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> As a means to 'store wealth' - not really. There are 100 other things that make more sense than bitcoin. Not much. Wealth storage medium has to be rare (with

> As a means to 'store wealth' - not really. There are 100 other things that make more sense than bitcoin. Not much. Wealth storage medium has to be rare (with predictable rarity), easily divisible, easily transferable, easily verifiable against forgery. Bitcoin fits the bill perfectly. It's hard to invent better medium of storage. > As a 'medium of exchange' - it will never be a common currency so it has no real value there. It _is_ a common currency _now_. I earn my living in Bitcoin. I can spent it easily through BTC-linked debit cards. Today morning I bought a pack of milk with such card, and it was debited in BTC. In the country I live in, some municipal payments and bills can be paid by Bitcoin _directly_. > The only real advantage of Bitcoin is total privacy Bitcoin is 100% transparent. All transactions and balances are visible to everyone. When the money source is established, it almost impossible to "launder" it, as it is fully trackable. As of now, there is almost zero privacy (not that it is a good thing). You still can buy Bitcoins for cash in some dark alleys, but the price will be worse, and amounts are limited. Whatever privacy protections Bitcoin had in its beginnings, now almost completely eliminated. It is tax collectors' dream.

jomamaxx 10y ago
"Wealth storage medium has to be rare (with predictable rarity), easily divisible, easily transferable, easily verifiable against forgery. Bitcoin fits the bill perfectly. It's hard to invent better medium of storage." No - this is completely false. All of it. Owning bitcoins is effectively speculative. It fluctuates wildly against all other currencies, commodities. It has no basis for appreciation, or predictability. Your position is totally upside down - it's hard to imagine a worse store of value than Bitcoin. + Real estate, commodities, government bonds, equities, standard currencies are all 1000x better than 'Bitcoin' as a 'store of value'. "It _is_ a common currency _now_. I" NO. It is not. Can you pay your rent in Bitcoin? Can you buy milk? Can you walk down to any car dealer and buy a car? Can you report your earnings in bitcoin? Can you pay your taxes in bitcoin? Less than 0.01% of goods in the USA can be bought with 'bitcoin'- it is not a currency either in the technical or common sense. Bitcoin is not 'legal tender' or 'de-facto tender' in any economy of the world, ergo, it is not a currency. Why are you paid in bitcoin? Why not gold? Why not Diamonds? Why not porc-futures or T-Bonds? You have to transfer your Bitcoins/gold/diamonds/corn-shares into a real currency in order to use it. It seems pretty crazy to be 'paid in bitcoin' unless you were trying to skip on taxes. Otherwise (assuming you live in the USA) - you should rationally want to be paid in USD. Rationally - it makes more sense to be paid in almost any currency over Bitcoin. Dollars, Swiss Francs, Danish Kroner, Euros, RMB - they all make 'more sense' to be paid in than Bitcoin even for a US resident. "Bitcoin is 100% transparent. " Technically - I agree with you - but in practice, it is not, because it is not tracked or regulated, ergo, it is effectively anonymous, which is why so many 'black market' sites use bitcoin as a medium of exchange. In fact - without 'black market' exchanges, bitcoin would probably not exist. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to use bitcoin. Also - I suggest you might not know what a 'store of value' or a 'currency' is, these are established financial concepts. Most people behind bitcoin has no grasp of what currency is. They often compare it to 'internet technology' like IP. The lack of financial literacy among the Bitcoin bloggers is staggering.
- CyberDildonics 10y ago
  If you were in Venezuela and everywhere accepted bitcoin, would you rather have bitcoin or Venezuelan bolivars?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - JBReefer 10y ago
    The power goes out frequently in VZ. Bitcoin wouldn't be as reliable as dollars there.
  - jomamaxx 10y ago
    "If you were in Venezuela and everywhere accepted bitcoin, would you rather have bitcoin or Venezuelan bolivars?" If Bitcoin were the de-facto currency of Venezuela, sure bitcoins would make sense. But it's not, so it doesn't. Moreover, there is no reason for anyone in Venezuela to use Bitcoin when they can much more easily and rationally use USD. Like I say - the rational alternative for a bad currency is a strong currency of a nearby entity. In Venezuela, the default 'hard currency' is dollars. In Algeria it's Euros.
    - CyberDildonics 10y ago
      They can't get USD because of capital controls, why else do you think they can't get food?
- EdHominem 10y ago
  > Can you pay your rent in Bitcoin? The main mechanism for making your country's currency mandatory is requiring tax payment in it. A Venezuelan can't pay their taxes with dollars either. This doesn't mean dollars aren't currency. > Can you buy milk? Yes - directly at some merchants, and indirectly via payment cards. > Why not gold? Many people are paid in gold-denominated amounts, or currency-denomination amounts into gold-backed accounts. It's a bit harder to transfer to your family overseas, but still works. > Why not Diamonds? Because they aren't fungible or easily transferred.
jomamaxx 10y ago
Yanis Varoufakis does a nice explainer: "https://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2013/04/22/bitcoin-and-the-dangerous-fantasy-of-apolitical-money/" https://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2013/04/22/bitcoin-and-the-danger...

