2013/11/27 Juan Garofalo <juan.g71@gmail.com>
<l@odewijk.nl> wrote:
> 2013/11/27 Jim Bell <jamesdbell8@yahoo.com>
>
>> This difference is not defined by a law of nature, it is defined by
>> algorithm and software.  And I strongly doubt that many people (other
>> than Satoshi) realized this in 2009.
>
>
> I realized it shortly after reading the paper. Then checked the
> realization for a few days before switching the denomination of my
> savings. 2011

        That's why you whine about bitcoin's 'reputation' being tarnished by evil
drug dealers eh?

I would be totally fine with Bitcoin going darknet. Doesn't lower the value. Problem is that all legitimate dealings are made much harder, and humanity's freedom is decreased significantly. I wouldn't say I whined about it though. And the whole part about evil is just the opinion of the enforced legal system.

Our dear dread pirate was an insane moron for living in America though. That doesn't change at all.

How long's the ponzi scheme going to last though?

This is the kind of scheme that could last indefinitely. I visualize a ponzi scheme as a funnel shaped like piramid growing downwards. Every "brick" layed at the bottom flows some air up and out through the tip. The tip flows towards the creator of the system. All the pieces higher in the piramid get some air too. In bitcoin the hole at the tip is closed. Although the pressure on the top increases (there's some gravity effect) there is no money dissapearing.

There's a significant illusion that everyone involved in the system could "cash out" for a certain price. Market dynamics don't allow such an event to occur though.

You'll note that all commodities follow the same mechanism, except for commodities being translatable to other valueable things intrisically. Currency, USD, EUR, JPY, pretty much all others too, follow the same mechanism completely except for the fact that governments can (and do) choose to inflate a currency.

I answered this extensively because people have become allergic to discussing Bitcoin in the ponzi light. There's definitely similarities between Bitcoin and a Ponzi scheme. It is VITAL to note that every currency has those similarities, but they are not easily seen.

Best regards,
Lewis

ps: thanks for remembering my earlier comments about drug dealers :)