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Overstock CEO On Bitcoins, Gold, Austrian Economics, And... Zombies
Patrick Byrne, the embattled CEO of Overstock.com, had plenty to say in a recent Fortune interview. The outspoken CEO, whose company recently became the first US retailer to accept Bitcoin (beginning later next year) aligns his beliefs with Ron Paul, holds enough gold that if "zombies walked the Earth," he'd be taken care of. Byrne believes "the long-run value of all fiat money is zero," adding that,"we're not going to get rid of the Federal Reserve any time soon, so bitcoin is a step in the right direction."
Fortune: Do you own any bitcoins?
Patrick Byrne: No. I own gold.
Really, how much gold?
A lot. Let's just say enough that if zombies walked the Earth I will have enough gold that me and mine are taken care of.
I hope you're kidding about the zombies, but let's get back to bitcoin. Do you plan to buy any for yourself?
I'm not investing in bitcoin. I'm just saying we'll accept it. I don't have any opinions on its value, and I don't even know how one would go about finding that out beyond just looking it up everyday and what it's trading at. Overstock accepting bitcoin shouldn't be read as an endorsement or a view that the value of it is going to go up. We're not going to be holding any bitcoin -- it's just a medium of exchange.
But you're obviously a bitcoin fan. Why?
There are business and philosophical reasons. First, the business reason: I think there are a legitimate number of consumers who want to be able to shop with bitcoin. They like the anonymity of the currency. So far, the market has only served them with shady websites, like Silk Road. Also, it saves us about 2% from interchange fees. It's no secret that our net margin is about 2% now. And so the savings would be a very substantial improvement to our bottom line.
As far as the philosophical reason: I am from the Austrian School of Economics, which means we're the guys who hate fiat money. The long-run value of all fiat money is zero. If you believe in limited government, you want to have a monetary system that is based on something where no government mandarin can just create money with a stroke of a pen. Gold is a solution, we're not going to bring back the gold standard any time soon. We're not going to get rid of the Federal Reserve any time soon, so bitcoin is a step in the right direction.
Bitcoin has gotten a lot of attention. Would you say that accepting it at Overstock is just a marketing tool for your company?
Adoption of bitcoin is low, but I think once we and some other major guys start accepting it that could change very quickly.
In December alone, bitcoin fluctuated between $480 and $1,280. This is super volatile. Does that freak you out at all?
No. We're not going to be holding any bitcoin. It's just a medium of exchange. We're just going to be taking bitcoins as payment and converting them into U.S. dollars, at least initially. If we just do the conversion every day, the most risk would be the volatility it experiences in one day, which is still pretty high I know.
There aren't any derivative instruments out there yet to hedge that risk, but we anticipate they will be created in one way or another.
Any other risks you see?
I really don't see any. Plus a certain type of person is using bitcoin -- not just the guys shopping on Silk Road. An increasing population distrusts the government's ability to manage the economy. This is a way of signaling to these people that we stand with them and we share their same doubts.
Washington has been holding Congressional hearings on Bitcoin? Have you talked to anyone about the currency?
I avoid discussions with anyone in Washington, but we have lawyers that talk to them, and they say that in Washington there are questions about bitcoin and how it's going to be regulated, if at all. The concern is primarily the Silk Road kind of crowd and money launderers. We certainly don't want to encourage or condone that kind of behavior and we'll do everything the law requires us to do.
Can the U.S. stop bitcoin from being adopted and used, especially by retailers and consumers?
I don't' see how they can. If anything, I think if usage gets widespread enough, it could have a beautiful effect for the United States. If our current system starts melting down or we start experiencing hyperinflation and systemic risks and all kinds of things we experienced in 2008, then it will provide a very convenient way for people to move to a safe store of value as they lose faith in the current government-run institutions.
A few bitcoin exchange start-ups have emerged. Who are you planning to use?
We're down to negotiating with three companies.
Which ones?
