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S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

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Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#221
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no better indication of a bubble then people telling you that you're the crazy one for questioning it. I remember people telling me I was crazy for not buying a house in 2007, and crazy for not trading tech stocks in 1999. I'm not sure that's a good indicator with so many counter examples: the internet, large touch screen phones, Cloud in the earlier days, etc. We truly have no idea what the future if Cryp…

>We truly have no idea what the future if Cryptocurrencies are. Yes we do... Why in the utter hell would I ever use crypto that has ABSOLUTLY ZERO GUARANTEE after I pay someone?

Curious, which country are you living in that doesn't have laws against fraud or theft?

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#222
post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A deflationary asset class encourages hording, not spending or using in other ways. There's also no real limit to the number of crytocurrencies that might appear later (see: MySpace replaced by Facebook), unlike gold. As for inflation: safe government bonds have historically kept up with that over the long haul, so no big loss there.

Imagine a society not based on consumerism and quarterly report increases. Gasp! Back in the day people used to get interest (covering more than inflation) from holding money in their bank accounts. What's changed?

My understanding has always been interest rates. Interest rates on savings accounts are supposed to be slightly lower than interest rates on loans with the bank taking a profit in the middle.

Home loans used to be much higher, in the 10-15% range and you could get 6-7% on your savings account.

With home loans in the 2-3% range, those margins aren't feasible anymore.

But that's probably an old understanding. I'm sure there's a lot more financial wizardry to it now.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#224

Someone please explain this to me: How is any cryptocurrency even considered an investment vehicle? I would classify myself as Boglehead and I believe in the fundamentals of investing in stocks because in all it's technicality (and given the buy-and-hold strategy), you are investing in a business by owning a part of it which naturally means that you will and do get the returns on it, both in terms of profits (dividen…

I recommend you read some of Stephen Deihl's thoughts on the subject[0]. You're not alone if you feel that cryptocurrency doesn't make sense as an investment vehicle, but the HN community will make you feel crazy for not seeing what a great thinking this is an incredible new opportunity and "things are different this time!" There is no better indication of a bubble then people telling you that you're the crazy one fo…

Apologies for posting something borderline meme-ish on HN, but I think this video actually answers your question (watch the whole thing):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbZ8zDpX2Mg

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are crazy for not buying a house in 2007. I can't think of a better investment to have right now than a house purchased in 2007...

The price of the house structure itself decreases with time. The price of the land the house sits on might increase, depending on where it is. Land prices in very, very few areas have increased sufficiently to match a risk adjusted return (or even the nominal return) of a broad market index fund, such as VOO or VTI. Especially considering the liabilities and ongoing maintenance costs with owning housing structures. T…

*with the caveat that those very few areas also hold a large percentage of the population, since land prices are correlated with population density and zoning regulations (i.e. see Hong Kong for ex.)

One thing to not forget is the amount of leverage provided for you in the housing market is disproportionate compared to the leverage you would get in stocks (20% down is 5x leverage, and there are some options to get in on a house with even less than that).

If you look at the real rate of return on everything (paper from 2017, analyzing the period between 1870 and 2015 in several developed countries), they claim the return on property is around 8% per year, which is comparable to stocks but with a lower variance.

A caveat though is that housing outperformed equity slightly 1870-1950, and equity has outperformed 1950-today. Housing is also a very locale-specific thing, since there is no global private 'housing' market you can invest in.

https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/files/wp2017-25.pdf

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there is need for a central authority, Charles Ponzi for example. They actively and consciously channel the funds from new, defrauded investors, to that authority. BTC is not a Ponzi Scheme ; Satoshi is not steering the profits from a pump-and-dump. Passively profiting off new investors buying BTC does not make a Ponzi Scheme. Market manipulation is not a Ponzi Scheme. A Pyramid Scheme is not a Ponzi Scheme. "Po…

Agree, I've used it in a more general sense. I mean it's just like a pyramid.

It's not a Pyramid Scheme either, there is no central authority. The benefits of a Pyramid scheme are specifically not investments, but instead explicitly payments for recruiting. Pyramid Scheme also has a real meaning.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The claim about people with "A+ credentials" not working in crypto is off base. Look at the founders of crypto companies from top-tier VCs like a16z: https://a16z.com/crypto/#vertical-landing-portfolio

I should have been more clear: new crypto projects rarely have pedigreed founders anymore.

thats because they all got their reputations sullied when their projects last decade tanked in price 99%

Crypto communities do not understand the concept of secession in an organization, and believe that if you earned revenue then the runway should last forever and you should be married to the project forever

It doesnt matter, the same people are launching projects now under different aliases. The market doesnt actually care. There is no way to discern between a project that will screw you over versus one that wont, versus one that will rally 5,000% because that has no correlation to legitimacy or any gatekeeping of checkboxes

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And I might be guilty of being elitist, but I rarely, if ever, see founders with A+ tier credentials (Ivy league education, FAANG/Investment banking/Mckinsey et al) starting crypto businesses. Spoiler: majority of good engineers never worked at big tech companies or went to ivy league schools. Also, investment banking isn't exactly a shining beacon of trust.

I agree. But it is a signal, especially in a field filled with as much noise as crypto. When all you have to go by is a whitepaper and a website, past performance of the founders becomes important.

Its not a signal at all.

Thats the entire rebuttal. Your premise is flawed.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#229

Someone please explain this to me: How is any cryptocurrency even considered an investment vehicle? I would classify myself as Boglehead and I believe in the fundamentals of investing in stocks because in all it's technicality (and given the buy-and-hold strategy), you are investing in a business by owning a part of it which naturally means that you will and do get the returns on it, both in terms of profits (dividen…

Buying Bitcoin is becoming similar to buying gold. It’s a Store of Value. Why is gold an investment? Because it’s scarce and we have, as a society, decided it’s an investment. There may be nuances here, but that’s the basic idea. Bitcoin is digital gold. Most other tokens are similar buying fiat currencies which can help if you local fiat currency is hyper-inflating. But then some tokens give access to de-fi which a whole other rabbit hole.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#230
post #21
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the best strategy tbh, you only have to go to a few spots down to find some bad coins and the edge of the top 10 to find some outright scams

Bitcoin cash comes in at #7 on coinmarket cap and while I wouldn't call it a scam, it's not a respectable project IMO. And it quickly gets worse from there over the next 10. Strongly agree that the best bucket is going to be composed of a vast majority of bitcoin and ethereum. I don't believe crypto is on the whole in a bubble right now but the fact that Bitcoin Cash has a market cap of >$5B is one of the biggest thi…

That you take Bitcoin Cash as an example of a non-reputable cryptocurrency is pretty sad. (And it's #5 not #7.)

Ripple is for instance not a cryptocurrency, and everyone knows about the scam that is Tether.

Litecoin has zero development (except to copy what Bitcoin is doing) and the development in Bitcoin itself has some serious issues.

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