Question: If you had bitcoins and wanted to cash out, how and where would you do it? Is there a central place that controls the supply, or would you sell them to another collector?
It does because the world says and believes it does. And that belief is backed by stability (in that we don't have coups or dictator run governments that engage in erratic behavior or things like genocide against opposing groups) and power (economic and military).
I know that we have advanced past it but my tiny mind actually can make sense of something like the gold standard. I do not understand all ofthe intricacies of the current system but it at least has some backing from the government and economy of the nation. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies just seem to be based mostly on emotion, fairy dust and powdered unicorn horn. That makes it difficult for me to get behind it...
All I see is a fictional product that people can buy in limited numbers using real money. What's the catch? Is it not taxed? Is it easier to launder real money with bitcoins? I don't get it.
Japan recognizes bitcoin as a legal method of payment. How about that for backing from a government? I do agree that it is highly speculative right now but as in all things volatile only spend what you can afford to lose. So far I've been lucky. Bitcoin gets its value from what other currency's get their value from, whether it's World of Warcraft credits, dollar bills, gold or puka shells; people assign value to it and exchange it.
Agreed. People pay good actual currency money to buy fucking special "items" in a make believe game about wizards. Hell, people buy fake chips on a poker app that never pays anything of real value. Anything can technically be worth anything if somebody values it that way. Currencies of nations have had hundreds of years to find that balance though... the speculation is what gets me.
I'm not sure you and I are agreeing on what intrinsic value is. An old coin has intrinsic value because it's worth more than the metal it is made of and the face value of that coin. Gold is valuable because of its use in other things besides a form of value related to the dollar. If the world decided that the dollar wasn't valuable anymore you couldn't buy anything with the value of linen and paper in your pocket.
Try to go into Best Buy and get a big screen with your gold coin. I understand what you are saying but currency is a medium for exchange in addition to a holder of value. For Bit Coin to go tits up takes....? For the US dollar to go tits up takes a major war or more. For the world to decide it has no value means the world no longer needs our products or services. Oh and does not want to sell theirs here. Add in that US companies are valuated in $ so stocks. So no they cannot be sold for scrap but there is a intrinsic value. Again what backs Bit Coins?