"People who do math don't have credit card debt."

[freebeard]

Though I admit the receptionist at my vet admired the cute little picture on the REI-branded card I'm using these days.

She was just coming on to you.

$TUDENT LOAN$ = Knowledge ain't cheap!

It's a hard lesson, finding out the sort of world they are prepping you for.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by freebeard

She was just coming on to you.

Doubt that. Even if I were to neglect all past experience, she was probably early 20s, and I show no obvious signs of wealth.

[freebeard]

I was trying to sound hopeful; but, yeah, I'd think the same thing in that situation.

...it's worked for me so far.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Not nonsense, math. It's been a white since I read the White Paper, and I forget the mechanism, but to increase the total number of blocks would require either a fork or consensus.

Don't forget that about 20% [citation needed] of all Bitcoin have been lost. The original (8 million?) in the very first block, assigned to Satoshi Nakamoto, have never been touched.

Bitcoin is destined to run the way of used cars, which is to say that if they are no longer made, they will disappear.

Since Bitcoin is untraceable, what happens to Bitcoin owned by people that die? If nobody knows that the deceased had Bitcoin, it seems it would be lost for sure. Even if someone does know the deceased had Bitcoin, how would they gain ownership through the will?

[freebeard]

Bitcoin won't rust.

Lost Bitcoins: 4 Million Bitcoins Gone Forever Study Says | Fortune

Just as gold bars are lost at sea or $100 bills can burn, bitcoins can disappear from the Internet forever. When all 21 million bitcoins are mined by the year 2040, the actual amount available to trade or spend will be significantly lower.

According to new research from Chainalysis, a digital forensics firm that studies the bitcoin blockchain, 3.79 million bitcoins are already gone for good based on a high estimate—and 2.78 million based on a low one. Those numbers imply 17% to 23% of existing bitcoins, which are today worth around $8,500 each, are lost.

A 'bigger' problem is Bitcoin whales:
https://bloomberg.com:The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40 Percent of the Market

[gone-ot]

The "Golden Rule" applied to Bitcoins: The Golden holders of "Many" rule the Plumbum holders of "few"...ie: "The RICH get richer as the POOR get poorer."

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

"The RICH get richer as the POOR get poorer."

Now how do the poor get poorer from bitcoin? Unless they're fool enough to buy some, and hold them until the bubble bursts. But the odds are probably better than with lottery tickets,

Anyone else remember Beanie Babies? Or the classic Dutch Tulip madness?

[freebeard]

Why the obsession with bubbles?

One could resolve blocks with a stylus on clay tablets, it would just be very unwieldy. One can move one's entire holdings to another crypto-currency with a single transaction. The only danger is at the interface with legacy currencies.

A 'Bitcoin' isn't money. It's an assertation of trust. Is that so hard?

[gone-ot]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Now how do the poor get poorer from bitcoin? Unless they're fool enough to buy some, and hold them until the bubble bursts. But the odds are probably better than with lottery tickets,

Anyone else remember Beanie Babies? Or the classic Dutch Tulip madness?

The MANY control the "value" of the holdings of the FEW.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Why the obsession with bubbles?

Not obsession, simply pointing out that the recent extreme rise in bitcoin price bears all the classic signs of a bubble.

There might be some underlying worth to bitcoins, just as there is to tulip bulbs, but that worth is irrelevant in the current market. The price is being driven upwards by specualtion.