2013-05-31 Washington Post: Why didn’t Bitcoin users freak out in May?

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

Great article by Tim Lee (no longer writing for Forbes?) about resilience to supposedly bad news and evidence for strong hands.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/31/why-didnt-bitcoin-users-freak-out-in-may/

[TraderTimm]

Amazingly even-handed for a paper that usually has a political slant on most topics. I still don't trust the government as it relates to Bitcoin, but at least we get a breather - and that time will only see the network increase in strength. The opportune time to squash Bitcoin was back in 2009, and even in 2011 - but now the network is really gaining traction, so I think that ship has sailed.

[BTCLuke]

The opportune time to squash Bitcoin was back in 2009, and even in 2011 - but now the network is really gaining traction, so I think that ship has sailed.

Politically? Yes. Those fools on the hill will NEVER catch up to the tech.

But technologically? If there is a will to do so someplace like at Bernanke's office? Sadly, no. He could print a quick trillion to build a 3rd-gen ASIC factory and make enough chips to sustain a fatal attack on the network... All without telling congress anything.

If bitcoin falls, that's how it necessarily went down.

...At least we'll all know what happened though... We'll see it in the network hashrate graph. If the world loves bitcoin enough, we'll simply crucify his ass, torch the fed to the ground, and start over.

[oakpacific]

The opportune time to squash Bitcoin was back in 2009, and even in 2011 - but now the network is really gaining traction, so I think that ship has sailed.

Politically? Yes. Those fools on the hill will NEVER catch up to the tech.

But technologically? If there is a will to do so someplace like at Bernanke's office? Sadly, no. He could print a quick trillion to build a 3rd-gen ASIC factory and make enough chips to sustain a fatal attack on the network... All without telling congress anything.

If bitcoin falls, that's how it necessarily went down.

...At least we'll all know what happened though... We'll see it in the network hashrate graph. If the world loves bitcoin enough, we'll simply crucify his ass, torch the fed to the ground, and start over.

As deep as my distrust with any government is, I still think it's ridiculous...

[BTCLuke]

As deep as my distrust with any government is, I still think it's ridiculous...

I SO hope you are right good sir.

[TraderTimm]

As deep as my distrust with any government is, I still think it's ridiculous...

I SO hope you are right good sir.

I think you greatly overestimate their abilities.

[slashopt]

But technologically? If there is a will to do so someplace like at Bernanke's office? Sadly, no. He could print a quick trillion to build a 3rd-gen ASIC factory and make enough chips to sustain a fatal attack on the network... All without telling congress anything.

I think friedcat would want that trillion turned into bitcoins (which would have an interesting impact on bitcoin), A new fab would take some time to get the chips right, or the trillion dollar BFL pre-order will never ship.  Ben might have a lot of friends, but I doubt he has a chip fab in his back pocket for cranking out sha256 ASICs faster than someone will ask him questions.

As to the article, I can say that I didn't freak out because early adoption and prospecting include an expected loss from time to time. But when you get it right, the surprise payoff is big enough to make up for those losses. It is all about expectations.

[kjlimo]

Definitely a good summary of some events in the bitcoin world during May.

However, I'm guessing it's missing a few other bad events.

Most importantly, it didn't cover any of the awesome news that has been happening (such as all the venture capital that is pouring into bitcoin startups).

We'll see where the future goes, but I'd be surprised if we don't see prices below $100/BTC in the coming months.

Of course, it may depend on what exchange you're using (see signature for my new exchanges I'm using)