Bitcoin: Whatever It Is, It's Not Money

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2013/04/16/bitcoin-whatever-it-is-its-not-money/

by caffeinewriter • 13 years ago

13 12 13 years ago

"So it is no surprise that as the Fed readies another round of money printing, more and more Amercians want to experiment with alternative currencies. Hence the intense interest in the digital phenomenon called the Bitcoin."

Get real, Steven.

michaelwww2• 13 years ago

"We don’t really know how this coin is created."

"I don't really understand how this coin is created"

- FTFY

evv• 13 years ago

Exactly. One of the biggest advantages of BitCoin is that the consumers of the currency can understand exactly how and when new money enters the system. That would be a significant improvement over existing currencies.

geon• 13 years ago

Really. The bitcoin software is open source, isn't it? Just read the source! (Or rater, have someone read it and explain it to you, since the writer doesn't seem to be a programmer.)

And transparency? The protocol os very clear about how new coins are created. All nodes on the network een has to agree about creation of coins. How could it be more transparent?

midnitewarrior• 13 years ago

"We don’t really know how this coin is created."

It's easier to understand than how a dollar is created under the fractional reserve banking system.

Oh look! The capitalist establishment is spreading FUD about Bitcoin -- didn't see that one coming!

jjs• 13 years ago

Given the dollar's recent volatility in terms of Bitcoins, I hardly see how Forbes can argue that it has a fixed value...

michaelwww2• 13 years ago

And he likes gold, which just crashed "After Gold Crash, Experts Point to Central Bank Manipulation - The New American"

caffeinewriter• 13 years ago

Hehe, I find it interesting that Steven Forbes himself decided to comment on Bitcoin. Albeit, he only has a shallow understanding of it. The whole point of it being open source, is so that everyone has a say in it, not just one central entity, which he either doesn't get, or doesn't want.

ryanthejuggler• 13 years ago

I think a point that the authors of a lot of these "Bitcoin is doomed/not a currency/etc." articles miss is that they're trying to compare a brand-new thing that's still trying to find its place in the world to the dollar, for example, which has been around for hundreds of years. Plus, don't forget, the dollar has undergone fluctuations in value; these fluctuations though are the results of the decisions of a central body. Finally, Forbes seems to be sidestepping the fact that the term "currency speculation" exists for a reason.

Ultimately, Bitcoin's utility rests on whether its value settles down at some point, which I think it will[1]. Then people can actually use it as a currency instead of an investment, as it was intended.

[1] please note that I have no background in economics!

zck• 13 years ago

>Money is most optimal when it is fixed in value just as commerce is facilitated when we have fixed weights and measures. When you buy a pound of hamburger you expect to get 16 ounces of meat.

But you don't pay for a pound of hamburger with 16 ounces of meat; you pay for a pound of hamburger with dollars. The dollars/hamburger ratio floats.

And unless I misunderstand something^0, money isn't fixed in value; its value just happens to not change all that much, under normal circumstances. Most money is inflating; it's worth slightly less each year. This isn't a fixed value.

And I agree that, yes, Bitcoin's volatility does make it less attractive to users. But that volatility isn't an inherent property of Bitcoin, but merely an effect of it being small and growing. If, in five years, the Bitcoin economy continues to grow, and there's less volatility^1, will that make Steve Forbes happy?

[0] Which is a near certainty.

[1] The Bitcoin economy growing might be a direct result of decreased volatility; that isn't the point under discussion here.

generalseven2• 13 years ago

Bitcoin is experimental and behaves in ways that money has never done before.

generalseven2• 13 years ago

TL/DR: Chairman of Forbes gives his two cents on Bitcoin which boils down to "It's new. I don't understand it."

Bitcoin: Whatever It Is, It's Not Money

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