[fragsworth]

I think we almost all agree that cryptocurrency is a revolutionary thing. It's difficult to see how revolutionary, because we are only beginning to understand what can be made possible by it.

I often see it compared to the advent of the early Internet in the 1980s, when nobody really knew how big it would get, just that it was "revolutionary" and would become huge.

This may be an overestimation caused in part by bitcoin stakeholders trying to promote the idea. But a very similar thing happened in the 90s when everyone was buying tech stocks.

[BlackDeath3]

The difference between the 1980s and now is that people now can use the Internet to learn about Bitcoin for themselves, from the source, instead of basing all they know on hype. It's a shame that so many people seem to love to talk more than they learn.

[fragsworth]

Yeah, that difference definitely exists now, and accelerates the learning process quite a bit.

I think most people don't generally go to the source when learning about something, though, even today when it's easily possible. Usually what people do is learn what is fed to them from whatever outlets they prefer (TV, news websites, reddit, etc.) and hear about stuff in passing.

[BlackDeath3]

Well, while we're on the subject, for anybody who is interested in going to the Bitcoin source: www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

[swalsh]

I don't like bitcoin, I hate that it has a fixed supply. I think in a good economy prices should fluctuate based on the supply and demand for the product (not the currency). Bitcoin as it is today doesn't really account for that.

That said, I owned some, and I recently sold some. Going through bitstamp (in slovania) was a pain. Getting the coins in was a breeze. However the international wire transfer took days, and cost about $60. Global transactions using bitcoin seem very lucrative here. Credit cards are another way, but they're expensive to the merchant. Bitcoin makes commerce on the web pretty nice in a lot of ways.

[Aqwis]

Why did you use Bitstamp when you were not in Europe? For me, in Europe, transferring money to Bitstamp was free. It took a couple of days, but that's fine. I'm assuming there are exchanges in your region that are cheaper to transfer to than a European exchange.

[swalsh]

I'm not aware of any alternatives where I can get USD out. I suppose coinbase maybe, but bitstamp was recommended by someone here.

[TwoFactor]

Coinbase uses Bitstamp pricing +1%, so depending on how much you're transferring it could be worth it. Bitstamp, and BTC-e are really the only two options for US customers that want any decent order book depth.

[bachback]

I very much like this line of reasoning, because its only this comparison which points to the magnitude of the potential impact. We don't have even HTTP style protocols used yet, and very little understanding. I have 5 new ideas everyday, and find 5 new projects I find interesting. Not necessarily for what they are, but for what can be.