Quote from: bitbeg on December 08, 2013, 02:39:13 PM

If the banks had to buy them from people, you think they would buy them at whatever the speculative (out of thin air) value is? They would run it to the ground before they would 'buy' a single coin, and at that point it would be usless. The government and/or media can destroy Bitcoin at any time. They've never redistributed their wealth and they're not going to start now because of cryptos-- nothing will force them into that situation, they are the ones in charge and there is no way in hell they will allow competition-- for them, everything is at stake.

This is why I mentioned Bitcoins simply disappearing. My question is a hypothetical/philosophical one.

Most people with some ideals see Bitcoin as a way for the banks/govt to stay out of our pockets-- to not allow them to take more than they already have-- this is seen as unjust. Bitcoin is seen as revolutionary by these people because of its ability to accomplish this. I happen to think that these same people acquiring so much of something for pretty much next to nothing, is also inherently unfair to those that don't, and won't do anything to redistribute the wealth from the ultra rich to the ultra poor. It is a potential revolution for the 'haves' in denial but not for the 'have nots'. They will not actually be taking anything from the super rich, and the wealth (because of the very nature of 'wealth') has to come from somewhere or be in relation to something else. That relation will only cause the poor to become poorer because they didn't gain anything of value, even if they didn't actually 'lose' anything.

You are so confused that I'm not even sure where to start.

All value is "out of thin air", or really "in our minds". If the banks want to buy bitcoins, they will do so at a price agreed to by the seller. That's how markets work, the buyer and seller agree on a price.

I'm not sure how exactly "they would run it to the ground", or how they "can destroy Bitcoin at any time".

You also don't seem to understand the distinction between money and wealth. To be clear, money is not wealth, it is what you use to purchase wealth.

The people using bitcoin today are not getting rich for "pretty much next to nothing". Just because you can't see the value in what someone does, does not mean there isn't any.

And finally, bitcoin is an experiment in libertarian/Austrian money. The goal was not social justice or wealth redistribution or any other left-wing nonsense. If that was what you wanted, go check out the altcoin section of the forums. I'm sure there are plenty of scamcoins there that aim to do what you want.