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Comment by dragontamer | Hacker News Reader

What is preventing me from converting my USD into Euros or Yen? I can choose whichever Government / Central bank fits me the best.

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> I can choose whichever Government / Central bank fits me the best.

Bitcoin actually provides a new choice: government or no-government. People that want government/cb currency are free to choose it. People that want no-government money can choose Bitcoin.

Or... you know... Gold. That other currency that has transcended governments?

Gold is not really practical for modern commerce without first converting it into an alternate currency (passthroughs in dollars, for instance) or trusting a third-party. Bitcoin can be traded really easily, no conversion or trusted intermediary (unless you count the btc swarm) necessary.

For those who have forgotten, US dollars used to be certificates backed by silver:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/US-%245-...

Unless you want instantaneous transfers. Which requires you to use either a Bitcoin Bank (ie: Flexcoins), or an intermediate trusted 3rd party (Green address).

Which is the entire point of this thread of discussion. People are not liking the restrictions on Bitcoin (ie: wait X number of hashes before the transaction is complete), and are recreating "alternative currencies" for Bitcoin. Which to me... seems against the point of the medium.

Sure, but you can also choose bitcoin, which has no government or central bank, if that fits you best.

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