We haven't disclosed that yet.
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And Zombie Standing Predidients
http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/28/dnc-sends-email-defending-obama-from-i...
10 year is imploding, say "buh-bye!"
there is no need for an "FOMC" or a "Wall Street" if the ten year "implodes." PERIOD. The latter relies on economic growth to lend into (non existent as they sit on cash and do nothing with it) and the former simply debates the merits of whether "free money" can fund a lifeguard in Evanston (for the summer of course.) If that can't be done then they no longer matter either. Any CEO, any politician relying on these two entities as "having their back" if that ten year blows out...will no longer have that as their backstop. And there is no fallback position since when you're dealing with the world largest energy producer in all of human history (the USA) "they have no need for either the FOMC or Wall Street." i have no crystal ball on the ten year...just a bet that have maintained even too today (with hopes that it is right)...all i can say is "i hope Bill Gross and El Arian are right." they're the ones with the "big bucks" as they say. "and the plan out there is to create solar cities and launch a meteor mining business." so far so good.
From a guy that has seen a shorted share count of 107% of share float in his company's stock he is remarkably civil about "the system"
http://investors.overstock.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=131091&p=irol-newsArticle...
And now we know why Goldman shorted in excess of 100% of the float!
maybe another day
Took my comment down too...
2-3 years hangin' around here and the first words of mr. byrne's i've seen. thank you tylers.
He'll be taken care of alright..........
Overstock came through the dot.com bubble selling replacements for discontinued bridal sets. They know scarcity.
Sigh.
Well if I want a deal on 8000 thread count duvets I'd better buy some of them bitcoins.
Didn't have a clue who he was until today, but I can tell I like him already.
Patrick Byrne is a stand up guy. If he is new to you then please take a look at this:
http://www.deepcapture.com/
especially
http://www.deepcapturethemovie.com/
He has been calling the bullshitters out by name for years.
Amazing. Thank you.
There isnt too many people id break bread with... Patrick Byrne is one of them.
I have to admit, this guy is smarter than I'd previously thought. He apparently knows that gold is a better bet than the stock of any company he is the CEO of.
can't overstock gold apparently. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Princeton_(1843)
and has the integrity to say so.
I have never found anything I ever wanted to buy at Overstock. Since 2002 !!!
friggin maggot
I love this guy's attitude.
I see a problem here lol..
Ya think?...ROTFL!!!
Not really. The volume they'll be doing in BTC will be very small initially.
Also, they'll probably be flipping the coin for cash at time of sale ultimately.
Malikai, first off, you and I will always be friends but we both know this is his attempt to butress his position with a currently popular...lets call it...venue.
No matter whether I agree with his "politics" or ideology, it is as you say, the amounts will be small and smacks of a certain desperation for "flow" to his corporation.
I'm not sure..
He's got quite a bit of history being 'against the machine'.
I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that the whole thing is a political statement.
I think the interview (the way I read it) speaks for itself.
He's accepting BitCoin as payment for his merchandise, while at the same time not investing in it. He's looking at BitCoin as a stawk, not necessarily money. Stawks can be treated as currency but not money, they always get converted to money.
However warped the concept of money has become, that is the reality and it wasn't the "hard money" people who did it.
/////////
Addendum, the above is not an admonition to not rage against the machine that has brought us to this point.
oh you are so proud of yourself.. eveyone step back and clap.
But what you fail to disclose in your fantasy is the fact in that other recent article on ZH that gold is completely manipulated with the paper market to aid in transferring it out of the west to the east.
so instead of realizing gains from bitcoin now vs the dollar, you hope for the day America's dollar is dead so gold can be valued highly in a sea of despair. Well.. EVERYTHING will be highly valued vs the dollar at that time so you are not going to GAIN anything
understand now?
I don't know if its the triple spacing in your comment or the server farms in China mining BitCoin into fiat that makes me think you've become a raving lunatic.
