Compared to other stores of value, you have at least as many ways to protect your assets: Paper currency in your wallet : a paper wallet Gold bars in a bank vault : magnetic, optical, or (better: and) flash memory storage in a bank vault Trusting a third party to hold your dollars : trusting a third party to hold your BTC It's true that lost fiat currency can be replaced by printing more. But that is the chief distinction that makes bitcoin appealing -- its value cannot be diluted by creating more. Just like authentic Picassos, you are guaranteed that the supply will never be inflated.one of the problems: loss of currency and the ability to inflate
How big a problem is that? People lose money and goods all the time, often irretrievably.I don't see how it can scale
There will ultimately be 21 million units in circulation, less those which are irretrievably lost. Even if an awful lot are carelessly lost, those that remain can be subdivided as necessary to cover as many transactions among as many people as desired.On a long enough timeline, bitcoins can only deflate in value
"Deflation" means bitcoins will tend to increase in value, as the supply is capped and will eventually only erode due to accidental loss, as with authentic Picassos. There is concern that this will lead to hoarding, but I don't see the problem. If it's a Picasso, all you can do is store it or sell it. But if the value of your BTC holdings increases by 3%, you can trade just that increase, or trade a part of it.
Sure, but the treasury can always print more. In the grand scheme of things, it's probably not that big a problem (Clearly hasn't stopped its growth thus far). I haven't the faintest clue in the world what is the rate of deletion versus the rate of influx of bitcoins to the market... This is what I get for commenting on an article without the most basic grasp of economics. Ignore that transmission. >_<How big a problem is that? People lose money and goods all the time, often irretrievably.
"Deflation" means bitcoins will tend to increase in value