Wired got the get. #bitcoin is now live on @Overstock http://t.co/Idu4eHBned @CadeMetz
— Patrick M. Byrne (@OverstockCEO) January 9, 2014
But is Overstock using Bitcoin as a money, or simply a transfer mechanism? I have already pointed out that in a Twitter exchange with Byrne, he indicated to me that he is converting any bitcoins he receives to dollars (See: Overstock CEO: I May Accept Bitcoins But I Am Not Holding On To Them)But when I pushed Byrne further and asked if Overstock was actually going to price its goods in terms of a fixed amount of bitcoins, which after all is the mark of a money, I have been met with tweet silence.
Bottom line: Bitcoin is more like a volatile travelers check than anything else--and one that is very vulnerable to government regulation. Unless and until we see people agreeing to get wages in fixed amounts of bitcoins and retailers pricing goods in terms of fixed amounts of bitcoins, it is nothing but a volatile method to transfer dollars.
Quite frankly, you have no idea what it is. It just is.
ReplyDeleteLesser media of exchange are priced in terms of more generally-accepted media of exchange. So what? There is no hypothetical scenario in which a medium of exchange could eventually overtake the current money and become a money without going through such a stage.
ReplyDeletePricing in terms of the medium of exchange actually isn't the "mark of a money," though it is a common trait of money. If you're up on your Mises and Menger, you'll remember that the subsidiary functions of money (unit of account being one) are not necessary for something to be the money (the "generally-accepted medium of exchange"), and are in fact severable (as has been seen historically).
Price volatility will slow down only after bitcoin has displaced the dollar as the world reserve currency. That can only happen at a much higher exchange rate.
ReplyDeleteI think there are plenty of people who would love to accept a fixed amount of bitcoins as wages (myself included) but the employers are the people who are hesitant because they inherently know that exchange rates could go much higher - effectively increasing their labor costs.
"Price volatility will slow down only after bitcoin has displaced the dollar as the world reserve currency."
Deletelol
Shitcoins replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency???!! HHAHAHAHA
DeleteNow it's confirmed that Honey Badger is an absolute imbecile that deserves to lose his shirt with shitcoins. That is the most absurd statement anyone has ever made on here. And there have been some doozies! IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
I'll BET MY ENTIRE LIFE SAVINGS, Honey Badger. $250,000 right now. Name the time frame! I want my payment in GOLD. You would never make the bet because you know it'll NEVER HAPPEN. Shitcoins might not even be worth anything as I write this. Idiot!
I would have agreed to get a part of my salary denominated in bitcoins (in addition to the part that is denominated in company stocks and the other parts I'd love to get in physical gold and denominated in it. The bulk would still be un USD to pay for taxes and loans.
ReplyDelete~~YL
They're trying too hard. Increasingly the anti-Bitcoin brigade is sounding like useful idiots.
ReplyDeleteQuite the opposite. Shitcoin-lovers can't see the light at the end of the tunnel is the front of an oncoming train. You guys just keep trying to spin every piece of bad news into gold, when you should just be buying GOLD. You'll stay in it until it's worthless. Which it technically is. Shitcoins...here today gone later today. Don't say you weren't warned. Wenzel is not a stupid man. Listen to him before it's too late. You won't but you should.
DeleteOn CNN, Byrne stated Overstock will hold btc as his suppliers accept it. I bet they heard that. Won't be long now...
ReplyDelete"Nothing backs it but voluntary participation" - oops
"No intrinsic value" - ppphhhhhh, just great value on superior intrinsics -oops
"Central banks deem it not to be currency" - criminals, hypocrites
Bitcoin, its just the best way going to transmit value. It is better money. Get over it.
Hahahahaha. SHITCOINS ARE NOT MONEY!! Get over it.
ReplyDeleteI love it. People like you make others MORE likely to use Bitcoin, because you manage to look so stupid talking about it.
Deleteso 920 people think I'm stupid? who cares. at least I'm not wasting $ on shitcoins and defending them. hey, let's put my hard-earned money into shitcoins and have the price bottom out over night. sounds really "smart." yawn...gotta love the shitcoin defenders. reminds me of anti-IP people. derpy der.
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