Well, Dutchboy, its hard to take any of your argument seriously when there is so much in error. First, you describe Bitcoin as a barter system, but a barter system is the direct exchange of goods/services without the use of money, or more generally a medium of exchange. You are not participating in a barter system when using bitcoin or when paying for things with USD.
Bitcoin is not a centralized system with one or a small group of authorities authorized to issue bitcoin. Additional bitcoin are self issued about every ten minutes by Bitcoin computer nodes that do the processing necessary to secure the network. The number of bitcoin issued is halfed about every four years, which results in the figure of 21,000,000 bitcoin maximum you quoted. Again, there is no central authority, in Japan or anywhere else, which controls this.
Bitcoin has never been valued at “$1,700 or thereabouts” it topped out around $1,200. Its value fluctuates and is determined by market bids on the Bitcoin exchanges, not by “they” deciding what the value is. Current market values can be checked at various web sites like
The volatility of bitcoin is certainly unsettling and makes it less than ideal for everyday use. Bitcoin users hope that as the system matures the volatility will settle down. We’ll see. In the meantime, merchants deal with this by accepting and converting bitcoin to local currency immediately. They price in local currency and provide a bitcoin total (if the customer want to pay with bitcoin) based on current market value at checkout.
Bitcoin cryptographically secures the distributed transaction ledger (all nodes maintain a copy). It is not currently feasible to counterfeit an account balance/bitcoin tokens. If someone comes up with a way to break the crypto algorithms then this would change. Regulation by the government is one of the things most likely to ruin Bitcoin and other alternate currencies. For now they seem content to regulate the exchange of bitcoin for local currencies.
Paying for groceries with bitcoin is not terribly difficult. At checkout you are presented with a scannable QR code with the payment address and amount. You scan that with your phone, verify the amount and touch “send”. The payment shows up in the Bitcoin system in seconds and you get your receipt.
Database
Perhaps you should re-read my posts. Bitcoin is, in fact, a barter system. Look at all of the barter systems started over the last hundred years; they issue “chits” or record your contribution of goods or services on their “books of accounts”. This is what makes barter systems so dangerous...you are relying on a “private sector” group to not issue counterfeits or hack others’ accounts. The bitcoin “system” is no different.
And, it is the demand which controls the “value” of this chit and it is interesting that all of you refer to its value in “dollars”. Hmmm. Why is this necessary (look at the bitcoin site, it gives current value in US$). And it is Federal law for all transactions affecting “values received for values given” to be reported on your Federal tax return in US$. Sooner or later it is tied right back to the system you guys hate. Hmmm. Go and play with your bitcoins, but you are barking at the moon, my FRiend.