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Something hit me while I was reading this article. Anytime you have seen a bitcoin article, usually on HN, but also elsewhere, it almost always shows a US Dolla
by braum 13y ago
Something hit me while I was reading this article. Anytime you have seen a bitcoin article, usually on HN, but also elsewhere, it almost always shows a US Dollar figure for the amount and never the bitcoin amount. Why, because as this article suggests. Bitcoins are a commodity and not a currency and when we want to try and relate to bitcoins we use what we know which is Dollars. Good luck to all of you techies who read this story and are now trying to convert your bitcoins to dollars today.
- matthewrudy 13y agoThis isn't just the case with BTC. I live in the UK and generally think in GBP, but if I'm addressing an international audience, I'll usually refer to prices in USD. (note: I agree with the general sentiment of the article, I'm just saying that people refer to USD because its a true global currency)
- a_bonobo 13y ago>relate to bitcoins we use what we know which is Dollars. I don't think this says anything about Bitcoins as a currency. When the Euro was introduced in Germany, most restaurants, newspapers, politicians etc. kept on listing the Mark price alongside with the Euro price as a point of reference. After a few years this practice stopped when people got used to estimating the worth in Euros (my parents still translate everything into Mark). I think that if Bitcoins ever become stable (who knows when - maybe once all coins are mined?) people might stop comparing USD to Bitcoins once they're used to the Bitcoin "worth", who knows.
- icebraining 13y agoSame here in Portugal. Many people over ~50 still convert to our old currency whenever we're talking about larger amounts. It's really hard to reset your frame of reference after so many years.
- melvinmt 13y agoExcept the EUR/DEM exchange rate has been fixed since 1999, whereas BTC exchange rates change enormously every week.
- VLM 13y agoIn that context, you might want to think about metrification, and how USA-localized articles always convert "about xyz hundred kilometers" into miles, usually upgrading the number of sig figs from perhaps 2, to however many digits the calculator has. Or somewhat less common, but more hilarious, inadvertently defining pi to be 4, or whatever.
- aw3c2 13y agoThat's because pretty much everyone who is raving about Bitcoin is just looking at the BTC/USD rates and hoping to cash in when selling their bitcoin for USD.