All things about the media, marketing, business, Japan and other musings by Mike in Tokyo Rogers.
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Wednesday, December 11, 2013
An Interview With America's Top Bitcoins Expert: Bitram "Bitty" Coins
This interview with a Bitcoins expert is just too good to ignore...
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Reality Check:
Today, I interview Bitram "Bitty" Coins, the nation's leading expert in the Bitcoins market.
GN: Mr. Coins, I am happy you consented to an interview.
BC: Call me Bitty.
GN: OK, Bitty. I want to find out what this Bitcoins deal is all about.
BC: It's about liberty. It's about a new international market. It's about a New World Currency Order.
GN: It's also about buying 10,000 Bitcoins for $50 in 2009, which are worth $13,000,000 today.
BC: I call this value-added investing.
GN: I call it a digital tulip mania.
BC: I see that you are a skeptic.
GN: You have very clear eyesight.
BC: Maybe I can persuade you otherwise.
GN: Give it your best shot.
BC: Let me tell you about the #1 benefit. You get complete privacy.
GN: Complete?
BC: That's right.
GN: How does this work?
BC: You go to an exchange and buy Bitcoins.
GN: You mean like Silk Road?
BC: Not Silk Road. The U. S. government shut it down.
GN: Then maybe Sheep Marketplace, Silk Road's replacement?
BC. It went out of business when someone stole $100,000,000 in Bitcoins -- maybe the biggest theft in history.
GN: How did he do this?
BC: Nobody knows.
GN: Will the police catch him?
BC: The police can't do anything about it.
GN: Why not?
BC: Because, with Bitcoins, you have complete privacy.
GN: So does the thief.
BC: That's the price of complete privacy.
GN: Then what recourse do the victims have?
BC: Well, one of them said this. "I won't find this guy. Somebody else will. I assume he'll be jailed, blackmailed, tortured or killed." I find this inspirational. It's 100% privacy at work.
GN: Are these heists a pattern?
BC. Not at all. They are random.
GN: But there are so many of them. Here is a list. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0)
BC: It's just a cost of doing business anonymously.
GN: Because there are no contracts.
BC: Correct.
GN: Because there are no courts.
BC: Correct.
GN: Because no one knows who he is dealing with.
BC: Correct.
GN: So, if you get robbed, you lose everything.
BC: Yes. But the risk is low.
GN: How low?
BC: No one knows.
GN: Because the Bitcoins market is 100% secret.
BC: Correct.
GC: Let's get back to your account of how I get 100% secrecy. Let's say that I buy some Bitcoins on an exchange. A reliable exchange.
BC: A good idea.
GN: How do I get money to the seller of Bitcoins?
BC: By a bank draft.
GN: Is there a public record of this?
BC: Not on a Bitcoins exchange.
GN: I mean at my bank.
BC: Oh, sure. It shows that you have spent the money.
GN: So, I don't transfer the money secretly.
BC: Correct.
GN: Then how do I get 100% secrecy?
BC: Because no one can follow your money after you transfer it.
GN: Even me, if it gets stolen.
BC: Correct.
GN: What if I want to sell some of my Bitcoins?
BC: No problem. You sell them, and you get dollars.
GN: Untraceable paper dollars?
BC: No. Digital money.
GN: But digits can be stored only in a bank.
BC: Correct.
GN: Then the digits -- dollars -- wind up in my bank account.
BC: Correct.
GN: So, this is not secret.
BC: Of course not. It's central bank digital money.
GN: So, to maintain 100% secrecy, I must never sell my Bitcoins for dollars.
BC: Correct.
GN: What can I buy with Bitcoins?
BC: Illegal drugs.
GN: What else?
BC: Computer programming.
GN: Anything else?
BC: Not much. But there are more things all the time.
GN: So, let me be clear about this. I give up dollars, with which I can buy anything, so that I can buy Bitcoins, which can't buy much of anything.
BC: You are buying secrecy.
GN: But I can go to my ATM and get currency. I can spend currency anywhere. I can spend it on anything offered for sale for dollars. This leaves no trace.
BC: But there is a record of this withdrawal.
GN: There is a record of my withdrawal to buy Bitcoins.
BC: True.
GN: Then why should I buy Bitcoins?
BC: Because they keep rising in price.
GN: Why do they go up in price?
BC: Because of success stories.
GN: Give me one.
BC: In 2010, you could have bought 10,000 of them for $25 in pizza.
GN: But in 2009, someone paid $50 for 10,000 Bitcoins. He took a 50% loss.
BC: The dollar-denominated price of Bitcoins is volatile.
GN: So, I should buy them as a speculation.
BC: We don't call this a speculation.
GN: What do you call it?
BC: Buying the money of the future.
GN: Will it buy more things in the future than illegal drugs and programming?
BC: Of course.
GN: What is the evidence of this?
BC: It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
GN: That's the New Testament's definition of faith.
BC: Say, you really know your Scriptures!
GN: I do. This one comes to mind. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal."
BC: Right! Lay up your treasures in the cloud!
GN: But not in Silk Road or Sheep Marketplace.
BC: Right.
It gets even more interesting from here on. Read the rest of the interview here: http://bit.ly/1bCOxNl
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Comments must be succinct & relevant to the story. Comments are checked frequently and abusive, rude or profane comments will be deleted. I’m just one of many bloggers who answer questions online and sometimes for the press. I usually handle questions about Japan, marketing or the economy, so in those areas I’m more likely to make sense and less likely to say something really stupid. If I post something here that you find helpful or interesting, that’s wonderful. This is my personal blog. If you don't like what you have read here then, just like when you go into a restaurant or bar that allows smoking, if you don't like it, there's something at the front that has hinges on it and it is called a "door."