Bitcoins, they just won’t go away … unless they were mean’t to be in your wallet ..
I do find bitcoins an intriguing approach to currency, but have a great deal of trouble taking them seriously. I think owning gold might actually be easier, and more secure. Anonymity is always desirable, but with bitcoins anonymity is virtue and vice combined. You cannot prove who stole your bitcoins and it is a little hard to return merchandise. But also any currency designed to enable criminal conduct and evade taxation is bound to attract attention and most governments do loathe competition.
[And it should be fewer people, not less, near the end of the interview. And now a niece mentioned number versus amount as in there was a large amount of people … no! There were a large number of people. There was a large amount of slime. But I digress.]
I should say there is a large amount of curiosity about currency and an even larger amount of greed and shenanigans hovering around it.
Nathaniel Popper on Bitcoin and Digital Gold
Nathaniel Popper of the New York Times and the author of Digital Gold talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about Bitcoin. Can Bitcoin make it? What went wrong with Mt. Gox? Why did Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road, just get sentenced to life in prison? Why are venture capital firms pouring millions of dollars into companies promising easier ways to use Bitcoin? Popper discusses these questions along with the technical side of Bitcoin to help listeners understand why so many investors are excited about the potential of Bitcoin.
May you have a truly tangible day, and avoid the Dreaded Pirate Roberts while listening to the dulcet tones of the Professorial Russ Roberts.
