SwordBrethren wrote:fistofyahweh wrote:As the topic states, I'm just wondering who's participating in the BitCoin craze. I've got a few machines setup to do the mining. At nearly $800 a Bitcoin, I figure I might as well try it and see if I can turn a profit. I'm guessing as long as it's cutting out the Jew Banking System with it's model of decentralized digital currency, I'm willing to give a try..
-FOY
Mining bit-coin is a bit tricky right now, I believe the era of hobbyist/amateur bit-coin mining is pretty much over.
I am thinking about mining feather-coin.
Regarding any of these crypto-currencies, SwordBrethren, why not just buy or trade in some of your spare, paper-fiat currency (while its still perceived to be worth something) for some .999 fine 1-oz silver bullion coins (i.e. American Silver Eagles, Canadian Silver Maples, Austrian Philharmonics, etc.), or .999 fine 1-oz silver bullion rounds and bars (i.e. Johnson matthey, Engelhard, etc.)? Its already been mined for you - in the real sense - and it only costs a bit over $20 right now. Its a tangible asset that you can actually hold in your hands. Its no one else's liability; isn't a promise to be paid later, and has no usury or debt attached to it, unlike all the world's fiat currencies which are created through usury and debt.
I know the claims that Bitcoin is said to be finite - in that there's only supposed to be 20 million 'coins' which can ever be mined - but what is to prevent, later on, the infinite divisibility of these computer-generated, information bits? Silver naturally has this quality of being finite within the earth's crust, and much of the easily mined silver has already been extracted. It has been used up annually by industry, of which nearly all is unrecoverable (at least at current nominal prices), and it hasn't been hoarded like all the gold ever mined throughout history.
There's another problem with Bitcoin which nobody ever seems to address. Many say that Bitcoins cannot be manipulated in price because of their finiteness, decentralization and the assertions of their associated encryption codes said to be unbreakable. Let's say that is truly the case, but this doesn't negate the fact that Bitcoins are bought and sold on the trading platforms/exchanges of various internet sites. This is ABSOLUTELY the point (of weakness) at which prices CAN be manipulated. This process goes unregulated, unchecked, and is not subject to any kind of accountability, to my knowledge. Who or what entities are actually behind the operation of these sites & their trading platforms?
One more thing, shouldn't one very important function of a currency be that it is inherently stable? I don't see that at all here. The price formation or chart pattern has all the hallmarks, IMO, of a speculative bubble which has been unnaturally pumped and primed within the last several months.
Sometimes, the simplest answer has always been there right in front of you. Silver has been used as money for eons because it is money in of itself. (In fact, the oldest recorded transaction in history is in the Book of Genesis, whereby, Abraham bought burial land with silver for his wife.) Silver has all the qualities needed to truly function as money - gold as well. It is portable, divisible, fungible, durable, and a store of value. The only problem is that silver was artificially demonetised, but I believe it will function as a medium of exchange (currency) once again. Nonetheless, silver has proven to preserve one's purchasing power if acquired slowly over time at regular intervals, regardless of any financial manipulation of it's nominal price.
ps. The word for money in a multitude of languages is actually the same word used for silver.