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Bitcoin Plunges After Mt. Gox Exchange Halts Trades
krakman writes with this excerpt from Bloomberg News: "Bitcoin plunged more than 8 percent [Friday] after a Tokyo-based exchange halted withdrawals of the digital currency, citing technical malfunction. Mt. Gox, claimed in a blog post it needed to 'temporarily pause on all withdrawal requests to obtain a clear technical view of the currency processes.' It promised an 'update' — not a reopening — on Monday, Feb. 10, Japan time. This is day after Russia's Prosecutor General concluded Bitcoin and other digital currencies are illegal under current law."
I don't understand how bitcoins or gold either one retain their values.
Bitcoin is a bubble, though as with every other bubble there are delusional people who assert the emperor is not naked/that it all somehow makes sense. It doesn't... the valuation is absurd.
As for gold, I think the explanation is a mixture of inertia, rarity, resistance to governmental manipulation, and lack of corrosion.
Being able to beat it into a thin leaf is not a real explanation ("ZOMG! You can hammer this *how* thin?! SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!" said essentially no one ever). Saying it is valuable for jewelry begs the question (i.e. it's valuable for jewelry because its rare and expensive, but it's supposedly rare and expensive because it's valuable for jewelry?)
So, it really comes down to "it's always been this way", but everyone can be reasonably certain that there won't be a sudden massive increase in supply, and that their holdings of gold won't corrode away into nothing. Furthermore, the government cannot simply pass a law saying that there is now twice as much gold as there was yesterday; this security against manipulation is certainly a valuable feature (well, unless you believe Krugman, who thinks that the government should always be able to manipulate currencies).
Nice sock puppet. Wonder who modded this up?
Sure as shit not a real user.
The people who made this site - the real grown ups who don't post AC - object not just to the technically poor execution of the latest sites; (both the mobile and the beta desktop sites suck). No, what they loath is that they took time to give feedback, as I did - in detail - which was ignored...and then the beta was just rolled out.
Hence the rather "childish" fuck beta campaign. Treat people like kids, don't be surprised at what you get back.
On a final note, fuck beta, and fuck you AC.