[LINK] Bitcoin Virtual Currency

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Agree, Richard .. imho certainly reasonable comments .. 

However, also must say, the general Bitcoin philosophy has some appeal. 

"Nakamoto wanted people to be able to exchange money electronically but 
securely without the need for a third party, such as a bank or a company 
like PayPal. He based Bitcoin on cryptographic techniques that allow you 
to be sure the money you receive is genuine, even if you don't trust the 
sender."

Hence, in a sense, Bitcoin is a metaphore for cash. Now, a bank, credit 
card company & paypal etc claim a cut for ALL online transactions, just 
like in the real world, if we don't pay with cash. So, why shouldn't we
have a virtual 'cash' system, without financial institutions being able
to claim cuts on ALL online transactions? So any Bitcoin-like system is
like Internet cash. And imho, if it's done right, it's good for the net.

In terms of government taxes, maybe the UN would be an appropriate body.

Sure, maybe idealistic .. but isn't that how the net started, and grew?

Cheers,
Stephen



> I don't know about dealing with journalist-enthusiasts, but I've taken 
> a more sceptical position in The Register (excuse the plug):
> 
> www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/08/bitcoin_under_attack/
> and
> www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/14/bitcoin_slump/
> 
> And I certainly see symptoms of enthusiasts at work. Criticism is not 
> welcome.
> 
> Some thoughts.
> 
> 1. Regardless of the things that excite people, the relatively small 
> scale of Bitcoin makes it subject to value manipulation. If traders can 
> damage huge national currencies, then you certainly don't need George 
> Soros scale to play with Bitcoin value. Just buy a small bucket of
> them, and watch the value rise.
> 
> 2. Anybody who thinks it exempts them from local laws is foolish. You 
> have to, at some point, find some way to exchange Bitcoins for a 
> convertible currency. That transaction, in Australia (if a local 
> exchange existed), would attract GST as a starting point, since the 
> Bitcoin exchange is providing a service.
> 
> 3. Anybody joining Bitcoin today is similarly foolish, in my opinion. 
> They are enriching the early adopters, with little prospect of accruing 
> a similar benefit, and they're joining just at that time when 
> authorities are starting to look at ways in which Bitcoin might break 
> laws (eg, money laundering).
> 
> 4. Journalists should be *extremely* wary of becoming Bitcoin boosters. 
> In particular, a journalist who buys Bitcoins and then boosts them is 
> acting unethically.
> 
> 5. I can easily imagine that while Bitcoins are not a currency, they 
> already fill the characteristics of some kind of trading instrument 
that 
> *is* regulated. IANAL, so I don't know what definition might be 
applied, 
> but the idea that they exist outside all regulations is dangerously 
> simplistic.
> 
> The journalist probably wasn't reading a press release, but rather 
> getting swept up in a quite simplistic and unhealthy media frenzy.
> 
> RC
> 
> On 15/06/11 9:15 AM, Tom Worthington wrote:
> > On Mon, 2011-06-13 at 09:27 +0000, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> >> P2P Virtual Currency<http://www.bitcoin.org>  ...
> >> Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer currency. Peer-to-peer means that no 
central
> >> authority issues new money, or tracks transactions.  ...
> > Had a call from a journalist asking about BitCoin a few days ago. They
> > seemed very excited by the idea that it was untraceable and could not 
be
> > exchanged for currency in the real world and therefore was not
> > controllable and transactions were not taxable by governments. I 
started
> > to tell them that Bitcoin was not the first e-currency and that
> > governments have found ways to regulate and tax such systems in the
> > past.
> >
> > The journalist seemed insulted that I did not find Bitcoin as new and
> > exciting as whatever media release they were reading. The call then
> > ended. That may have been due to the interference from all the 
equipment
> > surrounding my office, or the journalist hung up and called someone 
who
> > would agree with whatever they wanted their story to say.
> >
> >
> 
> 
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