Just because Bitcoin isn't geographically restricted doesn't make it superior or inferior. It's functionally the same. It just has a broader scope. One could argue that it would be much easier for Bitcoin to gain steam if it focused on a small area first before expanding. (Silicon Valley/similar.)

But more importantly, who in their right mind would want to use a currency that fluctuates in value more than the (extinct) Zimbabwean dollar? The answer is no one except speculators and criminals (with a dash of techies, idealists, partisans, and curious people thrown in). It's funny how lack of central mint is touted as a benefit of Bitcoin - which in traditional sense is meant to imply that there won't be massive inflation/deflation because of poor government management - but in reality the inflation and deflation we're seeing is on a scale that hasn't been seen even with the world's worst currencies. Imagine a currency where one day you have enough money in the bank to buy a Benz, and the next morning you barely have enough money to buy a used Kia. It sucks. No one wants that kind of currency.

Just because there is no central system doesn't mean that the same laws that took down e-gold can't be applied. The only difference is that instead of indicting 1 entity, top 50 entities will be indicted, taking Bitcoin underground to the dark street corners of the web. It's not that hard to track down the people responsible behind the exchanges, converting options, accepting Bitcoins as payment, etc.

From the wikipedia page:
In summary, FinCEN's decision would require Bitcoin exchanges where bitcoins are traded for traditional currencies to disclose large transactions and suspicious activity, comply with money laundering regulations, and collect information about their customers as traditional financial institutions are required to do.

Some people see the above as a negative, but I think this would actually be great for Bitcoins. This is what will take Bitcoins above ground and give it a niche for friction-less international transactions. People who want Bitcoin to survive and thrive should be pushing for the above regulations, not fighting against them.

yes but mining ''gold'' won't be possible in 2140, what then?

If you want your transaction to be included, you will have to pay a fee. That will fund mining.

Looking to buy 11 coins tomorrow (payday Friday .. w00t w00t). Can do bank transfer (US only) or GDMP. PM only pls.

so population grows each year, for every person using BTC the network needs more cpu power (cpu power rises also, that's true- maybe to an effect that it would be ''wiser'' to try to hack btc than lend power?), people end up paying more and more fees to keep miners happy and thus the whole system stable. So in the end miners are the new banksters?

Wow, just wow. Yeah you're probably far more knowledgeable than a Forbes columnist...

or the Companies and Markets editor for bloomberg, or the economics editor for the Guardian, or this great article from the Atlantic Wire based on multiple economists opinions.

Or.. You know, every serious investor and economist in the world... You're probably just smarter than all of them.


This will never ever happen, never. If you think it's even a possibility then you don't even mildly understand business.

I see 2140 get discussed a lot. Very very little is going to change between 2139 and 2140. Mining will be paid for with transaction fees and transaction fees are going to make up the majority of the block reward much earlier than that, I'd guess between 2025 and 2050. The standard transaction fee is currently .0005 and the block reward will be less than that by 2076.

All,

Can someone please explain how this works: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmo...ise-of-ripple/

Specifically I'm curious about a single entity creating the entire monetary supply that they own, then declaring it worth $100M based on, well, them saying it.

What time does mtgox reopen?

2am UTC

it's currently 10pm so in 4 hours

Yeah I'm sure they LOVE paying high transaction fees and running the risk of chargebacks. Somebody up-thread (or another thread) said Amazon makes 1B profit and pays 1B in processing. You don't think they'd want to reduce their processing by 2-3% and add that the bottom line?

Yeah, but all these bitcoins still need to be converted to real money to pay investors and creditors.

The current processing fees are nothing compared to the cost of converting bitcoins and massive volatility of bitcoins.

What he said ^

But also Amazon own their own payment processor, so do eBay, and I very much doubt amazons payment processor fees are as high as you say.

wait, so no firesale? i am pretty sure that everybody wanting 5k worth of btc wants it at the $70 rate. i think you are right to not just dump off a bunch at the reduced rate, but i think people are trying to buy at the bottom again. it will be interesting to see how people react when gox comes back online. there are a lot of people that bought at 250+. i don't think they would be willing to sell at 50, if it drops that far. there might even be some "double down" thinking where people figure, if i buy 5k at 250, and 5k at 100, i'm only down 50%. i saw (and actually posted) mt. gox statement about closing for a couple hours, thought about selling some at 170ish last night before going to sleep with the intention of buying at the lower price today, but decided against it. i am an idiot. price is currently 64 on btc-e, and i can't figure out how to get money on there. its just one idiot's opinion, but i think the price will ultimately settle right around 110 by tomorrow night. i read the thing aboit winklevoss twins having lost a few million invested in bitcoin. its ****ed up, but i agree that it takes the sting off the huge slide the last few days.

I'm confused. What cost of converting bitcoins?

The volatility doesn't matter if they take the btc and immediately turn them into dollars.

Berry berry interesting. There is a bit of a disconnect between Felix's article and the website, though. Felix's article gives the impression of a currency, whereas Ripple's article gives the impression as purely an exchange.

El D-

What do you mean? More specifically.

^^^ Has to stay below $50 for 2 hours.

Not over yet!

WE FOUND THE HAXOR

Silicon Valley dollars would be of zero use to me or pretty much anybody outside of Silicon Valley. The property of being able to use a currency worldwide is absolutely superior to the property of it being geographically restricted. I can't believe you're trying to argue otherwise.

I completely agree, and have said as much in my last few posts, that its current variance undermines Bitcoin's use as a currency. However, Bitcoin was always going to be high variance at this point of its existence due to the fact that its demand is rising at a ridiculous rate and the market doesn't yet know what to make of it. I don't know how else you would imagine it working when you consider the increase in its userbase over the past two years.

Now, seriously, this is getting silly, and I had thought we were moving towards agreement. e-gold was a centralised currency based in the US. When the DoJ stepped in all holders of e-gold were unable to do anything with their e-gold because it was a centralised system. The top 50 "entities" of bitcoin aren't in the US, and it isn't feasible for the US to shut them down.

You keep trying to twist bitcoin into being equal to something else, whereas in reality, while it shares some properties with some previous concepts, it's actually something new and gets to live or die based on its own merits.

I don't think that anybody is against there being a fully KYC compliant etc exchange in the US. Forcing everybody to use it is another matter.

Once dwolla verifies your bank account how long does it take to get funds from your bank account -> Dwolla -> Mtgox? Been waiting for forever for verification and may just bank wire at this point. Anyone have lead times on bank wiring straight to mtgox? If anyone's local here in Seattle/Portland and wants to sell please PM. Localbitcoins.com people don't reply or have listed old $125 price.

the price seems to have stablized on btc-e right at 64-66. everybody has been asking what the "real value" of bitcoins are. maybe this is it? pehaps without all of the crazy money coming into gox to gamble it up, and people using the gox numbers as a guide to its value, this is the real price people would place on it? or is the volume so much lower, that there is no value at all in using their numbers?

Takes 3-4 business days to go from bank account to dwolla once verified. Then another 24-48 hours from dwolla to mtgox (I'm assuming you're verified on mtgox too.)

i don't think you are going to get the local bitcoin dealers to give you the $70 price, unless gox opens up, and it stabilizes at that price. they believe it to be worth much more than that, even if you won't pay their prices. they are likely to prefer hoarding it, hoping the price goes up.

If I didn't have my money tied up elsewhere, I would bet significant money on bitcoin hitting $0 within two years, possibly even one.