Quote from: cryto4rig on July 02, 2013, 05:37:25 PM

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/bringing-bitcoin-to-the-mainstream/?_r=0

http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/02/investing/winklevoss-bitcoin-etf/

http://rt.com/business/winklevoss-twins-bitcoin-ipo-520/

etc....

Gotta do your research Wink

Ultimately means nothing.
If the OPs post comes to fruition, as without the utilitarian value of Bitcoin (decentralization) they become worthless.
Ansett (as a quick example) were still a profitable stock before their bankruptcy (as all other stocks are prior to this event) provided you sold out before the bankruptcy (holding stocks afterwards is obviously unprofitable or in other words being left with "holding the bag").
Without the core value of decentralization behind Bitcoin, they become worthless so those holding onto stocks in Bitcoin will be holding a different colored bag than the rest of us holding onto the virtual one (wallet files) as that occurs.

Quote from: cryto4rig on July 02, 2013, 05:55:47 PM

Quote from: Severian on July 02, 2013, 05:46:21 PM

Quote from: cryto4rig on July 02, 2013, 05:45:40 PM

Well honestly, would you rather :

Better a free pauper than a rich servant. YMMV.

Well, you must live in the U.S. then.
But, where I live, I take the money and live freely, not being a servant to anyone... so, your statement dosent make much sense...

US or not, we are all slaves to the Global Reserve Currency (for those playing at home, the USD).

The utility (term mentioned earlier) part of that equation involves a mix between oil (another term coined for the USD is the Petrodollar, though don't tell the Yanks about Iranian Oil and Turkish Gold ...oh wait Syria Wink

) and a large number of US Bases scattered across the globe with the occasional enforcement actions under the guise of the "war on terror" [Libyan Central Bank opened mere hours after the death of Qaddafi, he had some interesting plans for a gold backed currency that caused the US Reserve Bank much anxiety].

TL/DR - Without Bullion (Gold, silver and other precious metals) and the online equivalent in Bitcoin (and derivatives for online trade) we are ultimately servants (no matter how flush in fiat you happen to be, it'll be whitled down by the taxman or inflation).

Super short summary: BTC >> USD (and other currencies thereof).

Quote from: thermos on July 03, 2013, 08:38:11 PM

listen up, can you repeat after me: cryptocurrency coins gold rush NYC;)

I've been saying the same thing since I learned about Bitcoins, there are many similarities between the rise from CPU -> GPU -> ASIC mining and traditional mining for Gold.

Rushes start in the same fashion, the initial discovery period and people grabbing whats at hand (CPU), the more experienced prospectors following deep leads and basic Geography (GPU, though today it's more along the lines of "Panning for Gold" as someone else called it) before finally major companies and syndicates perform specialized mining and extraction for tiny amounts per ton of ore (parts per million) that previous miners would have no means of ever achieving themselves (ASICs).

In each step, there was always something new and better than the previous so profits were made by enterprising individuals by not only occasionally using the products being sold (ASIC miners using their machines in brief periods/spurts of time) but by selling products to miners (AMD selling new GPUs, though not specifically to crypto miners, and ASICs selling faster mining tools). Profitability in BTC is there still (well until mining is centralized and the price of a BTC plummets in kind), just that it has shifted from active miners to mining product manufacturing and sales.

With apologies for detracting away from the issue on ASICs, mining and ultimately centralization of BTC being formed.