I think we shouldn't overlook that Bitcoin has some interesting aspects to it that make this a very different and peculiar kind of car crash.
I have to admit, however, I can't resist commenting on the bitcoin articles when they show up. It's the classic "Someone is wrong on the internet!" reaction. Maybe those of us who aren't zany bitcoin-boosters need to make a pact to stop commenting on these articles and hopefully once robbed of controversy they'll go away.
It is interesting from a technical perspective but from a societal/historical point of view, not at all. This same cycle has played out infinite times in human history and will play out infinite times in the future. People always manage to convince themselves that "this time it's different".
it has risen and fallen many times already
a huge crash is inevitable and unavoidable because the market is thinly traded and very psychological at the moment
but when all is said and done, the bitcoin network will still be there, people will still have their bitcoins and will be able to transfer them across the globe is a short amount of time
i don't have a crystal ball, i can't tell you if bitcoin will become a successful currency, but you should realise that what is going on at the moment is a sideshow and doesn't reflect bitcoins true potential
a more constructive comment from you might have proposed a "fairer" system of minting than rewarding early adopters...
Most bubbles start by accident -- this one was carefully engineered.
How do you engineer a bubble? First you invent an asset. But if it's an asset that only you own then nobody will want to believe it's valuable. So you make it possible for the first round of early adopters to get it for free, by "mining. The first adopters talk the second adopters into trying it too (they can still get significant amounts by mining) and... well, you know the story. You also wrap it in some political anti-fiat-currency anti-bank anti-Fed anti-government anti-whatever pro-cryptography political wrapping to make it appealing to a certain constituency. But the key thing is to give out the "asset" for free at first, and to a lesser extent as time goes on, to incentivise early adopters without requiring 'em to actually put their hands in their own pockets. It's quite brilliant, the best memetically-engineered scam since Scientology.
And now I'm really getting tired of discussing bitcoin. I think I'll write a big long blog post in the form of a FAQ, submit it, and never mention bitcoin ever again.
The ROI is fantastic.
Is it possible that the number of people saying that bitcoin is a bubble is so high because bitcoin is a bubble? I mean, I'm not sure how anyone could even deny that bitcoin is a bubble -- the best you can hope for is that like gold it's a bubble that never ends. There's only been one of those in human history, though (two if you count silver as well), and it has at least a seven thousand year head start on bitcoin.
Anyway, my response to your comic is this:
http://projectomniscience.blogspot.com/2011/05/aardvarks.htm...
Is bitcoin a bubble? Not from what I seen concerning economic activities and what users report about themselves.
But can bitcoin fail? Yes. Is it 100% likely to fail? I think not. Is it a good idea to put in a few dollars as a hedge? Yes.
That being said, I am in bitcoin for the long haul, whether or not it ultimately fails, and possibly consequently lose all the value in bitcoin.
Well, they'll say, was only a few dollars.
Ultimately though, you've got got to wonder where all those few dollars went.
I wrote the strip, or at least the concept. I commissioned it from an artist called Joey Dangerous and pay the guy in bitcoin.
It does seem to need a punchline. Perhaps a zoom out to a larger group of people saying "Bitcoin Rally!" sitting on piles of Bitcoins that they're compulsively counting.
How is gold not a ponzi scheme BTW? Ponzi schemes don't run for 3000 years.