Cryptocurrency, what are your thoughts?

David · Nov 13, 2013

For those not in the know, cryptocurrency uses cryptology to generate and transfer encrypted files to be used as money. The most common method is to generate 'coins' based on transfer rates up to a set cap. This allows for natural inflation as the currency gains wider circulation (otherwise hyperdeflation would kill it the moment it became widely accepted) while also giving users the peace of mind that comes with a currency that inflates at a predictable rate and which will cease being mented at some point (so no hyperinflation). The most popular cryptocurrency is bitcoin with a current exchange rate of 1BTC:350USD.

So, as the topic states, what are your thoughts?

David · Nov 14, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
Is there not the potential for hacking by terrorists and unfriendly governments, causing a worldwide collapse of such a system?

So far, no. Encrypted files, remember?

David · Nov 14, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
Nothing is foolproof. There could be infiltration & insider sabotage.

Besides, this sounds too much like "one world government". We must remain a sovereign nation, lest we be brought down to a lower standard of living.

If that's your sentiment, wouldn't you want an untraceable, never counterfeited, hyperinflation proof currency with no connection to world banking?

David · Nov 14, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
Ideally, yes.

And yet your reaction was 1 world gov't? :giggle:

Polydectes · Nov 21, 2013

David you should have posted a link to it, once I read your OP I searched for it and have read up on it. I find this to be very interesting. It's a currency controlled by people desperate from governments. Fascinating I imagine governments don't like it, and old timers will be integrated by it but I think it has a vast possibility in the reality.

David · Nov 22, 2013

Polydectes said:
David you should have posted a link to it, once I read your OP I searched for it and have read up on it. I find this to be very interesting. It's a currency controlled by people desperate from governments. Fascinating I imagine governments don't like it, and old timers will be integrated by it but I think it has a vast possibility in the reality.

You can actually shop online at places like Amazon and a few physical places as well and pay with Bitcoin. Other cryptocurrencies aren't as 'real' however but they may catch on if Bitcoins get too pricey.

David · Nov 22, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
It is just a gimmick.

What's the gimmick? Spending money?

David · Nov 22, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
It is just something "different". Different does not always mean better.

Like in the 70's, when they went from round headlights since the dawn of time to rectangular ones. They were "different", not any better.

It was sooooo cool to have rectangular headlights at first.

It was so very cool to have a Jeep Wrangler with the first rectangular lights, then years went by with them, then it was suddenly so cool to have round ones back once again. Give me a break!

A totally digital and decentralized currency and a cosmetic change to cars is by no definition (except your's apparently) the same thing. This isn't apples and oranges, this is apples and nuclear reactors.

Polydectes · Nov 22, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
It is just something "different". Different does not always mean better.

Like in the 70's, when they went from round headlights since the dawn of time to rectangular ones. They were "different", not any better.

It was sooooo cool to have rectangular headlights at first.

It was so very cool to have a Jeep Wrangler with the first rectangular lights, then years went by with them, then it was suddenly so cool to have round ones back once again. Give me a break!

So are you telling me that currency never changes to be more convenient? So we still use cash transactions for everything? Credit was just a fad? That was replacing currency with an object that represented currency. When we went off of the gold standard that was just a fad? PayPal must be just a billion dollar fad.

I don't think you really understand. The more things being purchased online opens up things like pay pal. Old currency forms are easier to defraud. Necessity is the mother of all invention. A tamper proof electronic currency will definitely be a necessity. Especially now that paper is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Polydectes · Nov 22, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
My father-in-law used to say: "the more things change, the more they stay the same". This could be another case of it.

Because, after all, "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear".

Cars are vastly different from the seventies. Pickup trucks get better gas mileage than economy cars form the seventies.

The cars we drive now have more computer systems than things we sent to the moon.

Polydectes · Dec 7, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
According to this report, (in a nutshell) it is pure buffoonery:

Are Bitcoins a bubble about to pop? | Fox Business Video

So what, doesn't mean that the idea is bad. You think the Wright brothers flew on their first attempt?

