Quote from: genthis on November 23, 2013, 03:21:52 PM

A little unfair if my bitcoins have to compete with a bank ...

Not really, since your Bitcoins already do.

Quote from: genthis on November 23, 2013, 03:21:52 PM

... and can guarantee my balance if they get lost or stolen

Independence comes at a price.

Quote from: BRADLEYPLOOF on November 23, 2013, 03:59:36 PM

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/There-s-An-Electronic-Currency-That-Could-Save-4999475.php

I'm genuinely stunned by how shamelessly unattractive and dishonest that proposition is; it's openly a method to force negative interest rates on you:

Quote

Right now, your $100 bill is equal to the $100 in the bank. If you're bank account has a 5% interest rate, you earn $5 of interest in a year and that $100 bill is still worth $100. But what would happen if that interest were -5%? Then you would lose $5 over the course of the year. Knowing this, you would rationally withdraw the $100 ahead of time and keep it out of the bank.

...

"You have to do something a little bit more to get the negative rate on the paper currency," Kimball said. "You have to have the $100 bill be worth $95 a year later in order to have a -5% interest rate.

...

Got that? After a year of a -5% interest rate, $100 dollars are equal to $95 e-dollars. This ensures that paper currency also faces a negative interest rate as well and eliminates the incentive for savers to hoard dollar bills if the Fed implements a negative rate. Presto!

Something tells me you'll be much happier with your (currently mildly inflationary, but soon) static/deflationary Bitcoins.

st