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This is a link post "...it is not a currency... it is a platform of trust..."
Presented at the Singularity University's Innovation Partnership Program (IPP), this is an entry level talk about bitcoin by Andreas Antonopoulos.
(I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 1:30, , Reply)
This is a normal post The Singularity University...
Yeah right, vapid fluff
 (I helped save b3ta! simbosan liked your link on, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 3:18, , Reply)
This is a normal post more of a pyramid of manipulation if you ask me
which, of course, you didn't
 (ozof, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 7:53, , Reply)
This is a normal post It's a fucking Ponzi Scheme at this point
They're going up in value, but that value isn't backed by anything. People are investing massive amounts without understanding what they're buying into. There will inevitably be a panic, and the last one left holding their Bitcoins loses.
 (I helped save b3ta! evil_andy Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 16:44, , Reply)
This is a normal post It's not a ponzi scheme.
and no disrespect intended, but people calling it one don't know what they're talking about.

It's a highly volatile trading vehicle where it's possible to make a serious amount of money as long as you never invest anything you cannot afford to lose completely.
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 19:33, , Reply)
This is a normal post It's not a trading vehicle
You're not trading anything of intrinsic worth. This is gambling, pure and simple.
 (I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 20:14, , Reply)
This is a normal post It's worth and/or value
is a product of its complexity and utilization.

Gold wasn't much use prior to PCBs other than it didn't tarnish and was fairly malleable.

Most things only have intrinsic worth by common consent, Bitcoin is no different, and this and other alt currencies will become much more mainstream in the coming years.

It is a bit of a gamble, but it's the same gamble any early adopters take. It's more about the patience in waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 21:37, , Reply)
This is a normal post Gold wasn't much use?
Apart from its decorative properties of course. It was prized highly enough for that for people to kill each other for it.
 (I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 21:40, , Reply)
This is a normal post because it's shiny
and.......er.....that's it.
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 21:54, , Reply)
This is a normal post You sound like one of the True Believers
but take a step back and look objectively at it for a moment.

It isn't useful as a currency for anything other than large-value transactions. There's currently a $2.99 fee on every transaction which prevents you from using it for anything useful like buying coffee or lunch. Frankly at a fee level that high I wouldn't even be using it to pay to fill up my car.

It isn't even fast. When the network is congested (like say in a price spike) it can take minutes for your transaction to clear, and more often than not the value of the transaction has moved dramatically in that time. That makes it untrustworthy.

The volatility is crazy. Anything that can be worth 30% more or less than it was last night isn't a viable investment for most people. The people who are investing are the high risk-takers (who'll flee at the first sign of trouble) and the True Believers, who have to keep talking it up and persuading people to invest as it'll support their own investment.

Long-term it's not a viable currency, so it only has value while people are pumping money in. That will inevitably stop as the supply of money to pump in isn't infinite. The only questions that will remain then are when it'll collapse, and what sort of an economic shock will it generate when it goes. The current market capitalization of Bitcoin alone is north of $300Bn right now. The bailout of the entire US banking system in 2008 only cost $50Bn more than that.

If alt currencies are to gain legitimacy and play a role in our economy, they need to be regulated like fuck. That's totally at odds with their theology. How that will then play out is the bit that alarms me.
 (I helped save b3ta! evil_andy Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 23:16, , Reply)
This is a normal post mostly true


But as I said, it's being used as a trading vehicle rather than out and out 'cash in pocket'

How regulation will shape alts' futures, I don't know, but the most noisy denouncers are all heavily involved in 'old money systems' who, currently, have no means of profiting from the take up of people investing in Alts. They're like 1900s inner-London horse traders and stable owners discussing automobiles.

I am a believer in the long term integration of Alts into a coherent mainstream financial system and it's been a wild and bewildering ride so far. I would hate to be accused of Honda Accordism but what cost less than a grand in 2014 has allowed me, this year, to transfer back into gbp a mid five figure sum with a remainder still in alts 'worth' ten times that.

