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"since there will only ever be a limited number of BitCoins" While it's true that there is a limited number of bitcoins, it's a misleading claim since they can

"since there will only ever be a limited number of BitCoins" While it's true that there is a limited number of bitcoins, it's a misleading claim since they can continue to add decimal points. According to FAQ on the bitcoin website, they can do this as needed, infinitely.

XorNot 13y ago
Which doesn't matter because everytime you add a decimal point, no one gets any richer. No value is produced for people actually transacting bitcoin, whereas those doing nothing and hoarding it are granted more purchasing power for doing absolutely nothing. BTC simply sits at a greed cross-section: it appealed to a certain group in terms of technology, and greed to convince people to buy in with real money - but the same properties which get those people in fundamentally kill it as a currency, since no one's who's out has any reason to accept a currency where they will be permanently impoverished, and there's no external reason for them to do so (i.e. you don't pay taxes in BTC).
- jerguismi 13y ago
  Well, there might be certain value in being able to transact in smaller fractions. I don't see how accepting bitcoin impoverishes the accepting party (an permanently, wtf?). In fact, I guess most merchants who have accepted btc and hold it to date have probably gained some pretty good value from that to date. Of course that might change.
jimktrains2 13y ago
No, you can break them into 10e8 Satoshi per BTC. Still a large number, though.
modeless 13y ago
It's not misleading. Adding decimal points doesn't change the value of current bitcoins. A bitcoin you buy today is still a bitcoin 10 years from now even if more decimal points are added. Furthermore, I don't think it's as easy as implied there. The protocol could be modified fairly easily, but then every piece of Bitcoin-related software in the world would have to be updated to handle the extra decimal points. By the time we need extra decimal points, Bitcoin would have to be so widespread that the difficulty would be comparable to fixing all software that uses 32-bit Unix timestamps, or switching everybody from IPv4 to IPv6.

XorNot 13y ago

Which doesn't matter because everytime you add a decimal point, no one gets any richer. No value is produced for people actually transacting bitcoin, whereas those doing nothing and hoarding it are granted more purchasing power for doing absolutely nothing. BTC simply sits at a greed cross-section: it appealed to a certain group in terms of technology, and greed to convince people to buy in with real money - but the same properties which get those people in fundamentally kill it as a currency, since no one's who's out has any reason to accept a currency where they will be permanently impoverished, and there's no external reason for them to do so (i.e. you don't pay taxes in BTC).

jerguismi 13y ago
Well, there might be certain value in being able to transact in smaller fractions. I don't see how accepting bitcoin impoverishes the accepting party (an permanently, wtf?). In fact, I guess most merchants who have accepted btc and hold it to date have probably gained some pretty good value from that to date. Of course that might change.

jimktrains2 13y ago

No, you can break them into 10e8 Satoshi per BTC. Still a large number, though.

modeless 13y ago

It's not misleading. Adding decimal points doesn't change the value of current bitcoins. A bitcoin you buy today is still a bitcoin 10 years from now even if more decimal points are added. Furthermore, I don't think it's as easy as implied there. The protocol could be modified fairly easily, but then every piece of Bitcoin-related software in the world would have to be updated to handle the extra decimal points. By the time we need extra decimal points, Bitcoin would have to be so widespread that the difficulty would be comparable to fixing all software that uses 32-bit Unix timestamps, or switching everybody from IPv4 to IPv6.