Bitcoin Crash: Beginning Of The End?

[Rart]

Bill Gates did a second Reddit AMA yesterday where he stated there was a good future in "digital currency". He didn't specifically mention Bitcoin or any of the others by name, but that's a pretty good endorsement.

It is a fascinating question, really: Who is trustworthy enough to create the currency of the future, possibly world, economy? M$? Google? The US? China? Some hermit writing code from inside an abandoned building?...

The entire point of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized currencies in which a single party can't control and/or manipulate the currency. It's not really about trust, I think you're thinking of something completely different.

[mjmacky]

It is a fascinating question, really: Who is trustworthy enough to create the currency of the future, possibly world, economy? M$? Google? The US? China? Some hermit writing code from inside an abandoned building?...

The entire point of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized currencies in which a single party can't control and/or manipulate the currency. It's not really about trust, I think you're thinking of something completely different.

That may be the point of cryptocurrency, but the topic has shifted to a future containing a mainstream digital currency. In other words, you weren't really replying to MBM.

[Rart]

The reddit AMA that Skiz is referring to and MBM replied to talks of cryptocurrencies.

Who's talking about creating a new digital currency staffed by a central party? This is news to me.

[IdolEyes787]

The entire point of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized currencies in which a single party can't control and/or manipulate the currency.

Knowing absolutely nothing, to which I remain internally grateful, about bitcoin I'm assuming it's commodity.Therefore it can be controlled by a small group or single party unless the stock market and the entirety of human history has taught me nothing.
Which it hasn't but for the sake of argument let's pretend it has.

Also,without regulation it's subject to being even more abused than legally traded commodities and we already know how abused they are.

[TheFoX]

What about the FSD? (FileSharingDollar)

[megabyteme]

The reddit AMA that Skiz is referring to and MBM replied to talks of cryptocurrencies.

Who's talking about creating a new digital currency staffed by a central party? This is news to me.

Somebody/some agency will create an future digital currency that will be an online standard. I rarely venture into the realm of CIA conspiracy, but the agency is tasked with keeping the status quo. Casting doubt on up-and-comers which rock the boat of the US being the primary (at least one of the "big boys") is in their job description. Currently, the biggest bitcoin market has seen a scandal and another individual has been arrested for money laundering in connection with drug trafficking.

Not only will this new currency face challenges of speculation and doubt from the masses, but also those who piss off already existing money printers face HUGE personal risks (such as sudden loss of breath, or long-term imprisonment).

[Rart]

The entire point of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized currencies in which a single party can't control and/or manipulate the currency.

Knowing absolutely nothing, to which I remain internally grateful, about bitcoin I'm assuming it's commodity.Therefore it can be controlled by a small group or single party unless the stock market and the entirety of human history has taught me nothing.
Which it hasn't but for the sake of argument let's pretend it has.

Also,without regulation it's subject to being even more abused than legally traded commodities and we already know how abused they are.

It's a currency, not a commodity.

I'm sure if someone had enough money and time, they someone could perhaps buy enough bitcoins to have an influence on it. Then again there are 10 billion dollars worth of bitcoins out there, so you'd need a lot of money. You'd also need people willing to give you bitcoins. If someone was trying to sweep them all up people would begin to notice very quickly since all transaction are publically recorded.

And what I mean remaining decentralized is that it can't be controlled to nearly the extent of say, the US government has on the USD. Sure some organizations might be able to affect prices or whatnot with certain actions (ie MtGox going offline recently) but not nearly to the extent with which America can control the US dollar. They can print money, issue bonds, pump money into the economy, take it back out, etc. etc. No one has that sort of power over Bitcoin.

And yes without regulation it does have the potential to be abused. But that's what people like about it. No one can really control what they do with it. It has it's benefits and drawbacks for sure.

[Vestibule]

A new currency is coming... one that will eventually be the world standard and one that no man may be able to buy or sell.... err... wait a minute... didn't mean to go there..
Anyways I think Bitcoin won't last simply because the powers that be want to bring in something of their own creation... and one that they can control. The Quark currency will, I believe be the one to reckon with... here is how it matches against Bitcoin.

http://www.quarkcoins.com/bitcoin-vs-quarkcoin.html

Maybe not in our lifetime... but then again... you just need one staged event on par with ... lets say... 911... to usher in a whole new paradigm... why then, of course... for the sake of freedom everywhere... enslave us with your currency!

[Rart]

Currently, the biggest bitcoin market has seen a scandal and another individual has been arrested for money laundering in connection with drug trafficking.

I mean I kind of view the drug trafficking thing as inevitable. When theres a way to make money easily, there will people that want to make money easily. Drug trafficking happens with USD too, but I don't people decrying that it should be discontinued. Also if you're referring the recent Mtgox issue as the "scandal", I wouldn't really consider it a scandal. Just a popular bitcoin exchange site went down temporarily, and a lot of people panicked.

Personally I don't really like the idea of using Bitcoin right now as it is rather volatile and the value can rise and fall greatly on any given day. It's kind of like investing. It has it's merits though and when/if it becomes more stable I can definitely see it becoming much more widely accepted thing.

[mjmacky]

The reddit AMA that Skiz is referring to and MBM replied to talks of cryptocurrencies.

Who's talking about creating a new digital currency staffed by a central party? This is news to me.

If you aren't sure about who was talking about it, maybe you should have quoted skiz instead of MBM.

Then again, this recommendation might be for naught since you only seem to take in the words of external sites. I'll write an article on a news site about how posts in forums create their own context. Would you read an article from The Onion?