jomamaxx 10y ago

"Wealth storage medium has to be rare (with predictable rarity), easily divisible, easily transferable, easily verifiable against forgery. Bitcoin fits the bill perfectly. It's hard to invent better medium of storage." No - this is completely false. All of it. Owning bitcoins is effectively speculative. It fluctuates wildly against all other currencies, commodities. It has no basis for appreciation, or predictability. Your position is totally upside down - it's hard to imagine a worse store of value than Bitcoin. + Real estate, commodities, government bonds, equities, standard currencies are all 1000x better than 'Bitcoin' as a 'store of value'. "It _is_ a common currency _now_. I" NO. It is not. Can you pay your rent in Bitcoin? Can you buy milk? Can you walk down to any car dealer and buy a car? Can you report your earnings in bitcoin? Can you pay your taxes in bitcoin? Less than 0.01% of goods in the USA can be bought with 'bitcoin'- it is not a currency either in the technical or common sense. Bitcoin is not 'legal tender' or 'de-facto tender' in any economy of the world, ergo, it is not a currency. Why are you paid in bitcoin? Why not gold? Why not Diamonds? Why not porc-futures or T-Bonds? You have to transfer your Bitcoins/gold/diamonds/corn-shares into a real currency in order to use it. It seems pretty crazy to be 'paid in bitcoin' unless you were trying to skip on taxes. Otherwise (assuming you live in the USA) - you should rationally want to be paid in USD. Rationally - it makes more sense to be paid in almost any currency over Bitcoin. Dollars, Swiss Francs, Danish Kroner, Euros, RMB - they all make 'more sense' to be paid in than Bitcoin even for a US resident. "Bitcoin is 100% transparent. " Technically - I agree with you - but in practice, it is not, because it is not tracked or regulated, ergo, it is effectively anonymous, which is why so many 'black market' sites use bitcoin as a medium of exchange. In fact - without 'black market' exchanges, bitcoin would probably not exist. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to use bitcoin. Also - I suggest you might not know what a 'store of value' or a 'currency' is, these are established financial concepts. Most people behind bitcoin has no grasp of what currency is. They often compare it to 'internet technology' like IP. The lack of financial literacy among the Bitcoin bloggers is staggering.

CyberDildonics 10y ago
If you were in Venezuela and everywhere accepted bitcoin, would you rather have bitcoin or Venezuelan bolivars?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- JBReefer 10y ago
  The power goes out frequently in VZ. Bitcoin wouldn't be as reliable as dollars there.
- jomamaxx 10y ago
  "If you were in Venezuela and everywhere accepted bitcoin, would you rather have bitcoin or Venezuelan bolivars?" If Bitcoin were the de-facto currency of Venezuela, sure bitcoins would make sense. But it's not, so it doesn't. Moreover, there is no reason for anyone in Venezuela to use Bitcoin when they can much more easily and rationally use USD. Like I say - the rational alternative for a bad currency is a strong currency of a nearby entity. In Venezuela, the default 'hard currency' is dollars. In Algeria it's Euros.
  - CyberDildonics 10y ago
    They can't get USD because of capital controls, why else do you think they can't get food?
EdHominem 10y ago
> Can you pay your rent in Bitcoin? The main mechanism for making your country's currency mandatory is requiring tax payment in it. A Venezuelan can't pay their taxes with dollars either. This doesn't mean dollars aren't currency. > Can you buy milk? Yes - directly at some merchants, and indirectly via payment cards. > Why not gold? Many people are paid in gold-denominated amounts, or currency-denomination amounts into gold-backed accounts. It's a bit harder to transfer to your family overseas, but still works. > Why not Diamonds? Because they aren't fungible or easily transferred.

jomamaxx 10y ago

Yanis Varoufakis does a nice explainer: "https://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2013/04/22/bitcoin-and-the-dangerous-fantasy-of-apolitical-money/" https://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2013/04/22/bitcoin-and-the-danger...