Tired to see only spammy mega-threads in the section that's why I'll try to start a normal one with this question.
If you think about it, the price is reflection of the bitcoin supply and demand based only on the available exchanges.
You can directly trade at whatever price you like.
Would't be better if the price reflects the real effort to "create" (mine) the bitcoin, or the effort to support the network like the electricity costs + hardware investments etc.
I agree with BTCJoe that the exchanges do not control the price. The fact that the value of BTC is calculated based on what it is bought/sold for on the exchanges makes sense. This is because you can clearly see what whas sent and what amount was paid for it by following the trade sheets. People use the exchanges for a sense of security, when converting their BTC which is true if you are smart about your use of exchanges.
Personally I feel it's better the equipment pricing reflect a weighted average of the BTC value. I feel this approach may have helped cast a wider net of small/medium farms and contributed to a decentralized network. Mind you this may not have mattered as we have currently seen with these early adopters using BTC as an intended currency they created certain behemoths controlling massive amount of hashpower.
This is innovative technology and is should not relay only on the "old traditions" of price forming, we need a new revolutionary way to balance it, *snip*
The whole idea of bitcoin is to be decentralize, but you have enough amount of bitcoins the price can easily be controlled.
Every time I've considered this I come back to why one issue. If BTC were not continuously valued against a FIAT pairing it would help push it towards a currency. I have long been a fan of the Barter system, it is at it's very core a decentralized unregulated system. The people involved decide value, and in the early stages could help in adoption and with adoption create an ecosystem of value centered around BTC
Thus far, Bitcoin's main attraction has invited mass introductions to new users due to price spikes. We've seen the little effect that current media and news has on the volatility of bitcoin as compared to years past.
Yes I think the two have something to do with each other. The volatility has brought in the "short term trader", who was already doing this so why not try with BTC. They aren't here to understand anything beyond the value of BTC and how to exploit it. This brought in more people from all walks of life, they approach with the same attitude towards BTC. The FOMO definitely had a lot to do with the media representation as it drove more and more people into the network, but not because there was news but due to visibility, it was a space filler for the network and at the time the price was driving high. So negative news I thin kmay prevent someone from jumping on board, but I don't think many people understand the nuances of what the news means for BTC.
I honestly believe that volatility will always be the name of the game with Bitcoin until more people start utilizing it. We are still far from mass adoption, and because of that, there are individuals and institutions that are able to manipulate the price. Those are the types of people that were just trying to get rich quick.
I feel the volatility is good for driving people to use BTC as a currency, but I worry it prevents larger businesses from adopting it in day to day use. I think it works great for a medium to small sized business as they can cash out at days end should they choose. Possibly with more businesses in that range creating a wider network for its use the price can lose some of it's volatility for larger non crypto businesses to adopt.