yes, bitcoin's slow-inflation-soon-to-become-deflation is preferable to hyperinflation. no, slow-inflation-soon-to-become-deflation is not preferable to a well-managed economy.
Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
11–20 of 45 posts
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#12Hard to take this article seriously when the first few paragraphs are talking about the hyperinflation of the currency of Zimbabwe, then trying to rectify that with bitcoin, which can fluctuate hundreds of USD in the span of a couple of hours. It specifically mentions M-Pesa, which is already used by the majority of the continent, but trying to improve and go all-in on something established and accepted like that wou…
It is extremely short-sighted to look at the volatility of Bitcoin today and say "it can never work".
Volatility IS DECREASING over time, as the economy and volume/market depth on exchanges are increasing. This has been explained many times on HN.
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#13Hard to take this article seriously when the first few paragraphs are talking about the hyperinflation of the currency of Zimbabwe, then trying to rectify that with bitcoin, which can fluctuate hundreds of USD in the span of a couple of hours. It specifically mentions M-Pesa, which is already used by the majority of the continent, but trying to improve and go all-in on something established and accepted like that wou…
It is extremely short-sighted to look at the volatility of Bitcoin today and say "it can never work". Volatility IS DECREASING over time, as the economy and volume/market depth on exchanges are increasing. This has been explained many times on HN.
If you look at the charts volatility has actually gone up quite a bit during the past year, then levelled out a bit then spiked this past month or so but it's not really started dropping at all.
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is extremely short-sighted to look at the volatility of Bitcoin today and say "it can never work". Volatility IS DECREASING over time, as the economy and volume/market depth on exchanges are increasing. This has been explained many times on HN.
If you look at the charts volatility has actually gone up quite a bit during the past year, then levelled out a bit then spiked this past month or so but it's not really started dropping at all.
Look harder. Over the last 4-5 years volatility has gone down. And episodes of volatility spiking up are rarer.
A linear regression on the volatility line is clearly going down:
http://btcmag.9wizards.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/201...
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#15Hard to take this article seriously when the first few paragraphs are talking about the hyperinflation of the currency of Zimbabwe, then trying to rectify that with bitcoin, which can fluctuate hundreds of USD in the span of a couple of hours. It specifically mentions M-Pesa, which is already used by the majority of the continent, but trying to improve and go all-in on something established and accepted like that wou…
She lost me when she said Yugoslavia was a continent, also Yugoslavia doesn't exist anymore.
Did you also interpret her as saying Peru, Brazil, and Angola are continents? Because those aren't either.
Maybe she should have said "Yugoslavia HAD sufferer", but that's a minor grammatical nitpick that would have made the phrasing much more clumsy.
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you look at the charts volatility has actually gone up quite a bit during the past year, then levelled out a bit then spiked this past month or so but it's not really started dropping at all.
Look harder. Over the last 4-5 years volatility has gone down. And episodes of volatility spiking up are rarer. A linear regression on the volatility line is clearly going down: http://btcmag.9wizards.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/201...
What method of tracking volatility are you looking at because all the ones I've tried on http://bitcoincharts.com/ at the all data length show an increase in volatility.
(Tried Chaikin Volatility, Donchian Channel, ATR, and Bollinger Band)
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#17Hard to take this article seriously when the first few paragraphs are talking about the hyperinflation of the currency of Zimbabwe, then trying to rectify that with bitcoin, which can fluctuate hundreds of USD in the span of a couple of hours. It specifically mentions M-Pesa, which is already used by the majority of the continent, but trying to improve and go all-in on something established and accepted like that wou…
She lost me when she said Yugoslavia was a continent, also Yugoslavia doesn't exist anymore.
Yugoslavia did exist at the point in time when they had hyperinflation, which is what I was referencing. For the record, I certainly do not think Yugoslavia, Angola OR Peru or are continents. I just rephrased to make that more clear. Thanks for your input!
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
She lost me when she said Yugoslavia was a continent, also Yugoslavia doesn't exist anymore.
Yugoslavia did exist at the point in time when they had hyperinflation, which is what I was referencing. For the record, I certainly do not think Yugoslavia, Angola OR Peru or are continents. I just rephrased to make that more clear. Thanks for your input!
You list five countries, only two of which are in Africa, and yet you generalize your prescription to one continent. You do know there are some 52 other countries/economies in Africa?
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#19Since bitcoin is a decentralized currency that is controlled by algorithms rather than one or a small handful of individuals, there is no option to simply “print more money”. This precludes governments from instituting reckless monetary policies and subverting entire economies on little more than a whim.
Countries will just have fiscal rather than monetary disasters in such situations. Look at Greece. Really, hyperinflation is a pretty rare occurrence - obviously it's bad, but bitcoin boosters and gold bugs seem to think it's practically the norm or that all fiat currencies eventually fall victim to it. This is simply not the case.
Re: Why Bitcoin Matters for Africa
#20Hard to take this article seriously when the first few paragraphs are talking about the hyperinflation of the currency of Zimbabwe, then trying to rectify that with bitcoin, which can fluctuate hundreds of USD in the span of a couple of hours. It specifically mentions M-Pesa, which is already used by the majority of the continent, but trying to improve and go all-in on something established and accepted like that wou…
She lost me when she said Yugoslavia was a continent, also Yugoslavia doesn't exist anymore.
The author didn't say those were continents, she said 'foo has occurred across continents', then gave examples of countries on different continents where it occurred.
The sprinkbok is native only to South Africa, Botswana, and Angola - would you rail that it should not be described as an African animal because it doesn't cover a majority of the continent?