Author Topic: Rand Paul says Bitcoin should be backed by stocks...  (Read 5135 times)

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Offline luckybit

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Obviously Rand is referring to Bitcoin the technology generically.   Based upon his usage of the terms we can call our 'shares' bitcoins just like we call all tissues Kleenex or copiers Xerox machines.

Rand Paul's reasoning is suspect here. If Bitcoins are superior to traditional stocks then who does it benefit to back something superior by something inferior? It's like saying e-zines should be backed by print magazines or email should be backed up by print copies.

He wants Bitcoins to be backed by stocks then shouldn't he be talking to his friends to get the SEC to allow equity crowd funding?

The law is already passed but the SEC is delaying putting it into effect. I don't think Bitcoin itself could be backed by stocks and I don't think people would want that.

In some ways Bitcoins are a stock but designed to be independent of governments. A Bitcoin using Colored Coin could in theory be redeemed for a stock, or using Mastercoin, but by backing it by stock it puts the entire Bitcoin ecosystem under the control of politicians rather than programmers.

If we just have Bitstocks or Bitshares which are backed by smart contract then in theory you can have a Bitshare asset backed by equity in the real world, but why call say it's backed by a stock? If you can do the whole thing digitally why would you need it on legal paper at all at that point?

I see the whole "backed by stock" thing as a trojan horse to get Bitcoin, Bitshares and everything like it to be backed by the law, and if it's backed by the law then it's backed by the signatures of politicians who write the laws, as well as the quantitative easing.

Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, and may be seen as a conspiracy theory, but it's also possible that Rand Paul had good intentions and just didn't understand how the technology works.


« Last Edit: May 02, 2014, 06:17:42 pm by luckybit »
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Offline G1ng3rBr34dM4n

Yeah Rand really doesn't get it. He's saying he thinks crypto-currencies like Bitcoin need to be backed by 'something else' to have value.

Agreed.

He doesn't get Crypto-currencies are already shares of a company & that they derive most of their value from their perceived advantages as a form of money. (As well as their perceived future potential.)

YET! ;)

Hopefully he's able (and willing) to evolve his thinking beyond 'stocks' and pivot towards the concept of shares.  I don't think it'd be a far stretch for him to understand, his political background and understanding of Austrian theory should prime his mind.

Offline Empirical1

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Yeah Rand really doesn't get it. He's saying he thinks crypto-currencies like Bitcoin need to be backed by 'something else' to have value.

He doesn't get Crypto-currencies are already shares of a company & that they derive most of their value from their perceived advantages as a form of money. (As well as their perceived future potential.)

« Last Edit: May 02, 2014, 03:58:14 pm by Empirical1 »

Offline santaclause102

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That obviously can be applied to DACs as well s BTS X...
But if you take it literally and peg the value (= the market cap) of for example Bitcoin to the value (market cap) of for example the Top ten US stocks, that wouldnt work because Bitcoin has a value of its own and if demand for Bitcoin increases it market cap get higher. So the peg can't work.
That was just my initial reaction.... Any contradicting thoughts?

Offline G1ng3rBr34dM4n

Might help if team viral swooped in to fav / RT ;) ;) (search #bitshares)


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Offline G1ng3rBr34dM4n

Nice find!  Threw a tweet at him introducing bitshares.


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Offline bytemaster

Obviously Rand is referring to Bitcoin the technology generically.   Based upon his usage of the terms we can call our 'shares' bitcoins just like we call all tissues Kleenex or copiers Xerox machines.


For the latest updates checkout my blog: http://bytemaster.bitshares.org
Anything said on these forums does not constitute an intent to create a legal obligation or contract between myself and anyone else.   These are merely my opinions and I reserve the right to change them at any time.

Offline voldemort628

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havnt we already had that? ;)

pts (and until recently ags) backed by "shares" in (future) DACs

Offline bytemaster

For the latest updates checkout my blog: http://bytemaster.bitshares.org
Anything said on these forums does not constitute an intent to create a legal obligation or contract between myself and anyone else.   These are merely my opinions and I reserve the right to change them at any time.