<p>Taking a look at the recent history of Bitcoin, say, one year, one sees a lot of problems that could hamper most projects. There was the speculation bubble, big price drop, many hacks on high-profile websites, Bitcoin being accused of promoting drug trade and so forth. At the same time there were few cases when Bitcoin was seen in a positive light - perhaps only the Good Wife episode. From that one could conclude that the project is likely to fail.</p>

<p>The real state of Bitcoin project is a bit more complex than that. There is a lot of money tied up with it (miners and investors), and the standard client is a quite stellar piece of software, but at the same time there are few opportunities to actually spend Bitcoins in a meaningful way, and a lot of the Bitcoin ecosystem relies on dubious security of third party applications.</p>

<p>Generally, the Bitcoin project will probably go through a period of remission from the limelight, hopefully giving enough time for the third party applications to shape up, the userbase to grow slowly and so forth, and only then start becoming more noticeable again, when it will start replacing other online payment processors. Alternatively, some major Bitcoin solutions might be taken down and the whole project could suffer because of that (say, if MtGox stopped operating).</p>

<p>Bitcoin is not dead, and it probably won't be shaped by the bigger news articles.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-27T16:13:49.577Z
2012-05-27T16:13:49.577Z
ThePiachu
<p>What you are describing is called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Yellow Journalism</a> - a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.  </p>

<p>Bitcoin is something that is very hard to understand and also its anonymous nature makes monitoring its level of success something difficult to measure. As a result, making an assertion that Bitcoin has failed is something that can be made without having to being accountable even if that assertion might be false. Bitcoin's biggest supporters include many who could be classified as favoring libertarian ideals. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Media bias</a> exists, and generally doesn't favor libertarians.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/BGGbn.png" alt="Nolan chart"></p>

<p>For instance, consider the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias" rel="nofollow noreferrer">media bias</a> against libertarian-leaning Ron Paul in this election:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTOVYnk4H-w" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTOVYnk4H-w</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-26T21:17:58.647Z
2012-05-28T20:16:11.983Z
2012-05-28T20:16:11.983Z
Stephen Gornick
<p>Many recent articles state that the great bitcoin experiment failed. Why is that? Has it? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-26T17:01:27.383Z
It would help a lot if you link to at least two such articles. For example, it would help to know if [this Wired article](http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/mf_bitcoin/all/1) was what you were thinking of.
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-26T19:59:34.650Z
This question appears to be quite subjective and I don't think it would be fit for the StackExchange format. However, it can be a bit interesting if you'd provide some examples of which articles you have in mind and possibly rephrasing the question.
ThePiachu
<news-coverage>
Why do news articles say that Bitcoins have failed?
Shamoon
# Why do news articles say that Bitcoins have failed?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-05-26)

Many recent articles state that the great bitcoin experiment failed. Why is that? Has it?

**Tags:** news-coverage

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It would help a lot if you link to at least two such articles. For example, it would help to know if [this Wired article](http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/mf_bitcoin/all/1) was what you were thinking of.  
> **username_2**: This question appears to be quite subjective and I don't think it would be fit for the StackExchange format. However, it can be a bit interesting if you'd provide some examples of which articles you have in mind and possibly rephrasing the question.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-05-27. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Taking a look at the recent history of Bitcoin, say, one year, one sees a lot of problems that could hamper most projects. There was the speculation bubble, big price drop, many hacks on high-profile websites, Bitcoin being accused of promoting drug trade and so forth. At the same time there were few cases when Bitcoin was seen in a positive light - perhaps only the Good Wife episode. From that one could conclude that the project is likely to fail.

The real state of Bitcoin project is a bit more complex than that. There is a lot of money tied up with it (miners and investors), and the standard client is a quite stellar piece of software, but at the same time there are few opportunities to actually spend Bitcoins in a meaningful way, and a lot of the Bitcoin ecosystem relies on dubious security of third party applications.

Generally, the Bitcoin project will probably go through a period of remission from the limelight, hopefully giving enough time for the third party applications to shape up, the userbase to grow slowly and so forth, and only then start becoming more noticeable again, when it will start replacing other online payment processors. Alternatively, some major Bitcoin solutions might be taken down and the whole project could suffer because of that (say, if MtGox stopped operating).

Bitcoin is not dead, and it probably won't be shaped by the bigger news articles.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2012-05-26. Score: -1

What you are describing is called [Yellow Journalism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism) - a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.

Bitcoin is something that is very hard to understand and also its anonymous nature makes monitoring its level of success something difficult to measure. As a result, making an assertion that Bitcoin has failed is something that can be made without having to being accountable even if that assertion might be false. Bitcoin's biggest supporters include many who could be classified as favoring libertarian ideals. [Media bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias) exists, and generally doesn't favor libertarians.

![Nolan chart](https://i.sstatic.net/BGGbn.png)

For instance, consider the [media bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias) against libertarian-leaning Ron Paul in this election:

* <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTOVYnk4H-w>


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