So I suppose people must use it all the time to buy goods and services. Right?
Speculators buying from speculators and hoping today isn't the day the hot potato explodes.
How long do you think it will take you to update your priors on this?
Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
181–190 of 343 posts
Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#182Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
The real use case is self defense against the arbitrary devaluation of fiat currency. As wildly imperfect as crypto is at that task, it's the best we have in a fungible, digital form. So pessimistic investors flee to it. The worst case for a crypto investor is for the dollar to be restored to a stable store of value. To outcompete crypto, just whip inflation.
How well do investors understand the underlying network of computers required to maintain the public ledger and the trust and integrity of the digital currency, though? Until nation-states fund and invest in the infrastructure, finding your confidence in cryptocurrency with little to no regulation is a massive risk.
> Until nation-states fund and invest in the infrastructure, finding your confidence in cryptocurrency with little to no regulation is a massive risk.
There are many arguments against bitcoin, but I have a hard time investing in this one.
A lot of the people investing in bitcoin are doing so specifically to hedge against nation-states. It is decentralized FOSS based on sound mathematics. If this was really a concern, wouldn't people be skeptical of TLS to access your bank? One of the most popular TLS algorithms was written largely by DJB (not a nation-state).
Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#184Note that it hit a new all-time high last night, but it's been in the ~$70ks since last March. The election results may have pushed it over the top, but it's been way up for a while. The people who predicted it would collapse appear to have been wrong, and the people who predicted it would come back appear to be right. My own position was that it's so volatile that it will always be a roller coaster, which is why I d…
It cannot even get to $100k despite endless predictions over the past 5+ years it would. Each cycle is getting subsequently smaller. If anything, it's reached the final stage in which the supply of new buyers to prop up the price, let alone new highs, is exhausted.
Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
Dividends provide a real income stream people live off of, bitcoins need buyers. It’s the difference between owning a farm and a gold bar.
There are plenty of companies whose stock is sought after but that never paid dividends (I think Tesla and Amazon are some example, or used to be at least)
Dividends don't matter. What matters is profits (regardless of whether they're distributed to shareholders or not).
Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have it charted against the Malaysian Ringgit. It was 347k BTC/MYR high this year, compared to 326k today.
this should be the real headline. I am certain and beyond any doubt that I speak for all of us hackernews readers when I say that I have no frame of reference on the value of cryptocurrencies without comparing first with the Malaysian Ringgit
As it should be? ! ?
Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's the scenario where the government can take the digital money from your bank accounts but can't take the digital money from your crypto wallet?
Government cannot take money from a crypto wallet because of cryptography. They could only do it if they compelled you to hand over your secret keys against your will. They also may not even know you have a crypto wallet since it is not registered in your name and is very easy to hide. On the other hand, government can sieze funds from your bank account by seeking a court order or whatever legal instrument is needed…
Exactly, and that's why in EU a transaction to a self-custody wallet from an exchange you need to declare that wallet as your own. Then when the government want to seize your BTC they can track from that wallet onwards all transactions.
The problem with crypto as a hedge against government overreach is with fiat exchanges. I hope more businesses start accepting crypto and you won't need to go trough an exchange that often.
Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#188So I suppose people must use it all the time to buy goods and services. Right?
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Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#189Re: Bitcoin has made a new all-time high price
#190It has in dollar terms but it still hasn't on an inflation adjusted basis. One bitcoin today has less purchasing power than at its peak in November 2021. The dollar has lost about 12.5% since then so the true all time high would be around $79250.
This depends on one's consumer preferences. The CPI includes depreciating items that does not scale with income, like healthcare , cars, clothes, and food. Someone with a net worth of millions of dollars incurs likely a smaller opportunity cost. But I agree despite the hype Bitcoin's returns are still poor and easily surpassed by the S&P 500.
>But I agree despite the hype Bitcoin's returns are still poor and easily surpassed by the S&P 500.
Over what time period?