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Bitcoin allows 210 trillion units. 21MM bitcoins times 10MM Satoshis. If Bitcoin was the only currency, then a Satoshi would be somewheres around a dollar in t

Bitcoin allows 210 trillion units. 21MM bitcoins times 10MM Satoshis. If Bitcoin was the only currency, then a Satoshi would be somewheres around a dollar in the current global economy. The probably with a bounded currency is that it doesnt match economic growth. Economic growth is the product of innovation times productivity and population growth. It is not unconceivible that in a hundred years there may be a million CPUs/bots toiling per person in a fully expressed Internet of Things. (The current USA level is thought to be about 200 per human including cars, household appliances and cloud databases.) Either the per capita wealth is going to be vastly more than now or a bounded currency highly revalued.

qopp 11y ago
The number of bitcoin units is just a property of the number of decimal places that are used in each transaction. Bitcoin can actually be changed to support more in the future if needed. This has no economic effects since you're just adding more ways to subdivide a dollar. If you're looking for weaknesses, there's a list here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses Deflation is more of an economic problem then subdivision; since it's very unlikely that can be changed.
- simo7 11y ago
  Currencies have two functions: mean of payment and storing value. A currency like bitcoin can only be the second one in an effective way, that's what I think he meant. And that's a big problem cause we really don't particularly need a better way to store value, but something that makes commerce more effective from a structural point of view not just a technological one.
- jsprogrammer 11y ago
  Deflation is fatal to traditional currencies as regular principal payments quickly destroy most of the money. Bitcoin does not operate on a debt model and is not susceptible to the kind of deflation that the most widely used currencies are.
jsprogrammer 11y ago
Bitcoins may be subdivided indefinitely.

qopp 11y ago

The number of bitcoin units is just a property of the number of decimal places that are used in each transaction. Bitcoin can actually be changed to support more in the future if needed. This has no economic effects since you're just adding more ways to subdivide a dollar. If you're looking for weaknesses, there's a list here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses Deflation is more of an economic problem then subdivision; since it's very unlikely that can be changed.

simo7 11y ago
Currencies have two functions: mean of payment and storing value. A currency like bitcoin can only be the second one in an effective way, that's what I think he meant. And that's a big problem cause we really don't particularly need a better way to store value, but something that makes commerce more effective from a structural point of view not just a technological one.
jsprogrammer 11y ago
Deflation is fatal to traditional currencies as regular principal payments quickly destroy most of the money. Bitcoin does not operate on a debt model and is not susceptible to the kind of deflation that the most widely used currencies are.

jsprogrammer 11y ago

Bitcoins may be subdivided indefinitely.