Look, if you've honestly put in the effort to research the issues and are satisfied with your conclusion that FRB is possible with bitcoin, than I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. But as I stated earlier, I'm not interested in taking the time to spell out my position. Additionally, I'm certainly not interested in digging up the various threads/posts/papers I've read over the past years in order to spoon-feed them to "some guy on the internet". I pointed you in a direction where you might come across some good arguments challenging your position; if you went down that road and remain unconvinced, then so be it.

Lemme get this straight, you're claiming that:

• 1) because people had BTC on account with MtGox in order to facilitate trades, they were actually using MtGox as a bank
  2) MtGox could have started writing loans using its customer's BTC balances

...have I got that right?

OK, then. I think I now have a much better idea of where you're coming from.

Cheers!

Apparently you didn't bother to click through the links on that page (or read any of the threads on the forum) that express opposing viewpoints. Now, I don't really follow bitcoin that closely anymore, but the last I checked the matter was hardly settled.

But hey, if you can point to a real world example of an operational bitcoin bank practicing fractional reserve banking, I'd certainly be willing to reconsider my position. : )

Please, spare me. I can assure you that my professional credentials in the banking arena are...well, let's say they're above average.

Off-topic, but you can't be serious. The total amount of stolen bitcoins compared to the total amount in circulation is staggering.

OK...did you find this page? Did you click the link on that page pointing to the debate on the topic here? Did you try searching Google using "fractional reserve" site:bitcointalk.org?

How dare you try to lay our sorry state of affairs at the feet of President Jackson! Don't you realize what a fucked up country he inherited from John Quincy Adams?!? You've obviously been spending WAY to much time in your RWEC. (Right-Whig Echo Chamber)

Nope. That's too much of a chore, boy.

Sorry, with bitcoin I'm afraid it's not that simple. At this point in the discussion, I'm not going to bother with writing out a treatise explaining my position. If you really want to understand the issues involved, I suggest you check the bitcoin wiki along with the many threads on the topic at bitcointalk.org.

[sigh]

Again, you seem to have a different definition than everyone else of what constitutes "lending". If individuals at MtGox were appropriating customer deposits, that's not a lending activity, that's a criminal activity. And it's still criminal even if they returned the BTC with interest.

Furthermore, at no time did MtGox sell or offer for sale any BTC loan products. If you're not making loans, you're not a bank by any generally accepted definition.

...only if one subscribes to your ridiculous position that appropriating customer deposits is equivalent to lending. But please, continue making up new definitions for common words...it's quite entertaining. I'm sure you're a real hit at cocktail parties.

Cheers!

You're right, I don't believe fractional reserve banking with bitcoin can exist, and you have yet to provide any evidence to the contrary.

So...in your mind, BTC exchanges are operating as fractional reserve banks. That's a rather...um, unique position to hold. I suspect the operators and customers of the exchanges would disagree with you, though.

Just because businesses are paying interest on bitcoin deposits and/or charging interest on BTC loans does not mean they qualify as fractional reserve banks. But since your definition of fractional reserve banking seems to differ from the generally accepted definition, I guess you can make any claim you want. In any case, it sure would help your argument(s) if you could back them up somehow.

Excellent points. I'd add another: it's tough to imagine why anyone would want to deposit BTC with a bitcoin "bank" in the first place. All of the usual reasons (other than earning interest) for storing money with another party simply don't apply when it comes to BTC.

I hope you won't mind if I ask you to cite a real-world example of a legitimate BTC business operating as a fractional reserve "bank". I'd be very interested to see exactly how that was done.

I'm not sure what anything I wrote has to do with Blizzard, but it's pretty clear to me you've got a problem with the IRS. : )

You can't use bitcoin for fractional reserve banking; the system itself doesn't support it. Legislation banning fractional reserve banking in BTC is like legislation banning the sun from rising in the west.

Yeah? Well the IRS disagrees with you.

And without whiskey manufacture, most of the world would be speaking Gaelic by now.

Hopefully the great mass of irony in your statement squished your brain as it rolled out of your mouth.