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Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

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Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#51

What's more concerning to me is the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Perhaps there is an argument to Bitcoin being a kind of "digital gold" even if it is all but useless as a currency. But events like Dogecoin hitting a $50B market cap are very unsettling to me. I used to take part in "Dogecoin Socks for the Homeless" events. It was wonderful, everyone was trying to make something good out of what we all knew to be…

'Investing' at an all time high, is going to upset lots of late comers.

Signalling a great big crash, waiting to happen.

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#52
post #51

What's more concerning to me is the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Perhaps there is an argument to Bitcoin being a kind of "digital gold" even if it is all but useless as a currency. But events like Dogecoin hitting a $50B market cap are very unsettling to me. I used to take part in "Dogecoin Socks for the Homeless" events. It was wonderful, everyone was trying to make something good out of what we all knew to be…

'Investing' at an all time high, is going to upset lots of late comers. Signalling a great big crash, waiting to happen.

This isn't even close to what will be the all time high. I know HN has a significant aversion to cryptocurrency (which absolutely befuddles me for the foundational societal concepts it modernizes) but love it or hate it if you think this is close to the peak you've been in a cave the last decade.

*Edit: speaking about crypto as a whole not specifically doge coin. BTC and ETH first to market with digital solutions to antiquated economic problems. But I'm not joking when I say the cut of Musk's jib puts a significant non-zero chance that he announces Doge will be the official martian currency. PT Barnum or not, I wouldn't completely discard the idea.

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#53

What's more concerning to me is the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Perhaps there is an argument to Bitcoin being a kind of "digital gold" even if it is all but useless as a currency. But events like Dogecoin hitting a $50B market cap are very unsettling to me. I used to take part in "Dogecoin Socks for the Homeless" events. It was wonderful, everyone was trying to make something good out of what we all knew to be…

Money only works because we all agree to believe in it.

The book Money by Jacob Goldstein is the best thing I have read on this. It covers the useful fiction that is money and how it has has shaped societies.

From the inception of coins in ancient Greece, the first stock market to current day cryptocurrencies. When people first came up with coins and paper money, don't you think people questioned their value?

"At the heart of the story are the fringe thinkers and world leaders who reimagined money. Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor, created paper money backed by nothing, centuries before it appeared in the west. John Law, a professional gambler and convicted murderer, brought modern money to France (and destroyed the country's economy). The cypherpunks, a group of radical libertarian computer programmers, paved the way for bitcoin.

One thing they all realized: what counts as money (and what doesn't) is the result of choices we make, and those choices have a profound effect on who gets more stuff and who gets less, who gets to take risks when times are good, and who gets screwed when things go bad."

For the record I am in on crypto including Dogecoin, just as I am in on FAANG, just as I am in on index funds, just as I am in on property. I honestly people not diversifying would be hubris.

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#54
post #17

Also, Ethereum failed at everything that smart contracts originally promised and became a Ponzi Construction Kit.

Have you used uniswap? What do you think of it?

tried to use it recently but saw the fees in the $25-$30 range and thought, ok we're definitely not there yet. Beyond that tho I was super impressed.

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#55

What's more concerning to me is the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Perhaps there is an argument to Bitcoin being a kind of "digital gold" even if it is all but useless as a currency. But events like Dogecoin hitting a $50B market cap are very unsettling to me. I used to take part in "Dogecoin Socks for the Homeless" events. It was wonderful, everyone was trying to make something good out of what we all knew to be…

This is more a mania with dogecoin. Of course set off by robinhood traders and elon musk tweets.

Also a Conagra Foods Slim Jim cross promotion announcement.

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#56

What's more concerning to me is the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Perhaps there is an argument to Bitcoin being a kind of "digital gold" even if it is all but useless as a currency. But events like Dogecoin hitting a $50B market cap are very unsettling to me. I used to take part in "Dogecoin Socks for the Homeless" events. It was wonderful, everyone was trying to make something good out of what we all knew to be…

> Perhaps there is an argument to Bitcoin being a kind of "digital gold" even if it is all but useless as a currency. Gold is less useful than most people think: > In a 2012 paper entitled "The Golden Dilemma",[1] Claude Erb and Campbell Harvey examined some common assumptions about gold. First they looked at gold as an inflation hedge, analyzing gold returns from 1975 (the year the U.S. came off of the gold standard…

Silver is quite useful as wire. It's a better conductor than copper, but because of cost is only used rarely. It was used in WW2 for making magnets for uranium processing.

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#57
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Investing' at an all time high, is going to upset lots of late comers. Signalling a great big crash, waiting to happen.

This isn't even close to what will be the all time high. I know HN has a significant aversion to cryptocurrency (which absolutely befuddles me for the foundational societal concepts it modernizes) but love it or hate it if you think this is close to the peak you've been in a cave the last decade. *Edit: speaking about crypto as a whole not specifically doge coin. BTC and ETH first to market with digital solutions to…

I don't know if we're there yet or not, but I remember last peak I started to here about crypto in my non crypto media feeds, aka comedy podcasts. I just saw my disc golf feeds talk about crypto. I think that's a strong signal.

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#58

Stocks: * You buy them because they increase earnings and eventually produce dividends at a very high yield to your initial investment. * The company can issue shares suppressing the price. * The company can do stock buybacks, increasing the price. * Brokers can naked short, suppressing the price. Fiat currency * You need it to pay taxes and debts. * Endless Printing. Gold * Bought because of limited supply. * Supply…

Right but you can make a new crypto out of thin air, you can't do that with gold. There is no value in it because you can just make a new one. It's more fiat than the fiat the kids complain about.

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#59
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't even close to what will be the all time high. I know HN has a significant aversion to cryptocurrency (which absolutely befuddles me for the foundational societal concepts it modernizes) but love it or hate it if you think this is close to the peak you've been in a cave the last decade. *Edit: speaking about crypto as a whole not specifically doge coin. BTC and ETH first to market with digital solutions to…

I don't know if we're there yet or not, but I remember last peak I started to here about crypto in my non crypto media feeds, aka comedy podcasts. I just saw my disc golf feeds talk about crypto. I think that's a strong signal.

Last peak was pretty much 100% retail investors like your disc golf gang.

The amount of institutional investment this round offer legitimacy and absolute scale of potential that can't be overlooked by anyone that's been paying attention.

Honestly, for the amount of forward thinking technologists that call this nook of the internet home, there is a ridiculous blind spot for cryptocurrency. It's actually ridiculous to me that such forward thinkers could be such luddites.

Will it take another decade before you realize we're there - or if not yet, where this is going?

Re: Nassim Taleb: Bitcoin failed as a currency and became a speculative ponzi scheme

#60
post #38
post #18

Wait, isn't this the guy with the whole shpeel about having skin in the game? And, didn't he also sell most of his BTC in February? If so, then I guess he would want us to just ignore him.

Is this like saying that only current drug users can advocate for cessation, and not those who have quit?

What's the financial-investor-equivalent of a drug user? Someone who can't help but eat their assets?
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