Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’ • Hacker News Board

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#31

Post by DSingularity » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:03 PM UTC

Lol. So the relatively few mega-wealthy — who hoarded practically all the USD in the world — are angry that the relatively-poor have come up with a new system of value within which they are now relatively-rich? Well maybe the wealthy class should have left some for the rest of the people. Maybe the wealthy shouldn’t have fleeced every market they cornered as aggressively. Maybe they should not have constantly avoided providing healthcare, education, maternal/paternal, and quality-of-life benefits because they would cost them a few percent of annual profits.

Is it a wonder that so many hope that mankind abandon the USD for BTC with such force that half the billionaires become millionaires and the other half go broke?

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#32

Post by throwaway6734 » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:03 PM UTC

zpeti wrote: post #6

In other news, the Bloomberg Agriculture Index (price of food) is hockey-sticking: https://twitter.com/KarelMercx/status/1387108408139161600 At the least, bitcoin is a possible way to protect against this, if you think it's a risk.

How do you deal with deflation?

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#33

Post by mmahut » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:03 PM UTC

maxqin1 wrote: post #16

reedf1 wrote: post #7

The context of the quote: > I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth... So, I think I should say modestly that the whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interest of civilization. I find it strange to criticize an asset for how it gets used in extremis. I feel like the same criticism could be levied against the dollar.

Except the primary use of the dollar is good. The same can't be said about the primary use for Bitcoin (which is, at best, speculation).

I feel the same argument can be make about Tor. While it primary uses are probably illegal (doesn't necessary mean immoral) activity, it helps a lot free press in oppressed regimes (also illegal, but by western standards moral).

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#34

Post by kypro » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:04 PM UTC

reedf1 wrote: post #7

The context of the quote: > I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth... So, I think I should say modestly that the whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interest of civilization. I find it strange to criticize an asset for how it gets used in extremis. I feel like the same criticism could be levied against the dollar.

To steelman the argument here, it sounds me like the concerns isn't in how it's used, but it's usefulness in certain applications.

Bitcoin has many of the traceability problems as cash, while also being easier to transact. While I personally think it's a good thing that companies banned from traditional banking / merchant services are using Bitcoin to fund their operations, there is a reason for them using it.

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#35

Post by DSingularity » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:04 PM UTC

JKolios wrote: post #29

It's just one more investment vehicle/speculative asset among thousands. What is the specific factor about Bitcoin that makes it "contrary to the interest of civilization"? Are these financiers telling us that the financialisation of literally everything on the planet and in low orbit might actually have negative externalities?

Ironic right?

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#36

Post by sschueller » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:05 PM UTC

guerrilla wrote: post #17

sschueller wrote: post #5

"And I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth" You mean like cash? I'm sorry, I'm sure Warren is a nice guy but that picture reminds me of the Dukes in the movie Trading Places [1] with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trading_Places

He probably does. In Sweden, everything is going cashless in the name of convenience and cracking down on tax avoidance.

The big tax avoiders don't horde cash.

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#37

Post by maxqin1 » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:05 PM UTC

read_if_gay_ wrote: post #15

> Warren Buffett: "I knew there’d be a question on bitcoin or crypto and I thought to myself, well, I watch these politicians dodge questions all the time … The truth is, I’m going to dodge that question. Because the truth is, we’ve probably got hundreds of thousands of people that are watching this that own bitcoin. And we’ve probably got two people that are short. So, we’ve got a choice of making 400,000 people mad…

It's very interesting, actually.

I interpreted as "Bitcoin is bad but the cult of Bitcoin is nuts so we have to be careful about what we say."

What's more interesting is how the Bitcoin investor club is managing to delude themselves even with inputs from real proven financiers.

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#38

Post by xwdv » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:05 PM UTC

One of the shocking things is how much cryptocurrency has poisoned the minds of youth who see it as their easy path to riches. Young people simply don’t want to work anymore, everyone is planning to retire very soon and a job is only a temporary inconvenience while they wait for their crypto coins to moon in value and make them millionaires set for life.

The truth is while many people did get very rich getting in early on the cryptocurrency wave, less and less people these days are actually growing meaningful wealth by investing in crypto. Eventually reality will catch up and people will not be able to afford keeping a bunch of coins with questionable prospects, and when they begin liquidating all at once I guarantee some people will become very poor, poorer than they could ever imagine.

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#39

Post by NicoJuicy » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:05 PM UTC

sschueller wrote: post #5

"And I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth" You mean like cash? I'm sorry, I'm sure Warren is a nice guy but that picture reminds me of the Dukes in the movie Trading Places [1] with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trading_Places

The logistics of moving cash is a problem on it's own.

Re: Berkshire: Bitcoin is ‘contrary to the interest of civilization.’

#40

Post by pydry » Mon, May 10, 2021, 12:05 PM UTC

JKolios wrote: post #29

It's just one more investment vehicle/speculative asset among thousands. What is the specific factor about Bitcoin that makes it "contrary to the interest of civilization"? Are these financiers telling us that the financialisation of literally everything on the planet and in low orbit might actually have negative externalities?

* The titanic carbon footprint.

* Its use in facilitating illegal transactions.

* The fact that unlike cash it's used (as opposed to speculated with) for little else other than illegal transactions.**

This pretty much covers it ^^

** Yes, I'm aware. Not all prohibited transactions are bad. Donating to wikileaks is good.

The fact it is used for not much else other than illegal transactions would seem to me to be the biggest risk to its value. Regulatory crackdown will be coming sooner or later and when it does, there's gonna be investor tears.