Visa is no medium of exchange - only a payment network. CO2 emissions are bad for sure. CO2 tax would help with the migration to green energy. Energy consumption however also has a reason -> security. I don't think there is a secure alternative and I don't think anyone wants to continue staying in central banking hell.
> I don't think anyone wants to continue staying in central banking hell. looks like cryptocurrency community's filter bubble
Yup, same. Hell if I put in money now and it did 2x and went to $100k, I'd get out, too. There's just no way I see myself not getting out at $100k or say $200k. And I'm not risking my money on an investment that can 'only' do 2x or 4x. Bitcoin was cool as it could do 10x or 100x in the span of 1-2 years. But with the numbers where they're at and knowing myself, I'd cash out way before that. In the end because bitcoin…
Interesting to read this, as my instincts are completely different. Wouldn't a better strategy be to e.g. wait until Bitcoin doubles (which you believe is likely to happen), then sell half (so that you get your money back, sans inflation)... and then for the following twenty years, sell 5% of the remaining Bitcoins each year? The greatest risk is that maybe Bitcoin never doubles, and maybe you lose all the money you…
To me, it really depends on one's financial situation. It's much easier to hodl if you have a good-paying job with benefits, a 401K with a healthy amount stocked away, a decent savings reserve, or equity on a house. Also helps if you've played a lot of poker.
> many crypto investors to believe the latest bull run is different "This time it's different" isn't an argument I find compelling for why something that is known to have bubbles and manipulation isn't in a bubble.
This time could end up being a bubble, but it is very different for many reasons. The first is that Bitcoin is thriving as a store of value. It hasn't seen much adoption as a payments system and is unlikely to do so in the future, but 2020 saw many notable people using adopting Bitcoin as a store of value. See MassMutual, Paul Tudor Jones, Stan Druckenmiller, Tesla, among many other examples. The second reason is tha…
> Decentralized exchanges like Uniswap are beating centralized exchanges in volume and lending protocols like Aave have billions deposited in them. These defi protocols are generating huge cash flows. This is real people using decentralized technologies built on blockchains like Ethereum.
What are people doing on these systems? Usually to say “generating cashflows” means some kind of productive business activity.
Are people actually touching the real economy or just trading coins amongst other people in the crypto world?
Is the loan secured to anything? What is the incentive for the borrower to repay this loan?
Yeah it's "overcollateralized". The borrower has to put 150% of the principal into escrow (this is enforced by the smart contract). If the borrower decides to flake, the lender gets to take the collateral.
Just curious, from the perspective of the borrower, what is the purpose of an overcollateralized loan? If their collateral is just as liquid as their loan, why even take the loan at all?
Hedging against what? There are plenty of ways to hedge against inflation risk or currency risk without buying into an asset that can lose 50% or more of its value very quickly (and has, a number of times).
How would you suggest hedging against the death of fiat currency without buying a non fiat currency?
Maybe it's just me, but if we truly see the (global) death of fiat currency, the inability of Elon Musk to sell a Tesla is gonna be among the very least of anyone's problems.
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
Very true. Just about every North American city would do a LOT more upgrading their transit systems a la Japan or China. Probably for a lower amount than Tesla’s market cap too.
Bitcoin has been around for a while now and it has been down talked quite a bit on HN whenever it comes up. It now has a larger market cap as Facebook - so the market sees more value in Bitcoin than Facebook. The sentiment on HN seem still be mostly against it whenever it comes up. I wonder why that is? I'd imagine 10 years from now Bitcoin will still be around and likely much larger than today - I'm less positive ab…
I don't know if Bitcoin will outperform Facebook, but can explain why they're fundamentally different assets. Facebook is a "productive asset". It's a business that sells to customers and generated 29 billion in profit in 2020.
“I'm aware of the 21 million maximum BTC cap” Better thought of as a configuration value set by people with most of the mining power, which last time I checked was PRC
Tinker with that by force of mining power and you will destabilize the currency. Maybe they want that, but it would probably end the currency if it was done by force.
> it would probably end the currency if it was done by force
Sounds like you’re saying Bitcoin only has value because the PRC allows it to?