Live data from Hacker News

Why the ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble

nymag.com

221–227 of 227 posts

Re: Why the ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble

#221
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except Monero. Funnily enough, Monero is the crypto that failed as speculative asset.

It's a similar story with Nano, and it de-masks the true nature of this mania On paper, it's a perfect crypto. Really fast and fee-less transactions, proof of stake avoids the environmental impacts, completely pre-mined, distributed as equitably as you reasonably can, and truly decentralized. But it has one major flaw - no way to get rich quick. No celebrity hyping it up. Nobody is "in it for the tech", it's all a gl…

Couldn't you get rich off Nano the same way you get rich off bitcoin? By buying some and then convincing others to spend more on it then you did?

Re: Why the ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's an accurate read at all. HN appears to me more full of people (like me) who were fired up by the initial promise of (a) blockchain technology (b) intermediary- and free-free transfer of value. What happened instead was that the technology turned out to be one of the worst threats to global warming since farting cows (yes,yes, i know, ethereum makes it all better), the intermediary- and fee-free p…

There ain't no such thing as a fee-free lunch. There have to be some interest rate in fund transfer, otherwise there will be no reason to keep transaction records. > HN attitude There are some opinions which endorsed here and some which suppressed, for example eco-terrorists and police-hating criminals are holy cows here.

> There have to be some interest rate in fund transfer, otherwise there will be no reason to keep transaction records.

Potential legal penalties often work quite well.

Re: Why the ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it’s a pain in the ass because the technology is antiquated.

No, it is exactly as that guy said. Those transactions are illegal, you can't transfer money across borders without notifying authorities in most countries, and I am pretty sure you aren't notifying them when you do. If bitcoin ever becomes popular as a currency rather than just investment scheme then governments will come down hard on this and all transactions will get banned or made as inconvenient as bank transfer…

The government can't even raise the debt ceiling or collect taxes from people who are flagrantly not declaring income. Crypto skeptics always have this image in their mind where the government finally steps up and stops the country from going full Snow Crash.

Let's say Biden tomorrow actually came out and said "enough malarkey, we're banning crypto". What do you think are the actual chances of Congress passing that legislation of the GOP-dominated SCOTUS from upholding those laws. At least half the politicians in this country actively want to see the federal government go through a financial crisis (particularly when the opposite team holds the White House.)

Crypto skeptics point to Executive Order 6102 but ignore the fact that Biden is no FDR. If we actually had a strong executive, like LBJ, Nixon or even GWB post-9/11 I'd agree. Crypto's playing loose with the rules and basically taunting the US Treasury to play whack-a-mole. But this country's so polarized and dysfunctional that we'll never have a strong executive again in our lifetime.

Re: Why the ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You use the word "value" in this comment to mean something different than the market price, but the definition isn't obvious to me. Maybe it's your personal values?

It's called utility and it's the reason why we buy anything.

> it's the reason why we buy anything

You say it's 'the reason' which I'm not sure means 'the only reason' or 'a reason'.

If it's the former: How will crypto, let alone any collectable or sentimental item fit into this framework?

If it's the later, then yes, but utility varies by recipient and then there are other factors which play into price, especially in the short term.

Re: Why the ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It has honestly surprised me that a bunch of people I thought were smart... Nobody is universally brilliant. Newton spent as much time on alchemy as he did physics. Maybe NFTs are just the modern alchemy, as they do seem to turn random items into digital gold.

>Newton spent as much time on alchemy as he did physics I don't think that was an act of unbrilliance. It just didn't happen to work out.

I mean splitting and fusing atomic nuclei is something that happens all the time. Hard to claim he was wrong, just a few orders of magnitude off on the energy required to do it.

Re: Why the ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There ain't no such thing as a fee-free lunch. There have to be some interest rate in fund transfer, otherwise there will be no reason to keep transaction records. > HN attitude There are some opinions which endorsed here and some which suppressed, for example eco-terrorists and police-hating criminals are holy cows here.

> There have to be some interest rate in fund transfer, otherwise there will be no reason to keep transaction records. Potential legal penalties often work quite well.

Sure thing, gubment-regulated banking requires very formal bookkeeping. But in the imaginary fee-free crypto system how would you motivate participants to maintain verifiable records of your transactions (for purpose of proving you really paid for some e-commerce deal which in non-immediate)?

Re: Why the ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble

#227
post #205
post #76

Transferring money through banks is such a pain in the ass versus crypto. It really feels like we’re at a tipping point where ACH and wire transfers become the equivalent of writing a check.

I assume you live in the US, which may be quite primitive in this department. In India, and also many parts of Africa, all you need to transfer money from one account to another is to know their phone number. And the transfer is instantaneous.

Yes America has many services like that. I’m talking about moving large amounts of money between accounts held at various businesses.
Post reply on HN