Subj : Recently uncovered. To : ALL From : BOB KLAHN Date : Fri Jan 10 2014 05:28:00 I have not been following the development of the Bit Coin, simply because I see it as a fad. Now I'm wondering if it isn't more a fraud. Paul Krugman wrote up a bit on the tech behind it, and a writer for a popular magazine wrote up an assignment to do all her Christmas shopping with one Bit Coin. It appears one Bit Coin is worth more than $800 dollars. The Bit Coin does not exist in the real world, it is a tech fiction, Fiat Money writ large. The only way a Bit Coin gains value is by people being willing to pay more for it, yet you get nothing for having a Bit Coin in itself. According to the magazine writer, she took three friends to an expensive restaurant that happened to take payment in Bit Coin. Well, happened to because the owner is one of the developers of the Bit Coin. When it came time to pay the bill it took about 20 minutes to process it. Seems slicing one Bit Coin into small amounts is a complex process. Then I read a drug dealer was caught, and all his money is in Bit Coins, which makes them unfindable and untouchable without the pass word. Now if that dealer gets killed in prison, and hasn't given anyone else the pass word, what happens to all that money? The magazine writer said the value of a Bit Coin jumped 9000 percent in one year. That's only by people coming into the system wanting to buy some. So, tell me, is the Bit Coin a money laundering scheme, a Ponzi Scheme, or both? BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@bex.net http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn .... But I have been able to inflict 40 winks at 50 paces. --- Via Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg] * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 Join Us: www.DocsPlace.org (1:123/140) .