Silk Road forums

Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: rise_against on November 22, 2011, 04:02 am

Title: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: rise_against on November 22, 2011, 04:02 am
i realize that bitcoins are not the only virtual currency out there, but am curious to what others feel about the current state of bitcoins, the tightening of the AML noose on bitcoin transactions and if SR will survive if laws make it close to impossible for buyers and sellers to obtain bitcoins anonymously. What is the next alternative that SR can utilize to stay alive?
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: Steelydust on November 22, 2011, 04:25 am
I think a more interesting question would be,

Would bitcoin fail if Silkroad died?
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: MrDdroMcGillacutty on November 22, 2011, 04:49 am
My head just exploded. Yes, if a tree falls in the forest and know one is around to here the crash, it does indeed still make a sound.  I believe if we all quit using the bitcoin, something else would take its place. It wouldn't be as cool.
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: chronicpain on November 22, 2011, 07:29 pm
yep, sr is whats keeping the bitcoin alive. If sr where to shut down (heaven forbid) the bitcoin would be worth pennies or worse...
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: Mister Dank on November 22, 2011, 07:35 pm
Yeah, but if SR goes down, people will all move over to another site like it, like BlackMarket. If Tor goes down, people will use some other anonymizing service.

Bitcoins are still worth more than a dollar, which would seem like a huge accomplishment if the bankers didn't manipulate the price up to $30 and back down again.
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: foldingpaper on November 23, 2011, 09:44 pm
Would Bitcoin fail?
How significant is the Bitcoin trading volume on the Silk Road ? I was under the impression that most BTC volume is speculative anyway, so as long as the anonymous drug trade remains a possibility (as demonstrated by SR), demand should remain steady. Sure we might see a drop in value but as soon as the gap left by SR is filled, it should go right up again (and probably higher, since we now know that SR or other, the service will always exist).

If there is a steady demand for drugs and BTC allows that demand to be met, BTC will remain. That is of course if there isn't any major security breach in Tor, PGP, shipping etc.

Would Silk Road fail?
That's a real possibility. If BTC liquidity is severly impacted, traders would have to settle for less secure options unless another cryptocurrency fills the gap.
I don't think Bitcoin is realistically vulnerable to attacks on anonymity but it's a vague possibility.
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: kipperdore on November 23, 2011, 10:56 pm
i could imagine SR or another site creating their own currency that is site-specific. it would actually have some advantages over BTC (price stability). only hard part would be figuring out how to let customers trade cash (or other currencies, including BTC or other virtual currency) for the proprietary currency in a relatively anonymous and scalable way.
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: rise_against on November 23, 2011, 11:54 pm
what about SLL's (second life lindens) can't those be used as an anonymous currency in a similar fashion?
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: KingJoey on November 24, 2011, 12:19 am
Bitcoins suck. They are the worst part of Silk Road.
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: KingJoey on November 24, 2011, 02:57 am
honestly bitcoins are a scam at least thats what I think. Everything about that seems like a scam 2 me.
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: Steelydust on November 24, 2011, 05:07 am
honestly bitcoins are a scam at least thats what I think. Everything about that seems like a scam 2 me.

I think the same thing about dollars.
Title: Re: if Bitcoin fails will SR Die?
Post by: KingJoey on November 24, 2011, 05:11 am
Dollars are without a doubt a scam. They are the only currency in the entire world that is backed by nothing. But that puts the US at a huge advantage because if countries like China wanna get paid then the US must remain powerful enough too keep printing money based on words.