I was referring to the need to create a P2P form of currency. And by "tied to the dollar" I meant we assess btc at their USD value that day. Its not like we think of them in units of gold or something.
It's funny you say that because I've been training myself to break my programming(brainwashing) as it relates to valuing everything in consistently devalued FRNs for some while now. I'm nearly there, though sometimes I still regress. Instead of fiat toilet paper I try to think of the value of everything in terms of Ozt of silver. Try it some time, it can be very enlightening. When you think of purchases in terms of exchanging something of intrinsic value like AU, AG, or BTC, you're generally less likely to give them up for something of marginal value, unlike valuing things in USDs or other fiat trash.
There is no difference between valuing something in "fiat trash" and in gold/bitcoins, because gold can be converted to "fiat trash".
Say $10 = 1 bitcoin.
Laptop: $300 fiat
30 bitcoins
No difference.
Actually there's a huge difference. Gold was $39.31 the year I was born. How many rolls of fiat TP does it take to purchase an Ozt of gold today?
1712
http://www.nma.org/pdf/gold/his_gold_prices.pdf
Inflation is a hidden tax. It moves slowly, but it's painfully obvious over time that it's eating your purchasing power.
To me, this is the biggest utility of Bitcoin and gold -- they protect me against inflation, and they do so very well.
In choosing one or the other, I personally put these risks in the balance:
- Gold may be a bit overpriced right now
- Governments will want to steal people's gold in the future (they already did once)
- Bitcoin is more volatile than gold
Therefore, I'm pursuing a balanced strategy with both.