Bitcoins or the first decentralized digital currency? anyone is using it?

[matt0611]

Sorry, but gold and silver are "backed" by nothing but subjective value, the same thing that "backs" bitcoins.

People value them to make easy online transactions, therefore they have value.

People value gold and silver to make easy in-person transactions, therefore they have value.

This has been repeated "about a million times on this subforum alone."

FAIL. Nope, that's not the only reason why they value gold and silver.

Its amazing even on a ronpaulforum people don't even understand where the value of money originally comes from.

Whatever, there's like an 80 page thread topic on this so I'm not going to bother to try to convince you people.

If you all want to buy digital tokens with your money more power to you I guess.

[JebSanderson]

I refuse to use it because its not backed by something (like gold certificates) or has artificial legal support (like the fiat USD), its just a meaningless digital token.

I don't trust any currency that isn't physical gold or silver.

[jclay2]

Gold/silver > bitcoins > $. It is that simple. Prioritize accordingly.

[hazek]

Gold/silver > bitcoins > $. It is that simple. Prioritize accordingly.

I agree 100%.

[Mordan]

Gold/silver > bitcoins > $. It is that simple. Prioritize accordingly.

would the fact that bitcoins supply is capped by algorithmic design at 21 millions be an asset compared to Gold/Silver?

Imagine we discover a HHHUUGE gold mine in South Africa. All your gold will be worth less instantly.

[hazek]

It would but does this advantage outweigh the advantage of having a physical form and being hard to destroy? Bitcoins have a lot going for themselves and I'm very bullish on their success but they also face a lot tougher challenges than precious metals. That's why I think precious metals and bitcoins should be viewed as complementary currencies because each have their own advantages and merits.

[S.Shorland]

The crash was caused by a big holder having his computer hacked and his holding sold? Doesn't fill me with confidence.

[FrankRep]

What happens to digital currency when we lose power?

[hazek]

The crash was caused by a big holder having his computer hacked and his holding sold? Doesn't fill me with confidence.

That's not what happened. It only temporarily appeared to have crashed to one cent because of what the hacker did once in control of someone's account at the biggest exchange. Once the exchange rolled back his actions because of their prudent withdrawal limits, the only bitcoins actually stolen were worth about $2000, basically nothing compared to how much they were holding, and the exchange compensated the victim out of their own pocket.

If anything this hack wastly improved the security of Bitcoin exchanges because it woke people up to the very real risks and motivated them to take a lot more precautions to ensure a repeat doesn't happen.

[hazek]

What happens to digital currency when we lose power?

You seriously see a world without power going forward? Do you even realize what that would mean for the world? And even if a doomsday scenario is what completely kills Bitcoin, I'm willing to take the risk of it actually happening and will use them in the meantime.