Good article that details exactly why the bitcoin is a pyramid scheme

[LMNO]

I wonder if that involved divulging his wallet password...

[Cain]

Rubber-hose cryptanalysis is best cryptanalysis

[Junkenstein]

Rubber-hose cryptanalysis is best cryptanalysis

Reasons I love wikipedia #2 - Shit like that.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/11/bitcoin_feds/

Seems important, posting to remind myself to read this when less busy.

[Junkenstein]

Yet more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24986264

The value of virtual currency Bitcoin has soared to over $900 (£559), after a US Senate committee hearing.

The committee was told that virtual currencies were a "legitimate financial service" with the same benefits and risks as other online payment systems.

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is exploring the "promises and risks" of Bitcoin for "government and society at large".

No idea where this could go.

[Faust]

Incredibly volatile, it tanked a few hours ago, it will have recovered most of that 900 in another few. The worrying thing is people are going to see this as a chance to make quick money on this without an easy way to convert that BC back to regular cash when they want to.

[Wisa1]

Just a thought http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/11/15/bitcoin-companies-and-entrepreneurs-cant-get-bank-accounts/
if the banks are getting scared then maybe there is a bright side to all of this. Robespierre was arguably worse than Louis XVI but he was still an important step in outgrowing a dated system. If BC can hold on long enough to do lasting damage to the big boys then just maybe the whole edifice will start to crumble hopefully leaving enough room in the ruins to introduce a smarter system of global exchange.

[Cain]

Private currencies aren't anything new, though.

They've been tried repeatedly in the past, and the outcomes have often been pretty terrible.  I mean, banks probably think a nuclear holocaust is a bad idea too, are you going to advocate for one because they dislike it?

[Reginald Ret]

I saw it more as 'Even the rats won't touch that shit.'

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Just a thought http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/11/15/bitcoin-companies-and-entrepreneurs-cant-get-bank-accounts/
if the banks are getting scared then maybe there is a bright side to all of this. Robespierre was arguably worse than Louis XVI but he was still an important step in outgrowing a dated system. If BC can hold on long enough to do lasting damage to the big boys then just maybe the whole edifice will start to crumble hopefully leaving enough room in the ruins to introduce a smarter system of global exchange.

Like what?

[Wisa1]

Private currencies aren't anything new, though.

They've been tried repeatedly in the past, and the outcomes have often been pretty terrible.  I mean, banks probably think a nuclear holocaust is a bad idea too, are you going to advocate for one because they dislike it?

For some reason I'm inclined to think that a nuclear holocaust would be much worse for the human race than a global financial meltdown.
I would also point out the fact that Bitcoin has entered the consciousness of a far larger portion of the current global population than any other private currency project to date.

[Wisa1]

Just a thought http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/11/15/bitcoin-companies-and-entrepreneurs-cant-get-bank-accounts/
if the banks are getting scared then maybe there is a bright side to all of this. Robespierre was arguably worse than Louis XVI but he was still an important step in outgrowing a dated system. If BC can hold on long enough to do lasting damage to the big boys then just maybe the whole edifice will start to crumble hopefully leaving enough room in the ruins to introduce a smarter system of global exchange.

Like what?

I was hoping you could answer that question

[Faust]

Private currencies aren't anything new, though.

They've been tried repeatedly in the past, and the outcomes have often been pretty terrible.  I mean, banks probably think a nuclear holocaust is a bad idea too, are you going to advocate for one because they dislike it?

For some reason I'm inclined to think that a nuclear holocaust would be much worse for the human race than a global financial meltdown.
I would also point out the fact that Bitcoin has entered the consciousness of a far larger portion of the current global population than any other private currency project to date.

The Bitcoin has been integrated into the system that's what these congressional hearings are about. It's not a viable alternative to the existing system because the people currently making money off it were the early investors, they are cashing out their amounts for the inflated prices brought on by new investment.

That's where the YoYo pattern is coming from. It breaks a thousand today, it drops to 400 tomorrow, repeat until dilution. When dilution reaches a certain point it will be a stable currency but at that point it will have been subjected to the following:
Criminalisation for failure to declare income in bitcoin (read goodbye anonymous money transfer).
Regulation on how much bitcoin you can have.
And an attempt at taxation by various nation states.

Everyone thinks this is a great thing that it's currently being discussed in goverment, when in reality it is a discussion that will lead to it being crippled if not its complete demise.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I would also point out the fact that Bitcoin has entered the consciousness of a far larger portion of the current global population than any other private currency project to date.

So has Amway.  What's your point?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Just a thought http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/11/15/bitcoin-companies-and-entrepreneurs-cant-get-bank-accounts/
if the banks are getting scared then maybe there is a bright side to all of this. Robespierre was arguably worse than Louis XVI but he was still an important step in outgrowing a dated system. If BC can hold on long enough to do lasting damage to the big boys then just maybe the whole edifice will start to crumble hopefully leaving enough room in the ruins to introduce a smarter system of global exchange.

Like what?

I was hoping you could answer that question

I am a Holy Man™, sir.  It is not the job of said Holy Men™ to answer questions.  Our job is to ASK questions, pester with questions, hound people into an early grave with questions, etc, until someone finally martyrs us.

Thomas Paine, for example.  He STILL hasn't shut the fuck up, and he's been dead for 200 years or so.