一个比特币爱好者的自白

I'm Up On Bitcoins, Even If They're Down

一个比特币爱好者的自白

About a year ago, I started using bitcoins at the salad bar in my local deli. I always like to be ahead of the technological curve, and using virtual electronic currency was easier than carrying cash and more secure than using a debit or credit card.

大约一年前，我开始在本地熟食店的沙拉吧使用比特币。我总是喜欢走在科技潮流的最前沿，而且使用虚拟电子货币比带现钞方便，比用借记卡或信用卡安全。

There is only one problem with this exotic currency, which is derived from complex algorithms and 'mined' by computers in places such as Iceland and Hong Kong -- a concept I do not fully understand. It's that the value of a bitcoin fluctuates by the hour, sometimes wildly. So a salad that cost me $5.95 on Christmas could cost me $35 by Presidents' Day. This is more than I wish to pay.

这种新奇货币源自复杂的算法，是通过冰岛、香港等地的电脑“挖掘”而来的——对这样一个概念，我并不能够完全理解。它的唯一一个问题，便是每小时价格都在波动，有时候波动幅度还挺大。所以 诞节花掉我5.95美元的沙拉到总统纪念日可能就要花35美元，超过了我愿意付出的价格。

Bitcoins and other alternative money systems are slowly but surely taking over the world. Overstock, the online discount retailer, will soon begin accepting them, and other major retailers are sure to follow. If Visa and MasterCard ever get on board with this thing, we can probably kiss the peso and the Turkish lira and the dinar goodbye. Not to mention the Scottish pound.

比特币和其他另类货币系统正在缓慢但又坚决地占领世界。网络折扣零售商Overstock将在不久之后接受它们，其他重要零售企业肯定也会跟进。如果Visa和MasterCard也都上了船，那么我们大概就要跟比索、土耳其里拉、第纳尔吻别了。更不用说苏格兰镑了。

Friends have already experimented with bitcoins and altcoins and litecoins and peercoins and greekyogurtcoins and weezercoins. Generally speaking, they have been overjoyed at the way these ingenious electronic exchanges reduce transaction costs.

朋友们已经试过比特币和altcoin、litecoin、peercoin、greekyogurtcoin、weezercoin。总体上讲，他们为这些巧妙的电子交易降低交易成本的方式而喜不自胜。

True, all of them have had minor problems. If you buy a shirt with bitcoins during a special 20%-off Founders' Day sale for shoppers who use bitcoins, and then you wait a month to pay the bill, the item might cost you five times the original price. My local diner will let you pay for the meal itself in bitcoins, but you have to tip with altcoins because the wait staff doesn't like the way the better known currency can undergo sudden shifts in value. To my great annoyance, my movie theater will not give me promotional credits for free popcorn and soda when I pay with bitcoins. They insist that I pay with their own in-house electronic currency, 47ronincoins, mined on powerful computers in Osaka. Ironically, the price of a ticket to see '47 Ronin' is exactly 47 47roninincoins. Weird coincidence.

确实，它们都有些小问题，如果商家在创办人日为使用比特币的消费者专门推出打八折的活动，你用比特币买了一件衬衫，等到一个月之后再付款，那么你的花费可能就是原价的五倍。我这里的餐馆会允许你用比特币付餐费本身，但小费得用altcoin来付，因为比特币虽然更加有名，但其价值可能会突然发生变化，服务员觉得不好。让我很烦的是，我付比特币的时候电影院就不送我免费换取爆米花和苏打水的促销积分。他们坚持让我用他们的内部电子货币、用大阪大马力计算机挖掘的“47ronincoin”付账。令人啼笑皆非的是，《四十七浪人》(47 Ronin)的票价刚好是47个47ronincoin。奇怪的巧合。

Lots of businesses are still pretty fussy about these currencies. Three weeks ago, a friend took the Browns plus eight points, but Cleveland went into the tank and lost by 11. His initial wager was in peercoins, but his bookie insisted on being paid in litecoins. My friend had lost all his litecoins shorting bitcoins. So now he has two broken legs and a second mortgage.

很多商户仍然是吹毛求疵地看待这些货币。三个星期前，一位朋友下注克利夫兰布朗队(Browns Cleveland)赢八分，但这支球队一败涂地，输了11分。他最初的赌注是用peercoin付的，但经纪人坚持要用litecoin付账。之前我的朋友在做空比特币的过程中已将所有litecoin亏掉。所以现在他两条腿都折了，还背上了第二笔按揭贷款。

Despite these snafus, I think the future for alternative currencies is bright. They force meddling governments to the sidelines and allow consumers to make delicate transactions anonymously. But there is still some rough sledding ahead. My plumber takes only prolecoins, derived from an algorithm known only to unionized plumbers and electricians and a few guys who work with sheet rock. The coins are mined on computers somewhere in Yonkers, N.Y. Ironbutterflycoins and badcompany/foreignercoins are accepted at most venues where high-class has-beens perform regularly, but not at most hip-hop clubs. Many fine eateries have signs in the window: 'Cash or Credit Only. No Altcoins.' Others read: 'Bathrooms for Customers With Bitcoins Only.' So you can see how this thing is still a bit of a mess.

尽管出现了这么一堆破事儿，我觉得另类货币的前途还是光明的。它们迫使爱管闲事的政府站到一边去，使消费者能够以匿名身份从事敏感交易。但这一路上仍有一些困难。水暖工只收我prolecoin。这种钱币是通过纽约州扬克斯(Yonkers)某个地方的电脑挖掘而来的，只有加入了工会的水暖工、电工和一些做石膏板的人了解它背后的算法。经常有过气明星表演的场所大都接受Ironbutterflycoin和badcompany/foreignercoin，但嘻哈俱乐部大都不接受。很多美食餐馆在窗户上都写有“只接受现金或信用卡，不接受Altcoin”。另一些则写有“卫生间仅供持比特币的顾客使用”。所以你可以看到这方面还是很乱。

I really, really like bitcoins because I visit a lot of bad neighborhoods, and hoods can tell just from my demeanor that I am a bitcoinista, the kind of guy who clearly carries no cash and is pointless to mug. But even I have encountered a few hiccups. When my car's transmission went a few months ago, I paid in bitcoins, but after the Chinese government cracked down on the revolutionary new currency, its value fell by about 40%, and my mechanic insisted that I pony up the difference in hard cash. And I tried to give my kids bitcoins for Christmas, but they said no, give us Jagermeister instead. Damn luddites.

我真的很喜欢比特币，因为我要造访很多贫穷社区，混混们从我的举手投足之间就看得出我是一个比特币爱好者，一个显然分钱不带、抢也没意思的人。但就算是我也曾遇到一些小问题。几个月前车子的变速箱出了问题的时候，我用比特币付款，但是当中国政府打压这一革命性的新货币之后，它的价值缩水40%左右，修理工坚持要求我用现金补齐差价。孩子的 诞节礼物我也想给比特币，但他们不干，说送我们野格利口酒(Jagermeister)吧。该死的卢德分子。

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