Comments & Replies on Steemit to my Post Bitcoin Ace.

Comments & Replies on Steemit to my Post Bitcoin Ace.

rizalmahrez (39)

  ·  2 days ago
your post is very interesting. @ijavee
but I want to ask you, how do you think about the development of 2018 bitcoin price in the future?
I just want to survey some people

@ijavee (58)  ·  2 days ago
Thank you. I don't know where the price of Bitcoin is going in 2018.Up and down volatility is a certainty for some time. There are some astonishing forecasts being made as you know.$100,000 within 10 years I've seen.Also 1 Million ! Have you read the book by Sam Volkering.Very knowledgeable and with a few years experience of Bitcoin -

 A quote and a Bitly link to an article here - CRYPTO BOOK: why cryptocurrencies will replace the existing financial system

http://bit.ly/2BPZcFI

jlsplatts (53)

  ·  2 days ago
It’s either their worst nightmare or they created it to get everyone to go 100% digital. Just my .02.
Bitcoin isn’t goin anywhere, it is here to stay.

ijavee (58)  ·  2 days ago
Thank you. Yes I think there will be much discussion in bank boardrooms about the looming dark,threatening shadow of Cryptocurrencies. Publicly they convey an air of indifference, as if it's a pesky pest they can swat away.But I doubt if there is much they can do, other than pressure government to ban or throttle it with legislation

jlsplatts (53)

  ·  2 days ago
Oh ya there will be legislation guaranteed!! They will throw the kitchen sink at this one, as it gets bigger and bigger they will feel the pressure.

ijavee (58)  ·  yesterday
Sorry jlsplatts. I seem to have missed replying to your excellent 'Throw the kitchen sink' comment. That, and 'Toys out of the pram',we are going to see in spades - Coming Soon!

izolith (25)

  ·  2 days ago
Pretty sure Ripple is up for this task. It's centralized as i heard, but with the help of Ripple transactions will take a few seconds instead of a few hours (or days).
If banks want to stay in the game they'll have to adopt Ripple (or another cryptocurrency if a better one arises)

ijavee (58)  ·  2 days ago
Thank you. I've heard a lot of good things about Ripple, and I need to look further into it. For me the outstanding reason for financial Cryptos to do well is because as I put in my post, their universal ability to speedily process foreign transactions.I like Ethereum because it is the Crypto for Business and is growing in popularity with both National and International companies for processing Contracts on the Blockchain.

The-ivor (55)

  ·  yesterday
OP’s post mentioned Bitcoin being born as an alternative to bank money. Yes and no... it’s really a apolitical money taking financial control fraud away from governments and their buddies in the revolving door of govt-corp-central bank. Bitcoin bypasses their favorite tool, the printing press.

ijavee (58)  ·  18 hours ago
Thank you.I agree about the common government practice of printing money. Quantative Easing is the name they give it I understand. Sounds better than Debt. As someone brought up to believe - Save a penny over income, result happiness - Spend a penny over income, result misery, I just can't fathom how US & UK national debt will ever be paid off ? Is a lot of misery waiting for future generations down the line ?

the-ivor (55)

  ·  7 hours ago
Their plan is to have all the boats sink simultaneously so that nobody can jump ship for another. They didn’t plan on the Internet and its cypherpunks coming up with an end-around.
The thing I most admire about this new science fiction paradigm called Bitcoin that we are building is that it has expanded the collective consciousness into contemplating new possibilities for the shape of our future. Until this happened, I think ‘the man’ was pretty comfortable with the power structure... but shit happens.

ijavee (58)  ·  4 minutes ago
I'm not sure that Bitcoin will become the alternative finacial system.It seems there are too many issues grumbling away in the background -
Transaction charges too high - Processing too slow - Limited scope to scale to handle increasing demand. It's one of the drawbacks of being first.
Those coming after benefit from seeing the problems with the original.
The important invention in my view is the Blockchain.It provides ways and means to be independent of the financial institutions.
Bigger and better Cryptocurrencies will evolve.

