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The Bitcoin bubble – Greater fool theory

economist.com

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Re: The Bitcoin bubble – Greater fool theory

#81

Post by quickben »

brndnmtthws wrote: post #11

Frankly I'm astounded by the vitriol toward Bitcoin on HN. Bitcoin has the potential to actually change the world (unlike most of the BS startups coming out of SV), and yet all these voices on HN poo-pooing Bitcoin appear (to me at least) to outweigh those who are willing to give it a shot. Why is this? Do people fear what they don't understand? Are they mad because they feel like they missed out? Does Bitcoin's succ…

If you are looking through the 'change the world' pink glasses, take a look at gridcoin. With Bitcoin you are only burning electricity.

Also, no need to talk that much down on the rest of us with your last paragraph.

We get what Bitcoin is all to well (heck I even have a research paper published for hashing algorithms). some of us are decently well off to not need to gamble for cash. If Bitcoin hit 10m a piece, I don't think I've lost anything (same if tulips or dogs are sold 10m a piece). I did SETI cpu donating time in the olden days, ran a BBS, and brought email to a small mountain village. I loved internet in the early days and now.

Sometimes, people like me, just want to stop the fools being burned on a pyramidal snake oil, because we are older, and have seen the shit in various forms.

On this forum, I assume the rest are similar to me, but perhaps a bit younger, so the anti Bitcoin sentiment is just a sentiment to maybe save you some of your hard earned money. That is my reason. I won't guess the others.

Tldr, we get it all to well. There is no hate. But do ask yourself why we still maintain our stance/advices.

Re: The Bitcoin bubble – Greater fool theory

#84

Post by craigc »

heifetz wrote: post #65

Can someone explain why bitcoin should be worth more than any of its forks, or any of the other cryptocurrencies? It feels to me that if anyone can fork bitcoin and create a parallel currency then I don't see why bitcoin should be valued differently, other than if people feel that it is much more "useful". But even in that case, vendors and trading markets will support multiple currencies. It seems to me that bitcoin…

This same question could be asked about many technology startups.

Why should Uber be valued higher than Lyft?

That's a pretty crude comparison, but I'm just pointing out that just cause someone comes along and makes a clone of something doesn't mean it will be worth more than the original even if it is technologically superior.

It's true that forking a cryptocurrency required much less work than starting a company, but I don't think that the value comparison is that different.

If people believe Bitcoin should be valued higher than a clone of Bitcoin even if the clone is better, Bitcoin will be valued higher.

Re: The Bitcoin bubble – Greater fool theory

#85

Post by bringtheaction »

stevep98 wrote: post #77
beefield wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that it has potential to change world for the worse, not the better. Fixed supply monetary systems have been tried in the history and there are reasons other than evil bankers wanting to get power for their dismissal. And claiming that bitcoin's success would be bankers loss indicates that you don't quite get what is the utility finance sector creates. One of the main things banks do is they convert sh…

I wonder whether scrutiny of those tax avoidance schemes revealed in the paradise papers or Panama papers will lead to those investors moving their funds to bitcoin.

Rather they would use a crypto currency with actual anonymity don't you think?

I'm not going to mention it by name lest someone thinks I'm here to "shill" it (which btw I'm not, I only hold BTC and ETH currently).

Re: The Bitcoin bubble – Greater fool theory

#86

Post by fenk85 »

beefield wrote: post #59
brndnmtthws wrote: post #11

Frankly I'm astounded by the vitriol toward Bitcoin on HN. Bitcoin has the potential to actually change the world (unlike most of the BS startups coming out of SV), and yet all these voices on HN poo-pooing Bitcoin appear (to me at least) to outweigh those who are willing to give it a shot. Why is this? Do people fear what they don't understand? Are they mad because they feel like they missed out? Does Bitcoin's succ…

The problem is that it has potential to change world for the worse, not the better. Fixed supply monetary systems have been tried in the history and there are reasons other than evil bankers wanting to get power for their dismissal. And claiming that bitcoin's success would be bankers loss indicates that you don't quite get what is the utility finance sector creates. One of the main things banks do is they convert sh…

> The problem is that it has potential to change world for the worse, not the better.

Points at Facebook/Twitter and Trump+Russia abuse of this tech

Re: The Bitcoin bubble – Greater fool theory

#88

Post by quickben »

nikcub wrote: post #71
theli0nheart wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do people fear what they don't understand? Yes. > Are they mad because they feel like they missed out? Eh, I doubt it. > Does Bitcoin's success mean their loss (like the banking folks and the government establishment)? I don't think so. It's not a zero sum game. > Did people hate the internet this much in its early days? Some parts of it, yes. In the end, Bitcoin is still a wildly insane proposition and technology.…

> > Are they mad because they feel like they missed out? > Eh, I doubt it. I think there is something to this. If you've been on HN for 5+ years and have followed the progress of Bitcoin, but never dived in - but then gone on to watch non-tech people make 10x+ returns while not understanding the currency - there must be something about that which grates some people. I also think it's easy to dislike the "down with ce…

It may be easy to dislike, but the law updates to make these banks the only game in town.

Re: The Bitcoin bubble – Greater fool theory

#89

Post by rbanffy »

Nursie wrote: post #73
mbrock wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It definitely means people won't use it as a unit of account (for debts, budgets, etc), which is one primary use for a currency... But I don't think it means people won't spend it or trade it for some other currency or asset. If you held a bunch of bitcoin while the price in USD doubled, and you happened to want a new smartphone, you're sure you wouldn't buy one? If you were absolutely confident the price would quick…

I'd spend dollars on the phone, because the same BTC might buy 10 phones in a few weeks.

> the same BTC might buy 10 phones in a few weeks.

Which is kind of crazy and defies all logic - cryptocurrencies can be manufactured without any limit, even Bitcoin can be cloned and rebooted, creating a new currency space/ledger that's fresh.

Re: The Bitcoin bubble – Greater fool theory

#90

Post by CamelCaseName »

vog wrote: post #68
thanatropism wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without having read the post I can attest: Damodaran is the real MVP.

Do you care to elaborate? That statement (or joke?) does not make any sense to me.

MVP probably refers to most valuable player here, not minimum viable product.

He has a solid set of valuation videos on YouTube and offers a large library of finance teaching materials that most business students are sure to encounter during their studies.

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