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Captain Ned wrote:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/networks/biggest-bitcoin-exchange-halts-trading-after-price-plummets

Hmm, a decentralized currency loses massive value because the central exchange has tech issues. That's real irony, not Alanis Morissette irony.

Well last time mtgox had issues it was from a DDoS attack that brought it down. This time it was just too many transactions taking place at once. People thought it was another DDoS and a possible theft of bitcoins and started panic selling. Once the snowball starts rolling down hill... it's pretty hard to stop .

CB5000 wrote:

Well last time mtgox had issues it was from a DDoS attack that brought it down. This time it was just too many transactions taking place at once. People thought it was another DDoS and a possible theft of bitcoins and started panic selling. Once the snowball starts rolling down hill... it's pretty hard to stop .

You miss the point. When 80%+ of trades happen on one exchange it's no longer a decentralized currency as advertised.

Captain Ned wrote:

CB5000 wrote:

Well last time mtgox had issues it was from a DDoS attack that brought it down. This time it was just too many transactions taking place at once. People thought it was another DDoS and a possible theft of bitcoins and started panic selling. Once the snowball starts rolling down hill... it's pretty hard to stop .

You miss the point. When 80%+ of trades happen on one exchange it's no longer a decentralized currency as advertised.

o right yea, that's true.

cphite wrote:

As such, gold is a great safety net against runaway inflation, because it retains it's value. We can set aside the argument over it being real intrinsic value or agreed upon value; the point is if you've got a hunk of gold, you've got something that has value in our society, and that will keep that value even as the spending power of the dollar (or whatever your local currency is) decreases.

There's nothing incorrect about this, but the reason goldbugs are considered crazy is that they think that gold is unique for these properties. Inflation protected bonds have the same behavior, along with pretty much everything else of value that doesn't have a fixed currency value, such as real estate and stock.

Captain Ned wrote:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/networks/biggest-bitcoin-exchange-halts-trading-after-price-plummets

Hmm, a decentralized currency loses massive value because the central exchange has tech issues. That's real irony, not Alanis Morissette irony.

It is not a currency. Now it is just another "commodity" that have been taken by outside sources trying to make a buck out of the fools. The currency is valued depending on the overall value of all the other currencies. What I feel bad is that the more people think of this as a commodity the worse as a currency it is. They are hoarding it like it would maintain value and not corrode like fiat paper. The fools! A fairytale!

Do you see people accepting payment in bitcoins for services and goods at a mass level? Would you sell me your rig for 150 bitcoins or 750 dollars? can you order things from amazon with bitcoins? can you go shopping at walmart with bitcoins? can i pay the IRS the taxes that i owe in bitcoins? So it is not currency, simple.

For all the whining that people give to fiat currency, they are still forced to use it, and that is because it is legal tender. Right now, japanese wives are unloading some of their gold jewelry because the yen has fallen and the price of gold risen due to it. And guess what, they are lining to get fiat paper worth nothing but what is printed on but the full faith and credit of the bank of japan! The world moves on faith and credit. Yet these people don't realize that this move by BoJ is devaluing the worth of fiat paper just like the fed with its "quantitative easing". They are running the printing press at full till!

If the world went to the crapper in the next four weeks in a eventual decline of all governments, and the fabric of society ripped apart, do you think people would give you an ounce of water for your precious bit-coins? how about for that fiat paper? How about for that bullion of gold? If that were to happen, the most sensible solution would be to arm yourself to the teeth, and get safe shelter underground, with food that will sustain for at least two years, and a lot of petrol stashed away.