Www.belfinclub.be Bitcoin : werkwijze en toekomstperspectieven Le bitcoin: fonctionnement et perspectives.

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Bitcoin : werkwijze en toekomstperspectieven

Le bitcoin: fonctionnement et perspectives

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AGENDA

INTRODUCTION:   Frédéric de Laminne, General Secretary BFC

• THE CONCEPT OF CURRENCY: Prof. Dr. Bruno Colmant, President BFC

• THE BITCOIN: WHAT IS IT? David Boveington-Fauran, EBTM

• TECHNICAL ASPECTS: Prof. Hugues Bersini, ULB

• TAX AND LEGAL ASPECTS: David Spaas, Director Belgian Bitcoin Association

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

WALKING DINNER

Bruno Colmant - October 15, 2014

What is money ?

• The most intriguing human creation• A common "artificial" belief• Freudian explanation : money deflects violence• The representation of value, since money does not carry value per se• Need to recognize the value representation in a specific

time/geographic zone• Money is also past work accumulated• To create money, there must be some kind of work

• The most puzzling fact :• Take a snapshot , and money is a stock• But money is really a flow

• Central banks create an indicative flow• Commercial banks create the monetary flow, loans make deposits

• So, money exist only "At the margin of a transaction"1

Bruno Colmant - October 15, 2014

Some intuitions regarding  the functions of money 

• Unit of account, mean of exchange• Money can arbitrate present and future consumption• A weak money is immediately transformed into real goods• A strong currency is saved• Arbitrage between transaction/savings : measure of the trust put into the monetary symbol

• Inflation is the tension point • Hyper-inflation : money becomes valueless• Hyper-deflation : money is exclusively saved• Gresham law (1519-1579) : bad money drives out good• Sometimes, money dies…. (1923)

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Bruno Colmant - October 15, 2014

Governments monopolize moneys 

• Money = A sum of individual trust "atoms"• Collective trust is ensured by government/central banks• Money is debased : Trust or coercion is the base• Example : Zimbabwe : The USD replaces the domestic currency• The regulation of the trust is measured through the money

depreciation, that is inflation• Unit of account must be the same for Money/Taxes/Public Debt• Hayek : only private currencies disciplinate governments

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Bruno Colmant - October 15, 2014

And the bitcoin : is it so far from a money ?

A currency that is computationally impractical to reverse …

• Crypto/Electronic : OK• Decentralized : OK • Anonymous : OK• Peer-to-peer : ?• No regulator/cebteal bank : ? • Wallet: OK• Work behing the money : yes : the dataminers• Issues : • quantity ? • Volatility ? • Ability to be saved • Black economy ?

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