Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
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Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#2> But it is the first organic currency
I'm guessing Taleb hasn't heard of Cowry shells [1]...
Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#3"Which is why Bitcoin is an excellent idea. [...] not because it is a cryptocurrency, but precisely because it has no owner, no authority that can decide on its fate."
Another one not grasping Bitcoin. Bitcoin is owned by the miners as evidenced by spec changes.
Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#4A pretty correct analysis imo
> [Bitcoin] not good enough to buy your decaffeinated expresso macchiato at your local virtue-signaling coffee chain.
Plus he has some humor.
Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#5> But it is the first organic currency I'm guessing Taleb hasn't heard of Cowry shells [1]... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowry#Human_use
Im pretty sure he means there is a central design with a distributed behavior on monetary policy.
That is actually a very interesting thing as an economist. I would have loved to see Hayek and bitcoin in the same era..
Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#6I like his expression of opinion. It’s probably closest to my own that BitCoin is neat and a good technology, but not the investment hype that currently exists.
Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#7A pretty correct analysis imo > [Bitcoin] not good enough to buy your decaffeinated expresso macchiato at your local virtue-signaling coffee chain. Plus he has some humor.
His books are also quite funny, particularly Antifragile.
Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#8I always feel bad when I read some of Taleb's work and come away empty. The guy is clearly smart, but I feel like he skips too many steps in his mental algebra and then misses his own mistakes altogether too often.
>This gives us, the crowd, an insurance policy against an Orwellian future.
Here's a great example. Does it really, Nassim?
Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#9This utopian streak running through the crypto community is what convinces me most that it’s going to be a heartbreaker.
> But Hayek used the notion of distributed knowledge. Well, it looks like we do not even need that thing called knowledge for things to work well. Nor do we need individual rationality. All we need is structure.
Irrational exuberance is a good thing!
And while these ideologues are busy demonizing the central banks a handful of individuals manipulate bitcoin to levels a central bank could never even attempt...
Re: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author of Black Swan, on Bitcoin
#10I hope Bitcoin perseveres. I missed the boat on buying it when it was valued at ~$200 USD. I am more into the decentralization of currency. I don't buy the fear-mongering.
And today, I am even more resolved. Bank of America rejected my father trying to deposit $250 USD cash into my account at a local branch while I was out of town. They made him go home to get his checkbook to write a check (money order was an option). They no longer take cash deposits since December 2017 from non-account holders. Any talk of preventing money laundering and the customer's best interest is just a lame excuse to rid staff at branches.
The banks know it too, since they are rushing to develop cryptocurrency instruments to ensure they insert themselves into the payment chain to collect percentages.
I remember being at the first HOPE NYC in August 1994 [1], and listening to a talk about crypto and currencies. I can't remmber the guys name, but he had a cowboy hat on, long hair and beard. Jeez, I wish I were more visionary then. It woke a spark of potential, and then I went on with other things.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers_on_Planet_Earth