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The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

alexkolchinski.com

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Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#131

Post by SR2Z »

r3ctilinear wrote: post #62
peterldowns wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the best argument I've heard, thank you. I disagree with aspects of this argument but it at least makes some sense to me.

Absolute sovereignty is the important detail that brings the strategic reserve argument into complete focus. There are many types of wealth but none of them offer the level of freedom against censorship and external interference that bitcoin does. In an increasingly multipolar world bitcoin offers the greatest degree of self sovereignty for individuals and nations alike.

Bitcoin is vulnerable to 51% attacks, and before China banned it there were mining pools that were intentionally limiting signups to avoid hitting that number.

Then there's the throughput issue, the mandatory deflation, and a ton of other small issues that make it a terrible store of value.

Bitcoin is subject to far more limitations than folks normally consider and certainly does not offer more "self-sovereignty" than a pile of gold.

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#132

Post by alexashka »

cypherpunks01 wrote: post #35
peterldowns wrote: post #7

Can anyone who is pro-crypto (particularly: btc, eth) make the steelman argument for why a "strategic reserve" is necessary for these cryptocurrencies? Or even beneficial ? I've been involved in the industry in various ways for years and I fundamentally don't understand why the government owning a lot of btc/eth is advantageous. I understand the "reserve" part, but I don't understand the "strategic." I'm open to the…

The best case is an argument similar to the reason the US gold reserve exists. While the gold no longer directly backs the currency, gold is a neutral asset and wouldn't go to zero during wars/depressions, so could be sold strategically if needed to fund government in a dire situation. The claim is that BTC is also a neutral asset, meaning it's not linked to any one government or economy, and it has certain propertie…

Would bricks of gold really change anything in a dire situation? I don't get it.

I'd bet on aligning with people who know how to make use of bullets personally.

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#133

Post by 1659447091 »

bufferoverflow wrote: post #56
1659447091 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And completely worthless in the event of war with attacks on power grids electronics etc. Gold on the other hand, I could trade for food.

If you are at a war where your whole electric grid and internet and SMS are completely down, you have much bigger problems than currency not working. It means your bank accounts are gone, your credit cards are gone. And how are you actually going to use gold as currency? Walk into a shop and shave off some gold at the checkout? And how will the store owner authenticate that it's actually gold? Bullets will be a bette…

Trading jewelry for goods in desperate times is a thing. Even desperation in current times has examples of this. Pawn shops advertise in large letters that they buy gold.

But I agree, bullets are always a better currency; one of the positives (for people who responsibly enjoy firearms) living where I do is minimal restriction on such things.

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#134

Post by hakfoo »

desumeku wrote: post #67
peterldowns wrote: post #7

Can anyone who is pro-crypto (particularly: btc, eth) make the steelman argument for why a "strategic reserve" is necessary for these cryptocurrencies? Or even beneficial ? I've been involved in the industry in various ways for years and I fundamentally don't understand why the government owning a lot of btc/eth is advantageous. I understand the "reserve" part, but I don't understand the "strategic." I'm open to the…

Hi, crypto steelman here. I have two answers: The first is the reality answer: the CEOs of all these companies (SOL, XRP, and ADA specifically) are directly involved and meeting with Trump officials and senators in order draft upcoming crypto legislation as, as told by ADA's creator[1]. BTC and ETH aren't included here, but they are the two largest and most impactful, recognizable cryptocurrencies already, kind of wo…

They've had the potential to revolutionize global financial systems for a decade now. So why haven't they?

If I'm looking for the promise of "virtually instant, virtually free transfer of value", SEPA and FedNow are delivering it at vast scale without the blockchain woo-woo. Adoption could be broader, but you can hardly say Bitcoin is universal either.

Whether intentionally, or by accident, the crypto space has created assets, rather than functional currencies, and the problems we want to solve with the financial system are usually currency shaped (broad acceptance, stable value, limited number of systems to choose from).

Now, there may be some interesting aspect of creating a new asset class-- it's uniquely "bottled scarcity" without beauty or utility like most other assets have-- but I think we need to get over the "revolutionizing finance" story until it revolutionizes something other than "I need something new to gamble on."

