

GENIUS' MABOO ON BITCOIN - maboo
http://betabeat.com/2014/07/bitcoin-is-the-truth-says-rap-genius-founder-mahbod-moghadam/

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rosenjon
From Coinbase website: Up to 97% of customer funds are stored offline in bank
vaults to prevent theft or loss

Visa/Mastercard/Amex take on the risk of deferred payment (you buy something
today, and they don't get paid for a month). They compensate for this with
merchant fees and high interest rates for those who don't pay.

Bitcoin seems to suffer from similar problems as cash:
[https://www.rfc1149.net/blog/2013/05/02/why-bitcoin-
transfer...](https://www.rfc1149.net/blog/2013/05/02/why-bitcoin-transfers-
are-not-instantaneous/)

However, it's worse, because its value relative to cash is neither stable nor
predictable. If someone comes out with a better protocol that solves these
problems in the future (and for which the Bitcoin protocol can't be upgraded),
then Bitcoin could be worth nothing.

Is it really smart to suggest that loading all your money into Bitcoin is a
good investment strategy?

Money is purely based on trust. That when I take dollars or bitcoins from you
today, I will be able to spend them on something real in the future. I don't
see why Bitcoin solves this fundamental problem, and therefore, the current
system of high fees for deferred payment will apply equally to Bitcoin as it
will to dollars or any other currency. Banks protect your money for a fee. How
is Coinbase or any other provider in the Bitcoin ecosystem different? Let's
just assume that Bitcoin disrupts all other currencies and takes over the
world. Why will a Bitcoin money system not have the same problems as our
current monetary system? Coinbase is still storing most of their currency in a
vault...

