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But you do recognize that people are buying Bitcoins using the day-to-day authoritarian tools, right? This is the equivalent of popularization of denims as a st

• thecoffman 13y ago
  Of course. As bitcoin isn't a viable currency and no one is really conducting btc->btc transactions, paying salaries in btc or anything else, the only method of utilizing them is going through the traditional, already existing banking infrastructure. The only part that I may slightly disagree with is that unlike the case of denim or Che shirts, there is at least a theoretical endgame that escapes the traditional framework. Note that I don't think bitcoin will reach that endgame, but I think that is a slight distinction.
• codelust 13y ago
  Replying to the reply to my parent comment, since I seem to have reached HN's nesting limit. Forms of control are not always very direct. Let us, hypothetically, say the big state actors jump in to take control of 80% of the available bitcoins available, under various entities, they have control and authority and little accountability. This is already a reality in some equity markets, where retail investors are under 20% and rest of the players are institutional players. It will take much lesser than what it takes to move a large equity market, to move BT. There is a good reason why there is no global barter system. It simply won't work at that scale. A global barter system -- that would be truly subversive.