My (potentially biased) gut feeling is that his "reasons" for doing it were what it took for him to get the board to go along with him.
We have to remember that he most likely couldn't just do this without the board OK-ing the whole thing. Meaning that he had to provide a convincing enough argument. Therefore, he probably had to convince them that they would avoid FX risk (hence not holding a position). Meanwhile, it's an easy sale to any board that chargeback risk is eliminated with BTC. And the final winner with the board is the potential for 2% in savings.
All the while, he gets to give the finger to the FED all his buddies at the 'fractional reserve DTCC' and their conspirators.
I doubt his board had a say in this. Corporate boards are not that hands on. It's no different than if they decided to take Amex or Discover, if they don't already. Purely an operational call even if it attracts attention from a small but engaged community.
Nmewn - about raging against the machine - doesn't everyone have to start somewhere? And won't it be easier to invest in bitcoin down the road if he's got the facility in place to accept them?
It is my opinion that in the BitCoin community there are two types of people...the purist & the speculator. I think anyone from the outside looking in can discern the motivations of both types.
The speculators are people like the Winklevoss twins, "Satoshi" himself, Jed McCaleb etc. (who got in on the ground floor) and now Goldmanites & smaller specs in all their forms. The purists need to realize the speculators motivations are not the same as the purist.
Just as long as the purists have their eyes wide open and think it though, its their choice.
But as for me (trying to think as a purist) nothing good can come from "a currency" born in the same place as the Feds monopoly money. It comes from the ether (admittedly without debt) but there are still those wealthy people in line ahead of the common man with this "new money" the purist supports. And no matter how secure the claim of it is, it is encumbered by its very nature being dependent on the net & devices & power making its true value and utility dubious.
I could be completely wrong but it smells like a ponzi to me.
I would divide "speculator" into "speculator" and "investor" classes, and divide "purist" into anti-fiat and anti-fascist factions. Speculators deal in price. Investors deal in value. Anti-fiat activists are generally Austrians. Anti-fascists are motivated more by civil forfeiture and the NSA - issues of privacy and liberty, rather than political economics.
I, for example, would be an anti-fascist investor with Austrian leanings, willing to speculate when risk/reward is appealling, but motivated to deal in BTC by the quantity theory of money.
They'll likely end up using a service like BitPay wich will effectively remove all danger of volatility. What little volatility occurs in the 10 minutes or so it takes for Bitpay to process will be borne by them (BitPay).
Sounds like a solid short, if they ever get listed ;-)
The Bill Gates of Asia, the richest guy of FUCKING ASIA, is backing them up.
Good luck on your short
I will assume "backing it" with something other than, BitCoin...lol.
One doesn't short "Li the Cash"! He's also very well connected with the KKK Tribe.
Certainly makes one wonder about long term objectives
I think you share my opinion in that regard, the aim is for an eventual world-wide cashless society, where money is what they say it is and is controlled (along with the people who use it) with a simple mouse click.
I guess we need to start collecting seashells...lol.
Better hurry up and get the perfectly formed shells before Fukushima mutations are all that is left - they'll be much more rare.
I think BitPay takes more like a full day, and that depends on ther amount. If one wanted to do 10 to 20 coins ..it definitely could take 1 day before confirmation.
This is a real issue for BitCoin being used as a POS is that the 2-3% the business can save on the transaction can be wiped out begfore settlement.
It is still very early in the game for Bitcoin as a liquid means of exchange @ POS.
That's true. Some weeks it's much more stable than others.
It may be the case with BitPay (I don't know how they work), but that's not the only way to do it.
After receipt of coin to a hot wallet, it can then be sent onwards to an exchange, where it can be sold off. That means you could be looking at as little as 1-2 hours exposure. Some exchanges, like Gox, allow you to handle POS transactions completely by receiving your coin to a Gox wallet, where you can then sell it off in as little as an hour or less.
There's many ways to do it, if you're willing and able to build the system to do it.
