[copsarebastards]

This really isn't that difficult to grasp.

Can you show me any graph of the value of a nationally-issued currency that behaves like Bitcoin's? The most stable currencies show <10% volatility, while Bitcoin shows volatility of >100% over a given year. The most volatile currencies are almost entirely inflationary, while Bitcoin can be deflationary a great deal of the time (even counting the drop from $1000+/coin, I'd be still up more than 1000% from when I originally bought Bitcoins). Not a single government-issued currency in the world behaves like Bitcoin.

If you want to talk about the technical implementation details, fine, there are some vague similarities, but those are not by any means the defining characteristics of a currency. Currencies predate computers, so computer implementation arguments about what a currency is are pretty obviously bunk.

[hellbanner]

Ok, that's a good argument for their differences (volatility).