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One of the most gratifying things about pondering the future is that I can easily foresee the day -- say 15-20 years down the road -- when utilities stop accep

by jnbiche 12y ago

One of the most gratifying things about pondering the future is that I can easily foresee the day -- say 15-20 years down the road -- when utilities stop accepting local currency, and patio11 is forced to pay his electricity bill in Bitcoin. It's a long time, but I won't mind waiting for it.

slig 12y ago
When reading about bitcoins, I can never tell when people are being sarcastic or not.
- voltagex_ 12y ago
  Neither am I: https://twitter.com/shit_rbtc_says https://twitter.com/shit_rbtc_says and https://twitter.com/bitcoin_txt https://twitter.com/bitcoin_txt
krapp 12y ago
Why would someone be forced to pay for a service in anything other than the legal tender of the country they're in? For that matter, why would any business necessarily refuse to accept it? That said - if Bitcoin or something like it makes it less expensive for me to take on international clients then i'm all for it. But nobody's going to just ignore fiat like it isn't there.
- tinco 12y ago
  You do realise that what is legal tender in a country can change right? He's dreaming about the day the United States, or whatever country patio lives in, changes its legal tender to be bitcoin. (btw: More logical than changing the tender of dollars to bitcoin would be to tie the value of the dollar to a fixed amount of bitcoin. Which would be the same thing but without losing the word 'dollar'.)
  - krapp 12y ago
    Fair enough. But 'legal tender' still implies the force of fiat. Switching to Bitcoin wouldn't be the same as switching to Euros, to me it would mean a government admitting to the rest of the world that it no longer has the means or the will to regulate its own economy.
    - true_religion 12y ago
      Some countries already do that by pegging their currency to a foreign one, or by allowing foreign currency to be freely transacted within their nation.
rsynnott 12y ago
Ah, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher has made a cameo appearance.

by jnbiche 12y ago

slig 12y ago

When reading about bitcoins, I can never tell when people are being sarcastic or not.

voltagex_ 12y ago
Neither am I: https://twitter.com/shit_rbtc_says https://twitter.com/shit_rbtc_says and https://twitter.com/bitcoin_txt https://twitter.com/bitcoin_txt

krapp 12y ago

Why would someone be forced to pay for a service in anything other than the legal tender of the country they're in? For that matter, why would any business necessarily refuse to accept it? That said - if Bitcoin or something like it makes it less expensive for me to take on international clients then i'm all for it. But nobody's going to just ignore fiat like it isn't there.

tinco 12y ago
You do realise that what is legal tender in a country can change right? He's dreaming about the day the United States, or whatever country patio lives in, changes its legal tender to be bitcoin. (btw: More logical than changing the tender of dollars to bitcoin would be to tie the value of the dollar to a fixed amount of bitcoin. Which would be the same thing but without losing the word 'dollar'.)
- krapp 12y ago
  Fair enough. But 'legal tender' still implies the force of fiat. Switching to Bitcoin wouldn't be the same as switching to Euros, to me it would mean a government admitting to the rest of the world that it no longer has the means or the will to regulate its own economy.
  - true_religion 12y ago
    Some countries already do that by pegging their currency to a foreign one, or by allowing foreign currency to be freely transacted within their nation.

rsynnott 12y ago

Ah, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher has made a cameo appearance.