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A better comparison is between bitcoin and countries currencies... it's something like number 59 in the world, though that is from a couple weeks ago. Bitcoin
by rothbardrand 9y ago
A better comparison is between bitcoin and countries currencies... it's something like number 59 in the world, though that is from a couple weeks ago.
Bitcoin is really a new currency, and comparing it to company market caps and banks sizes is not really fundamentally useful, but it is useful for giving an idea of the size of the bitcoin economy.
- vannevar 9y agoNumber 59 based simply on the amount of Bitcoin owned, or the rate of real world transactions (as opposed to mere speculation) conducted in it? I would argue that the latter is a more valid way to measure a currency, and I seriously doubt Bitcoin would crack the top 100 by that measure. The Bitcoin "economy" is almost entirely made up of currency trading.
- rothbardrand 9y agoRanked by value. I don't get how "mere speculation" is considered a bad thing, or makes bitcoin irrelevant. IF it's digital gold right now, fine. Its gold that costs nothing to store, and very little to transport, unlike actual gold. Gold has a market cap of $8T. If that's the use case bitcoin ever has, it will still ultimately be worth $380k each if it grows to bitcoins size... and it has several advantages over gold. Is gold worthless because its "merely speculative"??
- vannevar 9y agoI didn't say Bitcoin was worthless, it clearly is not. But it is not a viable currency yet. Gold is also not much used as currency anymore, though it once was.