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

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Words fail me:
http://galtco.in/

WOW WOW WOW WOW

Amazing on SO MANY LEVELS! 

The thing I love about this is, you get to sit back and watch as Libertarians slowly discover for themselves the reasons why we have banking regulations. 

It's really quite priceless!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Words fail me:
http://galtco.in/

WOW WOW WOW WOW

Amazing on SO MANY LEVELS! 

The thing I love about this is, you get to sit back and watch as Libertarians slowly discover for themselves the reasons why we have banking regulations. 

HEY!  STOP MAKING ME STOP HATING YOU!

[Reginald Ret]

Hell, even most anarchists think banking regulations are a good thing.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/1/5570984/alleged-silk-road-owner-says-he-cant-be-guilty-of-money-laundering

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

[Faust]

It was classified as property, so if he wants to push to down that road at best he'll get slapped with failure to pay taxes on transaction of goods and get just as long in prison.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELA91d_mx80

"He's making Eight million dollars of bitcoin every month"

[Junkenstein]

ATTN PNT/FAUST:
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/03/ars-buys-bitcoins-at-one-of-the-countrys-only-bitcoin-atms/

BOX THAT PEOPLE PUT MONEY INTO TO GET NOTHING OUT.

HELP ME HELP YOU BECOME VERY RICH.

[Junkenstein]

HA HA HA HA HA
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/05/bitcoin-miner-maker-fires-half-its-staff-declares-were-not-scammers/

HashFast, an embattled Bitcoin mining startup, announced on Thursday that it has fired half of its employees as a way to save money.

"In order to improve our cash flow, as well as focus on ASICs, we made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by eliminating marketing and customer service roles, as well as some engineering functions," Amy Abascal, the company's director of marketing, wrote in a blog post. "The total reduction was 50 percent of the current staff. This was a fiscally responsible way for us to slow our burn rate, get customers hashing, and continue developing amazing technology."

On Tuesday, Ars profiled the San Francisco startup and chronicled the numerous arbitration cases and lawsuits that the company has pending against it. Many customers have accused the firm of outright fraud, and some are upset that when the company failed to fulfill its orders, it would not refund the amount in bitcoins as it had previously promised.
Abascal also penned a second post on Thursday, entitled: "On Why We're Not Scammers."

HA HA HA
http://hashfast.com/on-why-were-not-scammers/

I think it's time to publicly address the notion that HashFast scammed our customers.  Let me tell you that nobody is lying on the beach sipping Mai Tais with your money. While that would make for a great Wolf of Wall Street type feature film, it's simply not the reality.

"So, what the hell is going on over there?" is probably what you're asking.  That's a reasonable question.

We pre-sold mining systems.  Based on the immediate demand for our systems, we took those funds and invested in inventory to satisfy that demand, specifically on ASICs.  We built out our first board.  We told you that story.  That first board was a dud.  We just plain out haven't recovered.

Our cash is tied up in inventory, but we have finally been able to begin regularly shipping again.  It's true that we are struggling, but we are struggling to do the right thing.  As we turn our focus to chip sales, we will free up more cash to ship more systems and process more refunds.  Each lawsuit sets us back, though.

Not scammers, just incompetent. Or incompetent scammers.

Incompetence is a feature at any rate.

[trix]

For your consideration, 2 very short videos and a quote.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UP1YsMlrfF0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GRIJ_jpmwzo

An impressive example of how not to be charismatic.

"The best part about bitcoins is that you get to watch libertarians slowly discover why financial regulations exist to begin with."

Words fail me:
http://galtco.in/

WOW WOW WOW WOW

Amazing on SO MANY LEVELS! 

The thing I love about this is, you get to sit back and watch as Libertarians slowly discover for themselves the reasons why we have banking regulations. 

Is it just me or is that quote totally stolen from a few posts up?

[trix]

Also wanted to mention, that despite the likely sort of replies this may generate, I quite like Bitcoin and use it often.  I never keep more than a few Bitcoins at a time (all purchased at around $30 per coin, and just traded since then, no further buying in), just in case the value drops, but I do really like the idea of taking the power of currency out of the hands of corporate bankers.

Yes, I know how that sounds.  I can already hear the replies.  Thing is, unlike some of those making posts in this thread that were totally made atop Mount Stupid, I've been researching and keeping up with Bitcoin for years.  I fully understand the risks, the sides of the debate, etc.  However, while it is of course only prudent to exercise extreme caution in an unregulated market like Bitcoin, it CAN be used very effectively as a replacement currency, and can be kept completely safe from thieves and scammers.  I get dozens of emails a day from Nigerian princes and other scammers, trying to get cash out of me.  ID theft and other shit abounds.  It gets more attention when it's Bitcoin-related, thanks to the word "Bitcoin" and all the press it's been getting in general, but that shit happens to ANY currency.

It is possible, and if you just take the time to learn (like you do when having to, oh I don't know, understand how BANKS work, what with checking and interest and all sorts of policies and fees and options, etc), Bitcoin can be stored, used, and even spent on drugs (though SilkRoad was a terrible idea from the get-go), entirely safely and anonymously.  Especially with the impending release of DarkWallet and other similar auto-anonymous methods.