Brilliant!
"I'm not investing in bitcoin. I'm just saying we'll accept it."
Boink...lol.
When the dollar blows up, he wants to be able to continue to sell shit.
Fuck shit like food, clothing, shelter, and guns, zombies only barter with gold.
I'm stocking up on brains.
The ultimate zombie barter medium.
And there are lots of them just walking around out there not being used, free for the taking!
Running from the dollar to the digital NSA backdoored dollar.
Bitcoin is evil, even Krugman says it.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/bitcoin-is-evil/
NSA created Bitcoin hashing functions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha2
"Prefer conventional discrete-log-based systems over elliptic-curve systems; the latter have constants that the NSA influences when they can." (which bitcoin uses)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-how-to-remain-secure-su...
Bitcoin uses RIPEMD160 which appears unsecure
http://blog.skullsecurity.org/2012/everything-you-need-to-know-about-has...
uh-uh
Factually incorrect. The NSA backdoored algos are pseudorandom, but BTC uses Koeblitz curves. Bullet dodged.
I hope that Bit Coin can withstand the siege by GS.
If it becomes widely accepted as currency it's value should rise.
I am intrigued by the idea of breaking it into parts like quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies. Is that possible?
Yes. You can buy/sell/transact in fractions of bitcoin.
Perhaps the correct way to view a bitcoin is to consider it as 100,000,000 satoshi.
It's not that bitcoin itself is divisible. It's that one bitcoin consists of 100mln satoshi units.
At a protocol level, when I send you 1BTC, I'm actually sending you 100mln satoshi, as there is technically no such thing as 'a whole bitcoin'.
Like I've been saying for some time, folks: GOLD + BTC = Parallel* Economy. Store of Value + Medium of Exchange = Free Market Economics.
What one doesn't do for you, the other one will. And all w/o the CBs, Wall St or Washington.
If we bracket out the "learning disabled", the jackasses and the trolls, is there ANYTHING about that which genuine libertarians/Libertarians don't get?
* Parallel Economy = Black + Grey + White, where...
Black = Illegal items and Activities (Drugs, Prostitution...)
Grey = Legal but untaxed, due to the cash nature of the business
White = Legal + taxed income earned, but then Cloaks for reasons of Privacy (rooted in the Constitution) and Tax Rebellion at the individual level.
Excellent comment Kirk. That's what most people dont get, No one knows who's going to be right until it happens. Personally, I think Bitcoin is going to blossom as the sheep move out of their currencies looking for a store of value. I understand the "no store of value" argument but things (like fiat) do work until they don't. I think bitcoin will have a long history of working until it doesn't.
Wish you guys well in your bitcoin aspirations.
I just don't think government is going to stand around and do nothing.
They know where you live, what you do, what you just typed on your computer, they will shit in the bitcoin bucket when it threatens them. Until then it is a roller coaster I do not have the stomach for.
oh no ZH zombies.. gold isn't going to be $800,000 an oz tomorrow!! fuck!!! probably $800 soon..what will you do?? keep stackin!!
Some of us are counting on them beating it down like they always do (in dollar/price terms) to outrun their government imposed fiat inflation/devaluation designs.
Its a ying yang thingy in value terms though.
They could always ban it & us as fiat and BitShit heretics, if they had the balls ;-)
you are not a man of action as much as you like to think.. you are a meek squatter that hopes to one day inherit the world
My "actions" could send an entire region of the country into a blind panic if I chose to, including someone as insignificant as you trying to transact in BitCoin. And there are many of us.
Try and get a grip on yourself.
I second nmewns motion. It looks like we are going to have to play the bitcoin game again tonight.
mining and trading bitcoin has allowed me to not work for the next two years at least...even if I just sit around jawing at you the whole time.. please tell how you will make me go into a blind panic? And yes, I've already locked in the gains so do as you may... your move talker with zeroactions
I think youre a douche. Congratulations on your bit coin success.
