Bitcoin crashes, losing nearly half of its value in six hours



google's search engine exists entirely in the digital realm, is scarce, and has value.
No, Google exists offline, and has representation online.

It's not scarce. Anyone can start a Google.

Everything has some value, to someone.

rare Diablo swords exist entirely in the digital realm, are scarce by definition, and have value.
I can create my own rare Diablo swords digitally. I can even create my own Diablo.

.com domain names matching single short common english words exist entirely in the digital realm, are relatively scarce, and often have great value.
I can create my own .com domain names, any name I want.

There totally different things, existing completely in the digital realm, and having demonstrable scarcity.
What you think is scarce (and I would argue in most cases, is not) isn't digital.

Anyone can create a new Google. They can even call it Google. They can even use the Google logo.

There is absolutely nothing to stop me from creating a parallel BTC network with the exact same name, branding etc.

That's the gist of the libertarian argument against IP. Stuff which can be copied without loss, isn't property by definition. I can copy your hash. You still have it.

By the way, the minute gold becomes unpopular, like during the late 90s - early 2000s, it also drops in value like a fucking rock. Anybody else remember $300/oz?
It's not about "value" in price.

Bitcoin could be $1000 a coin, or $1 a coin, and it's still a bad currency.

Well that "sound money" is dropping in value against massively inflated QE influenced fiat right now.
Gold can be money, gold is legally not allowed to be money.

Turns out supply and demand affect the price of all commodities, digital or otherwise.
This was never up for debate.

The issue isn't value. People value sticking empty glass coke bottles in their ass and filming it for YouPorn. Doesn't mean those videos can be used as money...
 
No, Google exists offline, and has representation online.

It's not scarce. Anyone can start a Google.

Everything has some value, to someone.

Anyone can create a new Google. They can even call it Google. They can even use the Google logo.

Anyone cannot start Google. Google owns tangible assets, intangible brand recognition, a talented workforce and a dominant market position. How easy do you think it would be to start your own Google? Bing (Microsoft) is bleeding billions of dollars and still isn't coming close to challenging Google.

Gold can be money, gold is legally not allowed to be money.

Gold is de facto as well as de jure money. The 1-oz Canadian Maple gold coin or the 1-oz American Eagle gold coin has a face value of $50 which means - even if the market value of gold it contains drops below $50 - the government guarantees its value to be $50.

People value sticking empty glass coke bottles in their ass and filming it for YouPorn. Doesn't mean those videos can be used as money...

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You are the dude in the bar in the movie Goodwill Hunting who gets told to shut the fuck up by Matt Damon's character.
No, I am the guy who understands economics and has been around the block a few times more than you have.
 
wow wtf did i seriously miss my chance to sell my coins at 130

i know in 2011 we got a really good deadcat bounce when it plunged from 32 to 10 and back to 25 (or 170-185 in today's dollars or enough for me to breakeven)

there will be no deadcat bounce this time around/going all the way to 50 probably..and then long slog to 5-10 or whatever the bottom is

too many coins in the float and not enough buyers

all these folks hoarding since 2010-2012 getting out
 
wow wtf did i seriously miss my chance to sell my coins at 130

Know what the problem is when beginner "traders" attempt to make money trading? They can never find themselves to pull the trigger when they should. If you were given another chance to sell at $130, do you think you would? Of course not. You would tell yourself, well if it recovered this high up, it can definitely go higher. Let me hold on and sell it later on for a higher price.

The reason? Greed.
 
Anyone cannot start Google.
Anyone can start a Google.

Google owns tangible assets, intangible brand recognition, a talented workforce and a dominant market position.
My point exactly. None of that is digital.

Gold is de facto as well as de jure money. The 1-oz Canadian Maple gold coin or the 1-oz American Eagle gold coin has a face value of $50 which means - even if the market value of gold it contains drops below $50 - the government guarantees its value to be $50.
Gold is money by definition but not money by application. It's not legal tender and you have to pay capital gains (in the US) on any appreciation in purchasing power or convertibility.
 
Anyone can start a Google.

If the objective is just to start an entity called Google, sure it can be started. But there will be no practical utility in it; so it's akin to not being able to start it. I suppose it's a distinction without a difference

Gold is money by definition but not money by application.

It depends how you define money. Dictionary defines money as "current medium of exchange." Dollar has been the more prominent and widely accepted medium of exchange post-WWII, but on a larger time horizon history has shown that gold has been a medium of exchange for far longer than fiat currency.

It's not legal tender
It depends on the form of the metal. A gold nugget isn't be a legal tender, but a 1-oz government minted coin is a legal tender.

and you have to pay capital gains (in the US) on any appreciation in purchasing power or convertibility.