  ·  2 days ago
Ripple and Stellar Lumens will probably play a large role in the inter-bank payment system. In the end, that is fine with overall costs of (international and national) payments decreasing.
For those that want to pay outside of the banking system, numerous crypto networks already exist (Bitcoin, Ethereum, dark coins like Sumokoin, DeepOnion and Monero) and will continue to exist. I also expect exchanges and/or crypto credit card providers to merge into or move towards becoming payment hubs, providing for Lightning Network type of payments between their users and - in the end - globally between those payment hubs.
Crypto is slowly merging into the existing world and the existing world is slowly (but slower than crypto) merging into the crypto world.

ijavee (58)  ·  2 days ago
Thank you. It is good to hear that competition is already causing banking charges to decrease. Your description of the slowly melding of the Crypto and orthodox financial worlds already going on, is interesting. I did not expect it to be bloodless !

  ·  yesterday
Well said. Some days ago my sister transferred money into my account and when I checked my balance, it had already gone below 0 before the transfer which meant I was already owing the bank. For what? ATM card maintenance fees, SMS alert fees, OTP fees and a bunch of other stuff I don't know plus VAT for each fee charged.
It's just sad and ridiculous. I think Bitcoin will be around for a very long time

ijavee (58)  ·  yesterday
Hear Hear. Thank you. Banks have never faced real competition ever before. There are signs that they are waking up to the fact that Bitcoin is here to stay and poses a big challenge to their monopoly.I think it is inevitable that they will lose most if not all of foreign exchange transactions,for the reasons in my post.This will force them to concentrate hard on their domestic market, and offer service with a capital S to customers for the first time,and about time!

This Banks V Bitcoin is rousing some comment on Steemit!

This Banks V Bitcoin is rousing some rousing comment on Steemit!

Here's the link -

https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@ijavee/is-this-the-bitcoin-ace#comments

Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Website for Sale !

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 and the potential for growth is enormous.

Things being said -

7 reasons why you need to put some of your wealth into cryptocurrencies

Scarcity: only a finite amount of bitcoin can ever exist.

Decentralised: no central bank has any influence.

Borderless: cryptocurrencies can be transferred directly to a buyer anywhere, instantly.

Alternative financial system: cryptocurrencies could replace the current distorted system in the long term.

Unregulated market: there are incredible opportunities to make money.

Support: major corporations are backing cryptocurrencies.

Adoption increasing: as more people start using cryptocurrencies, its value grows too.

Sam Volkering: “I certainly am of the belief that, long term, this is going to become the financial system that we use around the world.”

Many influential people in Finance and Business are confident that Major Financial Transactions and Contracts in the near future will be in Cryptocurrencies and on The Blockchain 

No sales to date. I am not able to give the website the attention and energy needed, due to my age (91).

Enquiries to ivorvale@gmail.com

Will also be advertised on Ebay.

Tees - His N Her Now - Get Our Tees On

Christmas - A few Worms of Wisdy (Unwinese)

Happy Christmas Everyone

Busy day to day,but I will have a cracker of a post for after Christmas

In the meantime,a few worms from the Professor that highlight how good it is for most of us.

A Chrimbold Caroloder

Inspirey by Charley Dicker

Ebenezey Scroogeloder sat all two-square on the botty by the flickery light of a candlopper, all scowlage on the facebole and grumpymost there.

In a far corm of the room, shivery and cloudymost of the breathloder, Bobly Cratcher all scribbly with a quill-pen in the gloomy.

“I suppole you expeckly day off tomorrole, Cratcher” said Scroogeloder.

“Well it is Chrimbole Sir” says Cratcher, all mumbly and averty eye contacker.

“Chrimbole?

 Humbugly!”

http://hisnherteeshirts.com

'Blimey- It's Christmas Eve and I haven't bought the presents Yet"

Not to worry.Jane MacDonald in her TV programme last night eased my guilt saying that I am typical of the male,and the following scenario is played out by most men on the day before Christmas every year !

