BitCoin

Quote: bigfoot66

I outlined some reasons earlier:
You can buy illegal drugs with bitcoin.
You can circumvent currency controls and move money freely across international borders.
You can move money freely and anonymously and perhaps avoid taxes.
If you do accept bitcoin as payment the payer cannot "chargeback" without your consent.
You can legally (at least for now) gamble online with bitcoins.
Ben Bernake can't inflate bitcoins.
And all of this without transaction fees.

Damn, next time I get caught in a riot I am going to put a sign on my back that says "Don't Shoot. Will pay bitcoin."

Quote: bigfoot66

I outlined some reasons earlier:
You can buy illegal drugs with bitcoin.
.

The guy standing on the corner in the hood
selling crack takes Bitcoin? Really? I'd bet real
money he's never heard of it.

Quote: EvenBob

The guy standing on the corner in the hood
selling crack takes Bitcoin? Really? I'd bet real
money he's never heard of it.

They sure do, if you don't believe me go up to a couple of them and ask. I bet they have the app on their iphone.

Quote: Maverick17

They sure do, if you don't believe me go up to a couple of them and ask. I bet they have the app on their iphone.

I have to agree with you. To people in the business whose lives are very much on the line because of the difficulties in moving cash, I bet they are all over this story. It's not a question of them being tech savvy, it's there wet dream.

"This is the first way Bitcoin will suddenly be worthless. Once some drug dealer trading it in Bitcoins is tracked down, it’s going to make other drug dealers skittish. Demand will drop… and Bitcoins, already pretty volatile, will drop with it. It may not kill Bitcoin entirely but it will kill a large part of the appeal....All it will take for Bitcoin to be worthless is one breach. Once the community realizes that it could lose all their coins in an instant, the value will drop like a rock. And make no mistake. It may not happen tomorrow, it may not happen next week, but it will happen. And once it happens, that’s the end of Bitcoin.'

http://www.uproxx.com/technology/2012/08/this-is-whats-really-going-to-happen-to-bitcoin/#ixzz2PkLbpvR6

I just started reading about this and to me it's like a baseball card or any other collectible. It's value is whatever the next guy will give you for it. Personally I won't be owning any as I don't believe the system is on the level and I think the fad will eventually fade. (Yes yes I know the current US banking/federal reserve system isn't exactly on the level either, but it's the devil you know versus the devil you don't)

The article I read talked about how you can write computer programs to 'mine' (create?) bit coins by solving complex math problems. How is that different from a government or reserve bank printing money?

Uhm. Yeah. I got in at $135 and thought it would head to $70.

If I bought more now, I'd expect it to go to $100, but I'd probably be wrong again. But that's the sort of wrong I don't mind being.

The total amount of bitcoin is limited, and cannot be easily added to. The amount added is not under control of one central reserve, but by the number of people wanting to mine coins.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2013/04/05/krugman-baby-sitting-co-op-bitcoin/

Quote: EvenBob

The guy standing on the corner in the hood
selling crack takes Bitcoin? Really? I'd bet real
money he's never heard of it.

I provided a link earlier in the thread.