Yes, just like all other currencies (whether it's gold, €, £, ¥) - if you realize a gain on sale you have to pay taxes.
 
If the objective is just to start an entity called Google, sure it can be started. But there will be no practical utility in it; so it's akin to not being able to start it. I suppose it's a distinction without a difference
No, it is an important distinction. It's just non-obvious to people who haven't thought about it.

It depends how you define money.
Money is a medium of exchange AND a store of value.

It depends on the form of the metal. A gold nugget isn't be a legal tender, but a 1-oz government minted coin is a legal tender.
It's because the form of the metal is irrelevant. Only US tender is tender. Doesn't matter if it is gold, copper or paper.

Yes, just like all other currencies (whether it's gold, €, £, ¥) - if you realize a gain on sale you have to pay taxes.
*sigh* You don't realize a capital gain on the increased purchasing power of the USD. You do realize a capital gain on the increased purchasing power of gold....
 
Guys don't get angry at Guerilla. He's an anarcho-capitalist so for him to point out the problems in what many see as a "free" currency is great. I respect anyone who is willing to override wishful thinking.

Lets be honest here, bitcoin is not currently useful for buying online. You can't buy your local groceries, you can't buy clothes and you cant pay your rent unless you want to rent one of a few crappy apartments in the US.

Silkroad is the main pusher of paying for products with bitcoin. Probably the only other bitcoin uses are buying guns and laundering money. So it comes down to guns, drugs and money.

IMO people use bitcoins because they don't like paying for drugs by debit card. Instead they prefer to add an extra layer of anonymity by using bitcoins (although bitcoins themselves are not anonymous). They get their bitcoins (which are legal to obtain), mix them to increase anonymity and get their drugs with next to no link back to them.

Could they use $? Yes. Could they use £? Yes. The only utility for bitcoins is that layer of anonymity. The massive drawback for bitcoins is that they are stupidly unstable. I sold most of the few bitcoins I had left at the start of the week. What I have left in my wallet (0.12 BTC) could have bought me almost two grams of weed at the start of the week, now I would be pushed to get one (I don't use SR fortunately).

My conclusion? As soon as there is a more viable way to anonymously (un-traceable) pay with a stable, government-backed currency (and for the sellers to receive) then bitcoin will be dead.

Out of interest guerilla, how would you deal with currency in an anarcho-capitalist society?
 
Somehow I think speculating with penny stocks is a better bet. Shit I sold six flags when it was at $1.30, shoulda just forgot about it.
 
Out of interest guerilla, how would you deal with currency in an anarcho-capitalist society?
It's not about anarcho-capitalism. It has nothing to do with anarcho-capitalism whatsoever.

Bitcoin is a currency with no backing. It can't be money, and it explicitly doesn't represent money, as some other currencies claim to do.

Libertarians and some opportunists will say, but it's being selected by the market, therefore it is good.

This is the worst sort of error, the most vulgar approach to economic thinking.

Yes, if people choose to peacefully and voluntarily use Bitcoin, then one could argue that it is a moral currency, and consistent with anarcho ethics.

But, here are some more examples of things which are consistent with anarcho ethics.

Jumping out of a window committing suicide.

Snorting enough cocaine to cause instant brain damage and death.

Chopping your penis off and serving it to your girlfriend for dinner.

Are any of these good ideas?

Just because something is morally permissible, doesn't say anything about its efficacy, utility or rationality.
 
dollars have no backing and unlike bitcoin there isn't a finite supply.
as i've written in the past, the dollar & bitcoin can both thrive together. In times of crisis such as cyprus people will flock to bitcoins and the US dollar.
 
Abstractions are very fucking confusing. Very few people try to unravel them (let alone acknowledge them).

Idiots and the ignorant don't even recognize they are abstractions.

I fundamentally agree with your point of view on BTC. In an imprecise way I see BTC like stocks/exotic financial instruments or whatever self important thing they call them these days. While stocks are based on some thing real (companies/property) their value is primarily driven by what one thinks, someone else thinks they are worth. Their inherent value at least gives them a value floor, usually.

BTCs main value to me is to see what a deregulated system might look like. But with mtg "owning" 80% of the market is is hard to see that it actually is functionally deregulated at this point. My assumption is that it wont work very well but it is too soon to call imho.
 
dollars have no backing and unlike bitcoin there isn't a finite supply.
Dollars are backed by the faith people have in the USG. Failing that, the fear they have in the military of the USG. Failing that, the asset value of whatever the USG claims to own. Failing that, the gold reserves.

You can only pay your taxes in USD. They don't take gold, yen or bitcoins.

STOP POSTING.