What it is...

I've been pondering the basic question, what is bitcoin?  And the conclusion I've come to is that its not what people think it is.

From a programming perspective, a bitcoin is an object (a data object) that represents a unit of buying power.  And its real value (conversion rate) depends on the goods it can purchase.  People buy X number of coins with Y conversion rate to buy goods of Z value at the other end.  And as long as the conversion rate is relatively stable the seller gets their money (more or less based on conversion).  Its an objectification of currency - a vessel of buying power.

So everyone is attributing the current decline in bitcoin value with the Chinese banks pulling out (when that was part of it, sure) I think its was Baidu (which sells real world goods for bitcoin) could no longer accept bitcoins that did the most to vaporize their value.  If you can't buy things with it - how valuable is it?  And so that closing access to what was the premiere bitcoin store ripped that value out from under it.

As irony would have it, bitcoin has been the currency of the deep web for questionable goods and services for years now.  So this move has basically forced it back underground.  With that said - because there are still things you can buy with it that have value...  it will not completely crash.  In essence they have just crashed the fledgling white market, while the black market goes on.

That doesn't sound very wise, does it?