/05/bitcoin-bubble/?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29
http://news.discovery.com/tech/bitcoin-currency-attacked-130405.htm
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-04/sorry-libertarians-history-shows-bitcoin-isn-t-the-future.html

the last one being the most informed article.

[empoweoqwj]

1) Ignorance
2) Selling newspapers
3) Jealousy
4) Inability to accept new things
5) Lazy, rushed "journalism"

Let's face it. Internet killed journalism anyway. Perhaps its just a revenge  job.

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

Perhaps all the baby boomer talking heads and analysts who have been making fools of themselves on TV this past week, should try to remember their youth, and specifically this piece of advice:

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

[Britainacoin]

The people who own the press don't like a currency that is out of their control. They can't just print more bitcoin, and tax/steal (Yes Cyrpus was pure theft, not a tax) bitcoins from private citizens when it suits them.

I always laugh when I see people implying that government "regulation" is a good thing. Because of "regulation" on paypal, someone can reverse a transaction even when I have sent them the item. Because of "regulation", everyone from MI6 to the local council can spy on my financial records without a warrant. Because of "regulation", governments are able to steal money from private citizens and call it a "tax".

[cbeast]

Every time Bitcoin goes up in price there is a new wave of FUD.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandh

BTW, nice quote n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU

[oakpacific]

Not sure if it's FUD or just improper research/ignorance.

Bitcoin is difficult to understand.

[the founder]

From the Guardian Article : " A network of tech-savvy programmers – okay, call them hackers – work on secret algorithms to create and release Bitcoins at their own discretion. "

Really ?  I can release bitcoins at my own discretion ?   HAHAHAHAHA

[bovinium]

They just jelly of our mad swag.

Seriously though, that Guardian article is incredibly biased, even if it is a 'Comment is Free' piece.

it is too complicated to buy and maintain for people who aren't online 18 hours a day

They're also not easy to obtain[:]
"If you want to buy Bitcoins you simply go to an online exchange service such as Bitinstant and convert your local currency into the virtual money..."

It's what we call 'laptop journalism' - lazy and uninformed writing. Some people just enjoy slandering others from a perceived position of authority, and I would guess that this is behind the amateur opinion piece that you linked. It's part of the stigma against spending all your time on the Internet at large (why??).

[Anon136]

Think it through. The people who own the press are the people who benefit from fractional reserve fiat. They don't want currencies that they can't commit fraud with (I regard fractional reserve lending as fraud, because I don't see why anyone should be allowed to lend money they don't have).

I always laugh when I see people implying that government "regulation" is a good thing. Because of "regulation" on paypal, someone can reverse a transaction even when I have sent them the item. Because of "regulation", everyone from MI6 to the local council can spy on my financial records without a warrant. Because of "regulation", governments are able to steal money from private citizens and call it a "tax".

Its only fraud if you lie about it. As long as the customer realizes that he is buying into a fractional reserve system and does so voluntarily than there is no fraud involved there. notice i am certainly not talking about any monetary system that exists today but rather an imaginary free market based fractional reserve system.

[VeeMiner]

Heidi Moore is seriously stupid. And I'm not judging it just from her looks...

[OnlyGoodVibes]

The ignorance and lies in these articles are bordering on dangerous considering these 'journalists' are supposed to be teaching the general population about other important matters like war and economy. The BBC article says the value dropped "sharply" after the MtGox issue, yet purposely doesn't tell you how much it dropped by because they know full well it wasn't that significant. Bitch please we have dropped tend of dollars in seconds before, we can handle it.

[mobodick]

Heidi Moore is seriously stupid. And I'm not judging it just from her looks...

I am and she's still stupid.
 

[ManBearPig]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22026961

That's on the BBC Technology pages - no-one reads that crap. The BBC is renowned for knowing fuck-all about technology. They've been on a massive dumbing-down campaign every since they foisted Mr Blobby on us. Everything is pitched at the level you'd need to explain to your senile, drunken aunt. They flirted with the idea of games reviews about 10 years ago and gave up when they couldn't find a writer capable of knowing his arse from his Nintendo.

Nevertheless, some sheep will read it and learn a Pavlovian response: media says "Bitcoin", you say "Crash".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/03/bitcoin-currency-bubble-crash-not-rocking-financial-markets

I hardly call $147 to $108 a crash. In a crash I expect to lose money and for the price not to bounce back with 24 hours :p

It will get worse! It will get better! It will be one hell of a wild ride

[mobodick]

I think the BBC article is pretty straight.
The guardian one otoh made me cry and i'm pretty sure some puppies died of it at some point.

[Merralea]

Ha, how deliberate was the use of the Wall St image on the BBC article? Trying to force an association that doesn't even exist. Sad that it will probably work.

[piramida]

I welcome some FUD, might be able to cool this off a little. I am all for going to gazillions, lets just pick a sane pace though. Exchanges can't keep up with demand So bring on more uninformed FUD

[ErisDiscordia]

FUD is good. Success is easily judged with bitcoin (look at price. look how widespread adoption is.) The more FUD you spread about it, the more stupid you look if/when it is successful. People need to learn to stop getting their info on what's going on from sources like this anyway.

That being said; BITCOIN IS THE HARLEM SHAKE OF CURRENCY!!

[lebing]

Its unbelievable what some people see fit to print in major news organizations. When we hit 1000 I'll bump this and send these people a quiet note about the silly currency they reported on.

[ehoffman]

It's all due to the high price.  Triple digits will turn away many people.
Switch to mBTC and people will jump in.  Or at least, there will be a lot less bad press, and price will be clear to go to 0.2$, 0.3$, ...  and easily to the dollar per mBTC.

All it need to take is MtGox to show mBTC and others will follow.

[nwbitcoin]

It really doesn't matter!

The gameplan should be to ignore everyone and just get on with it.

Its only the ones who are frightened who name drop their competitors, the real winners don't need to know who came second!

The launch of the internet on to the public was very similar, with every press monkey looking for stories of dodgy dealings on the new fangled interweb thingy!

Pedophiles were the creation of the media and other dark forces wanting to have an excuse to monitor the internet - before 1994, pedophiles were just dirty old men who hung around parks inviting kids to play with puppies and sharing their sweets!  Everyone know they existed, but the threat was contained!

Bitcoin will get the same treatment, and many people will fall for it. The best thing to do is to explain that nobody in power likes bitcoin because it proves that government are stealing from their own people by devaluing and inflating their own currencies.  Want to bypass that?  Use a currency their can't mess with!

However, don't get hung up about other people calling the currency crap - it doesn't matter - just let them carry on and concentrate on living a crypto coin life!