Bitcoin democracy?

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http://www.vice.com/read/bitcoin-could- ... ize-voting

I must admit I have been fascinated by this Bitcoin thing.
But I don't understand how the funds are withdrawn.
I read an article where some bloke 'mined' a bunch of Bitcoins, but lost all of them.
Overall, I feel it's like gambling, don't spend any more than you can afford to lose.

I don't really trust direct democracy, it didn't work out very well for Athen and it may bring an unprecedented level of populism.

You think so? It worked rather well for them in my opinion. The decline of their political structure came precisely when the elites managed to grab so much power that they excluded the common citizen from their voting powers. In essence, the common citizens did vote...but it didn't count. Only the votes of the elite and the wealthy counted.


...which is literally the same system we have today.

Lets not forget that when Athens found itself with a massive surplus of money after a REALLY good season of harvest, trade and peace the people gathered to vote on what to do with that money. Some argued to distribute it among the citizens equally, others that it be used in construction works (like new temples and such)...the nobles wanted to use the funds to benefit themselves. ....but one man named Themistocles came up and said that the funds should be spent on purchasing a powerful navy (Athens at that point, had virtually none) of Triremes (basically battleships of those times). His argument won the popular vote and the funds were used to build the Athenian navy.

Those ships gave Athens complete dominance over the seas and opened distant trade routes. It kept the pirates under control and Athens as a city gained massive wealth because of it. Those ships paid themselves and then some.

Much later that same navy was the key to winning the Battle of Salamis which in turn became key in the survival of Greek civilization and by extension, Western civilization.

...and it was the people who voted for it that got those ships rolling.

Bitcoin is the computerized version of Tulip Bulbs.

ruveyn

Well put.

Late breaking news….

A Bitcoin could be worth what ????

http://live.wsj.com/video/xapo-ceo-a-bi ... 09AE827F81

Well, didn't a scandinavian guy remember he had purchase like 100 bitcoins early on when bitcoin was just starting and they were cheap and he cashed them in last year for like 100 grand?

Haven't seen that story. I've been following various Bitcoin news, trying to make sense of it.

What I think would make the protocol more useful, would be cheap iris scanners, and some means to allow irises to be used as keys (not on their own, of course) to wallets.

Look up the Tulip Bulb Boom in Holland in the 17th century. At its height a person could cash in a tulip bulb and buy a house.

blockchain technology itself behind bitcoin is awesome and can change world of finance.
Blockchain is certainly not tulipmania cause it offers great solution to many problems.
Bitcoin has the most users and the biggest net and became #1. everyone who is involved with cryprocoins starts with bitcoin. It might be forgetten in future but not this or next year. i think it has many more years ahead.

Another issue is, everybody wants to buy cheap coin and sold them later and earm 1000x more. Because people are greedy. Its hard to say what is the real value of BTC. i think it could cost $20 or $50 taking into account its past development, all above are future expectations which are already counted into its price. but comparing to other assets like gold or stocks which are very expensive and mostly without real value.... I think bitcoin is still not that expensive.
I mean gold is nice and can be used by dentists or mobile phone and PC factories but usefulness might be smaller comparing to blockchain technology which can be used everywhere.