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Bitcoin Hits $400 Ahead of Senate Hearing On Virtual Currency

Posted by timothy on from the and-I-used-to-regret-not-buying-domain-names dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The value of bitcoin has surged through the $400 barrier for the first time, as unprecedented growth sees the virtual currency's value quadruple in just three months. Meanwhile, on 18 November, a Senate subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing on virtual currencies like bitcoin and its lesser-known competitors litecoin and altcoin. The hearing comes after a unit of the Treasury Department earlier this year issued guidelines stating virtual currencies should be subject to the same anti-money-laundering laws as traditional currency-transfer businesses like Western Union."

12 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. Really? by Redmancometh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The value of bitcoins is up at the news of a hearing that is probably going to make it illegal to do 95% of what is done with BTC?
    That makes sense.

    1. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Nothing about how the BTC market has behaved could be remotely construed as "logical," particularly in the last couple months. Nobody knows what's going on.

    2. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      .... BTC largely used for legitimate purposes. You live in fairy tale world with villains and no real data.

    3. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      BTC is largely used for speculation and you know it.

    4. Re:Really? by JustAnotherIdiot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Remember back in high school where all the cool kids wanted alcohol because they were told they weren't allowed to have it?
      It's the same thing. The US government is about to tell a bunch of nerds they can't have something, so they want it even more now.

      --
      What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
    5. Re:Really? by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Gold is a physical good that they can confiscate though. Bitcoins are more or less just an idea, and ideas are bulletproof.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    6. Re:Really? by ZombieBraintrust · · Score: 4, Insightful

      lol, ideas may be bulletproof but people are not.

    7. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      True, but it's worth pointing out that "good" isn't a prerequisite.

  2. Some brief points by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The value of bitcoins is up at the news of a hearing that is probably going to make it illegal to do 95% of what is done with BTC? That makes sense.

    1) It doesn't matter what the US government decides, if people want to use it it will be used. Reference: drugs, prostitution, illegal immigration, abortion, illegal guns, and other world countries.

    2) People don't act because they have no alternatives. This is an alternative, but not many people know about it. High-profile senate hearings publicize BitCoin, so that more people will realize how useful it is, and this spurs demand.

    3) There are no valid argument against BitCoin. There are economic "story telling" arguments, and predictive "doom and gloom by story telling" arguments, and false equivalences with closely related things (fraudulent exchanges, Silk Road, &c), and outright lies ("it's a Ponzi scheme!!!"), but no actually valid arguments.)

    4) All the standard aphorisms apply: buggy-whip manufacturers, the invisible hand, liquidity, privacy and freedom.

    BitCoin will become a game-changer (oh, that phrase!) simply because nothing can stop it.

    1. Re:Some brief points by bobbied · · Score: 4, Insightful

      BitCoin will become a game-changer (oh, that phrase!) simply because nothing can stop it.

      Apparently it already IS a game changer. Why else would they be calling meeting about it in congress?

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  3. Shortsighted by brunes69 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This kind of short-sighted answer is the problem with BitCoin backers.

    Anti-money laundering laws and regulations are very important because they are what forces the systems that allow law enforcement to determine and sieze the proceeds of crime. Without such siezing, the incentivization of crime increases exponentially.

    IE - say I rob a bank. If it is trivial for me to convert the money to bitcoin and transfer to a third party in an untraceable way, then my incentivization for robbing banks is now HUGE, because even if I get caught, I will still be able to keep my proceeds. Get caught robbing bank, go to jail for 10 years, get out, and buy your own island. Sounds like a good deal to me.

  4. Re:Netcraft confirms Bitcoin is dying.... by SleazyRidr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've said this before, and no doubt I'll find the need to repeat it again in the future.

    I'm very happy for you that you made some money from Bitcoin speculation. That's not sarcasm, I am genuinely happy that you made some money. The problem is that is really no way to judge whether it can be a viable alternative currency. People don't sit on their USD and hope to profit, they go out and buy stuff: that's what you're supposed to do with money. Right now all Bitcoin amounts to is a bunch of people sitting around hoping that they're on the right side of the greater fool theory.

    --
    Is 1563649 a prime number?