Quote from: rpietila on April 15, 2013, 04:13:00 PM

Another complement to the hard currency (blockchain bitcoin) economy, would be to reinstall real bills.

This is a fascinating read. (As you said) I'm through about half of it so far.

I'm sure the clearinghouse model is used in big business to this day. One of those magic techniques that make real business men smarter than me! :-)

However, I'm struck by how close it is the the Local Exchange Trading System model referenced above. Had no idea its foundations went so far back!

Thanks for the link!

Quote from: rpietila on April 15, 2013, 04:13:00 PM

So if you feel velocity is somehow a desirable characteristic for a backbone of a monetary system, at least with bitcoin you get much more of it compared to the current one.

Velocity is awesome. It mitigates the need for large amounts of actual coinage. But that's really the inverse of my question. The gold in Fort Knox hasn't circulated in my lifetime. However, it has appreciated in value along with the high velocity coins and gold directives in circulation.

I'm asking how many bitcoins are in cold storage? (metaphorical Fort Knox) There was a scandal in the 70's were people started to believe Fort Knox gold had been secretly sold and was circulating. I'm wondering the opposite. What if fewer bitcoins are circulating than we presume are. We don't notice because the velocity of the circulating coins is so high.