What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

[Arthur Dent]

Apart from that, regarding it's drop in value, I'm not sure it's value relative to the dollar is relevant at this point.

Seems like it would matter a lot. Checking out that t-shirt website, it looks the prices are actually in British Pounds. You have to pay the number of equivalent bitcoins based on the current exchange rate.

[Mary1966]

One of Bitcoin's well known uses is for buying illegal drugs. The website for the Silk Road is one of the main takers of Bitcoins.

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/travel ... h-bitcoins

It would seem that it's better than money for this purpose because it's anonymous.

[Schlich]

Well that's certainly interesting.

[Freed Roger]

bitcoin related

FBI shuts alleged online drug marketplace, Silk Road

"Silk Road has emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet today," FBI agent Christopher Tarbell said in the criminal complaint.

The site was used by "several thousand drug dealers" to sell "hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs," he said.

The site, which has operated since early 2011, also offered tutorials on hacking ATM machines, contact lists for black market connections and counterfeiters, and guns and hit men for sale, according to the charges.

More than 900,000 registered users of the site bought and sold drugs using the digital currency Bitcoin. In recent media reports about the growing popularity of Bitcoin, the Silk Road website has emerged as part of a darker side to the use of digital currencies.

BITCOIN CONNECTION

During the raid, authorities seized $3.6 million worth of bitcoin, which was used instead of cash or credit cards to complete transactions on Silk Road.

The charges against Ulbricht said his website generated sales of more than 9.5 million bitcoin, roughly equivalent to $1.2 billion.

Authorities seized the currency by taking control of the digital "wallets" Silk Road used to store bitcoin.

[pioneer98]

This is perfect....Introducing, DOGECOIN:

[JCShutout]

http://reallifecomics.com/comic.php?com ... ber-7-2013

[heyzeus]

So the coffeeshop I sometimes stop at here in Austin just got itself a Bitcoin ATM. It looks like this.



Ok. So you can...print out...your bitcoins? I thought the point was that it was virtual and therefore not a fixed medium?

Fine. Maybe I want a printout of bitcoins. How do I do that? Just follow these simple instructions!



Oh Jesus Christ. Really? When I already have a credit card, a debit card, and now there are secure payment systems on my phone that simply require downloading an app and hitting "pay?" You expect me to do all this [expletive] just so I can put my real money backed by the Federal Reserve into some speculative make-believe currency that might be worth $100 today and then be completely valueless tomorrow when the douchebag hacker in a fedora and ponytail who runs the exchange has a coding oopsie?

[pioneer98]

LOL

"I don't like normal currency because there are too many privacy concerns. Hold on while I send someone a photo of myself, a photo ID and 4 palm scans so I can buy some Bitcoin."

[ghostrunner]

I know you're just ranting zeus, and it seems (and is) ridiculous in many ways, but I also kind of enjoy the hostility it generates just by existing. I also like that it creates some discussion about what currency is. I think we could benefit from a similar examination of the currency we're used to. When I started looking into Modern Monetary Theory after the discussion here a few years ago, it was eye-opening to consider the origins of our money and the idea of currency in general.

[heyzeus]

I know you're just ranting zeus, and it seems (and is) ridiculous in many ways, but I also kind of enjoy the hostility it generates just by existing. I also like that it creates some discussion about what currency is. I think we could benefit from a similar examination of the currency we're used to. When I started looking into Modern Monetary Theory after the discussion here a few years ago, it was eye-opening to consider the origins of our money and the idea of currency in general.

The currency we have is impressively malleable. In short time, ie the last 15 years, we've gone from a paper and coin currency to its full scale electronic conversion. First with debit cards, now with electronic payment systems like paypal that allow money to be exchanged from your phone or other device, instantly. I wouldn't say I'm hostile to the idea of different currencies; I'm skeptical of the NEED for an unregulated currency like bitcoin when payment systems using the dollar are inherently flexible.

But then, I don't buy and sell drugs or child porn online, so I'm not too concerned about my purchases potentially being tracked.