Quite possibly this is clouding my judgement, however, because I'm 'in' I keep my eye on what is developing and how people are suggesting the use of blockchain technology can be implemented, and it's all exciting stuff with many real-world applications. It's this that people are investing in. The coins themselves are more like shares in the tech, rather than notes from the bank.

Bitcoin has been the pioneer of a system that there are many secondary developments of. One of these, or a few of these will eventually replace it, but as an overall system, Alts will gain greater traction in society.

People dismissing it as 'Tulips' and 'a Ponzi scheme' haven't got a clue.
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Tue 19 Dec 2017, 7:55, , Reply)
This is a normal post Then take your mid six-figure sum
and cash it the fuck out. Pay off the mortgage, and live comfortably for the rest of your life.

Do it now. Do it before this bubble bursts.
 (I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Tue 19 Dec 2017, 13:01, , Reply)
This is a normal post It's not a Ponzi scheme
but everything else you say seems fair. It's more like the new tulip!
 (emptyspace, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 20:26, , Reply)
This is a normal post Nothing like that either.

I'd suggest looking into it with more detail.
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 21:22, , Reply)
This is a normal post I suppose it isn't
at least with tulip bulbs you might get a flower
 (emptyspace, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 22:55, , Reply)
This is a normal post The preview looked like Steve McDonald dancing awkwardly, disappointed again and I really need better glasses

(I helped save b3ta! drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 9:08, , Reply)
This is a normal post I got bored
Whats his point? He takes ages getting to it, if ever
 (I helped save b3ta! Turboesprit Volume knob, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 17:44, , Reply)
This is a normal post All currency is based on trust.
Without it it's just bits of paper and metal with pretty pictures on.

See also diamonds. The value would plummet if Russia put their reserves on the market.
 (I helped save b3ta! Cerebus Sticky! Sticky! Stick! Stick!, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 18:24, , Reply)
This is a normal post Shhhhsh you will ruin Putin's big reveal

(I helped save b3ta! fluffybunnykiller Is feasting on the clitoris of life, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 18:45, , Reply)
This is a normal post 17:15 - "I have complete and total authority over my Bitcoin."
"It cannot be seized..."

Bullshit. Mt Gox was the most famous one, but there have been far more incidents of Bitcoins going missing than that.
 (I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 20:37, , Reply)
This is a normal post That depends where you keep them.

It's like blaming 'money' for leaving your wallet on the bar and finding it's missing ten minutes later.
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 21:24, , Reply)
This is a normal post That doesn't change the fact that they were stolen.

(I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 21:52, , Reply)
This is a normal post No, it doesn't

But cash is absolutely more stealable and completely untraceable unless you happen to write down all the serial numbers of the tenners in your wallet and ask around all the shops to keep an eye out for them.
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Mon 18 Dec 2017, 21:57, , Reply)
This is a normal post Number of people who can steal the notes from my wallet = number of people who physically have access to my wallet.
Number of people who can steal money from my Bitcoin wallet = anyone on the Internet with the right skills.

I wonder which is the larger number?
 (I helped save b3ta! Happosai _,,,,_(O ; o)_,,,, Tue 19 Dec 2017, 0:00, , Reply)
This is a normal post again
depends where you keep them.

you could keep your bitcoins on a memory stick in a safe if you so desired.
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Tue 19 Dec 2017, 7:30, , Reply)
This is a normal post What about the coding error that resulted in billions being lost forever?

(I helped save b3ta! Fadgebadger (1 like), Tue 19 Dec 2017, 7:32, , Reply)
This is a normal post Your talking about
The coding that allowed banks to offer sub-prime mortgages, right?
 (Still Larry Death Went on holiday by mistake on, Tue 19 Dec 2017, 7:56, , Reply)
This is a normal post Um
No
 (I helped save b3ta! Fadgebadger (1 like), Tue 19 Dec 2017, 14:48, , Reply)