31–40 of 42 posts
This volatility is exactly the reason it isn’t useful _for now_. In the past countries have created currencies, and it’s never been the case that they capitalize from 0 to _a lot_ in such a short time period. That’s why the USD chart is meaningless as a comparison against the same timeline. Wait 20-50 years and then we’ll see.
I don't think the deflationary nature of btc and other crypto that are a finite in design is necessarily a bad thing. The most common objection is that it leads to intertemporal decisions. Is that really bad? If you knew that your money increases in value over time you might only spend it when it's really necessary instead of driving an ever expanding economy that consumes a finite world. Maybe a finite world needs a…
I may not buy a pizza with my bits, but I'd sure as hell buy a house, pay off my student debt, or whatever my proverbial lambo is. I only have enough BTC for really one big ticket purchase in my life, even if it increases in value forever. Actually, a deflationary currency is an interesting concept for Basic Income- if everyone is given an amount of BTC at birth, so that it appreciates in value by the time they're ol…
> Bitcoin is hyperdeflationary Am I the only one where this was the reason I was thinking? Interestingly, thinking honestly about bitcoin made me a Keynesian.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you elaborate on what you mean by Keynesian in 2017?
ideological beliefs about the nature of money (liberals not interested in non-state currencies, and Austrians believing that currencies must have intrinsic value) https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2011/05/bitcoin-what-took-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
ideological beliefs about the nature of money (liberals not interested in non-state currencies, and Austrians believing that currencies must have intrinsic value) https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2011/05/bitcoin-what-took-...
'must have intrinsic value' AFAIK one of the main underpinning of the Austrian school is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjective_theory_of_value
Although to be fair a lot of non-scholarly "Austrians" cite the intrinsic value of gold as what makes it superior to Bitcoin. So he's right in the parlance of common rhetoric.
I also think he is right in that liberals tend to favor keynesianism because it makes it easier for the government to grow.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bitcoin is only hyperdeflationary because it's being pumped, to my mind. It's mostly used as an investment and speculation tool, not as a currency, that is, not for paying for goods and services. It's not (yet) "digital gold", but rather "digital tulips" [1]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
Even if it weren't being pumped the finite limit on total 'coins' would be a disaster for any real currency in any situation with an expectation of meaningful future economic growth.
When there is more money needed the banks print more money and so everyone’s money becomes worth less so we see inflation.
With a limited digital currency like BTC you would expect to see deflation and so over time transactions would require a smaller fraction of a coin as payment.
Solid Platinum is also not a very good currency. What is your point?
As far as I know no one is arguing that platinum is a future global currency, or letting customers buy products with it. Both are increasingly true for Bitcoin.
I don't find this argument persuasive. If the currency is liquid, you can simply spend the new currency rather than the old, while using the old currency you would have otherwise spent to acquire the new currency. The spending will have negligible impact on your investment outcomes, and you'll be supporting the currency that you're investing in.
That's a pretty big if. Also, currency is liquid nearly by definition, and bitcoin in relation to other currencies has demonstrated many properties that make it practically very illiquid (e.g. the uncertainty of day-to-day price changes).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you elaborate on what you mean by Keynesian in 2017?
ideological beliefs about the nature of money (liberals not interested in non-state currencies, and Austrians believing that currencies must have intrinsic value) https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2011/05/bitcoin-what-took-...