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I don't get it, and sorry for the BTC story haters, but it is interesting to me. Not only because of BitCoin, but because of general considerations about paymen
by Tichy 15y ago
I don't get it, and sorry for the BTC story haters, but it is interesting to me. Not only because of BitCoin, but because of general considerations about payment startups.
When is something an alternative currency? Would it be illegal for me to donate apples to the EFF, which they could then sell on the farmers market to pay for their servers? Or would that make apples an alternative currency and hence illegal?
Just saying - BitCoin calls itself a currency, but personally I consider them to simply be a virtual good. I sold some bitcoin I mined, and I expect that is how I should explain my income to the tax inspector. So I will probably even have to pay VAT.
So when is a currency a currency? What is the difference between an apple and a pound note? (Assume the apple never decays).
- ralfd 15y agoYou can eat it. And make delicious apple pie.
- danssig 15y agoAnd nice Everquest equipment?
- mikle 15y agoThis reply makes the most sense in all of the threads here. We don't have enough info to make scientifically correct claims about Bitcoins but everyone keeps talking about it like it is figured out.
- Tichy 15y agoWhat do you suggest? Sitting back with some popcorn and waiting for the nice people in the TV to figure it out and explain it to us?
- mikle 15y agoThe nice people on TV know even less than us. Only time will explain this. I'm sorry if you feel that sitting with popcorn and watching this mess and waiting for it to stabilize is worse than being an early adopter.
- Tichy 15y agoI had fun being an early adopter. Not that early, but my miner paid for itself. What more can I wish for? So it made me more money than watching TV. And when will be the next chance to experience a bubble life (if it is a bubble - or a boom, or whatever)?
- pash 15y ago> So when is a currency a currency? What is the difference between an apple and a pound note? (Assume the apple never decays) There's no difference. Currencies are just goods whose primary use is as a means of exchange. The usually enumerated properties of a currency are (1) a means of exchange, (2) a store of value, and (3) a unit of account. (2) is really not required; almost all modern and historical currencies fail it to some degree. (1) is the true test, and it amounts simply to being able to find someone willing to exchange what you want for some amount of your would-be currency; (3) follows from (1), since (1) implies agreeing a price in units of your currency.