Yea, through the remittance clause those earnings (from printed money) on treasury bonds and other debt assets go to treasury. Good and bad thing, but ultimately I view it as USGov printing money to pay bills with the Fed in there to play three card monty on the peoples perception of whats going on. Treasury gets zero interest loans (thanks to QE money printing) that they can roll over ad infinitum thanks to the fraud the Fed perpetuates in our monetary system. The outcome seems to be secondary to the rationalization of what the Fed's goal is, but the outcome as it relates to the governments obligation to current debt is the most important to me. The allure/benefit of zero interest loans is of course to borrow more, this leads to more/swifter destruction of the dollars purchasing power while at the same time allowing for national debt build up to be marginalized through that destruction of the dollar and lower effective interest rate on the debt (good for spenders and receivers of US debt, bad for folks working hard for dollars that are destroyed and taxed to keep the ponzi going).
Bitcoin should also give monetary power (in the bitcoin currency) back to people and remove the corruption of influence from those already endowed with great wealth or influence. We'll see how it plays out, i expect there to be more growing pains along the way.
Overstocks debut of accepting bitcoin was big. Large one day revenue and the kicker was,
From nearly all new customers. I'm sure more than a few etailers took note of the last part.
The Fed buying and selling government bonds, of which they only hold about 12%, is to change the size of the money supply. Money "within the boundaries" of the Fed is not currency in circulation and not part of the money supply. When Treasury bonds are bought by the Fed, money flows into circulation and the money supply expands a little, which then increases the inflation rate. When the bond matures or is sold, the Treasury returns the principal and interest back into the "boundaries of the Fed", and the money is no longer in circulation. The Treasury would ultimately lose money, but since the interest is mostly paid back by the Fed, the only loss is minimal, relatively speaking. If the Fed actually totally "pockets" the interest instead of paying it back, the money supply would actually decrease by the amount of that interest, as money within the Fed is not money usable by outsiders, even the government.
Not only that, but the Treasury cannot tell the Fed to continue buying bonds
ad infinitum if the Fed says no.
Also, there are indicators as to whether are government is printing money far too quickly. It is called the inflation rate, the data is out there, and the inflation rate is certainly NOT near the catastrophic levels rhetoric implies it would be. Under 5% is very, very tame to the regimes that have actually printed money like maniacs to pay off their bills, with Zimbabwe being one example.
As for QE, this is the Fed buying up private sector securities in banks to expand the money supply as US dollars flow out of the boundaries of the Fed and into circulation. This is supposed to encourage lending, which allows many entrepreneurs to try to do business.
The rhetoric makes it sound as if our system somehow worse than those in which the governmental authority(-ies) has sufficient control over their money printers. The Fed is still "independent". I have yet to see the U.S in Zimbabwe mode, printing and printing to the point that the currency is no longer even used.
What Bitcoin's main benefit is that when all the coins are mined, which is not now, it will be hyperinflation-proof, which even gold is not immune to. It is also, theoretically, deflation-proof, thus leaving those who need to take out loans to conduct business and pay them off later. But since there will be small losses of Bitcoins, there will be a small amount of deflation. But this is when all the coins are mined.
In its current state, the money supply of Bitcoin and other altcoins is increasing, and hence the inflation rate of these currencies is also positive. Hence, the "purchasing power" of Bitcoin is also eroding with every new coins made, but unlike fiat, there will be a limit. But right now, Bitcoin is no different from fiat.
But ideals are not what garners interest in Bitcoin now. It's the ability to profit through printing it, and the more one can obtain via printing and currency speculation, the more profit. Every miner becomes their own "mini central bank" and some also try to retrace the steps of George Soros in trying to make their fortune.