5 ms·

You're moving the goalposts. Are we comparing BTC to currency or investments? People invest in things, generally understanding the risk. Risk is not all equal.

You're moving the goalposts. Are we comparing BTC to currency or investments? People invest in things, generally understanding the risk. Risk is not all equal. BTC is far riskier (more volatile) than virtually all publicly traded stocks or commodities. See again the very recent 85% drop in 1 year. And let's be clear: BTC is not comparable to a stock. Company stock is valuable because it gives you ownership (and therefore a stake in) the company's profits. Gold is a much more reasonable comparison, but even that has real practical value (e.g., use in electronics, jewelry, dental work, etc.) And funny enough, Gold is worth less today than it was in 1979. So... it's not a great investment. It's just volatile, and "investment" in it is basically a 0-sum game. Just like Bitcoin.

kragen 7y ago
> Gold is worth less today than it was in 1979. In 1979 the price range of gold was $226 to $512 per troy ounce, a slightly higher level of volatility than the Bitcoin level you describe with a bit of exaggeration as "far riskier than virtually all…commodities." The gold price today is $1485 per troy ounce. I'd like to caution the people who have downvoted your other comment that there is a plausible reading that is sufficiently charitable to make your new comment not actually false. Namely, although if you measure it in dollars, it's "worth" 3 to 6 times more, even over the timespan you cherry-picked, the dollar has lost more than a factor of 6 since 1979, so gold really is worth less today than it was then. The attraction of gold — just as with Bitcoin — is precisely that it doesn't have a secular decline in value built in, so it's a good vehicle for preserving wealth through periods of instability, even though it doesn't generate a return in the way that stocks and bonds do.

5 ms·

You're moving the goalposts. Are we comparing BTC to currency or investments? People invest in things, generally understanding the risk. Risk is not all equal.

by the_gastropod 7y ago

kragen 7y ago
> Gold is worth less today than it was in 1979. In 1979 the price range of gold was $226 to $512 per troy ounce, a slightly higher level of volatility than the Bitcoin level you describe with a bit of exaggeration as "far riskier than virtually all…commodities." The gold price today is $1485 per troy ounce. I'd like to caution the people who have downvoted your other comment that there is a plausible reading that is sufficiently charitable to make your new comment not actually false. Namely, although if you measure it in dollars, it's "worth" 3 to 6 times more, even over the timespan you cherry-picked, the dollar has lost more than a factor of 6 since 1979, so gold really is worth less today than it was then. The attraction of gold — just as with Bitcoin — is precisely that it doesn't have a secular decline in value built in, so it's a good vehicle for preserving wealth through periods of instability, even though it doesn't generate a return in the way that stocks and bonds do.