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It is largely used in black market transactions, it exists without any regulations at all, and there are almost no mainstream businesses that actually deal in i

It is largely used in black market transactions, it exists without any regulations at all, and there are almost no mainstream businesses that actually deal in it (and even those that do are doing so through an intermediary service that is giving them dollars/etc.). For most people, it sounds more like a scam than something they can trust their money with.

kiba 14y ago
It is largely used in black market transactions, it exists without any regulations at all, and there are almost no mainstream businesses that actually deal in it (and even those that do are doing so through an intermediary service that is giving them dollars/etc.). Please provide citation that silk road and other black markets are the majority of bitcoin's economy.
- pbreit 14y ago
  My guess is that "black market" transactions make up the vast, vast majority of the economy (as in 80%, 90% or more on a txn basis and probably even on a volume basis) (assuming trading is not included). Is there any other use case for Bitcoin?
  - kiba 14y ago
    That is not evidence that black market transactions make up the vast majority of the economy. You need actual numbers, or you're just guessing.
    - bradhe 14y ago
      Can you provide evidence to the contrary?
    - pbreit 14y ago
      I'm not the OP but wanted to back him/her. Sometimes the data is not available.
alwillis 14y ago
It is largely used in black market transactions, it exists without any regulations at all, and there are almost no mainstream businesses that actually deal in it As we used to say back in the day, “don’t believe the hype.” As for business using Bitcoin, more “real” businesses are doing so all the time, including Foodler, OKCupid and WordPress to name a few: http://www.coindesk.com/10-businesses-that-use-bitcoins/ http://www.coindesk.com/10-businesses-that-use-bitcoins/. On a recent podcast of Lets Talk Bitcoin (http://letstalkbitcoin.com http://letstalkbitcoin.com), it was mentioned that donations to projects, websites, etc. were the majority of Bitcoin transactions, not black market ones. It’s not a coincidence that Bitcoin first appeared in 2009, after the world economy was nearly destroyed by regulated financial institutions and government-controlled central banks. There’s certainly nothing shady about wanting a way of exchanging and storing value (i.e. money) that’s unencumbered with the legacy of how we’ve handled transactions in the past. One of the innovations of Bitcoin is that it decentralizes trust, which is just what we need these days--Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-28/bitcoin-may-be-the-global-economys-last-safe-haven http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-28/bitcoin-may-...

kiba 14y ago

It is largely used in black market transactions, it exists without any regulations at all, and there are almost no mainstream businesses that actually deal in it (and even those that do are doing so through an intermediary service that is giving them dollars/etc.). Please provide citation that silk road and other black markets are the majority of bitcoin's economy.

pbreit 14y ago
My guess is that "black market" transactions make up the vast, vast majority of the economy (as in 80%, 90% or more on a txn basis and probably even on a volume basis) (assuming trading is not included). Is there any other use case for Bitcoin?
- kiba 14y ago
  That is not evidence that black market transactions make up the vast majority of the economy. You need actual numbers, or you're just guessing.
  - bradhe 14y ago
    Can you provide evidence to the contrary?
  - pbreit 14y ago
    I'm not the OP but wanted to back him/her. Sometimes the data is not available.

alwillis 14y ago

It is largely used in black market transactions, it exists without any regulations at all, and there are almost no mainstream businesses that actually deal in it As we used to say back in the day, “don’t believe the hype.” As for business using Bitcoin, more “real” businesses are doing so all the time, including Foodler, OKCupid and WordPress to name a few: http://www.coindesk.com/10-businesses-that-use-bitcoins/ http://www.coindesk.com/10-businesses-that-use-bitcoins/. On a recent podcast of Lets Talk Bitcoin (http://letstalkbitcoin.com http://letstalkbitcoin.com), it was mentioned that donations to projects, websites, etc. were the majority of Bitcoin transactions, not black market ones. It’s not a coincidence that Bitcoin first appeared in 2009, after the world economy was nearly destroyed by regulated financial institutions and government-controlled central banks. There’s certainly nothing shady about wanting a way of exchanging and storing value (i.e. money) that’s unencumbered with the legacy of how we’ve handled transactions in the past. One of the innovations of Bitcoin is that it decentralizes trust, which is just what we need these days--Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-28/bitcoin-may-be-the-global-economys-last-safe-haven http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-28/bitcoin-may-...