[shredfvz]

Facebook's market cap is $63,000,000,000. If the market cap of Bitcoin were just 10% of Facebook, each Bitcoin would be worth about $500. 1% and it's about $50.

Can a global financial system conceivably give the world just 10% of the value of Facebook? Because just ten percent ... and one BTC is $500.

Oh, but clearly society demands Farmville, you say? Clearly we don't need a new financial system ... more than we need to know who Joe Bob hooked up with this weekend.

As if there's no pain being solved here by Bitcoin. As if there are no problems with USD or the EUR. As if Cypriots are just pissed off over spilled milk right now. After all it's only a "haircut".

It's so funny to see how most people on HN are here to make businesses that scale infinitely. What could possibly, POSSIBLY, scale faster and more widely than an open source global currency? The price increase in the last month represents a trickle of people around the globe exchanging fiat for BTC. Just a trickle. Whereas most people are obviously hesitant to invest. That would include most people on HN.

The supply of Bitcoin is ridiculously tiny. Only 11,000,000 in total are in circulation today, let alone available for purchase on the market.

Sellers wanted. I acquired enough BTC to make me happy without being over the top - and I'm not ever exchanging it back into any other ass backwards asset class, gold and silver (and USD) included. Early adopters of BTC are from what I can tell mostly the same way, if crazier than I am.

Bitcoin is valuable because the world desperately needs to escape the current financial system. Individual sovereignty and financial privacy are the most scarce resources on the planet, bar none. It's not too late to acquire BTC, put it in a brainwallet and carry around $10k at all times. Now let's all go back to flinging monkey poop at consumers over the Internet.

[millstone]

A global financial currency can surely give the world many times the value of Facebook. But the price increase does not represent interest in Bitcoin as a currency, but instead as a speculative investment vehicle and/or store of value. You yourself talked about not exchanging your bitcoins: it sounds like you wish to own bitcoins, but not circulate or spend them. They are not a currency for you.

This is as predicted by those who say that Bitcoin is a deflationary currency.

[wmf]

Let's assume that the fundamental value of 1 BTC is over $1,000 as in your scenario. That still doesn't necessarily explain rapid increase in the exchange rate. Are people suddenly discovering these fundamentals? Why? (In which case the exchange rate will continue to climb.) Or are we witnessing another speculative mini-bubble? (In which case the price will drop temporarily before resuming a generally upward trend.)

[joezydeco]

The supply of Bitcoin is ridiculously tiny. Only 11,000,000 in total are in circulation today, let alone available for purchase on the market.

Bitcoins can be divided to 8 decimal places at the moment (it could be expanded). So instead of 1.1e7 units, isn't it 1.1e15 units?

[wmf]

Yes, but the exchange rate is quoted in BTC.

[joezydeco]

So? Everyone knows how to do the necessary math.

One Japanese Yen currently costs $0.0104715 USD. The price fluctuates down into the lower decimals. People deal with this every day.

[stcredzero]

> Bitcoin is valuable because the world desperately needs to escape the current financial system. Individual sovereignty and financial privacy are the most scarce resources on the planet, bar none.

Someone needs a way to sell firearms, ammo, and canned goods for BTC. That sounds funny, but I'm dead serious. Local laws against shipping arms can often be worked around.

[eof]

The armory used to exist; basically silk road for guns. I am not aware of any other tor hidden services offering a market, but it is doubtless that these transactions are actually taking place (maybe not for canned goods).