I'm curious if anyone has been involved in the BitCoin market? I'm trying to get my head around understanding Bitcoin's application other than what's explained in the Wikipedia. At this time there aren't any retailers that accept Bitcoins. I believe it's more in the realm of a fanbase trade and echange just yet. Interesting concept to have a currency that's not fixed and can be user valued.
A Youtube video on Bitcoins here, Yale law student's paper on legal aspects of Bitcoins here, And here is a site that promotes the use of Bitcoins.
Although I think the idea is unique, I could see market manipulation just like regular money. In this system, just as in regular money markets, there's is both value and volume to manipulate. But, this is probably something we'll see more of in the future though.
Interesting?
Bitcoin is already being investigated for money laundering - more accurately pretty much every senior person involved with Bitcoin has been subpoenaed over it's money laundering controls (or lack thereof).
http://tinyurl.com/l32q2ku
If you google "bitcoin money laundering" without the quotes you'll get dozens of hits.
BTW, if anyone thinks that simply being investigated over your money laundering controls (or lack thereof) is a "minor" thing you might want to read this:
Bitcoin is great. I know of a health good / grocery store and a couple restaurants that take it here in BC. Wordpress and other online services accept it too.
I think this article gives a good description about how it works.
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/47135650437/are-bitcoins-the-future
The crooks on Wall St., Bay St., and the City seem to have the bitcoin market cornered now. I would stay well away from it.
Germany Recognizes Bitcoin as 'Private Money'
http://rt.com/news/bitcoin-germany-recognize-currency-641/
"Bitcoin has been recognized for legal and tax purposes in Germany, making it the first country to take an official stance on the status of using the online currency as money. Berlin has acknowledged the virtual tender as a 'currency unit' and 'private money', according to German newspaper Die Welt..."
Bitcoin now at $1,000 with more restaurants and bars in Vancouver accepting it every day.
Newsweek: [url=http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html]The Face Behind Bitcoin[/url]
The CEO of a virtual currency exchange was found dead near her home in Singapore.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bitcoin-exchange-first-meta-ceo-autumn-radtke-found-dead-1.2562077
Libertarians: We believe that money needs to be based on the gold standard, otherwise it's just made-up fiat currency. That's why we put all our money into bitcoins
Bitcoin is for more than Libertarians.
It's also for Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts.
Not just libertarians. Also drug dealers, child pornographers, money launderers, and a special kind of morons who would invest thousands of dollars something called Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange and then wonder why they lost all their money.
Software freedom activist Richard Stallman on Bitcoin.
Disappointing to hear this kind of slagging from you. You sound like Vic Toews. Drug dealers and child pornographers!
Actually its true, places like Silk Road loved them and Drugs and Porn and even oher worse dealings used them
Yeah but all those things use cash too.
What about Mazacoin?
I'd also like to mention, when it comes to money laundering, Bitcoin doesn't really enable that.
Mostly I think people just don't have much understanding of the technology.
That's true. I think it's also true that if people feel they can't control how technology is used by individuals (or subpopulations of individuals), many of them get nervous.
I don't think there's much of an understanding of what a game changer bitcoin is. And if there's any political philosophy I'd associate with it, it is anarchism.
But this isn't just some libertarian fad. The value of bitcoin isn't the speculative number on an exchange, it is in the code. It is about the technology.
Tomorrow’s Apps Will Come From Brilliant (And Risky) Bitcoin Code
I'm happy to to give my take on any questions babblers have about bitcoin, but have assumed by the general hostility of some responses that people aren't really interested.
I wouldn't be interested in having a conversation about investing in gold & silver bars. It's too bad that's how people understand bitcoin.
Between Vancouver and Burnaby there are at least a dozen restaurants that accept bitcoin now. http://coinmap.org/
All right, lets look at the three purposes of money here.
1. Money as a medium of exchange. Bitcoin does this well for some people - drug dealers and other unsavoury types who need to transfer large sums of money discretely. For the rest of us, it kind of sucks because we can't exchange it at very many places. On a weekly basis, I need to exchange money for goods at places other than those dozen restaurants in Vancouver.
2. Money as a store of value. Bitcoin fails at this because it's too volatile. And this is even before we take into account people storing their value in bitcoins and then storing those bitcoins in reliable places such as Magic: the Gathering Online Exchange without the pesky big-brother government throwing up a bunch of red tape and regulations like deposit insurance.
3. Money as a measure of value. Again, Bitcoin fails at this because it's too volatile. Were I selling stuff, I wouldn't price things in bitcoins because it's so volatile that I'll have to go around changing the pricetags on everything. I'm guessing that those restaurants in Vancouver that accept bitcoin probably do their prices in $CAD and simply look up the bitcoin exchange rate of the day if someone happens to come in wanting to buy a sandwich with bitcoins.
Anyways, since you said you're answering questions about Bitcoin, I have one. You say that the value of bitcoin "isn't the speculative number on an exchange, it is in the code. It is about the technology."
So, here's a graph of the value of bitcoin and trading volumes over the past six months: http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/bitstampUSD#rg180ztgSzm1g10zm2g25zv
If the value is in the code, why did the value of a bitcoing go from $100 to over $1100 to $600 in just six months? What changed in the code and the technology to make bitcoin worth 11x as much, then lose half that value, over a period of six months?
And, why does that chart look suspiciously like the value is being driven by speculation, with big changes in value largely coinciding with high-volume days?
No doubt the value has been driven by speculation, as well as events such as exchanges going under and government regulroy bodies commenting (and the resultant speculation--this happens with national currencies too). For the geeks, the speculative aspect is viewed as, at best, an unsavoury side effect which is at least driving adoption for now.
Yes, as more people have started hearing about it, there have been waves of speculators. That's what tends to happens when people get the impression they know about "the next big thing". I suppose that's what makes it easy to criticize--that all it is is hype about being the next big thing. But it's not the speculators and libertarians who are building the code. It's geeks.
I don't think volatility will be an issue long term. Other things may be, but volatility will not. The volatility is there because nobody really knows what will happen with it.
You are right that many venues that do take bitcoin convert to CAD right after the transaction. There are a bunch of tools that make this pretty easy. But I think most businesses that do accept bitcoin as payment keep some amount of it.
Your options to purchase locally with bitcoin are limited. It looks like only the mattress chain Best Sleep Centre is taking it in Winnipeg. ETA: Santa Lucia Pizza and Plato's Cave also accept it.
I do know of a grocery store that accepts it.
At one point businesses didn't take interac. Then it became available, and now everybody takes interac. That there are no businesses near you that accept bitcoin as payment isn't a very hard problem to solve.
Interac was not a new currency. It was the same old currency being moved in a new way. You want Bitcoin to be stable...tie it's value to an existing currency.