'Blimey- It's Christmas Eve and I haven't bought the presents Yet" Light bulb moment of inspiration -I'll pop to the garage shop'. Where the shelves are empty except for some Christmasy Patterned packs of Tampax Sanitary Towels,and Jump Leads!

Bitcoin

Here is a video on Bitcoin,whose price has been savaged in the past 2 days by traders who had bought low, selling high and taking profits for Christmas.Always expected.

My Bitcoin BTC account is down of course,but my Bitcoin Cash BCC is up by a few points and so is my Steem Dollars SBD.Weird - swimming against the tide like that,but welcome. Could all change again in the next minute,that's how volatile cryptocurrencies are,and likely to be for some time.

Here is the latest bitcoin video -

If it doesn't run - Here's the link -  https://youtu.be/eyS-aki7W94

I'm trying my hand at video making.Very enjoyable, but much to learn.This is latest attempt. Terrible,but progress is made by doing!

The Presenter introducing the video comes with the script that I chose.He reminded me of Julian and Sandy in the Round The Horn Sketches.Iv'e put a video lower down.see if you think the same ?

Again, if it doesn't run,here is the link - https://youtu.be/_i8T0R1uwkM

Julian and Sandy -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lyem4h4rZo&sns=em

Why Bitcoin * Cryptos are in a Catch 22

Why Biticoin & Cryptos are in a 'Catch 22' !

ijavee (58) in bitcoin •  3 hours ago

_

image credit Nick Anderson,
Why Biticoin & Cryptos are in a 'Catch 22' !

'Catch 22' - Where something is such a success that success overwhelms it.

'A victim of their own success' - Similar

And -

'Hoist by their own Petard' - 'Hoist by their own petard' (modified) is a 'Shakespearean idiom from Hamlet meaning "to cause the bomb maker to be blown up with his own bomb"

The Crypto exchanges are also in a 'Chicken or Egg' dilemma. To maintain and improve their market position they need to accept the daily exponentially increasing hordes of new customer applications whilst recruiting and training staff to handle the work.

If they accept new customer applications but subject them to long approval delay,they risk losing them,and if they stop accepting new applications while they recruit and train new staff...... you get the picture ?

I have been driven to distraction this past couple of days trying to get verification for my Cryptocurrency accounts with Bittrex and Coinbase.I was driven to shouting a rude word at one point- Bum!

I have some bitcoin in Bittrex and have basic verification,but I can't withdraw without enhanced verification.I've been wrestling to do that with several attempts.

Part of it may be my fault because of unsteady hands holding my driving licence up to the webcam,and also hitting wrong keys and tabs through old age and increasing rage.

Then a message saying because of high demand apologies are offered if service is not as expected,but extra staff are being recruited and trained.

I want to buy a computer programme but payment from UK residents can only be in Ethereum from Coinbase.I have a Basic coinbase account but guess what ? To buy and withdraw I need to be enhanced - I've never been so insulted - I know the retort to that is -'Oh you must have been'. I'm not pretty - but!

It's a paradox - I wan't first grade security on my accounts, but Crypotocurrencies were supposed to be ultra secure because of the blockchain,but the exchanges seem paranoid in wanting you to jump through so many hoops to get access.

Hey it's not all bad -

I've been a fence sitter on global warming,but have been sent a brief report which is the noncontroversial,end of argument, proof!

Have I beaten Bill Gates to it with the above global warming news. I
received his newsletter for December today, and here's an extract -

"I just returned from Paris where I was attending the big meeting on climate change hosted by President Macron. Leaders from around the world gathered together to take stock of the progress the world is making on this urgent challenge.The good news is that there’s a lot of progress to report."

Christmas - Seasolly Greetage (Unwinese)

Comments on Steemit 
franco-the-cat (25)  ·  2 hours agoI have the same experience lately but with ISA`s and normal trading accounts. It took me 3 month to remove my money from Barclays recently. It like the song says you can check in anytime you want but you may never leave! Try localbitcoins.com much easier to deal with a real person then some faceless institution who will misuse your identity.

