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Fiat currencies have value because of the law, not some wishy-washy magic agreement that people wake up with. Tax laws, debt laws, torts, fees, fines, etc. are

Fiat currencies have value because of the law, not some wishy-washy magic agreement that people wake up with. Tax laws, debt laws, torts, fees, fines, etc. are what create the demand for fiat currencies. Bitcoin does not have such a source of demand. It has no particular utility at all; nobody will ever suffer for lack of Bitcoin money.

_red 14y ago
Bitcoin has plenty of utility. In fact lots of it is directly related to your little list above.
vbuterin 14y ago
You'll be surprised: http://www2.egovlink.com/press-release-bitcoin.cfm http://www2.egovlink.com/press-release-bitcoin.cfm
smokeyj 14y ago
> Fiat currencies have value because of the law The law is simply the threat of violence, which is what makes it so distasteful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 > not some wishy-washy magic agreement that people wake up with Agreements are voluntary and magical, what's not to like? It's the other stuff that's wishy-washy (involuntary arrangements). > Tax laws, debt laws, torts, fees, fines, etc. are what create the demand for fiat currencies. There's no reasons these same things won't work for bitcoin. Private mediation and arbitration already exist that support bitcoin. Things like contracts are built into the bitcoin protocol and will facilitate many of the things you list. > Bitcoin does not have such a source of demand. It has no particular utility at all; nobody will ever suffer for lack of Bitcoin money. Pretend the bitcoin market is only used for black market activity, it would still have a large utility. Plenty of people on the market would see one less revenue stream.
ef4 14y ago
> Fiat currencies have value because of the law. So when the value of the Euro swings 30%, it's because somebody passed a law changing its value? Zimbabwe's government wrote a law saying its currency's value was now zero? No. Any money has value because there's a market for it. Legal tender status helps by guaranteeing certain markets, but even that is no guarantee.

_red 14y ago

Bitcoin has plenty of utility. In fact lots of it is directly related to your little list above.

vbuterin 14y ago

You'll be surprised: http://www2.egovlink.com/press-release-bitcoin.cfm http://www2.egovlink.com/press-release-bitcoin.cfm

smokeyj 14y ago

> Fiat currencies have value because of the law The law is simply the threat of violence, which is what makes it so distasteful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 > not some wishy-washy magic agreement that people wake up with Agreements are voluntary and magical, what's not to like? It's the other stuff that's wishy-washy (involuntary arrangements). > Tax laws, debt laws, torts, fees, fines, etc. are what create the demand for fiat currencies. There's no reasons these same things won't work for bitcoin. Private mediation and arbitration already exist that support bitcoin. Things like contracts are built into the bitcoin protocol and will facilitate many of the things you list. > Bitcoin does not have such a source of demand. It has no particular utility at all; nobody will ever suffer for lack of Bitcoin money. Pretend the bitcoin market is only used for black market activity, it would still have a large utility. Plenty of people on the market would see one less revenue stream.

ef4 14y ago

> Fiat currencies have value because of the law. So when the value of the Euro swings 30%, it's because somebody passed a law changing its value? Zimbabwe's government wrote a law saying its currency's value was now zero? No. Any money has value because there's a market for it. Legal tender status helps by guaranteeing certain markets, but even that is no guarantee.