The Bitcoin Thread

[DGuller]

I don't think we had a thread about this.  The bitcoin is enjoying a meteoric rise in price as of late.  Are we seeing the digitization of the tulip bulbs, or were the early adopter nuts onto something, and now stand to earn windfall profits?

[The Brain]

The nuts are on something allright.

[Admiral Yi]

Tulips.

[frunk]

As a speculative device it is alive and strong, as a real currency it needs to have stability.

[alfred russel]

The obvious value in bitcoins, and other non governmental currencies, is money laundering and tax evasion. There are significant banking regulations to keep money from being unreported, which creates demand for any highly liquid asset that escapes those regulations. I can't imagine that bitcoin is going to be able to continue long term (at least as originally envisioned).

[Darth Wagtaros]

I concur.

[The Brain]

Hungary uses the Beetcoin. I don't know how successful it is though.

[Admiral Yi]

The obvious weakness of the bitcoin is that it has no legally enforceable value.

[Grey Fox]

It's too late to get on the bitcoin bandwagon.

Litecoin is the new shitz.

[The Minsky Moment]

I can think of some reasons for the price rise:
1) The file encrypter scammers demand payment in Bitcoin, so are creating demand akin to forced short covers.
2) There has been evidence of recent Chinese buying which likely reflects another iteration of the endless quest of wealthy Chinese to find someplace to store their wealth.
3) Total Bitcoin creation recently passed the halfway point to its cap, so the supply cliff is on the horizon.
4) The Bitcoin "market" is highly prone to manipulation.

[Josquius]

I've heard one of the biggest reasons for its current high price is somewhat wealthy  Chinese people using it to get money out of China.
My first though here was- doesn't that mean all the bitcoins will eventually end up in China and there'll be nothing left in China? But by their nature of being data and not something physical it seems the same coin can be used many times for the same purpose- Chinese guy buys bit coin from Chinese company, sells it to Canadian company, Canadian company gives bitcoin password to Chinese company which is actually the same company. I guess some people want money in China.

The supply cliff is an interesting one with bitcoins. It doesn't really affect other currencies. What happens when it is reached?

[Admiral Yi]

Most real money is just data too.

[Josquius]

Most real money is just data too.

Not in the same way. I can't just give you a $10 string.

[The Minsky Moment]

The supply cliff is an interesting one with bitcoins. It doesn't really affect other currencies. What happens when it is reached?

Either values increase indefinitely in which case people will hoard and render it useless for its supposed purpose as a currency, or the entire thing will collapse, or there will be volatile swings as people try to figure which outcome is more likely,

[jimmy olsen]

Can the supply be increased?