Quote from: dead_bit on March 23, 2014, 10:28:31 PM

- I think Bitcoin is just as based on trust as any other currency. Bitcoin is a change of opinion away from being valueless, just like everything else.

- Under this premise Bitcoin is no different than dollars. Except that it cannot be created out of thin air, which it essentially is, except instead of a physical object you have a string of data and that is all. I have the same thing now, my dollars are strings of data on my debit card.

- I just don't see why people would gravitate to Bitcoin, it holds no advantage to any other already existing currency.

I would tend to agree, the world doesn't trust dollars, but now we're beginning to veer into a "world without America" scenario and that is a very different discussion from "the world without the dollar". I would also agree that the "guns" are more than likely pushing the world into an authoritarian government. I think the next major collapse will be the end of the free thinking groups/ideals like the bitcoin community. Hence why I hope the dollar doesn't fall, because I enjoy my freedom of speech.

- I agree with your statement to a small extent. However, there is a subtle difference between trusting Bitcoin and trusting the dollar. Trust in every other currency is only trust in the issuing party. The central party is the weak link because people are unpredictable. Bitcoin is predictable and trusting in math is more reliable than trusting in a person. The trust people place in Bitcoin is earned, the trust in central currency is given.

- Bitcoin shares several of the advantages of fiat with the strong property rights of a gold standard. The data on your debit card is similar to Bitcoin. Plenty of people consider those strings of data valuable. You can have the convenience of our current system without the counter party risk. The problem I'm illustrating is a result of electronically transferring a tangible form of wealth. Bitcoin is redeemable anywhere as opposed to a paper note backing an asset where it can only be redeemed at a specific location relative to the asset it backs. The only way to achieve this with a currency backed by a commodity is to use a fractional reserve system.

- The advantages are different from person to person. I can think of several advantages to real life situations. It might not be advantageous to you specifically but that's not an accurate representation for everybody else.

I think the collapse will be hell. I think it won't be the end of free thinking but that would be the cost of losing the struggle... There are guns on both sides... I hope the dollar doesn't fail but I also hope that an Asteroid never hits the earth, and humanity survives long enough to find life elsewhere in the Universe. Hope is important, but it's not enough without action.