Quote from: Bob,no really,bob on August 21, 2017, 01:07:18 AM

Quote from: xSkyer on August 20, 2017, 08:01:01 PM

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So yes there is inflation with USD but there's also the government behind it keeping inflation down by destroying old money, something else that won't happen in Bitcoin

How about coins that are no longer accessible? Private keys can be lost or their owner can die without revealing how to access them. Less coins, higher price.

The amount of money growing in the total money supply (from debt etc as well as actually printing dollar bills) way exceeds the amount of currency physically destroyed. Look at what a $100 bought in 1999 vs how much that same $100 buys today. $100 today buys a whole lot less fuel, food and rent.

I guess thats one of the big advantages of bitcoin:
- its a deflationary currency and so can be used as a store of wealth in troubled economic times. Its more likely to increase in value than the USD which we know will drop in value over the next few years.
- its not tied to geography and wont be caught up in a trade war. If the world moves away from the USD as a global reserve currency (as nearly happened when the Euro came along) then the USD will tank. If you are in the U.K. holding pounds really sucks right now with brexit still reducing the value of every penny. Bitcoin, once its stable, allows for greater security than any one geographic currency.
- it cheap to transfer funds if you transferring large amounts
- it has MOST of the privacy of using cash with most of the advantages of using a quick to use debit card.

I agree with the OP though in that we are so early in the development of crypto currencies that buying bitcoin is a hobby rather than a long term investment. Im very bullish about crypto in general but Im not putting in more than an amount Im willing to loose and these days Im buying a basket of currencies not just holding bitcoin. There is no way to pick the crypto winner or winners today. In face we know that some of the current high market cap coins wont be here in a few years - we just dont know which.

I remember in 2006 and 2007 we were paying almost 4 dollars a gallon in South Florida, and the national average if I read correctly was $1.30 a gallon in 1999. I'm paying now $2.05 or so a gallon here in Ohio. If anything, gas got cheaper over the years. As did many things. The house I am closing on in Huber heights in a few weeks last sold in 1997 for $72,000, I'm purchasing the property now (albeit it needs some work) for $17,500. I used to pay $3.00-$3.50 for a gallon of milk, I now pay 0.98 cents. The house I live in now, I paid $21,000 cash for it, it last sold for over $55,000 in 2002. I grew up in a house in Florida, where the average house was $150,000 a house by 2002 and $230,000 a house by 2006 ( peak economy ) by 2008 they were worth $55,000-$75,000... there will always be inflation, but time and time again currencies and economies have properly corrected themselves. I do understand that over the years many things have gone up, and I have just shown you a few examples ( I have more ) but I also have some I can show you that are higher now too, as I'm sure anyone could. But with that also comes higher wages. So it makes up for the partial inflation, and when you have higher wages, and spend less on gas, milk, bread, buying a property, and even rent in some areas. It makes life a lot easier. I used to own a rental duplex in 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. The rent I charged was $475 per unit, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom. Albeit, it was Dayton and not Beverly Hills or SF. ( But then again, that goes back to the location rule of real estate.)

I used to live in Dayton in 2009 and rent down the same road where I ended up buying my duplex was $425 for a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom and $525 for 2 bedroom 1 bathroom. Rent did not increase at all, actually due to competition of other apartment buildings in the area, I had to lower my rent to $475 to get people because now I can find a 2b/1b there for $500 all utilities included ( I wasn't including utilities, I had to make some money lol )

My point is, the US seems kind of stable, maybe in Venezuela this could be great. I just don't see a need for it at the moment here in the USA. If you know about the genesis block that was first mined by Satoshi Nakamoto himself it had a hidden message "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks" But in all reality the economy was just adjusting itself to a normal, natural level before it got out of hand. I admire his thinking that he wanted to create a currency that would not crash and could be used in times of turmoil like The Great Recession, but it's already been proven up to this point that it's an investment, not a currency. 99% of the people that invest in Bitcoin invest in hopes it goes up so they can sell out for USD, YEN, SGD, or whatever their currency is. They don't buy it in hopes of using it on their next grocery visit. Therefore, I don't see how Bitcoin protects anyone from inflation, if anything bitcoin itself is inflated right now with its crazy prices. I just think that this is not what Satoshi Nakamoto had in mind when he/they designed it. But then again he/they own around 1 million Bitcoins, so maybe this is what they want? That's to be determined.

- its not tied to geography and wont be caught up in a trade war. If the world moves away from the USD as a global reserve currency (as nearly happened when the Euro came along) then the USD will tank. If you are in the U.K. holding pounds really sucks right now with brexit still reducing the value of every penny. Bitcoin, once its stable, allows for greater security than any one geographic currency. ----- That's yet to be proven.