David · Dec 7, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
According to this report, (in a nutshell) it is pure buffoonery:

Are Bitcoins a bubble about to pop? | Fox Business Video

What an idiot.

"BoA is saying $13k is it's max fair value"' No, BoA is saying $13k is it's current price.

"It's a bubble with no real worth." So is gold, the stuff is useless but it's rare and it looks nice. Anything people say has value has value.

"The Fed won't let it take off." Bernanke is a fan of Bitcoin and says (as does BoA) that it is about to take off as a mainstream currency.

This guy is just a reactionary pushing back irrationally against something new but it is Fox...

Polydectes · Dec 7, 2013

David said:
What an idiot.

"BoA is saying $13k is it's max fair value"' No, BoA is saying $13k is it's current price.

"It's a bubble with no real worth." So is gold, the stuff is useless but it's rare and it looks nice. Anything people say has value has value.

"The Fed won't let it take off." Bernanke is a fan of Bitcoin and says (as does BoA) that it is about to take off as a mainstream currency.

This guy is just a reactionary pushing back irrationally against something new but it is Fox...

To be honest I didn't watch the film until I read your post. It sounds like this is poised to be something. No government controls it. It is valued purely based on the people that value it. I don't know how they can stop this.

It reminds me of this story I read about tide landry detergent.

How Tide Detergent Became a Drug Currency -- New York Magazine

David · Dec 7, 2013

flying cars actually exist but they're $100k. just wait or the price to drop and you should see them more often. I give it 50 years.

Polydectes · Dec 7, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
Yeah, they've got st solve the crashing into each other problem too.

They have to be controlled by computer verses people, technology that has existed for just about 20 years.

...and why don't they mass produce cars that are seaworthy & can travel in water???

Um... They have.
The amphicar, the Gibbs Aquada, the VW Schwimwagon, the US army DUWK, the Rinspeed splash.

Why don't you think and learn a bit before you post unsubstantiated claims.

Polydectes · Dec 7, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
The whole idea is kind of reminds me of the idea of years ago, that we would all be flying around in flying cars like on the Jetsons. Sounds good, and looks good on paper, but may never be compatible with the practical world. :happy:

Um, if it wasn't compatible with the real world there wouldn't be a market for them.

David · Dec 7, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
Tell us all the very last time you saw one of these "mass produced" vehicles on the road.

Ever live in a swamp or an area almost totally devoid of roads with lots of rivers? no, now quite.

Polydectes · Dec 8, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
Let me educate you on mass produced cars; you see them on the road on a fairly regular basis. :nerd:

Not necessarily. The US army DUKW was never ment to be a commuter car. It was mass produced for the military. I didn't live in the fifties in Europe so likely net saw the amphicar. It was mass produced, depending on what mass produced means, I would say at least five hundred. I still don't live in Europe so I likely won't see the splash or the other one.

I did see a DUKW the other day down in the swamps when I went to eat crawfishwith my cousins. They live in the sticks. Of course that vehicle is older than my parents so not sure there are too many around. Though I don't think it's a car you drive to work on a daily basis.

Polydectes · Dec 8, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
Let me educate you on mass produced cars; you see them on the road on a fairly regular basis. :nerd:

I have yet to see a model T and it was mass produced. Don't see 55 Chevy Bellaires often they we mass produced. I haven't seen a 2014 Vauxhall astra and they are mass produced. Haven't seen an Alfa Romeo, citrioën, or a Renault on the streets and they are mass produced.

So you don't necessarily see mass produced cars on the streets. This is the issue many of these cars are European.

David · Dec 8, 2013

Aufgeblassen said:
Bingo! We are supposed to be talking about consumer vehicles, not commercial ones.

You're not going to ever see specialized vehicle in general use. lying cars could coast the same as normal cars and you wouldn't see them outside airports and major highways because they'd be useless for short commutes.

Cryptocurrency, what are your thoughts?

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