Reply
[-]ijavee (58)  ·  59 minutes ago

Thank you. Oh dear.At my age have I got 3 months ? The only difference perhaps ,with respect,is that maybe there wasn't the same urgency with withdrawing from Barclays,although it is unacceptably long,as the present frenzied hysteria around cryptos. I mean to lose the amount that bitcoin has risen in the past 3 months through not being able to verify an account and place a buy order would be very substantial. Best regards Ivor.
$0.00Reply Edit Delete [-]trevor.george (66)  ·  44 minutes ago I haven't gone so far as to withdraw money to my bank account yet. But I have managed to get SBD from Steemit to Poloniex and into my Jaxx wallet. I don't think i did any special validation, just signed up for an account. But it seems that they are not accepting SBD at the moment, and Bittrex are not accepting new accounts at the moment, so I'm looking elsewhere to exchange money. I signed up to hitBTC to see if I can get that working. i haven't changed any money yet, but it looks like it might work. If I get the chance to do an exchange today, I'll let you know how I get on.

There is only one word for this -Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

But first the Bitcoin commercial -

Sam Volkering Bitcoin Book

Your ONCE-IN-HISTORY chance to turn just

£100 into £49,000:

Crypto Revolution

“If you want to get filthy rich from cryptocurrencies – read this book by Sam Volkering as fast as you bloody can!”

Here’s the link -

http://bit.ly/2kf8I14

There is only one word for this -Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

I think Strictly Come Dancing is always high-quality entertainment. Last evening the BBC programme finals night particularly excelled. The show was breath-taking in the staging and the performances. None of the dancers left in the competition deserved to lose.

A National Treasure

It's a show where everything clicked,everyone inspired one another and created an electric atmosphere in the studio theatre, that was evident to us watching at home through the judges exuberance.The panel is well balanced with Craig Revel Horwood playing the villain and drawing the audience boos,and Bruno is first rate as the clown.Their comments were inspired and bubbling with the excitement of it all. Marvellous.

I wonder how supercalifragilisticexpialidocious translates in foreign languages?

That got me thinking about gobbledegook and the laughs I’ve had from the different slang versions of the language. Cockney rhyming slang – “He’s on the dog and bone” (Phone)

Malapropisms – “I’m glad to get back down on terracotta”.

This led my thinking to Professor Stanley Unwin. The inventor and fluent speaker of the Unwinese language.

I came across this excerpt from someone who interviewed him –

“If you're here reading this then you're probably here for the same reasons as me. I don't know what it is but every time I hear Stanley Unwin speak the speak I just collapse”

I managed to wangle a few interviews with him a couple of years ago. I got a friendly welcome and spent a few hours listening to his story

And then he'd start doing the Unwinese.

In case you ever thought it was scripted, I can honestly tell you: no. It wasn't. He spoke it like a second language. On tap.

The thing is, Stanley was a genuine one off. Not a product of the 'Variety' days but quite unique - and I use that word reservedly. He was. No argument. It's as simple as that.

Now sadly gone, you must wonder whether this peculiar talent, this left turn of the language as we know it will survive. Of course, there's his films, his telly, his books and loads of stuff around that he did which is just plain funny. And there's always the few who put up a darned good impersonation every now and then as well.

 And here is a familiar Christmas story in Unwinese – My grammar and spell checker is going to go bananas with this,so bear with me please.

Professor Unwin's Worms of Wisdy.

Bloggage from the grale beyonders, sprinkly wise worms all tricklyhow in the eardrobes of the human specie.

Sunday, 9 December 2012

Once upolly-tito, in a land far awale, a young matrimole travellit for the count’n’census all checkly-box present’n’correckers there.

seph trickly-how along the roam with Mary all two-square on the botty astrile a donkey, seekit accomodakers.  Weary weary all eye-rubbit and achey in the legbole, theyr turned the corm and spied a taverl all glittery in the dark there. 

Jospeh rattatat on the doorclabber, and out stepped the innkeep, who doffly cap and questit “Pintly bitter and a dry-white?” 

