Bitcoin: Whatever It Is, It's Not Money

I think a point that the authors of a lot of these "Bitcoin is doomed/not a currency/etc." articles miss is that they're trying to compare a brand-new thing that's still trying to find its place in the world to the dollar, for example, which has been around for hundreds of years. Plus, don't forget, the dollar has undergone fluctuations in value; these fluctuations though are the results of the decisions of a central body. Finally, Forbes seems to be sidestepping the fact that the term "currency speculation" exists for a reason.

Ultimately, Bitcoin's utility rests on whether its value settles down at some point, which I think it will[1]. Then people can actually use it as a currency instead of an investment, as it was intended.

[1] please note that I have no background in economics!

>Money is most optimal when it is fixed in value just as commerce is facilitated when we have fixed weights and measures. When you buy a pound of hamburger you expect to get 16 ounces of meat.

But you don't pay for a pound of hamburger with 16 ounces of meat; you pay for a pound of hamburger with dollars. The dollars/hamburger ratio floats.

And unless I misunderstand something^0, money isn't fixed in value; its value just happens to not change all that much, under normal circumstances. Most money is inflating; it's worth slightly less each year. This isn't a fixed value.

And I agree that, yes, Bitcoin's volatility does make it less attractive to users. But that volatility isn't an inherent property of Bitcoin, but merely an effect of it being small and growing. If, in five years, the Bitcoin economy continues to grow, and there's less volatility^1, will that make Steve Forbes happy?

[0] Which is a near certainty.

[1] The Bitcoin economy growing might be a direct result of decreased volatility; that isn't the point under discussion here.

"We don’t really know how this coin is created."

It's easier to understand than how a dollar is created under the fractional reserve banking system.

Oh look! The capitalist establishment is spreading FUD about Bitcoin -- didn't see that one coming!

"We don’t really know how this coin is created."

"I don't really understand how this coin is created"

- FTFY

Given the dollar's recent volatility in terms of Bitcoins, I hardly see how Forbes can argue that it has a fixed value...

Hehe, I find it interesting that Steven Forbes himself decided to comment on Bitcoin. Albeit, he only has a shallow understanding of it. The whole point of it being open source, is so that everyone has a say in it, not just one central entity, which he either doesn't get, or doesn't want.

"So it is no surprise that as the Fed readies another round of money printing, more and more Amercians want to experiment with alternative currencies. Hence the intense interest in the digital phenomenon called the Bitcoin."

Get real, Steven.

TL/DR: Chairman of Forbes gives his two cents on Bitcoin which boils down to "It's new. I don't understand it."

Bitcoin is experimental and behaves in ways that money has never done before.