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Coinbase S-1

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Re: Coinbase S-1

#301

Post by thedudeabides5 »

PKop wrote: post #223
levosmetalo wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity ... Why do we repeat the claim of Bitcoin scarcity when we all know it's just a promise and nothing more, there is no technical limitation? All it takes to "print" more Bitcoins is for the majority of miners to agree to make a fork that will allow for more. And that will happen at one point. As for Gold, good luck trying…

>All it takes Oh just that huh? The market wouldn't value that new fork on par with finite BTC, so those miners would be hurting themselves, and burning energy for a worth-less coin. This action is trivial to consider, so what makes you think it has bearing on BTC value? When these miners leave old network, hash power & difficulty go down so other miners who prefer finite protocol can come in to mine. What's the actu…

Actually this isn’t the only way.

If financial intermediaries like Coinbase start extending credit or engaging in fractional reserve banking, then yes, you can “create more Bitcoin.”

Just like how in the gold standard, you could still create more gold backed dollars by making a mortgage loan...

Kind of funny how all these new monetary wizards miss out on this simple fact.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#302

Post by joubert »

bhupy wrote: post #116
a2tech wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We hate the central banks! We're going to take away the power from them and the government! slight inconveniences, fraud happens We need a place to store our coin and help securely move it! recreates central banks with even less regulation and security Profit!

This conflates "Central Banks" with ordinary "banks" that hold assets in vaults. The two are comparable in the same way that Java is comparable to JavaScript. The steel-man argument is that the monetary policy of central banks can cause hyper-inflation of a fiat currency, and holding onto an asset that is immune to that, and potentially even being able to transact with that asset is a reliable way to break free from…

> it depreciates because of the Fed

The dollar depreciates / appreciates due to various economic factors, not just because of actions by the Federal Reserve.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/051115/top-econo...

Re: Coinbase S-1

#303

Post by temp8964 »

WD-42 wrote: post #297
temp8964 wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you "physically own" Bitcoin? Or what does "physically own" mean exactly? I kind of understand what "physically own" gold means, but not sure it means the same as "physically own" Bitcoin. Getting downvoted on this. I am not complaining about the downvotes, but seriously, please enlighten me...

If you use a local wallet to store your BTC, let’s say on a HDD, the the magnetic pattern on the disk that makes up the bits that represent your coins would be physically owning then. They can’t be retrieved any other way.

Do I still own the BTC if the whole BTC network shuts down?

Re: Coinbase S-1

#304

Post by thinkmassive »

jmcqk6 wrote: post #264
cactus2093 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t speak for everyone there, “we” don’t all have the same reason. I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity and you can physically own it but it is much easier to store and send anywhere in the world if needed. These properties also mean that in a pinch, if you live in an unstable society or one facing high inflation it can work as an alternative financial syste…

> an unstable society or one facing high inflation What are the chances that in an environment where the USD is not usable, there is an available network and electricity that makes bitcoin usable?

Like yesterday, when Fedwire and ACH were offline for hours?

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/government/federal-res...

Re: Coinbase S-1

#305

Post by gruez »

dgellow wrote: post #283
cactus2093 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t speak for everyone there, “we” don’t all have the same reason. I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity and you can physically own it but it is much easier to store and send anywhere in the world if needed. These properties also mean that in a pinch, if you live in an unstable society or one facing high inflation it can work as an alternative financial syste…

Why not buy gold if that's what you want? What is better than gold about bitcoin? I never really understood this argument. I see some value in bitcoin but it doesn't have the same properties as precious metals: bitcoin value is only based on faith (so from this point of view it's not too different from so-called fiat currencies), there is no natural demand. If you have gold, silver, platinum, you will always have at…

>If you have gold, silver, platinum, you will always have at least some demand from the industry. Even if the majority of the current market price is due to speculation you still have an actual need for the metal. That's not the case for bitcoin. You could have the market losing faith tomorrow and it's done, your coins have zero value.

Is there a difference between investing in gold (30% "real" value, 70% "speculated" value) and investing 30% in copper (100% "real" value) plus 70% in bitcoin (100% "speculated" value)?

Re: Coinbase S-1

#306

Post by [deleted] »

jmcqk6 wrote: post #293
temp8964 wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think cactus2093 meant US / western world.

I get that I said USD, but the fundamental premise doesn't get that altered. Bitcoin is heavily resource intensive. In an environment that is already resource pressed either due to political instability/natural disaster/inflation/whatever, what are the chances that the resources are going to be found that can actually operate bitcoin, and won't be better utilizied elsewhere?

[deleted]

Re: Coinbase S-1

#307

Post by dannyw »

dgellow wrote: post #283
cactus2093 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t speak for everyone there, “we” don’t all have the same reason. I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity and you can physically own it but it is much easier to store and send anywhere in the world if needed. These properties also mean that in a pinch, if you live in an unstable society or one facing high inflation it can work as an alternative financial syste…

Why not buy gold if that's what you want? What is better than gold about bitcoin? I never really understood this argument. I see some value in bitcoin but it doesn't have the same properties as precious metals: bitcoin value is only based on faith (so from this point of view it's not too different from so-called fiat currencies), there is no natural demand. If you have gold, silver, platinum, you will always have at…

The industry demand of gold is minuscule. It's a rounding error. Buying a $1000 asset with $10 in "intrinsic value" is really no different to bitcoin.

Bitcoin can be transferred electronically, and can move across borders without being hassled at customs.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#308

Post by isoskeles »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #265
levosmetalo wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity ... Why do we repeat the claim of Bitcoin scarcity when we all know it's just a promise and nothing more, there is no technical limitation? All it takes to "print" more Bitcoins is for the majority of miners to agree to make a fork that will allow for more. And that will happen at one point. As for Gold, good luck trying…

The core Bitcoin holders don’t want more coins, so it won’t happen. Simple as that. The real elephant in the room is that new crypto currencies are being printed left and right. We may have a finite number of Bitcoin (in a couple decades) but one look at the list of crypto currencies will show that the number of crypto coins in general continues to explode at a phenomenal rate.

Why do the core Bitcoin holders have much to do with the decision? The decision here would be made by the miners, right? They have a different set of incentives from people who hold BTC. Maybe I’m missing something, I don’t see how holders and miners have the same interests.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#309

Post by jcims »

shawabawa3 wrote: post #129
jcims wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a complete n00b so this is coming from a place of ignorance, why is that such a factor in the current price? Someone is sitting on $50B in a $1T market, who cares?

selling $50B doesn't move the market from $1T to $950B $1T is the market cap when each bitcoin is trading at ~$52k, but if $50B were sold over a short period of time, it would likely drop the price to $25k or less as the buy orders would all get eaten up

That totally makes sense. But the comments I was replying to made it sound (to me) like it was going to be some long-term disruptor. $25k was the all time high just a couple of months ago. If it dipped to that because someone unloaded Satoshi's cache wouldn't everyone that already had a buy just double down? Seems like it would recover almost instantaneously.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#310

Post by 542458 »

thinkmassive wrote: post #304
jmcqk6 wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an unstable society or one facing high inflation What are the chances that in an environment where the USD is not usable, there is an available network and electricity that makes bitcoin usable?

Like yesterday, when Fedwire and ACH were offline for hours? https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/government/federal-res...

That didn’t affect 99.9+% of people, and is a far cry from the USD being “unusable”.
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