“Oh no” said Joseph. “All knackerit from the travelode, and despery need of a bed for falollop’n’snoozit there”

“Folly” said the innkeep. “All the accomodakers fully occupile, but if you trickly-how to the stablode, feel free to prostrale among the animolds in the straw there.”

So off they trickly-how round the sigold, nudgit the cows and sheeplodes out the way, and pretty soon theye were out like a light.

Now Mary was in the familode way, and dury the nightlopper she brought forth a new-borl infold all squawk’n’screamit like fingerdrobes down a blackboard there.

Early the next mordy, arrivit severold shepherds. 

“Goodly morlode! We bring giftloppers for the ankley-biteloder, but we are simple agricold labourits, so don’t expect Nintendole or X-bokker. Just a bottley gold-top and a wedgeley cheeseopper.”

“Deep joy” said Mary. “Joseph. Putly kettle-on for a cuffalo tea-dee. These chaploders deservit a tilty-elbow. Oh yes.”

Just then, throo wisely men strollit through the door and bow’n’scrapeit before the infant there.

“All hail the Holymost child! We have falollowed a starloder all glimmerit in the skybole, and now pay hommy to the king!”

“Folly folly” said Joseph. “King? He is the humbold offrspriggit  of a carpentale from Nazareth.”

“Oh no” said the wisely men. “He is born to be kingly, as scribelode in the divine textbookers, and son of God.”

Then arrivit a celestibold host of Angelodes, all warbly in the throakus and twangit on the harp there. “Hosanna and deep deep joy!” they sang.

“Deep joy indeel!” exclaimit Joseph and Mary. “It’s all kicking off here!”

So there, at the very first Chrimbole, they all sat down to roast turkey with all the trimmage, and watchit the Queenly Speechlode before noddly-off with a dry sherry.

Oh yes.

Seasolly Greetage to everybole from @professorunwin and his earthly scrile!

Image credit www.corporatedance.co.uk

Comment from Steemit poster -

Ahh.... the gift of language. (and the ability to totally mangle it) I used to also love two Two Ronnies when they's do a sketch with no 'e's in it and stuff like that.

It's funny though how you can read the above story and still understand it. It just goes to show how flexible the English language is :-)

I've made a sex video ! -'Lovin' Old Movie Posters

The 'lady of the night' said "Hey old timer,do you want some Super Sex"? " Err- I'd better have the soup I think" !

Have a change from Bitcoin with the only other subject that grabs attention.And I'm tired of Brexit.

There's a lot about Bitcoin and Cryptos on here

Bitcoin-The Peoples Currency.Fancy wearing a Tee Shirt with 'I Am Satoshi Nakomoto' on it.The anonymous inventor of Bitcoin.'They seek him here they seek him there' Get them excited Big Time in the pub. Hundreds of other titles and subjects. Supplied by Amazon.Just click on tee shirt image at top of right sidebar. Thank you.

Here's a taster video -

https://youtu.be/ZPpiCv_6y9A

bitcoin-in.net

bitcoin-in.net

BBC - Bitcoin - Can something which has no physical presence consume as much electricity as an entire country?

As if in answer to my post on Steemit yesterday  Monday December 11th

- https://steemit.com/energy/@ijavee/why-you-could-soon-have-a-nuclear-power-plant-in-your-kitchen    -  about how there will be - 'Squandrable Amounts of Energy'

The BBC asks -

Can something which has no physical presence consume as much electricity as an entire country?

The internet has recently been awash with claims that the digital currency Bitcoin could be using more electricity than a number of developed nations. So Reality Check wants to know: how did they work it out, and is it true?

Although it has been around since 2009, the digital currency, or crypto-currency, has been dominating headlines across the globe recently thanks to its soaring value.

Bitcoin: what's behind the gold rush?
Unlike the notes or coins in your pocket, Bitcoin is not printed by governments or traditional banks and largely exists online.

Around 3,600 new bitcoins are created every day through a complex process known as "mining", where computers are rewarded with a bitcoin for processing mathematical equations through specialised software.

Except this isn't only a handful of computers processing these equations, but thousands of machines all over the world running day and night - that's a lot of electricity.

