Quote from: Melbustus on January 14, 2015, 05:25:08 PM

Quote from: Rawted on January 14, 2015, 04:31:44 PM

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Other than it's faster, safer and cheaper than any other payment system, which is huge. Faster and cheaper? Of course.

Yup.

Quote from: Rawted on January 14, 2015, 04:31:44 PM

Safer? Not even remotely.

A couple very different things going on. User-end wallet security, or custodial wallet security/insurance are in their infancy. Part of the problem here is that bitcoin got too much mainstream attention too early. Too many idiots stumbled into the ecosystem before adequate idiot-proofing had been developed. We'll get there; a lot of work has been done fast - from multisig, to standard 2FA, to hardware wallets.

Quote from: Rawted on January 14, 2015, 04:31:44 PM

FDIC ensures most people have nothing to worry about when it comes to USD and banking.

You meant "insures" not "ensures".

But make no mistake that FDIC insurance is somehow free. It's very costly; banks pay the premiums, which get passed on to customers in the form of fees, and furthermore, if/when the reserve isn't enough to meet losses (2008/09 anyone?) the losses are socialized (taxes and/or inflation).

Obviously you're arguing that that's better than the *current* custodial situation in bitcoin, which it may be, but again this stuff is getting rapidly better, to the point where socializing bank losses shouldn't be the optimal solution anymore.

Quote from: Rawted on January 14, 2015, 04:31:44 PM

This industry is ripe with scammers and fly by night companies.

What's new.... Bernie Madoff, MF Global, Enron, Worldcom, etc, etc.

If it's worse in bitcoin, a big part of that, again, is infancy of the ecosystem. Meta orgs (DATA, etc) are forming. Takes years.

Quote from: Rawted on January 14, 2015, 04:31:44 PM

Not to mention that with the large mining farms and dedicated TX nodes Bitcoin has become more and more centralized.

Indeed, you shouldn't've mentioned it, cuz it doesn't matter to the points you're making, or to the ultimate viability of the system. As I (and Satoshi, incidentally) have argued, yes nodes and farms will consolidate, but meaningful decentralization should be retained over time.

Quote from: Rawted on January 14, 2015, 04:31:44 PM

Bitcoin was a great experiment. Unfortunately it has a huge flaw in its model - the human element.

Actually, it's greatest strength is algorithmically limiting the human element.

No, I meant 'ensures'. You seem to be the one confused on the definition. Everything else you posted actually supports my statement.