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Wrong kind of liquidity. Trading firms, hedge funds, etc. care care about liquidity of the "Can I convert this into the kind of money I use to pay taxes and emp

Wrong kind of liquidity. Trading firms, hedge funds, etc. care care about liquidity of the "Can I convert this into the kind of money I use to pay taxes and employees and investors?" kind. BTC has basically zero of that, as evidenced for the fact that there isn't a deliverable version of this contract. I'm not sure a sensible institution would even consider BTC held at exchanges to be real BTC, just a kind of IOU. There may even be regulations preventing them from doing so. So they will probably want to hold the BTC themselves. Or with a clearer, which is likely to think about these things even more conservatively. And 20 minutes (the last figure I heard for how long it takes to execute a bitcoin transaction) is an eternity to an industry that is starting to think in nanoseconds.

runeks 9y ago
> I'm not sure a sensible institution would even consider BTC held at exchanges to be real BTC, just a kind of IOU. Nor should they. BTC held at an exchange is, by any sensible definition, an instantly redeemable promissory note denominated in bitcoins. Several exchanges have defaulted on these types of obligations.
marshray 9y ago
> BTC has basically zero of that, as evidenced for the fact that there isn't a deliverable version of this contract. How can anyone claim Bitcoin is a useful currency if it's less practical to deliver than, say, KC Winter Wheat? > And 20 minutes...is an eternity This is for a futures contract one month out. You would close your position at the same time that you agreed upon the rate for the blockchain transaction. When you sold the BTC you could verify receipt of the USD quickly (fiat FTW), whereas the blockchain propagation time is more of a risk to the BTC buyer.