Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: Reactions to Caitie Lustig's (UC Irvine PhD student, California, USA) survey
by
imperial
on 16/10/2013, 07:30:02 UTC
4. Do you mine bitcoins?
No, but I used to.

5. Below are some reasons that people might use bitcoin. Please rate them according to how accurately these reasons describe your motivations for using bitcoin.
Bitcoin fits my economic or political values. [Agree]
Bitcoin allows me to increase my business. [N/A]
Purchasing bitcoins is a good investment for me. [Strongly agree]
I want to make money through mining. [Strongly agree]
Bitcoin is appealing to me because I want to make anonymous transactions. [Neutral]

6. What are other reasons that you like to use bitcoin?
I control my assets. With banks your assets can be manipulated, withheld, or seized, all without legitimacy and in circumstances that often leave the individual with little or no recourse. Bitcoin solves this similar to cash, but in a digital form.

7. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
I like that bitcoin functions similarly to the gold standard. [Strongly agree]
I like that bitcoin is not a government-issued currency. [Strongly agree]
I like that bitcoin is democratic. [N/A]
I like that bitcoin is decentralized and part of the open source software movement. [Strongly agree]

8. Do you use bitcoin for anonymous purposes?
No

9. Do you think bitcoin helps maintain your anonymity?
No

10. Why or why not?
Participating in most Bitcoin market activities create circumstances where true anonymity takes significant effort. Those who believe Bitcoin is anonymous are also likely to make the mistake of thinking there cash purchases are not traceable, when in fact the means of tracking an individual are sophisticated enough (e.g. I make a cash purchase at the grocery store. My cell phone has recorded my movements. The camera in store has recorded my face. And the sales database has recorded my purchase. All of these will have time stamps that make correlation easy.) that one is not truly anonymous when scrutinized. At best Bitcoin is anonymous to large corporations because they do not yet have their hooks into the dominant transaction services.

11. Which websites or resources do you use to learn about bitcoin news?
bitcoin.org
bitcoincharts.com
bitcointalk.org

12. How do you communicate with others about bitcoin?
BitcoinTalk (Bitcoin Forum)
In person conversations

13. Why do you talk to other people about bitcoin?
Economies are as strong as their number of active participants.

14. Have you ever written a blog post, essay, or article about bitcoin?
No, never.

15. Have you ever made changes to the bitcoin code?
No, and I have no interest in doing so.

16. Have you ever been involved with a bitcoin improvement proposal? If you are comfortable doing so, please explain your involvement.
N/A

17. What are your feelings on the Bitcoin Foundation and other major bitcoin organizations?
I respect the effort they put into lowering the barrier to entry for new adopters. They are acting out of market interest, tinted with desire to level the playing field against entrenched financial interests.

18. What do you like about bitcoin?
Due to the nature of the technological foundation of Bitcoin, neither the currency nor the market can be manipulated by a central authority whose legitimacy may be questionable.

19. What do you dislike about bitcoin?
About Bitcoin itself, nothing. Many people will answer this question in reference to the circumstances surrounding Bitcoin, such as the technical hurdles, difficulty to buy in, and lack of goods and services available.

20. What do you think the future holds for bitcoin?
Bitcoin will always exist as a value store, like gold. Since the average person is incapable of comprehending fractions (e.g. no one pays for goods in 1/10 ounce of gold) and the entrenched powers will want to control the flow of commodities with a finite amount (e.g. gold, land) we will not see popular adoption of Bitcoin.

21. Which political outlooks best describe you? Please select one or more.
Left-wing
Libertarian
Moderate
Right-wing

22. Please describe your political views in a short sentence.
Measured against the times, people, and environment.

23. What is your view on government regulation of bitcoin? (This question is not referring to any specific government.)
Regulation is a form of control. Given that Bitcoin has the potential to shift control from entrenched, centralized interests, it is natural that government will be prompted by those interests to control Bitcoin.

30. What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?
Bachelor degree

31. What country do you live in?
United States

32. In what state or U.S. territory do you live?
[No answer]

33. Please share any additional comments or questions you have in the box below.
Bitcoin is less of a big deal than it is being made out to be. The thing that replaces Bitcoin, whatever that may be (assuming it can overcome the inherent advantage of large miners), will be a force to be reckoned with.