And as bitcoins increase in value, more and more machines are being plugged in and switched on by amateurs and professionals alike to mine them.

Given their digital nature, there's understandably been a growing curiosity about how much electricity is actually being used to produce bitcoins.

'As much electricity as Denmark'

Looks like the back of my telly!

http://bitcoin-in.net

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And this video says a lot more - If it doesn't self start - just click the link.Thank you.

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To see glorious pictures to color - all levels - all subjects here -

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Also from jibberjabber -

Sensational price action with Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies. See and read why here -

http://bitcoin-in.net

Cryptocurrency - Showdown Looms -Treasury Crackdown on Bitcoin

Dear Ivor Vale,

They can’t stop it.

Governments and financial authorities can’t stop the rise of cryptocurrency.

They’re trying… boy are they trying.

China has banned bitcoin exchanges. Malaysia is considering doing the same. South Korea has banned ALL new cryptocurrency sales. And in the US regulators are readying to try and control the market.

And just this week, they’ve stepped up their game even more.

As reported in The Telegraph: http://bit.ly/2BLm21y

“Treasury crackdown on Bitcoin over concerns it is used to launder money and dodge tax” 

The above extract in italics is from an article in Capital and Conflict  sent to me in an email

Link to full article and Book here -- http://bit.ly/2BLm21y

I heard about Bitcoin 5 or 6 years ago when it was called funny money, but paid little attention to it. (Boy, how wrong can you be !)

When I joined Steemit 12 months ago I found that it was a Social Media site with connections to a Cryptocurrency Steem Dollar (Exchange sign SBD)

The site has a lot of contributors talking about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies and my interest and knowledge has been gained from there.

Particularly fascinating on the platform is the view held by many that governments will not be able to stop or ban this new electronic currency because transactions can be made directly by individual to individual or to business or shops without involving Banks, from where governments traditionally obtain money flow information and can control money supply.

There are many with the view that the new currency has the power to bring down governments and create Anarchy.

I wrote the following on Steemit –

Will the Bitcoin revolution bring Anarchy?

Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a 1974 book by the American political philosopher Robert Nozick.

Nozick argues in favor of a minimal state, "limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on." When a state takes on more responsibilities than these, Nozick argues, rights will be violated.

To support the idea of the minimal state, Nozick presents an argument that illustrates how the minimalist state arises naturally from anarchy and how any expansion of state power past this minimalist threshold is unjustified.

Many consider that Bitcoin technology will eventually make banks unnecessary, and also use it’s potential to make redundant, social networks, the markets for share dealing, and some financial observers go as far as including national governments as well!

Bitcoin is making world headline news. It is established and accepted in many countries, but it’s full power and latent forces for disruption and anarchy are not fully understood

In short, Bitcoin could be the trigger for a coming digital rebellion – “a catalyst for change that creates a new and different world,” to quote Jeff Garzik, one of Bitcoin’s most prolific developers.

It has already started. Bitcoin and rival crypto currencies such as Doge, Ethereum, and Steem have shown that banks can be replaced with software and smart algorithms.

And rebellious and creative programmers are starting to ask what else can we manage without?

That is just the start

Digital anarchy could transform our lives with machines that answer to you, your employers, crime syndicates… or no one at all. Nearly every aspect of our lives would be uprooted.

This would be brought about by the power of the “Blockchain” – a party-to-party ledger which creates and records transactions and agreement on contentious issues using cryptography.

A blockchain forms the beating heart of Bitcoin. In time, blockchains will power many radical, disruptive technologies that clever people are continuously working on.

Historically, we’ve needed central bodies – banks, stock markets, governments, police forces – to settle vital questions. Who owns this money? Who controls this company? Who has the right to vote in this election?

Let’s start with money and the attraction of digital currency. Right now, in the wake of the subprime mortgage lending crisis in 2007, it’s easy to understand the appeal of a new money that lies beyond the grasp of banks and governments.

