I agree with Robin that bitcoin is great as proof of concept that peer-designed and peer-adopted currencies are workable, but, they're conventional design also makes them compatible and not so transformative, but I believe this is a necessary first step ... crowdfunding, social lending are not dissimilar, they distribute and extend the pool, but still work within the existing paradigms; they're only one step forward, not the end-game, Michel On Fri, May 20, 2011 at 10:20 PM, robin <[email protected]> wrote:
On Fri, May 20, 2011 at 8:06 AM, Karl Robillard <[email protected]> wrote:
I don't see how the alternative currency experiments like Bitcoin do anything to help us move to a more egalitarian, steady-state economy.
I don't think so either - because of the way it is designed (as a global and conventional currency). BUT bitcoin does do something else: it shows that it is possible to use p2p technology to actually run a currency. That's a pretty mean thing - and as an experiment it proves pretty succesfull so far. It is pretty wicked to see how I as a participant owe my own wallet for example and can make any bitcoin-payment without commission, and at the same time fully transparant (and if you want anonymous).
That's unique, and as such the technology could maybe also be used in different ways, by smaller communities even? This technology might open up a tremendous amounts of options in the future for your own steady-state economies.
Today though we see Bitcoin being used for an overwhelming amount of speculation, as more and more people step in and supply is limited. 800% increase in just one month is tremendous by the way. Interesting to see what comes next!
http://d2o7bfz2il9cb7.cloudfront.net/main-qimg-61d8b2b4ff677206fd8b5d5288191... See also http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=9098.msg131690#msg131690
The critique in the article quoted by Michel is interesting to read but is argued from a pretty conventional economic perspective. And why would it be a scam if it is pretty clear from the start that it benefits early adapters? And also, why would there not be banks who would start backing it up? As soon as institutions start having a vested interest, they will back it up. And does it actually need any? Only future can tell.
And yes, I do agree that one day bitcoin will go down. But that's only natural. Any currency eventually falls. Some just sooner than others. And maybe one day even a state will start issuing this type of p2p-based currencies.
Robin.
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