Quote from: Bobtimus on September 02, 2014, 04:26:26 AM

Quote from: Soros Shorts on September 01, 2014, 10:22:01 AM

Quote from: Bobtimus on September 01, 2014, 05:25:14 AM

Ok, I think people are still missing my point. That bitcoin has a finite supply like a natural resource, but can't really be used for anything else except for 'storage of wealth." I get that it takes computer energy to mine a bitcoin, and it will take more and more energy, but that doesn't take away from the fact that you can't do anything else with the bitcoin made, except for the market dictated value that people believe in. This market value, will inherently increase as there is a finite supply of Bitcoins. Isn't this a economical problem for the currency, as its purpose is trade and not speculation.

I'm finding that people who think they know really don't know how an economy works.

I think this feature makes Bitcoin an ideal store of wealth. What is wrong with a currency whose buying power does not diminish over time? When the gold standard was in place the US dollar was both a good place to park your money and use to conduct international trade and commerce. Now the USD is no longer a good store of long term value.

At this point in time the value of Bitcoin is still unstable, a lot of this due to speculative forces. However once Bitcoin is widely used and has a larger market cap then its speculative appeal will lessen and price will stabilize. There is really nothing wrong with a currency whose value gradually increases over time, which is what you seem to be asserting, so long as the day-to-day fluctuations remain small.

Ok finally something useful, THANK YOU. It took a while but finally a useful piece of information. Really proves how useless a majority of people posting online is. Lets just hope that it gains widespread use. But I still reckon unless some countries seriously goes south, then it still be a speculators game. More people are involved for speculative purposes than actual trade. It's impossible for companies to accept bitcoins if the price is highly speculative and can drop any second. The risk is too high and then it becomes a chicken and egg problem. Will people stop speculating so that companies can accept and hold onto bitcoins, or will companies accept bitcoins first so that widespread use can be achieved, discouraging speculation. I know companies like Dell are accepting bitcoins but its a completely different to what you would think. Dell accepts BTC but cashes it straight away. This does not help the Bitcoin economy as purchases through the currency are immediately dumped.

I would argue that bitcoin is essentially a bet on the failure of the Euro as a currency. If the Euro were to be stopped being used and countries would go back to their old national currencies then the demand for bitcoin would be much greater then it is today. The price of bitcoin went up to bubble levels when there were serious questions about the health of many European banks (and the future of the Euro). People in Europe are already used to using a currency that is not linked to their specific government, so they would be less uncomfortable using bitcoin if the Euro was no longer available.