"And yes, I've already locked in the gains so do as you may"
Locked in, as in sold from your brokerage account FOR FIAT?
So you too (like fonestar) admit that you look at BitCoin as nothing more than an investment vehicle. Not some new paradigm of money or currency. Not an act of chivalry in "fighting the Fed" or the machine or any other Quixotic horseshit one has to wade through on these BitThreads...just another pump & dump BitScammer.
Well, now that you've sold out (in more ways than one...lol) don't forget to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. They saw what you did and they know who you are pools, oh man-of-action, and they will be coming to collect their pound of flesh from you.
And they will expect it to be paid in fiat pools, the currency of the realm, not BitCoin, so you wil need to save some of those fiat "gains" FOR THEM, thus, you don't have quite as long as you think you do sport ;-)
Nice to see him reveal his hypocrisy on this subject.
+1 for beating him over the head with his own words.
It's not what I wanted to do to him (I value his opinion most of the time) but he pushed first (sniff sniff...lol)
It needed to be brought up...there are many "BitCoiner's" who just see it as their opportunity to make some cash, which is all fine & good but they should leave all the high minded righteous nonsense about the truth & justice BS of what they say they're doing at the front door.
There will be (or should be) a Schedule D in his future and they never bring that important point up as a BitPumper...leading to other questions about their real motives and/or ignorance of what they're advocating other people to do.
Exchanging a product or service for BitCoin with after taxed dollars is one thing and probably ok with section 988, trading BitCoin for dollars (for a capital gain) is another completely and people who use on-line trading accounts should be aware of it so they don't get slammed on the back end.
You know I'm no fan of any bureaucrat generally & the fucksticks at the IRS especially but people dickin around with this need to be fully informed to make rational choices & decisions about their "money"...cuz right now, until we remove the current tax code, it is what it is.
Hey Dark - in slamming/mocking gold stackers you reveal a total lack of concern/integrity about the $200 Tr. in unfunded liabilities the US of A has coming right toward it like a huge tsunami. While I'm concerned with the NSA roots woven into BC security, I'm not prepared to slam it - preferring to look at gold and BC as two weapons working together currently to expose the fiat emporer's nakedness. Why in the world would you slam gold, et al?
Q: Who owns the biggest "stack" of Bitcoins?
A: The FBI
Um, I think it's more accurate to say that the FBI knows the Owner of some of the biggest stacks, and they have not yet succeeded in breaking into his vault.
"It's not their vault... they're just slow." Did ya get the play on words?
Actually I believe that "Satoshi" owns 50 % of uncirculated BitCoin.
Definitely untrue.
Uh I missed something here on the zombie/gold relationship.
He has enough gold, that if zombies walked the earth, him and his would be taken care of.
Therefore gold solves the zombie problem (getting closer).
But how? Do you have to watch TV to understand what he is saying?
Ok ok I think I have it now. He is saying that when the Annunaki return and zombies are used by them to mine gold that he has enough gold to pay the aliens so that he and his family won't have to work. That's it; right?
He is saying it is insurance. Bitcoin is too in a way. What both scream is a continued and accelerating distrust in the American gov and it's currency.
Overstock sells memory foam beds.
Wish they sold gasoline. Still looking for a gas station that accepts bitcoin.
Get a debit card. https://bitplastic.com/
Ok folks, it's the bitcoin game again. Here is fonestar's address and by the way, that asshole owes me some bitcoin because he didn't play nice.
18pGo9aLQUtz2r666aBAwQsFsD7wLvBxXb
Wow, what a secret that is? It must be unhackable. Should we steal all of fonestar's btc just to fuck with him?LOL We should, but we won't, because that would piss off his handlers.
