[zodiac]

> That seems to be an ultimate insult and revenge of the finance industry toward the original idea behind bitcoin.

I don't think you need to pass any sort moral judgement about the existence of this. Cash-settled futures exist for almost all traded commodities (oil, gold, pork bellies at one point...)

[Maarten88]

Not my moral judgement, I think the creator of bitcoin was quite explicit in his (or her) disapproval of the finance industry and governments inflating the economy by injecting large amounts of money, and went on to create a currency with a fixed supply. It is ironic these futures are effectively leveraged bitcoins, needing central trust. I'm pretty sure Satoshi would not approve.

That said, I do question the value of cash settled pork belly futures when you are not going to buy or sell any actual pork belly in the future. If I were to write tax law, I'd tax it the equivalent of casino tax, at least.

[baddox]

It’s one thing to say that Satoshi would not approve. That’s likely true. It’s another thing altogether to say that Satoshi would be surprised by this, or that it is in any way ironic.

[EpicEng]

Well Satoshi also created a currency which is completely usuited for the task due to it's limited supply as well as a host of external issues. So... meh?

[JumpCrisscross]

Finance is pragmatic. Lots of dumb money is chasing Bitcoin. Philosophical leanings of early backers, who relinquished control by nature of the network’s design, are irrelevant.