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Money is traditionally backed by something though right? Isn't a currency a bunch of tokens with an army? Where's the Bitcoin army when I need them to enforce
by alex_young 9y ago
Money is traditionally backed by something though right? Isn't a currency a bunch of tokens with an army? Where's the Bitcoin army when I need them to enforce my contacts?
- alien_at_work 9y agoActually, the main thing that gives money value is the fact that you have to pay your taxes in it. If you live in the US, you might be able to live day-to-day with nothing but BTC but when tax time comes you'll be converting some of that to dollars or facing some ugly consequences.
- lemondrops 9y agoNot really, see e.g. the 2012-2013 financial crisis in Cyprus, there was no "army" to enforce that people got all their money back... [1] The only thing that keeps the system working is trust (see other reply to my initial comment that explained it more thoroughly). Though I agree that there is a lot less "backing" of Bitcoin in that sense, nothing protects you from losing everything if something goes wrong. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/30/bank-of-cyprus-depositors-lose-savings https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/30/bank-of-cyprus...