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Actually for me bitcoin proves just how few people can ACTUALLY spot a pyramid scheme or a pump and dump - instead resorting to calling everything that seems to

Actually for me bitcoin proves just how few people can ACTUALLY spot a pyramid scheme or a pump and dump - instead resorting to calling everything that seems too good to be true a scam. It may work 99.9% of the time, but BTC is the false positive IMO. I totally agree that the Cyprus thing is totally bogus though, journalists are uninformed and lazy as usual. The real reason is that it seems more and more likely that bitcoin will be the currency of the Internet in the future. And nothing else.

niggler 14y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UKC7iaBKvs#t=768s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UKC7iaBKvs#t=768s A pretty brilliant scam if you ask me
- imsofuture 14y ago
  That's not a terribly good point though -- fiat currency also has no intrinsic value.
  - niggler 14y ago
    That's a misunderstanding of history. USD used to be backed by silver and all bills said "in silver payable to the bearer on demand". It was only relatively recently that the practice ended. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/US-%245-SC-1953-Fr.1655.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/US-%245-...
    - Karunamon 14y ago
      It doesn't really invalidate his statement though. The USD is not backed by anything (whether it was in the past or not is irrelevant), and aside from the fact that it's commonly accepted, has no more intrinsic value than Bitcoin.
      - prodigal_erik 14y ago
        As long as 300 million people are required to convert a fraction of their income to USD for taxes, its value can't go to zero. Bitcoin's value is purely an article of faith so far.
- philliphaydon 14y ago
  I'm pretty much convinced its a scam after reading this: http://nerdr.com/bitcoin-exchange-scam-bitcoins-are-worthless/ http://nerdr.com/bitcoin-exchange-scam-bitcoins-are-worthles...
Atropos 14y ago
"The real reason" for the current price hike is most likely http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=bitcoin http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=bitcoin meaning we are back in a super high interest in bitcoin phase. Maybe because that is because the world just realized the "currency of the Internet" thing, or it is just a hype, fueled by a lot of misleading promotion and lies. No use to discuss it though, we all will learn in 6+ months...
ubernostrum 14y ago
The fact that Bitcoin is touted as an alternative to untrustworthy -- because inflationary -- traditional currencies, while its exchange rate staggers around like an ice-skating drunk compared to those same traditional currencies, does not fill me with confidence.
jellicle 14y ago
> It may work 99.9% of the time, but BTC is the false positive IMO. That's one of the major markers of a bubble - people convincing themselves that this time is different. There's a book about bubbles with that title.

niggler 14y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UKC7iaBKvs#t=768s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UKC7iaBKvs#t=768s A pretty brilliant scam if you ask me

imsofuture 14y ago
That's not a terribly good point though -- fiat currency also has no intrinsic value.
- niggler 14y ago
  That's a misunderstanding of history. USD used to be backed by silver and all bills said "in silver payable to the bearer on demand". It was only relatively recently that the practice ended. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/US-%245-SC-1953-Fr.1655.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/US-%245-...
  - Karunamon 14y ago
    It doesn't really invalidate his statement though. The USD is not backed by anything (whether it was in the past or not is irrelevant), and aside from the fact that it's commonly accepted, has no more intrinsic value than Bitcoin.
    - prodigal_erik 14y ago
      As long as 300 million people are required to convert a fraction of their income to USD for taxes, its value can't go to zero. Bitcoin's value is purely an article of faith so far.
philliphaydon 14y ago
I'm pretty much convinced its a scam after reading this: http://nerdr.com/bitcoin-exchange-scam-bitcoins-are-worthless/ http://nerdr.com/bitcoin-exchange-scam-bitcoins-are-worthles...

Atropos 14y ago

"The real reason" for the current price hike is most likely http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=bitcoin http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=bitcoin meaning we are back in a super high interest in bitcoin phase. Maybe because that is because the world just realized the "currency of the Internet" thing, or it is just a hype, fueled by a lot of misleading promotion and lies. No use to discuss it though, we all will learn in 6+ months...

ubernostrum 14y ago

The fact that Bitcoin is touted as an alternative to untrustworthy -- because inflationary -- traditional currencies, while its exchange rate staggers around like an ice-skating drunk compared to those same traditional currencies, does not fill me with confidence.

jellicle 14y ago

> It may work 99.9% of the time, but BTC is the false positive IMO. That's one of the major markers of a bubble - people convincing themselves that this time is different. There's a book about bubbles with that title.