Posted on 02/14/2018 7:44:46 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Good. Because if you did it would make you sick to your stomach.
I dont see Bitcoin replace the dollar. But as an international exchange medium, it is better suited than working with large banks.
IMHO cryptocurrencies most resemble stocks. Stocks also are limited in quantity by the directors, who stand to lose by irresponsible expansion of the quantity of the stock outstanding.The other thing a cryptocurrency is is a brand. Cryptocurrency software is, AFAIK, public domain. And that means that you could create your own cryptocurrency which would be exactly as good ay Bitcoin excepting only the branding problem you would have trying to stand out among the (theoretically infinite number of) competing cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is the first and most famous cryptocurrency, and therefore is the strongest brand. I get the willies thinking of investing in any other cryptocurrency - not that I have invested in Bitcoin, either.
This sentence is the tell.
He's a keynesian, so deflationary-money haters are gonna hate.
My faith in the dollar is so low that the only retirement “savings” I have that are based on the dollar is my Social Security. No stocks, no bonds, no “serious” amounts of cash, etc.
No you don't. You cannot be convinced, no matter what. You are a central-bank loving Keynesian.
Hayek's plan is described in his book Denationalisation of Money (free PDF). In this scheme, banks issuing their own currency would be forced by market pressure to keep the buying power of their currencies as stable as possible. Cryptocurrencies (unregulated commodities being whipsawed by speculators) are completely different.
The whole point of your rant was that non-governmental currencies are only used to commit crimes and should therefore be verboten.
The creator of bitcoins seems to have wanted to have something not controlled by central bank; thus everyone gets the blockchain rather than a central clearinghouse. Yea for decentralization!
However, as the difficulties ramp up, the effect is that a very few exchanges are consolidating all the transactions and ‘mining’ with the effect that about 4-6 mega-entities run everything from a trusted position, without even the recourses of physical stability, attachment to a stable political entity, or auditability.
If (when; it’s already happened several times) the people in charge of these exchanges are hacked, ‘hacked,’ or simply let their virtual personae vanish while they walk off with fortunes in cryptocoin, there’s exactly zero to be done about it.
As others noted, a lot of the traffic is gray or dark, and so there’s a very good chance some or all of the hubs are controlled / strongly influenced by the bad people on the planet.
Overall, definitely not meeting the original, rather worthy, intent at all.
If the dollar hyperinflated in an economic crisis there would still be payments for social security and welfare. Devalued, but the payments would continue. However there would be riots in the streets because it wouldn’t buy anything, and the uneducated/liberal educated masses would demand the government fix the problem.
-at that point “fixing the problem” would likely involve stripping us of our constitutional rights to property, among others... scary time ahead at that point.
Those in the know would want to find refuge in some sort of lifeboat for their wealth, like gold and silver, but they can also be confiscated. Bitcoin can be hidden a million different ways, because the “coin” consists of a 30 or so digit public number or “key”, (for deposited only) and a 40 or so digit key for withdrawal or spending. Keys that are kept on privately kept wallets, or a piece of paper, not on a website or exchange are pretty safe.
I know there is a lot of skeptical opinions, and crypto currency is certainly a risk at this point, especially the volatility it has had the last tree months, but the potential is being recognized overseas especially in those countries where the currency is devalued. Coinbase is opening 30k to 100k new accounts every day supposedly.
Its not going to change overnight. And it will never be THE player in the international market. But there is a place for it. And a function where it excels.
It is not for everyone. But when you hear or read someone completely dumping on it, the clearly dont understand its function or uses.
If you substitute a dollar for every argument about bitcoin, there are benefits to each one.
The whole point of your rant was that non-governmental currencies are only used to commit crimes and should therefore be verboten.
My point is that they are like tulip bulbs. And I think people should have the right to buy and sell tulip bulbs at whatever price the market justifies and always with an eye toward “caveat emptor”.
Well, they are not “exactly” like tulip bulbs. Tulip bulbs do actually have intrinsic value.:)
But the coins (their worst mistake is their name) should not be kept on an exchange. The exchanges are not BANKS. People really should not confuse that issue.
The entire environment is still in the wild west phase. And the average person would probably never buy a whole coin.
Your concern for others is so touching.
And rightfully so.
A good plan has room for new things. I bought the first bitcoin years ago for under $100. I’ve used the after tax proceeds (I am one of the few to actually reports their gains) to pay off ALL of my debt. Every day I move some into traditional assets—but on average, the crypto continues to out grow my transitions to traditional assets.
As a friend of mine said, its a champaign problem to have.
No they don't. And the Lightning Network, a second layer built on top of the bitcoin blockchain, already live on the mainnet, speeds transactions waaaay up (multiple millions per second) with negligible fees (makes micropayments feasible).
The author of this article is uninformed.
Heh. Taking the approach that everything is relative. If I walk across the room, I'm not delusional enough to claim that in fact I stood still, while it was actually the rest of the universe that moved instead.
Everything I might consider buying is priced in US dollars. If the US dollar was fluctuating wildly like bitcoins are, the prices of everything those dollars would buy would be changing just as fast. The reasons that the US dollar is the default global currency include that it is relatively stable in value, and exists in large enough quantities that any transaction can be made in dollars. If somebody wants to buy 1,000 tankers of oil today, they can complete the transaction in US dollars. Could they do that with bitcoins?
The stability of the US dollar is determined by the prices of the universe of things it can be exchanged for, including other currencies.
Show me an example of something you can buy that is priced in bitcoins. As far as I know, everything you might want to buy is priced in dollars, but some places may give you the option of PAYING with bitcoins.
“Cryptocurrencies are more like a religion or a cult, not a rational economic phenomena. I await my enlightenment.”
Nope, but ignorance is bliss. If you were truly seeking enlightenment, you would be doing real research instead of writing nonsense clickbait.
My concern is for their personal freedom. It is not really concern for others in this case. I don’t know them personally.
Yeah. I think I’m too late for that one.
FWIW, I think some people made an absolute killing in tulip bulbs. It’s all about timing. :)
What would that be? All I can think of is as a means for the people owning them to look trendy and cool.
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