Ok this is a terribly written post and I'm tempted to just remove the whole thing with a "fuck it, nevermind" attitude, but it bothers me to see the Bitcoin thread appear so one-sided, considering the potential.  Also, one thing I notice almost everywhere, is that there is more misinformation and bad reporting on Bitcoin than accurate reporting, giving the majority of non-technical folks all sorts of wrong ideas about what it is and how it works.  And unfortunately, too many people read one or two articles and go "Oh, so that's what that bitcoin thing is, yeah it sounds stupid".  Nevermind the fact that the article in question is often completely wrong and/or biased.

I'd think a bunch of Discordians would have more Devil's Advocates standing against the popular opinion.  Guess I gotta grab the flag myself, though honestly after this post I probably wont bother.  Bitcoin conversations almost seem like pro-life vs pro-choice "conversations" or religious nutjob vs asshole athiest battles, in that people seem to already have their opinion and that's it.  In general I mean, here there's not even a battle just an echo chamber.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Also wanted to mention, that despite the likely sort of replies this may generate, I quite like Bitcoin and use it often.  I never keep more than a few Bitcoins at a time (all purchased at around $30 per coin, and just traded since then, no further buying in), just in case the value drops, but I do really like the idea of taking the power of currency out of the hands of corporate bankers.

Yeah, but into whose hands have you placed it?  If you say your own, then you obviously didn't even read the OP.

I'd think a bunch of Discordians would have more Devil's Advocates standing against the popular opinion.  Guess I gotta grab the flag myself, though honestly after this post I probably wont bother.  Bitcoin conversations almost seem like pro-life vs pro-choice "conversations" or religious nutjob vs asshole athiest battles, in that people seem to already have their opinion and that's it.  In general I mean, here there's not even a battle just an echo chamber.

Taking a stand against popular opinion only helps if popular opinion is wrong.

[trix]

Also wanted to mention, that despite the likely sort of replies this may generate, I quite like Bitcoin and use it often.  I never keep more than a few Bitcoins at a time (all purchased at around $30 per coin, and just traded since then, no further buying in), just in case the value drops, but I do really like the idea of taking the power of currency out of the hands of corporate bankers.

Yeah, but into whose hands have you placed it?  If you say your own, then you obviously didn't even read the OP.

I read the OP, and it was well written enough to deserve a full response, but such a response would invariably be as long as that big ass article is and tbh I can't be assed to do it myself.  I like Bitcoin but I'm far from evangelical about it, especially so much so to take on that article, even if I really think it has a lot of things wrong.

To answer your question, the Bitcoins are in a "cold storage" wallet that was created using vanitygen on an old laptop I don't use anymore because the wifi is broken.  The private key went into a safe physical location and the public key is on my phone.  I don't spend coins often enough to warrant a "hot wallet" so I don't bother with one.  Nor do I use any sort of exchange or service or program.

That said, while it's possible the value could drop to 0 at any moment and I don't have shit, I think the potential is worth the risk, as long as the risk is mitigated with knowledge and forethought.

[Faust]

Also wanted to mention, that despite the likely sort of replies this may generate, I quite like Bitcoin and use it often.

Ok, there is one reason to use bitcoins, its not one I would do but it's valid: putting a small amount of money in to anonymously buy drugs was the primary reason the bitcoin flourished.

It's still a flawed concept in that the anonymity doesn't exist, it is very hard to get money into bitcoin without being observed in some digital trace and there are records of every bitcoin transaction so its simply a matter of linking the transaction to a person.

Other than that there is very little that using bitcoin adds.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I'm kind of leaning toward the pro-bitcoin camp, just a teeny bit, on account of - no matter how much of a scam it might be, it's nowhere even close to capitalism which I've been saying for years has to go. Sooner rather than later.

Bitcoin is not perfect but it's a tiny step in the right direction, toward decentralising control. This is one small area which needs to be addressed before we can tackle this utter clusterfuck we currently have going on.

Whilst there is merit in recognising ways in which new tech can be abused, this rarely turns out to be a valid argument against the tech itself. However, it does seem to generate quite a bit of angsty condemnation regardless. PD is no exception to this rule.

When human beings recognise a threat and take steps to avoid it, their brain gives them a cookie

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I'm kind of leaning toward the pro-bitcoin camp, just a teeny bit, on account of - no matter how much of a scam it might be, it's nowhere even close to capitalism which I've been saying for years has to go. Sooner rather than later.

There's an analogy for this that involves swapping a clubhammer for a clawhammer for when you want to smash your junk, but I can't remember how it's worded.  Running from one scam to another isn't an answer, it's just more powerful bad signal.

Bitcoin is not perfect but it's a tiny step in the right direction, toward decentralising control.

Can't speak for Scotland, but we tried decentralized currency here in the USA, for a few years.  It was so bad, we scrapped our first constitution and started over.