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How many articles have been posted to HN now saying this exact same thing? We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency. However, th

How many articles have been posted to HN now saying this exact same thing? We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency. However, the problem is not with the currency system but rather the people buying and selling BTC. Bitcoin itself has everything it needs to become a legitimate currency. The author also may not have realized that the coins are divisible (to 10^-8) and that all Bitcoins will be mined by 2140 (not 2040 as he claims).

zeteo 14y ago
>We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency. Collectibles are a very specific kind of commodity. The price of potatoes doesn't vary because there are potato enthusiasts out there extolling their virtues.
- venomsnake 14y ago
  I think that closest analogy are the goldbugs.
- devonbarrett 14y ago
  or so you think... ;)
- nate_martin 14y ago
  I think that collect-ability doesn't really have anything to do with this situation. This is a classic asset bubble, and people could really care less what the actual asset is.
- dragonwriter 14y ago
  > The price of potatoes doesn't vary because there are potato enthusiasts out there extolling their virtues. Sure it does. Which is why industry associations (whether for potato farmers or any other goods) send lots of money promoting the virtues of their products. The only difference between potatoes and collectibles (and investment assets more generally) in this regard is that with potatoes (etc.) the promotion mostly centers around the use-value of the product, and with collectibles (and other investment assets) it centers around the future resale value. Though lots of things in the real-world are hybrids, really, as commodity markets in potato (etc.) futures demonstrate them being both promoted and traded as investment assets, and real estate is often promoted directly for hybrid use-value/investment-value.

zeteo 14y ago

>We get it. Bitcoin is being treated as a commodity instead of a currency. Collectibles are a very specific kind of commodity. The price of potatoes doesn't vary because there are potato enthusiasts out there extolling their virtues.

venomsnake 14y ago
I think that closest analogy are the goldbugs.
devonbarrett 14y ago
or so you think... ;)
nate_martin 14y ago
I think that collect-ability doesn't really have anything to do with this situation. This is a classic asset bubble, and people could really care less what the actual asset is.
dragonwriter 14y ago
> The price of potatoes doesn't vary because there are potato enthusiasts out there extolling their virtues. Sure it does. Which is why industry associations (whether for potato farmers or any other goods) send lots of money promoting the virtues of their products. The only difference between potatoes and collectibles (and investment assets more generally) in this regard is that with potatoes (etc.) the promotion mostly centers around the use-value of the product, and with collectibles (and other investment assets) it centers around the future resale value. Though lots of things in the real-world are hybrids, really, as commodity markets in potato (etc.) futures demonstrate them being both promoted and traded as investment assets, and real estate is often promoted directly for hybrid use-value/investment-value.