- “This new currency was supposed to be fully convertible into U.S. dollars, a promise that has proven to be illusory. It has since slipped to a large discount to the dollar. So when Zimbabweans buy bitcoin for $13800 — they aren’t paying with U.S. dollars, they are paying with this new unit … In Zimbabwe, the market exchange rate is set unofficially, on street corners and such. Without an on-the-ground data gathering network to canvas street corners, an outside observer can get a decent proxy for the exchange rate by gathering bitcoin prices on the internet.”
- By the way, the Chairman of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe points out that Bitcoin is “not actually legal.”
- “Three-quarters of bitcoin holders could not identify a sound financial reason for investing, two-thirds said they hadn’t locked in a nickel of profits even as the price of the token rocketed skyward.” (So I’ve made more actual money in a bank account from Bitcoin than that two-thirds, without ever touching one.)
- As I note in chapter 3 of the book, continued availability of high powered computing machinery, mining chip foundries, fast Internet and electricity will be absolutely assured in the grim meathook Mad Max petrolpunk future. And we can use colloidal Litecoin for antibiotics.
- It always works out well when a Bitcoin spam run uses a security researcher’s domain as the return address.
- Oh my goodness, I have paying patrons! (Paying on December 1, anyway.) I now feel a compulsion to deliver. Tell your friends and colleagues about this fabulously insightful news blog and get them to sign up too.
- LBRY.io tweeted a photo of some old white guy in a suit and tie. Looks respectable — you should probably trust whatever he says about money. And watch the video.
Do you think the "be your own bank" concept that's so tied to #crypto works? @davidgerard makes his case on @jamie_jk's new series Unbubbled – only on LBRY! https://t.co/XUknZ8hm0d pic.twitter.com/XKE1y2RlRx
— LBRY 📚 ⚖️ 📣 (@LBRYcom) November 20, 2017
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