171–180 of 382 posts
This isn’t a crash in historical terms. It’s simply repeating previous patterns. If we do have a true crash that wipes out most of the stored value and takes a decade to recover, like the dot-com crash, the effect on tech sector wealth in particular will be profound. Right now, this is just the usual ebb and flow. What I think is interesting about crypto is that it has the potential to go to zero because it has zero…
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It's there. It continues to happen almost hourly. https://twitter.com/whale_alert https://twitter.com/usdcoinprinter Two hours ago $100m USDC went into circulation. Almost another $100m two hours before that.
1.2 billions on Sunday: https://twitter.com/usdcoinprinter/status/148528500117644083... Probably some institutional investor drove a garbage truck full of unmarked dollars in small denominations to some back alley near Circle headquarters.
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70% of Bitcoin holders bought in last year. A continuous stream of greater fools is necessary for its price to even remain at the current level Also, every ponzi scheme gives amazing returns, before it inevitably collapses. For example Madoff was able to give decent returns to his investors for 17 years! 'Number go up' is not a refutation of a ponzi scheme.
Yeah but with a Madoff/Ponzi scheme the thing collapses, Madoff goes to jail, it ends. Bitcoin seems more like other assets that don't make things, stuff like fiat money, gold, fine art and so on.
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A stable crypto-currency will not attract any investment. Crypto is useless for anything but money laundering and speculation.
I've gotten paid for code in XMR. It's great and absolutely useful. I wish everyone used it.
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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have ~zero inherent value, due to their non-speculation use-cases like payment being very limited or still early development (smart contracts). Unless you count BTC in black market I guess. USD has inherent value, it's the only currency where you can pay taxes in, and if you want to do business with government or government employees - who are ever only paid in USD - you must accept…
Bitcoin’s inherent value is 1. Immutability 2. Limited supply 3. Censorship-resistance 4. Independence of governments, nations, banks, institutions, corporations 5. Accessibility You can also pay your taxes in crypto in many countries. The dollar’s inherent value is very weak and not really tangible. It’s 2022 and people still don’t get that.
The currency of a nation has inherent monetary value because it is backed by the state; the details of what that means will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but except in states undergoing massive crises, you can still be sure that if you hold their currency, you have something of value and can transact business.
Bitcoin is backed by nothing but other people holding Bitcoin.
As for the attributes you list:
1. Immutability is a double-edged sword. There are legitimate situations where you want mutability.
2. Artificial scarcity of a digital thing is only beneficial if you are among those holding large amounts of it.
3 & 4 (basically the same). This is both a huge negative for many people, and only true until those institutions' policies, laws, regulations, etc catch up with Bitcoin and either fit it within their existing structures or ban it entirely.
5. It's really not that accessible unless you're already fairly wealthy and digitally savvy.
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As an occasional bitcoin holder, I don't think it's a Ponzi scheme. Who's the Ponzi schemer? How come every time it collapses it comes back bigger in a year or two?
70% of Bitcoin holders bought in last year. A continuous stream of greater fools is necessary for its price to even remain at the current level Also, every ponzi scheme gives amazing returns, before it inevitably collapses. For example Madoff was able to give decent returns to his investors for 17 years! 'Number go up' is not a refutation of a ponzi scheme.
I think HN is going to need a good explanation for this. The value is intrinsic, and can go up without any activity happening... I think there are other fools scouring about here in the comments.
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What’s the difference between “investing” and investing? Maybe that will help me to better understand cryptocurrencies “investors”.
The only difference in investing in currency than other asset classes is that the value of currencies is entirely relative to other currencies in ways other asset classes aren’t. In practice that doesn’t make a difference because all the mechanics are the same as any other form of investment decision.
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Bitcoin is probably the first Ponzi scheme where everyone in it knows it is a Ponzi scheme. So I agree with your take here.
As an occasional bitcoin holder, I don't think it's a Ponzi scheme. Who's the Ponzi schemer? How come every time it collapses it comes back bigger in a year or two?
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If inflation makes the USD worthless, there will be significant social instability and most likely chaos at the GLOBAL level. This is why we can all be part of the cult of USD. If Bitcoin falls to 0$ tomorrow, the vast majority of people would shrug and move on with their lives.
It doesnt take USD going to 0 to cause social instability. i'm pretty sure we're already there in 2022. If you take the 7% inflation of 2021 at face value, and apply it to the M1 money supply, the headline of this article (130B lost) played out for USD eleven times in 2021 without recovering.