Yet more Bitcoin!

[State-God]

I figured Seth might like this.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_9R45RLNR0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_9R45RLNR0</a>

[bsg1206]

This is why I have no Bitcoin. Until I can buy real everyday stuff with them I'm not wasting my "real" money.

[dpalme]

What is everyday stuff for you? If you spend a few minutes and look, you can find plenty of everyday things.

[bsg1206]

Gas, groceries, dinner and a movie, etc.

[bsg1206]

I guess basically I'm not convinced its here to stay or that other people will jump on the bandwagon. I don't like that its not based on any commodities.

[State-God]

I guess basically I'm not convinced its here to stay or that other people will jump on the bandwagon. I don't like that its not based on any commodities.

I get the feeling. I'll probably stick it out a little longer and see how it goes- personally I think it's safer to invest in a currency that 12,000 years of humans say is a currency rather than one ~10 years of humans say is.

[Amagi]

This is why I have no Bitcoin. Until I can buy real everyday stuff with them I'm not wasting my "real" money.

You can purchase pizza from Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's (http://pizzaforcoins.com/). You can purchase Amazon Gift Cards, itunes gift cards, computer equipment, and gold and silver. I've even seen cars for sale for BTC. Nice cars.

[Seth King]

I think what you guys are missing is that even if gold and silver were widely accepted as money, which they clearly aren't, you would still rely on electronic ledgers.

Say I deposit 20 ounces of silver in my bank. And I want to buy something from a company three thousand miles away. Do you think my bank is going to take 5 ounces of silver from my account, stick it in an envelope, and mail it three thousand miles?

No, they're going to credit the other guy's account with 5 ounces of silver. Do you think they're going to carve it into stone? Put it on a piece of paper? Or do you think they're going to use computers and electronic ledgers to keep a tally on who owns what?

So, unless you want to go back in time a few hundred years and physically move pieces of metal all around the world in order to PAY somebody, you're going to need electronic ledgers.

And now you need to ask yourself, do you trust a bank's electronic ledger? You know, one that is secret and manipulable by a small group of people, or one that is written in free and open source software, where EVERYBODY has a copy of the ledger and counterfeiting is impossible? And don't give me any lip about encryption being breakable, because the banks don't have any encryption better than we do.

[Disengage]

I don't like that its not based on any commodities.

And the US Dollar is based on...?!

Violence.   It's based on violence.   And violence is not a commodity.

Seriously, I'd rather use a currency based on absolutely NOTHING than one that is based on the threat of violence (i.e. all fiat currencies).    Now, whether bitcoin is based on literally nothing, or, instead, is based on the computational difficulty of a particular math problem AND on the average cost of hardware and electricity used to mine BTC is an entirely different discussion.   Short version:  some people would take exception to the assertion that BTC is based on nothing.     

Until I can buy real everyday stuff with them I'm not wasting my "real" money.

I suppose you could put your money into bullion.   In fact, I strongly suggest that you do.   But you aren't going to go out and drop two silver eagles into a gas pump to fill up your car.    You aren't going to take a gold coin down to the loan office to make your monthly mortgage payment.     In order to spend this REAL money on REAL things, you will need to transform it into fiat currency first.    Why do you expect bitcoins to be any different?