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Yes. In my opinion the diversified international market is being propped up by coordinated actions by the worlds central banks. These markets lost more than 5
by etr-strike 9y ago
Yes. In my opinion the diversified international market is being propped up by coordinated actions by the worlds central banks. These markets lost more than 50% of their value in 2008. Central banks are keeping them afloat at the expense of people trying to simply save their money and not take on debt.
Janet Yellen recently expressed concern regarding the amount of debt in the economy. Apparently giving out loans at rates less than inflation causes a lot of malinvestment.
Those I know investing in Bitcoin do so because it's the only asset that exists outside the system we have today. It's the escape hatch. The volatility of course concerns us, but we believe in the fundamental ideology and in the long term believe it'll change the world. The monetary policy we have today is, quite frankly, insane.
- TimJYoung 9y agoPeople that purchase Bitcoin are not investing, they're gambling. It's unfortunate that this lesson wasn't learned from the very recent 2008 meltdown when many did the exact same thing with real estate. But, as you say, there's going to be a lot of mal-investment with so much cheap money floating around...
- etr-strike 9y agoI purchased Bitcoin to escape what I believe is a financial system based on fraud. Who are you to say what my motivations are for purchasing Bitcoin? Who are you to speak for everyone else deciding to purchase Bitcoin? It takes quite an ego to presume everyone buying hasn't researched what they're buying and are just mindless sheep hoping for a payday.
- TimJYoung 9y agoI didn't claim to know your motivations. You could be entirely earnest in your motivations, but that doesn't change the facts on the ground: your "escape" is up to its elbows in the same fraudulent financial system that you decry. It's cheap money looking for easy returns that is fueling Bitcoin's rise.
- etr-strike 9y ago"Cheap money" implies people are taking on debt to buy bitcoin. I see no evidence of this. Real estate, on the other hand...
- TimJYoung 9y agoSo your position is that the world is awash in cheap money but Bitcoin, with its stratospheric rise, is the one thing that isn't a beneficiary of this cheap money ?
- etr-strike 9y agoDebt is given for student loans, and education has never been more expensive. Cheap debt is given for housing with a mere 10% down becoming quite common, and housing has never been more expensive. Debt is being used by companies to buy back stocks, and stocks have never been more expensive. Loans are being given at 0% interest to buy cars, and cars have never been more expensive. Banks only loan money for the above things because they are backed by, in the banks opinion, collateral. Which banks are loaning money to buy bitcoin? My position is the amount of debt being used to purchase bitcoin is very small relative to the rest of the economy.
- TimJYoung 9y agoThe effect of cheap money on Bitcoin is a second-order effect whereby people have access to money they wouldn't otherwise have, due to additional debt. It's similar to the effect witnessed during the run-up to the 2008 meltdown where people were refinancing their homes and cashing out (on-paper) equity to use for propping up their lifestyle or buying more real estate. The point is that it is impossible to separate Bitcoin and it's fate from the greater economy. Cheap money fuels bubbles. Last time it was real estate, this time it looks like Bitcoin.
- etr-strike 9y agoSounds like you're arguing for another global financial crisis that isn't limited to cryptocurrencies.