Answer by Adam Gering:

Bitcoin is something of a limited supply, that can be securely transferred between parties in a verifiable manner without relying on the trust of third party or a central entity. It cannot be counterfeited. It has no intrinsic value what-so-ever, only what people are willing to exchange it for.

In this sense, bitcoin is analogous to fiat physical cash, which more or less shares all the same characteristics listed above. However, bitcoin has two specific characteristics physical cash doesn’t have which are huge advantages:

(1) it is digital and not physical, therefore can be transferred between parties without physical exchange (e.g. over the Internet), and…

(2) the supply of bitcoins cannot be arbitrarily inflated (e.g. central banks inflating the monetary supply or printing money).

The mining of bitcoins serves purely to allow the supply of bitcoins to inflate in a controlled and predictable manner. It wasn’t really required, but it both encouraged early adoption of bitcoin, encourages network distribution of the bitcoin chain (which facilitates the transfer/verification function) and moderately reduces its value appreciation.

Bitcoin has two clear disadvantages to fiat physical cash, and one shared disadvantage:

(1) It is not legal tender for debts public and private. (i.e. no one is obligated to accept it and you cannot pay your taxes in it).

(2) It does not have a geographic monopoly, and can be subject to competition by other digital currencies.

(3 - Shared) It is targeted by thieves and can be stolen without recourse.

lessig:

(Some will say this is not the time. I disagree. This is the time when every mixed emotion needs to find voice.)

Since his arrest in January, 2011, I have known more about the events that began this spiral than I have wanted to know. Aaron consulted me as a friend and lawyer. He…

When its time to find a coworking space.

(Guy at Starbucks)

newsyc:

A startup founder’s hourly rate (ninjasandrobots.com)

Go The Fuck Home: Working Too Much is Hurting Your Productivity (thewebivore.com)

safeshepherd:

I’ve been asked to write this blog post by many, many friends over the past few months; here it is.

Everything changed when Dave McClure checked-in on Foursquare three blocks from our apartment…

My co-founder Geoff and I began our start-up adventure with nothing more than blind ambition, a…

AARRR! Super secret 500 Startups intellectual property.

• A: Acquisition - where / what channels do users come from?
• A: Activation - what % have a “happy” initial experience?
• R: Retention - do they come back & re-visit over time?
• R: Referral - do they like it enough to tell their friends?
• R: Revenue - can you monetize any of this behavior?

dariusmonsef:

It’s hard to critique a model that has succeeded as well as Y Combinator has… So I’ll be clear that I’m not trying to point out a deficiency in YC, but rather an opportunity to make the experience even better. This idea has been something kicking around in my head since we did YC 2 years ago, but…

entrepreneurdesigners:

Week two focused on the customer development process and running experiments.

The Customer Development process, developed by Steve Blank, offers a framework for product development that can feel familiar to designers trained in empathetic human-centered design. (Though Blank uses Customer…

entrepreneurdesigners:

When Christina and I began the process of designing the course, we came up with a few principles to help us think about the content, structure, and goals of the class:

1. Networks are a foundational concept.

As a society, we are undergoing one of the most significant macro-level shifts in our…