On Wednesday, 25 November 2015 at 02:33:24 UTC, deadalnix wrote:
On Monday, 23 November 2015 at 12:11:36 UTC, Steven
Schveighoffer wrote:
One could ask the same thing about any currency that isn't the
one accepted at a store.
I looked with a tinge of fascination at what bitcoin was a
while ago. I think there is a natural averse reaction to
something that is valuable but that you cannot understand.
Don't be confused. Krugman do not understand bitcoin, but
Krugman think that terrorism and riots are good, that the
internet will never work and that there was no bubble in 2008,
so I think is it fairly secure to ignore him.
I'm not 100% convinced by Krugman in many cases, but I'd say
you'd have to be pretty confident in your own economics knowledge
and intellect to dismiss him entirely, considering his standing
among his - almost by definition also very knowledgable and
intelligent - peers.
Many other economist have model that explain bitcoin's value.
I know bitcoin has real math and genius behind it, and this is
a silly example, but for those who do not understand how it
actually works (including myself), it seems very similar in
nature. Dollars (or whatever local currency you use) are
understandable, and generally accepted at places where I shop.
It's easy to see how one cannot duplicate them without
evidence of doing so (the fundamental characteristic of
currency). Online bits don't seem so uncopyable.
-Steve
Most people to not understand fractional reserve, bond
emission, or how credit card works. I think that's ok.
I think a lot of the nonsense in the public discourse on
economics and associated policy can be attributed to the speaker
not understanding these basic systems, or the target audience not
understanding. Most people don't even know what a bank really is,
but they sure do hate them...
Back to the point, one of the value of bitcoin is to be able to
transfer money internationally easily and for cheap. People
that do have USD to spend on digital mars do not care. People
abroad do care.
Now I don't expect that accepting bitcoin will create a giant
wave of donation, but, if anything, it is always good PR and
not complicated. There is also no reason to refuse a donation
or to make it more complex to do a donation.
Andrei, Walter, if you need help to navigate the bitcoin
ecosystem, you can reach me, I can help.
I agree, bitcoin would be a good donation mechanism to support.