[mrb]

"I'm pretty sure it's priced individually against many currencies"

No, it is not "priced". Nobody sets an "official price" for gold. Every actor in the market who sells and buys gold is free to set his own price, via "asks" and "bids" in the market. This is what gst highlighted for you: Bitcoin functions exactly like gold, their value fluctuates freely on international and national markets via trading, and nothing else.

"if you took the amount of gold and multiplied by its USD price to arrive at some figure of how much the "gold pool" is worth gold traders would laugh their asses off at you"

Actually, no. Analysts do this all the time. Google for "gold reserves". Here is the latest data from the World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FI.RES.TOTL.CD

[fat0wl]

What I meant by priced individually isn't that a price is "set" I meant people buy & sell gold in a number of currencies, such that each has an exchange rate that isn't interpreted by conversion to a fiat currency then checking the exchange rate for that.

I don't know too much about gold though so I'll let the convo go. To be honest I think CreditCards are where it's at & the small fees involved are to provide consumer protection so I don't mind.

If Bitcoin reaches a comparable infrastructure I'm sure they'll be charging fees for everything too (the exchange services already do, no?).

[mrb]

"such that each has an exchange rate that isn't interpreted by conversion to a fiat currency then checking the exchange rate for that"

Actually, it is interpreted by comparing gold's price with exchange rates. When gold is, say, underpriced in yen on chinese markets when compared to its price in US dollar on american markets, this creates a condition where "arbitrage" is possible. So people who see this buy it up on the chinese market and resell it on the american market, making a profit. This naturally re-aligns the price of gold in various markets with exchange rates. The exact same thing is done by Bitcoin traders, and forex traders, and commodities traders, etc.

[fat0wl]

eh it's hard for me to keep going with this argument because Bitcoin's pricing is so made up, but i'll try.

I wasn't saying gold doesn't have an exchange rate. I was saying it DOES have one for EACH currency (allowing this arbitrage scenario) and that's part of what makes it strong. My impression of Bitcoin was that they simply price it in Yen or USD or whatever is their best market, then convert from THAT currency into whatever other currencies they want through the real-world exchange rates of existing currencies, in order to display it with a unified favorable price.

However, these arguments aren't even worth it really since the price is so varied from exchange to exchange that let's face it -- the numbers are pretty much all distorted BS regardless of how the prices are determined. All they represent is real-time bids. It's like watching a big eBay auction on nothing and claiming the true value of the item is evidenced by the current bid.

[mrb]

"My impression of Bitcoin was that they simply price it in Yen or USD..."

No, exactly like gold, Bitcoin does have an exchange rate for each currency. Again, there is zero difference between how gold is traded and how Bitcoin is traded. It's all multiple independent exchanges, with their own asks and bids.

If, by your argument, "this is what makes gold strong", then this is what makes Bitcoin strong as well. Both are traded in the same ways. I am unsure why you think there is some difference.

[fat0wl]

Ohhhhhhhh I give up. If you think Bitcoin is the same as gold.... have a nice life.

I have a long comment history you can look through if you want to understand why I think it's a scheme. USD is strong as a currency because its stable. Bitcoin is a speculative trading platform, nothing more nothing less. There's real value in it today because a ton of people have just decided to invest in something they don't fully understand.

If you have invested in Bitcoin I understand your interest in making it seem viable.

[mrb]

I am saying they are traded in the exact same way as each other. Clearly you did not know how their trading worked so I explained.

I have traded commodities, and bitcoin, for multiple years. I know this stuff.