No treasury can print more Bitcoins and inflate away the value of your savings, or recklessly lend them out for years to people with no chance of meeting repayments, eventually bringing the whole system crashing down. The rules of Bitcoin are set in digital stone.

This small programme of unbreakable computer code will allow people to solve the thorniest problems without reference to any authorities.

The benefits of decentralised systems will be huge: slashed overheads, improved security and (in many circumstances) removal of the weakest link in the financial chain, the opportunity for manipulation by – the selfish,  the greedy, and the corruptible.

But how far will disruptive effects reach? Are we rapidly approaching a singularity where, thanks to Bitcoin-like tools, centralised power of any kind will seem as archaic as the feudal system?

If the internet revolution has taught us anything, it’s that when change comes, it comes fast.

It’s not funny money any more.

It began with a paper written by someone calling himself "Satoshi Nakamoto" and quietly published via a cryptography mailing list in 2008. It laid out a plan for a form of money based on “cryptographic proof.

The true identity of Satoshi has never been revealed, although rumours abound: a lone academic, a group of disgruntled anarchist programmers working in the financial sector, the CIA...

What is known is that the number of coins in circulation is finite, limited to 21 million. The plan is immutable: around 13 million are already in existence and the last ones will be released in 20 years or so.

Nakamoto wrote about his idea of keeping a digital ledger of all transactions – the blockchain – to prove who owned what. It was a breakthrough which solved a longstanding computer science problem: how to run a complex system with no central control.

Bitcoin has no bank to maintain security, record ownership or handle transactions. With the Blockchain none is needed.

Critics who say Bitcoin is nothing but zeros and ones in a computer file and therefore can’t hold value, miss the point that their bank balance is also nothing but a number on a computer.

The dollar is worth something only because people decide to place value in it. If that consensus broke down, then – as in the rampant inflation in Germany after the first world war – a wheelbarrow full of dollar bills couldn’t buy a cup of coffee. The US dollar is a famously stable currency – but just occasionally we’re brought up with a jolt.

 For example, in 2007 UKs Northern Rock was forced to go cap-in-hand to the Bank of England. A few customers rushed to withdraw their money, then a few more... and soon there was panic. Loss of confidence. Shades of Weimar Germany, or even Zimbabwe.

If national currencies can fall victim to a chain-reaction erosion of faith, why should a new currency like Bitcoin not experience the same phenomenon in reverse and soar?

Cyprus horrified citizens when it announced that it would seize up to 60 per cent of all savings over €100,000 to save its struggling banks.

Suddenly Bitcoin seemed less risky and transaction volumes soared as people poured cash into the digital currency to keep it out of government coffers.

There were protests in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 2013 against a tax on bank deposits This same cash grab could not happen with Bitcoin. There is no central power with the ability to help themselves.

Neither are credit-fuelled binges possible. The smoke-and-mirrors system that banks use to magic money into existence when they create loans is not possible in a Bitcoin world.

This holds a lot of appeal. Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf recently called for banks to be stripped of this bizarre right to create money from thin air, claiming that it is the root cause of credit bubbles and busts such as the painful cycle we have recently witnessed.

In his view, they should be confined to only lending the amount they have taken as deposits from savers. It’s hard to argue against such a common sense proposal.

The idea for radical change to the financial system was almost certainly motivated by the recession following the 2007 crash. Although Bitcoin and crypto currencies are radical in many ways, it is also strictly conservative: no debt is possible, no complex derivatives, no untrustworthy middlemen. You either have money or not.

The timing was impeccable, the perfect antidote to a financial system which can’t be trusted not to lead us into another round of boom and bust..

In that regards some financial watchers believe the blockchain is one of the most important inventions of the 21st century

“It’s ironic how what terrifies the banks today is actual free market capitalism. They don’t like that. They don’t like competition. Actually having to compete with smaller competitors that are nimbler and less costly is something that they’ve been able to prevent for years with the use of regulation as a barrier to entry.”

This success in the financial sector will be a springboard to other industries and applications. And there is growing opinion that the blockchain will be the tool to ultimately target democracy.

More on that in the next post.

Image Credit Time Magazine.

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