Why is it so popular compared to other coins?
Because the primary use is speculation combined with a pinch of ignorance.
Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
501–510 of 830 posts
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#502Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Bitcoin is inflating as an asset. I don't think this is precise. Inflation of an asset means that the asset itself drops in value, relative to the value of other goods. For example: when prices rise, the USD itself would be inflating because would then take more USD to buy goods. Bitcoin is rising in price compared to the USD. So it's not "inflating." If we treat Bitcoin as a currency, it's deflating because right…
> Inflation of an asset means that the asset itself drops in value, relative to the value of other goods. That assumes an asset can be used as a medium of exchange. In its current form, BTC is not a medium of exchange, it's a store of value. In other words - the word inflation has to do with purchasing power. If the asset isn't used as a way to purchase then comparing the characteristic of inflation is basically poin…
Hence, "if we treat Bitcoin as a currency."
But you're right that Bitcoin is mostly used as a speculative investment, and not to actually exchange goods. (That's not very convincing to crypto-people, though.)
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#503Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's factually a horrific waste of energy. People pointing that out are not looking back in "hindsight", but are actually concerned with the damages it is doing to our planet.
If its so bad then why does Elon Musk himself believe in BTC? - mr green man. Its obviously hyperbole and one dimensional thinking.
If elon musk gave 2 shits about the environment he would promote public transit, not cars
he is a business man who only cares about money, and he uses effective marketing to make people like you buy in
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#504Earlier quoted context omitted.
>My opinion of Bitcoin will change when it stops using more electricity than entire countries, for something Visa can do for comparatively nothing. To be fair, Bitcoin does not do what Visa does. Visa uses trust in existing institutions to accomplish transactions. Bitcoin mining creates trust out of electricity. And trust is a valuable resource, no different than any other form of value creation.
There are plenty of other stores of trust. You could buy index funds or government bonds or any number of other things, and the price will be less volatile than Bitcoin to boot. I know a lot of Bitcoin enthusiasts are skeptical of traditional institutions, but really, if all the world's governments go bankrupt you're going to have bigger problems. Heck, if you must use a cryptocurrency, at least pick one of the newer…
If all the world's governments go bankrupt I don't see any other currency than bitcoins working!
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#505Earlier quoted context omitted.
"though that'll probably land you on some FBI watch list." I have no idea why you would think this.
In a way, putting your transactions on a public ledger is like voluntarily adding yourself to a watch list. The government (and everyone else) can then come and inspect your financial history at their leisure in the future.
It's just a public/private key generated. How would they ever find out who you are?
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#506So it sounds like lemming group think. It seems like someone one should hold “just in case,” but no real valid reason to do so yet (that I’ve heard). We know transactions are slow and expensive, so it’s not a good replacement for ordinary commerce. It can be used to transfer across borders, but there often is asymmetry in capital movement that makes this difficult in the places you need it most (poor countries with r…
Criminal and black market transactions are a sizable fraction of the economy and bitcoin is a major financial innovation for this “sector.” The only problem is the price volatility, you don’t want to collect some money for Fat Tony and have it drop in value by 20% by the time you get it to him.
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#507I'm confused about the scaling issue. It's not like every time I buy a cup of coffee, I initiate a wire transfer to Starbucks. I buy these things on credit and the issuer of that credit charges me and Starbucks a fee for the service. Then I settle up at the end of the month. Looking at my bank account, I only have a few transactions per month (salary, mortgage, credit cards etc).
Why couldn't something similar work for Bitcoin? I recognize that it's not a completely decentralized system anymore at that point, but it's still much less reliant on banks and the fed than our current system. It seems like something like this would be the obvious solution to the scaling issue.
Basically, if we think of Bitcoin as a replacement for cash, then why is there so much discussion of what effectively is the credit market?
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#508Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, it’s not completely unrelated: bitcoin drives energy consumption, which in turn drives demand for batteries of all shapes, which are a massive part of Tesla’s business plan.
Again with the energy point. The energy is insignificant compared with almost anything else. Wasn't some article that the sum of all standby electronics uses more energy than bitcoin and that's only in US? What are you, Apple? That gives no charger for "environmental reasons" while packaging its wireless headphones in a crapload of unnecessary plastics. If you are so energy consciousness then go bark at US military,…
The energy required to provide standby power for every electronic device in the United States is a tremendous amount of electricity.
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#509Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would you hedge against something like inflation, which is relatively constant over a year, by putting your money into a highly speculative risk asset with absolutely insane volatility over that same timeframe? Like many arguments for Bitcoin, this one just doesn't make sense.
Because our government just printed a LOT of money. Look into what money supply does to inflation. More supply of money means things cost more. Interest rates go down, and it’s better to not have cash but assets. I just loaded up on gold, platinum, silver, art, crypto, and real estate. Those will all fare better than cash or savings as hyperinflation grips the country.
> Because our government just printed a LOT of money.
That may be true, but the broader money supply hasn't really changed much:
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/money-supply-m2
It's also not really clear how it would. Banks aren't out there giving out loans like candy to everyone for anything. The little bit of helicopter money doesn't even cancel out the lack of spending due to COVID layoffs. You just can't have CPI inflation that way.
> I just loaded up on gold, platinum, silver, art, crypto, and real estate.
One of these is not like the others.
> Those will all fare better than cash or savings as hyperinflation grips the country.
You've probably listened too much to gold/silver salesmen who have been warning about the next crash and hyperinflation for many decades.
In reality, inflation is arguably bullish for all these heavily indebted companies in the stock market. A market crash can be hedged against too, just look at how Universa Investments performed in 2020. How did gold perform though? Unimpressive.
Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto
#510Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That said, Tesla's Bitcoin purchase does make a lot of sense ... They then announced their Bitcoin purchase with fanfare that drove the price up, marking a quick return on their investment. Tesla is a car manufacturer! It doesn't make any sense at all! At any company that made sense, a CEO would lose his job for gambling $1B of company money in a casino totally unrelated to the company's business interests.
Tesla's stock has never been a car manufacturer stock. That's why it has so much short-selling against it. If you value it as a car manufacturer and compare it's (underlying business numbers):(stock price) to anything else, it's insane. "at any company that made sense" is true, to a point. But the point of tesla has been, for a not-insignificant number of people, not meant to make sense. It's faith based. It's cult b…
Despite seeming like polar opposites they have a lot of similarities. A great knack for “triggering” their detractors, and a hyperdefensiveness in the face of criticism.