Also it could become useful.
[deleted]
Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
71–80 of 103 posts
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve heard this metaphor lots and find it super confusing. The price of art is still based on something - some art looks nice, or was made by someone famous.
Hmm, I don't fully buy the metaphor (since BTC are fungible), but I do think it exhibits collector economics. I'm in many ways an art fan, but art pricing is totally irrational: 1. Prints cost substantially less than paintings since they're less limited 2. Prints price based on lots of intangibles (how limited the series is, what series it was, what the artist's role was in it, etc) 3. Fundamentally, I don't think bu…
FYI, BTC is not fungible. Otherwise companies like Coinbase wouldn't be able to ban people's accounts if they transfered in BTC with a tainted history.
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#73I see Bitcoin closer to the art market then to gold or a currency. There is de facto no universal rule for pricing a work of art other than what someone is willing to pay for it at auctions. As long as everyone assumes that artworks will be sold more expensive in the future and no one sells below the purchase price, the prices will rise - provided that the interest in it remains upright.
I’ve heard this metaphor lots and find it super confusing. The price of art is still based on something - some art looks nice, or was made by someone famous.
> some art looks nice
I guess you never came across modern art junk
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget that whole pesky "have to pay taxes to the state in their chosen currency under threat of the state monopoly on violence" thing. It is somewhat touched on in your first sentence, but at the end of the day, if you want to engage in productive economic activity in a particular jurisdiction, you must render what is Caesar's unto Caesar - and Caesar demands his preferred fiat.
Known as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartalism , by the way. :) While these risks clearly _do_ apply to traditional currencies, I do think, as an investor, it's worth considering market cap (as a proxy for "social belief in") and history of stability. Bitcoin's market cap is probably (factoring in permanently lost coins) something like $750B, which makes it a bit smaller than, say, the Swiss franc, and its history…
Is there a term for something between Metallism and Chartalism for the value of currency coming neither from innate value nor state backing, but rather our belief in it?
That's where I land I guess.
Magicism?
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let them hold all the way to zero.
If bitcoin keeps dropping 50% every week for the next 5 years, it still won't be zero. And every 50% drop, someone's thinking "Now could I double my money?" I dunno, there are feedback mechanisms that could keep this thing alive for a long time. And if not BTC then certainly some crypto based on the concepts.
> 50% every week for the next 5 years
That's 1/2 pow 52*5! There are not enough atoms in the universe to sustain such a fall.
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Taxes are good, they pay for civilization and the platform we all operate within :) I know people hate hearing that, but it is the truth. I am frustrated with how high they are on some things, bad spending, etc. But at the end of the day look around at what we have built as a civilization. That is from the collective pooling of money to build the entire system.
I feel like you're undervaluing the role individuals and private enterprise have on civilization. If there were just a bunch of roads and power lines without homes and businesses it wouldn't be much of a civilization.
I value individuals and capitalism a great deal. But without civilization and a platform that shapes their energy they are just more ants in the ant farm. The platform is what gives them the ability to change the world. That is built in a symbiotic relationship but it seems like we forget the taxes/civilization part and worship individuals to often.
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hmm, I don't fully buy the metaphor (since BTC are fungible), but I do think it exhibits collector economics. I'm in many ways an art fan, but art pricing is totally irrational: 1. Prints cost substantially less than paintings since they're less limited 2. Prints price based on lots of intangibles (how limited the series is, what series it was, what the artist's role was in it, etc) 3. Fundamentally, I don't think bu…
FYI, BTC is not fungible. Otherwise companies like Coinbase wouldn't be able to ban people's accounts if they transfered in BTC with a tainted history.
That's more or less like saying dollars aren't fungible because you can check the serial number on a bill to see if it matches one that was reported stolen.
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Taxes are good, they pay for civilization and the platform we all operate within :) I know people hate hearing that, but it is the truth. I am frustrated with how high they are on some things, bad spending, etc. But at the end of the day look around at what we have built as a civilization. That is from the collective pooling of money to build the entire system.
Perhaps there are people who don't want the civilisation and platform we operate in to be paid for.
For sure! No platform is perfect, and our current one needs a TON of improvements.
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Taxes are good, they pay for civilization and the platform we all operate within :) I know people hate hearing that, but it is the truth. I am frustrated with how high they are on some things, bad spending, etc. But at the end of the day look around at what we have built as a civilization. That is from the collective pooling of money to build the entire system.
Perhaps there are people who don't want the civilisation and platform we operate in to be paid for.
Then maybe they should go try to find another place to be together, rather than trying to wreck the civilization the rest of us think is pretty important and helpful.
Re: Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
FYI, BTC is not fungible. Otherwise companies like Coinbase wouldn't be able to ban people's accounts if they transfered in BTC with a tainted history.
That's more or less like saying dollars aren't fungible because you can check the serial number on a bill to see if it matches one that was reported stolen.
You're correct about being able to match serial numbers, but they are still nowhere near being in the same league.
A stranger across the world can't track your physical currency in real time. Whenever serial numbers are checked (if it ever is), the tracker just knows that bill was at that spot at that time, they don't know how many times it was exchanged or where it was since it was last tracked.
With BTC, anyone can track it in real time, anywhere. The same cannot be said about physical currency.
I suppose it's not a stretch to imagine banks have a machine that scans serial numbers (eg to catch DB Cooper's cash), but I've never heard of any evidence of such machines.