Posted on 12/04/2013 8:43:19 PM PST by Nachum
"In order for currencies to be 'exchangeable' they have to be backed by something," is the remarkably ironic initial comment from none other than debaser-of-the-entirely-fiat-dollar Alan Greenspan when asked about the "bubble in bitcoin," by Bloomberg TV's Trish Regan. Unable to "identify the intrinsic" backing of Bitcoin (or see bubbles in equity, credit, real estate, or greater fools) Greenspan is, apparently, capable of identifying Bitcoin "as a bubble," because "there is no fundamental means of "repaying' it by any means that is universally accepted." The farcical double-speak continues as the Maestro does a great job of making Bitcoin (which Ron Paul earlier noted could be the "destroyer of the dollar") look even better than the readily-printed fiat we meddle with every day.
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
Like Federal Reserve notes?
No really! I get it.
Bitcoin isn’t backed by anything, but the dollar was backed by Greenspan’s opinion.
“The full faith and credit of the United States” is about as meaningful backing for the USD as whatever it is that backs a BC. There was a time, not long ago, that “full faith and credit” actually meant something
That thing is “trust”, Mr. Greenspan. You might want to look into it.
Excellent. I am putting that on Twitter. :)
It's just incidental metadata collection, for the kids, your safety, 0bama's rule, etc.
You mean like gold?
Thanks for posting. Very interesting back & forth at zero hedge. I just finished reading about 5 pages of comments (I see it has now gone to 7 pgs). Thanks to all posters at zh. BTTT!
It is backed by something. It is backed by the fact that there are only so many BTC that can exist - it is finite. Not the case with the dollar, which apparently, there is an infinite supply.
Should I be waiting for the real Dollar to rise again?
Modern currencies are called “fiat currencies” because they have no backing but are declared money solely by the “fiat” (Latin for “let it be done”) of the government. The US dollar has not more backing than the Zimbabwe 100 Trillion Dollar note.
The US dollar has not more backing than the Zimbabwe 100 Trillion Dollar note.Well, no. But at least you tried.
That'd be the full faith and credit of the Internet.
The difference is that the entire Bitcoin process is open-source, meaning that anybody could look at any part of how it works whenever they want. You can bet that a good number of libertarian programmers have already taken a close look at it.
Unlike fiat money, it cannot be manipulated the way the US dollar can be by the Fed. The money supply of Bitcoin is instead handled by algorithms that prevent inflation/deflation.
And while the U.S. dollar is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, neither the ‘full faith’ nor the ‘credit’ can be guaranteed nowadays, especially with the present administration.
Bitcoin by contrast, is backed only by those who believe in its inherent usefulness as a secure, reliable, anonymous and transparent currency.
Such irony is totally lost on Greenspan.
The US Dollar is backed by a kick-@ss military.
Seriously - the US military guards the world and the world economic and trade system, in which the Dollar is paramount and is the World’s reserve currency. Given that the US is a serious debtor nation now, and our relative productivity is not as dominant, the military aspect is even more important. Its actually a rather precarious and unbalanced situation.
Now that is funny!
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