Quote from: traincarswreck on March 27, 2017, 05:36:16 AM

I'm still asking for clarity on whether or not you think bitcoin is controlled by a conspiracy. The examples you are pointing out do not speak to the point that markets are to serve as our only objective basis for valuation.

What you are pointing out is what bitcoin is meant to address which is the negative effects that monopoly and regulation create (even though the claim is the regulation is meant to make the markets more fair). Bitcoin has whales and early adopters and they will serve their own rational self interest. This is what the system was built on and how it was intended to function. To call that manipulation is not scientific its the will of the markets. Giving it a negative connotation is your subjective viewpoint just like the news articles that gives sentiments and narration (zero hedge is known as a fringe cite for example).

Of Course BTC is controlled by a Conspiracy,

An increasing BTC Price Hurts Adoption as it prices it out of the Reach of many in Foreign countries where they have an extremely low exchange rate with the US or Europe.
For BTC Price to increase so dramatically within a year , it can only be manipulation by the Elite Few that have been stockpiling BTC at much lower prices,
since it's Utility Usage has been on the decline the entire time.

FYI: BTC is just History Repeating itself
Read the Following to Compare
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/diamond-de-beers-marketing-campaign#sm.001ja9o8j17uje94zbj2hil8a92hy

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How It All Started

Diamonds haven't been rare stones since 1870, when huge diamond mines were discovered in South Africa. Soon after the discovery, the British financiers behind the South African mining efforts realized the diamond market would be saturated if they didn't do something about it. So in 1888, they set two audacious goals:

1) Monopolize diamond prices. They succeeded by creating De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. and taking full ownership and control of the world diamond trade. While they stockpiled diamonds and sold them strategically to control price, De Beers Chairman Sir Ernest Oppenheimer cultivated a network of wholesalers all over the world.

2) Stabilize the market. To succeed here, De Beers would have to figure out a way to control both supply and demand for diamonds worldwide. For this, they would need to find an ad agency.

When De Beers began looking for an ad agency, the global economy was suffering and Europe was under threat of war. Their challenge was to figure out which country or countries had the most potential to support a growing diamond market, and then to hire an agency to implement a marketing campaign in those countries. Because of Europe's preoccupation with the oncoming war, the U.S. was chosen -- even though the total number of diamonds in the U.S. had declined by nearly 50% since the end of World War I.

https://www.gemsociety.org/article/are-diamonds-really-rare/

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MYTH: Diamonds are rare.
MYTH: Diamonds are the most valuable gem.
MYTH: Diamonds are precious.
MYTH: A person can make a lot of money selling diamonds.

Compared to BTC Myths
MYTH: BTC is the Best Coin , (Techically the oldest and slowest and least # of transactions per second.)
MYTH: BTC only goes up in Price. (People that purchased in Nov 2013 have been in the hole , until Jan 2017, and barely broke even.)
MYTH: BTC will make you Rich. (Aside from early adopters , no regular guy has done well since 2013. Not enough to be Rich.)

Same Scam , just a different product , replace De Beers with China & Miners and Diamonds with BTC. Wink