Bitcoin is brilliant and beautiful, no doubt about it. The growth of the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has spurred much discussion about virtual currencies. Not suprisingly, most governments have decided that the regulation of such will essentially be along the same guidelines that have been governing the trade credits (T$) in use for decades by members of barter networks. The Trade Dollar was here long before Bitcoin, and while both units certainly deserve the moniker of Altcurrency as they do share a number of properties, they are also quite different in other regards.
Here are the differences as we see them:
1)
Bitcoin - finite (capped at 21 million once they are all mined).
T$ - infinite (nearly... capped at the amount of excess capacity of users).
2)
Bitcoin - quasi-anonymous, (only an email is required to open a wallet).
T$ - KYC rules in full effect (Know Your Customer), bank-like requirements to open an account.
3)
Bitcoin - Credit not available.
T$ - 0% interest Credit lines available, along the model of Mutual Credit.
4)
Bitcoin - may be stolen, like cash or gold. Difficult to trace.
T$ - theft-proof. Virtually impossible to steal. T$ are face money. It takes your face to spend your T$. They don't exist outside of the network.
5)
Bitcoin - transfer speeds are much faster than bank transfers, even international.
T$ - transfers and transactions are instantaneous, much faster than BTC.
6)
Bitcoin - free-floating value, a truly free market currency whose price is solely determined by the law of Supply and Demand.
T$ - pegged to legal tender value, simply mirrors national currencies.
7)
Bitcoin - directly redeemable for legal tender in the global marketplace.
T$ - not directly redeemable for cash, only products or services.
8)
Bitcoin - speculation causes dramatic instability.
T$ - there is no speculation.
9)
Bitcoin - not available for use as a plastic card.
T$ - available for use as a plastic card through common merchant terminals.
10)
Bitcoin - considered hipster currency and accused of being a fad in a bubble.
T$ - rarely even considered by the public. Hardly a fad. An accepted business tool.
Some similarities between BTC and T$
1)
BTC and T$ both subvert the dominant paradigm.
2)
Both are in use by those who embrace an early-adapter mentality, and seek an edge in business.
3)
Accepting them generates additional sales for merchants from new customer-bases
4)
Both are taxable upon redemption into cash, products, or services.
5)
Mobile apps make them extremely easy to use.
6)
Growing acceptance of both in the marketplace. New merchants joining daily.
7)
Created without Usury.
8)
Open source ledger = transparent accounting.
9)
Banks don't accept them.
10)
You can spend both on Collective Currency!
Collective Currency is proud to have been the first Mutual Credit network in the universe to accept Bitcoin. We hope to have more Bitcoin users buying T$ to spend in our network. This will allow more of our members to "cash out" T$ via BTC.