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The main problem with bitcoin is that it seems to be more wishful thinking than a serious currency ruled by macro economic factors. There's not a clear correspo

The main problem with bitcoin is that it seems to be more wishful thinking than a serious currency ruled by macro economic factors. There's not a clear correspondence about how the wealth is created and the demand for currency, not to mention that its deflational nature - i.e. its value is always expected to grow- leave serious questions about who'd you invest it, since its value is expected to increase in relation to the investment instrument, so why bother to invest? I accept that the general idea is not bad, but it'd need to follow some basic standards in order to be attractive to regular people, you don't have to put your son college fund in a currency with no central authority and no convertibility, you can't expect any currency to always perform well so you need options, in case BitCoin start to lose it's value and there's no way to convert that money into Dollars or Euros you'll be stuck with a lots of worthless bits that won't let you buy not even Lehman Bros. junk bonds.

ianpurton 15y ago
"its value is always expected to grow" It's value is down to about $5 from a high of about $30. The deflation argument is well argued here http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/66/will-deflation-destroy-bitcoin http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/66/will-deflation... "no central authority and no convertibility" Lack of central authority is seen as a benefit to some. Also Bitcoin is convertible through numerous exchanges and has an options market https://www.bitcoinica.com/ https://www.bitcoinica.com/ "in case BitCoin start to lose it's value " Make your mind up, I though it was deflationary ? I personally see a good future for Bitcoin, it may turn out to be the first of many crypto currencies. Anyway I've based my startup on it. http://strongcoin.com http://strongcoin.com
- icebraining 15y ago
  Make your mind up, I though it was deflationary ? You're mixing up the concepts. Inflation makes the currency lose value, not deflation.
  - dfox 15y ago
    That's his point exactly. Critics on one hand claim that bitcoin will always gain value and on the other say that you will suffer loses/not have anything of value when it loses value. These two arguments seem to be incompatible with each other.
    - icebraining 15y ago
      It's a linear argument: it won't succeed (in part) because it's designed to be deflationary, so it will fail, so it'll lose its current value. (Note: it's not my argument, I'm just trying to explain why they aren't necessarily incompatible)
      - csomar 15y ago
        If it fails it's because it has no value. If criminals need it to transfer funds (and they have quite a business), then it might make BitCoin valuable. It doesn't matter if there is a limited amount of BitCoins if the end point is to exchange them.
        icebraining 15y ago
        (Market) value is set by how much people are willing to pay for it, so they do have value.
- Estragon 15y ago
  > It's value is down to about $5 Hovering around $4, lately! http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg1zvztgSzm1g10zm2g25 http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg1zvztgSzm1g10zm2g...
starwed 15y ago
The main problem with your comment is that it has nothing to do with the article...

ianpurton 15y ago

"its value is always expected to grow" It's value is down to about $5 from a high of about $30. The deflation argument is well argued here http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/66/will-deflation-destroy-bitcoin http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/66/will-deflation... "no central authority and no convertibility" Lack of central authority is seen as a benefit to some. Also Bitcoin is convertible through numerous exchanges and has an options market https://www.bitcoinica.com/ https://www.bitcoinica.com/ "in case BitCoin start to lose it's value " Make your mind up, I though it was deflationary ? I personally see a good future for Bitcoin, it may turn out to be the first of many crypto currencies. Anyway I've based my startup on it. http://strongcoin.com http://strongcoin.com

icebraining 15y ago
Make your mind up, I though it was deflationary ? You're mixing up the concepts. Inflation makes the currency lose value, not deflation.
- dfox 15y ago
  That's his point exactly. Critics on one hand claim that bitcoin will always gain value and on the other say that you will suffer loses/not have anything of value when it loses value. These two arguments seem to be incompatible with each other.
  - icebraining 15y ago
    It's a linear argument: it won't succeed (in part) because it's designed to be deflationary, so it will fail, so it'll lose its current value. (Note: it's not my argument, I'm just trying to explain why they aren't necessarily incompatible)
    - csomar 15y ago
      If it fails it's because it has no value. If criminals need it to transfer funds (and they have quite a business), then it might make BitCoin valuable. It doesn't matter if there is a limited amount of BitCoins if the end point is to exchange them.
      - icebraining 15y ago
        (Market) value is set by how much people are willing to pay for it, so they do have value.
Estragon 15y ago
> It's value is down to about $5 Hovering around $4, lately! http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg1zvztgSzm1g10zm2g25 http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg1zvztgSzm1g10zm2g...

starwed 15y ago

The main problem with your comment is that it has nothing to do with the article...