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#135

Post by tacon »

alexashka wrote: post #132
cypherpunks01 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best case is an argument similar to the reason the US gold reserve exists. While the gold no longer directly backs the currency, gold is a neutral asset and wouldn't go to zero during wars/depressions, so could be sold strategically if needed to fund government in a dire situation. The claim is that BTC is also a neutral asset, meaning it's not linked to any one government or economy, and it has certain propertie…

Would bricks of gold really change anything in a dire situation? I don't get it. I'd bet on aligning with people who know how to make use of bullets personally.

Since Russia is loading planes with bricks of gold to pay for imports and evade banking sanctions, they must think bricks of gold are useful in a dire situation.

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#136

Post by defrost »

tacon wrote: post #135
alexashka wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would bricks of gold really change anything in a dire situation? I don't get it. I'd bet on aligning with people who know how to make use of bullets personally.

Since Russia is loading planes with bricks of gold to pay for imports and evade banking sanctions, they must think bricks of gold are useful in a dire situation.

With an obvious drawback highlighted on the 15th of March 2018.

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#137

Post by foogazi »

desumeku wrote: post #67
peterldowns wrote: post #7

Can anyone who is pro-crypto (particularly: btc, eth) make the steelman argument for why a "strategic reserve" is necessary for these cryptocurrencies? Or even beneficial ? I've been involved in the industry in various ways for years and I fundamentally don't understand why the government owning a lot of btc/eth is advantageous. I understand the "reserve" part, but I don't understand the "strategic." I'm open to the…

Hi, crypto steelman here. I have two answers: The first is the reality answer: the CEOs of all these companies (SOL, XRP, and ADA specifically) are directly involved and meeting with Trump officials and senators in order draft upcoming crypto legislation as, as told by ADA's creator[1]. BTC and ETH aren't included here, but they are the two largest and most impactful, recognizable cryptocurrencies already, kind of wo…

why does a nuclear superpower need a digital asset ?

Why wouldn’t the US make up their own Dollar$, outlaw all the others and force everyone to use it ?

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#138

Post by desumeku »

quantadev wrote: post #126
desumeku wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You purchased a jar of air with the word "Digital Gold" printed on the side of it basically...with the reasoning of "If everybody treats this special air as Gold, then it might as well be Gold" And it is. You can try and dispute and rage against this fact all you want, but it already is. One bitcoin now goes for over $80,000. It's the 9th largest asset on earth. Anybody who has ever bought any over the past 15 year…

Oh, I expect your air jars can easily get quite a bit higher than $80K, while the FoMo is still on the rise. During Tulip Bulb Mania a bud was going for the same amount as the price of a HOUSE. It's about psychology isn't it. Everyone knew that amount for a flower was insane, but did it anyway. Because, after all, something is worth whatever people are paying for it don't ya know. Tell me this...how is your NFT colle…

You sound pretty jealous and bitter that you missed out in the best return on investment in human history.

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#139

Post by [deleted] »

quantadev wrote: post #127
desumeku wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are stocks, securities and ETFs backed by "physical reality"? Are treasury bills and bonds? If you are a goldbug who just thinks we should all be using gold, you should probably say so.

You realize stocks and securities are a part ownership in a company right? lolz. So yeah stocks are backed by physical reality. Maybe you can research what ETFs, and those other things are on your own time, since you apparently don't know.

[deleted]

Re: The “strategic reserve” exposes crypto as the scam it always was

#140

Post by ahel »

cactacea wrote: post #87
cypherpunks01 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best case is an argument similar to the reason the US gold reserve exists. While the gold no longer directly backs the currency, gold is a neutral asset and wouldn't go to zero during wars/depressions, so could be sold strategically if needed to fund government in a dire situation. The claim is that BTC is also a neutral asset, meaning it's not linked to any one government or economy, and it has certain propertie…

Sold for what though? Dollars of course. But why not just print more dollars in the first place? Gold could be used to make payments directly and I don't see that happening with BTC. This argument still makes no sense, what am I missing.

sold for whatever you want. Supposing the other party wants BTC (wild assumption) and you want 1Mton of lead, I guess the exchange would happen.
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