
Bitcoin Boon - aosmith
http://blog.alexsmith.io/?p=23
======
vecinu
I personally feel this is another BTC holder trying to raise the value of his
investment by attracting more attention to Bitcoin and crypto currencies.

~~~
the_cat_kittles
the ~1,000,000,000 usd worth of bitcoin transactions
([https://blockchain.info/charts/estimated-transaction-
volume-...](https://blockchain.info/charts/estimated-transaction-volume-usd))
that happened today alone should be evidence enough that you would have to be
stupid or ignorant to think you can move the price of bitcoin with a blog post
like that

~~~
elwell
um it wasn't a billion it was 147 million.

~~~
aosmith
(S)He's talking about an intraday total, not a single transaction.

------
psbp
The bitcoin mania is starting to freak me out. Maybe it feels fleeting and
manic because it's truly indicative of a powerful change, but it also seems so
desperate.

~~~
aosmith
I felt the same way for a long time. I first became interested in bitcoin
about a year ago. Eventually you will accept it. This is the future, it just
makes too much sense.

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advisedwang
> Recent volatility is almost entirely related to external market factors
> [sic: externalaties] and not underlying changes in valuation

You can't separate out causes of volatility like that. A crash because of a
massive bitcoin theft is no different than a crash for any other reason. The
long term success of bitcoin depends on the perception of value, and if people
believe bitcoin is liable to crash for _any_ reason it will hurt it's chances.

Moreover it's not even true that the bitcoin market is just reacting to
trading-related issues. For example the congressional hearing had substantial
effect.

~~~
aosmith
This is true. That is a gross over-simplification. I'll work in some edits
here, thanks!

~~~
aosmith
Made an edit here, perhaps not the best but... Please let me know if you would
like credit and I'll toss a back link in!

~~~
advisedwang
No need. Like most people I just post on hn to make myself feel smarter.
_ahem_ I mean to make the world better.

------
buster
I am really not convinced of the argument that bitcoin will help in third
world countries. There are so many places in the world that neither have
internet nor computers, how should they use bitcoins? I'm also convinced that
those people will not just "believe" in some "invisible" money. They will
always prefer real money or goods to trade, not some virtual number on the
internets.

~~~
aosmith
Bitcoin isn't "invisible" money. It's money that is secured by cryptography. A
printed bitcoin wallet, a $1 bill and a $100 bill all have the same inherent
value. Almost a third of the "developing world" has internet access
[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage)].
Even if individuals lack access there's no reason bitcoin can't be made
accessible to them through public access points.

------
mrb
_" Richard Branson announced that Virgin Galactic will accept bitcoin"_

Everybody missed another big news about another company... you can buy plane
tickets with Bitcoin! Online air travel agency, cheapair.com, announced today
they accept Bitcoin:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6784265](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6784265)

~~~
aosmith
This is also cool, and probably a lot more practical!

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Qantourisc
IMO it's not a real currency until the value gets a bit stable. Currently it's
all over the place.

~~~
aosmith
Are Sudanese Pounds and Iranian Rials real currencies in your mind? Agree 100%
that bitcoin is not currently comparable to any first world currency.

~~~
Qantourisc
Could not find your pounds.
[http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=IRR&view=5Y](http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=IRR&view=5Y)
they did do something nasty in 2013... But it's _just_ double. With bitcoin we
are talking factor 10 and atm is increasing in value exponentially. But all of
them are currencies really, I'm just scared :)

~~~
aosmith
[http://www.xe.com/currency/sdg-sudanese-
pound](http://www.xe.com/currency/sdg-sudanese-pound)

Bitcoin isn't perfect yet, just saying it is getting close to becoming a
suitable replacement for the "worst" money in the world.

------
kopsed
THERE ARE NOW in this moment many bankers thinking in bunkers mmm some thing
very big is going

------
kopsed
tHIS is the true money some ancient text inform about other very different
culture before we are in slavery

------
e1l1
How could anyone actually use bitcoins to buy anything? With this volatility,
how can you settle on a price for actual merchandise or services?

~~~
gnerd
> The assumption is that bitcoins must be sold immediately to cover operating
> expenses. If the shopkeeper's back-end expenses were transacted in bitcoins
> as well, then the exchange rate would be irrelevant. Larger adoption of
> Bitcoin would make prices sticky. Future volatility is expected to decrease,
> as the size and depth of the market grows.

> In the meantime, many merchants simply regularly pull the latest market
> rates from the exchanges and automatically update the prices on their
> websites. Also you might be able to buy a put option in order to sell at a
> fixed rate for a given amount of time. This would protect you from drops in
> price and simplify your operations for that time period.

[https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Myths#Shopkeepers_can.27t_serious...](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Myths#Shopkeepers_can.27t_seriously_set_prices_in_bitcoins_because_of_the_volatile_exchange_rate)

~~~
aosmith
Couldn't agree more. Mass adoption would absolutely stabilize prices. Even
without mass adoption merchants can exchange similar to foreign atm
transactions.

