Live data from Hacker News

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

forbes.com

171–180 of 259 posts

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

everybody already understands that the dollar is subject to long term inflation which is why people put their money into stocks or pension funds and don't put cash under the mattress for 80 years. The predictable change in the value of the dollar is priced in and desirable for many macro-economic reasons and irrelevant to consumers. As far as the dollar value is concerned you care if the milk and the orange juice cos…

> everybody already understands that the dollar is subject to long term inflation which is why people put their money into stocks or pension funds and don't put cash under the mattress for 80 years. The predictable change in the value of the dollar is priced in and desirable for many macro-economic reasons and irrelevant to consumers. Understanding and accepting are different things. I might know that the dollar is g…

>It isn't a "weird obsession" to consider that the dollar may face the same fate as dozens of other currencies.

yes it is when my alternative is cryptocurrencies traded by nerds who want to buy lambos while I don't even know if its value is up 50% or down 50% week to week and every transaction costs me dollars.

The US dollar is one of the most stable and predictable currencies that we have and it has been for decades, as are most other major currencies or baskets of assets or what have you. There is no worry for hyper-inflation and even if there was, don't hold your entire assets in dollars and you're fine

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone please flag this person?

Ahh, zero sense of humor. Sorry to step on your -6 karma and bitcoin-lust with my pithy comments.

these people are idiots. i come here just to laugh at their existence.

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#173
post #85

It's a common misconception that Bitcoin is a safe haven. It's not. Not even Gold is a safe haven during a liquidity crisis. In sharp downturns, cash is king. Think of Bitcoin and Gold as call options on the entire global monetary system. If Govs become insolvent, Bitcoin and Gold is there. If the masses lose faith in central banks, Bitcoin and Gold is there. If central banks debase currencies too quickly, Bitcoin an…

I suspect that by this time next year Bitcoin will be seen as a safe haven. The events that are about to play out are exactly what Bitcoin was designed for.

Would have been happening if that was true

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To address your point more directly: many think that Bitcoin isn’t tangible because you have to trust that the network of full nodes are verifying transactions, and if they stop then Bitcoin ceases to exist. Full nodes have financial incentives to run and they do so today at a scale that rivals the internet. It’s not a favor to Bitcoin, it’s a business. They would only stop if the financial incentive ceased to exist.…

> You will not be able to spend your USD offline. USD is based on a network of centralized banks. You cannot spend your fiat without a computer asking permission from these centralized systems. Yes, I can, as long as I have it as physical currency, and regularly do. Admittedly, this relies on confidence of all participants that eventually systems (banking, etc.) which are as you describe will work or be replaced/reto…

> there is no real-time dependency on online systems for use of physical currency

You are underestimating degree of our reliance on banking. Stores, restaurants and repair shops don't have enormous vaults with cash — they store money in bank accounts. If banks make cash transactions infeasible, businesses will suck it up. If your local coffee shop stops accepting cash, you will have to find another one, possibly located in different district (or even different country...). Many countries enforce mandatory use of bank accounts for business — companies are literally not allowed to operate in pure cash. When banks conspire to make cash undesirable (via high cash collector fees, shunning low-denomination bills etc.), local entrepreneurs begin go "cashless", a trend already seen in many places.

Never mind that, ­— even if your local legislators force shops to accept bills, who cares about them? Brick and mortar stores are deteriorating all around the world. A lot of things already can't be bought offline, unless you take an international flight each time you want to purchase. When your local electrical parts shop closes down, will you open your own? Or just order parts online and pay with VISA like everyone already does?

In not-so-distant future you will be able to spend your cash on bread and not much else. Until the backer becomes unable to spend his.

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#176
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Toilet Paper is the preferred currency now.

Unless you're a bidet user.

That is the real answer. Toilet seat bidets are available for like $25 from amazon.

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#177

It's a common misconception that Bitcoin is a safe haven. It's not. Not even Gold is a safe haven during a liquidity crisis. In sharp downturns, cash is king. Think of Bitcoin and Gold as call options on the entire global monetary system. If Govs become insolvent, Bitcoin and Gold is there. If the masses lose faith in central banks, Bitcoin and Gold is there. If central banks debase currencies too quickly, Bitcoin an…

[deleted]

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#178
post #37

I hope this whole madness will come to an end so that GPU prices will start deflating.

(Pick an appropriate meme template)

GPU prices goes down...

As China is shut down and can't make mew GPUs.

Linus Tech Tips has a good video what the shutdown affects: it suppliers of suppliers are slowed down due to quarantine, then they're in trouble too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPoPwrQwm_g

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#179
post #3

I have to say, the crypto market's strong ties to traditional finance in this crash surprise me. I understand selling off stock because of expected corporate losses, I don't understand mass conversions to FIAT especially when "print more money" seems to be the fed's response to this.

My take on the selloff is people looking for liquid cash. Very similar to stockpiling home supplies. People are looking for stuff they can use or trade in the very short term because they don't know how bad it would get. It's a lot harder to do that today with crypto. I haven't seen anyone with strong reason to believe that companies are gonna be that much worse off a year from now than they were a month ago, or for…

IIUC the metatheory is that in times of crisis btc would strengthen and become more fiat than fiat.. so far it's not. But who knows ... maybe people will leverage the events to move forward on crypto in the next weeks...

Re: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply over the last few days

#180
post #22

It's a common misconception that Bitcoin is a safe haven. It's not. Not even Gold is a safe haven during a liquidity crisis. In sharp downturns, cash is king. Think of Bitcoin and Gold as call options on the entire global monetary system. If Govs become insolvent, Bitcoin and Gold is there. If the masses lose faith in central banks, Bitcoin and Gold is there. If central banks debase currencies too quickly, Bitcoin an…

bitcoin is not really "there" the same way as gold is. The whole point of gold is that it is a tangible asset. You can hold gold in your pocket or under your mattress and it costs nothing to store it. You can't prove you have bitcoin if you don't have internet access for example. You can't have bitcoin if miners don't run their nodes. Basically, you are depending on a resource in faraway lands to let you "own" what y…

Gold is generally not free to store. If anything, it is one of the more expensive things to store safely.

Also, if someone handed you a shiny yellow object saying it's gold, you'd still need to verify it with a chemical or physical test requiring a bunch of paraphernalia, much like the cryptographic proof required for bitcoin (requiring, in turn, the internet, a computer etc).

Not saying that bitcoin is a great asset, but it shares common problems with gold, albeit in a more "virtual" domain.

Post reply on HN