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"Wealth storage medium has to be rare (with predictable rarity), easily divisible, easily transferable, easily verifiable against forgery. Bitcoin fits the bill

"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
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- 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
  You're grasping at straws. There is almost nowhere in the US that you can 'buy milk or pay rent' in Bitcoins. It's a useless, fantasy currency - and you have to find some other believer in fantasy currency, hope that there is some liquidity - exchange your fantasy money for real money in order to buy real things. Diamond/gold/porc-future prices won't go to zero overnight, and there is a global market for them. They are at least 'somewhat liquid' There is absolutely no reason to want to be paid in Bitcoin. And there are many reasons to not want to be paid in Bitcoin such a price volatility, liquidity, the 'exchange tax' (you'll have to pay a % cut to transfer your money into USD), and the risk of your bitcoins being stolen in one way or another (hackers etc). Your regular bank account is de-facto insured. Every other currency makes much more sense in every way than Bitcoin. 'Bitcoin' is not a study in finance or commerce, or really even technology - it's a study of human nature, why people believe certain things, and are addicted to waves of new ideas.

CyberDildonics 10y ago

If you were in Venezuela and everywhere accepted bitcoin, would you rather have bitcoin or Venezuelan bolivars?

deleted 10y ago
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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
You're grasping at straws. There is almost nowhere in the US that you can 'buy milk or pay rent' in Bitcoins. It's a useless, fantasy currency - and you have to find some other believer in fantasy currency, hope that there is some liquidity - exchange your fantasy money for real money in order to buy real things. Diamond/gold/porc-future prices won't go to zero overnight, and there is a global market for them. They are at least 'somewhat liquid' There is absolutely no reason to want to be paid in Bitcoin. And there are many reasons to not want to be paid in Bitcoin such a price volatility, liquidity, the 'exchange tax' (you'll have to pay a % cut to transfer your money into USD), and the risk of your bitcoins being stolen in one way or another (hackers etc). Your regular bank account is de-facto insured. Every other currency makes much more sense in every way than Bitcoin. 'Bitcoin' is not a study in finance or commerce, or really even technology - it's a study of human nature, why people believe certain things, and are addicted to waves of new ideas.