Here is how the game works. I will just offer you a very small trade via a fractional bitcoin. You will not have to send me any merchandise. I do expect the fractional bitcoin back. It is the transaction fees that I really want to watch. So yes, it will be 0.0001 BTC or so. If you ever wanted to try bitcoin now is the time and at my expense. You are are already logged on with an IP and ISP so they already know. I say we show them a little MOAR and help you learn why bitcoin pisses off the establishment.
I am a gold bug but I love the idea of Bitcoin. Anything I can do to drive these fake money master motherfuckers into the ground then I will do it.
My address is this one.
c79afefc-856b-f3e1-2ebf-75d73edca4a6
Post your address and let's start pissing everyone off. I will transfer BTC to you with the understanding that I want it back because otherwise I will not know the transaction fees. Plus we are just making transactions to keep their comps busy.LOL
Good idea Manip - Now I'm going to get a BTC wallet thingy just to test this theory. I don't trust these electrons just yet.
As soon as I see that the money changers cant touch it, I'm in. Until then I'm just another lookie lou.
Sorry to say that
c79afefc-856b-f3e1-2ebf-75d73edca4a6
is not a valid bitcoin address.
You are trying to do WHAT exactly?
he doesn't know.. he is a complete idiot
Manip has chilled quite a bit since his family rejoined him. I was thinking he was just another angry guy but can tell from following his comments that he was just upset about being separated from them. He is not an idiot. But you sir are a fucking arrogant douche. Just a constant, consistent string of insults and condescension from you. You are that angry guy pools.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fad6eZTDikA : he's one of these guys
I think he has a Nigerian inheritance
Just try not to take your bitcoins out on the boat again, OK
bitcoin is a medium of exchange
gold is a store of value
Indeed.
Let's remember, "money" is defined as anything that has at least one, and as many as all three, of the following characteristics:
1) store of value
2) medium of exchange
3) unit of account
We are beginning to move towards the following tripartite system:
1) primary store of value = gold
2) primary medium of exchange = BitCoin
3) primary unit of account = dollar
I think this is why the Federal Reserve is being so coy about BitCoin. As long as the dollar stays in the picture (as the global unit of account) they are ok with BitCoin.
Conversely, the above might also explain why those who are behind the yuan, euro, or minor currencies like the rupee, are lining up against BitCoin.
at MINIMUM all of those qualities, not "at least one"
What fails at any fails to be money.
Rumours: Snowden in Hamburg, Germany 30C3
there is also a foto:
http://homment.com/snowden-hamburg-
A guy in UK had his tax return sent back to him.
In answer to the question: Do you have anyone dependent on you replied:
2.1 million illegal immigrants,
1.1 million crack-heads
4.4 million unemployable scroungers
900,000 criminals in 85 prisons
650 idiots in Parliament and the whole of the European Commission
His response was deemed unacceptable.
In response, he asked “Who did I miss out?”
“Who did I miss out?”
Scotland.
(not me, I'm just saying some would say that)
He also forgot to mention all the zombie banks and insurance companies on welfare.
Don't understand the negative comments against Byrne. He's a gold bug who like a lot of us doesn't trust bitcoin enough to invest in it but likes the idea of a digital currency that cuts transaction fees and so is willing to use it as a medium of exchange. So if you're a gold bug he's on your side. If you're invested in bitcoins, his acceptance of bitcoin for payment will help to spread acceptance of bitcoin. What's not to like?
As for the disparagement of his company, I think his business creates an outcome where Everyone wins -- a company liquidates unsold stock, gets money for it and the consumer gets a deal on price. I think Byrne's a hero for his standing up to the naked short sellers and for creating his deep capture site.
Economic Warfare as an Instrument of Transnational Organized Crime
"The concern is primarily the Silk Road kind of crowd and money launderers."
Quite right too! No one wants any of that $85 billion a month; or that FRRRF $95 billion a day, ending up in the wrong pocket.
"There aren't any derivative instruments out there yet to hedge that risk, but we anticipate they will be created in one way or another."
- I wonder how to set one up.
He's wrong. They exist. cf. MPOE