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Tell that to a Zimbawean. EDIT: Seriously. Just because our Western bureaucrats are comparatively honest these days, doesn’t mean how it functions doesn’t matt

by sedeki 7y ago

Tell that to a Zimbawean. EDIT: Seriously. Just because our Western bureaucrats are comparatively honest these days, doesn’t mean how it functions doesn’t matter? Things could change, you know, as history repeats itself.

knocte 7y ago
Or a Venezuelan.
- JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
  Or German Marks when they were worthless after WWI and bundled in huge stacks. I feel like people in “developed” countries think “this couldn’t happen to me” when time has shown us time and time again it certainly can and you will be powerless to the whims of your government. Our original poster feels the same false safety in his or her Euros. They have developed amnesia to the lessons of the recent past. Bitcoin can be a safety valve out in case of those same cyclical disasters. It is freedom from your government’s manipulations of your money. Is it perfect or ultra stable? Absolutely not, but every person, especially the ultra rich, needs it in their portfolio. “The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust.” -Satoshi Nakamoto
  - mrmonkeyman 7y ago
    I need 10 bitcoins to buy some property, how do I procure these? Credit. This contract itself will be traded, etc. And so it begins. I fail to see how "crypto" plays any part in this credit system whatsoever. It's not the actual number that is hard to trace to its origin, it is the system itself, which can be easily recreated with crypto - to hammer the point home. Edit: Now I think of it. It will in fact be easier to create an immensely complex system out of crypto. It is inheritantly better suited for ridiculously complex digital ruth goldberg type shenanigans. Especially with the smart contracts.
  - Guthur 7y ago
    I doubt the ultra rich are keeping significant portions of their wealth in money markets.
  - umanwizard 7y ago
    This is a good reason to buy physical gold and bury it somewhere. I'm not convinced it's a good reason to buy Bitcoin.
    - sedeki 7y ago
      Because gold is less risky due to its traditional status as money? Just curious.
      - umanwizard 7y ago
        Yes. If gold ever completely loses value we are probably living in such a total collapse of civilization that all bets are off. Whereas I can easily imagine a scenario where the Bitcoin fad fizzles out and everyone's coins deflate massively in value.
  - weego 7y ago
    So we've been ravaged by ww3 and our money is useless. How exactly do I still have Internet access and who is running all this infrastructure to allow me to trade crypto with someone? And why are cryptocurrencies, which are also a limited resource that can't be diluted, immune to inflation?
    - sedeki 7y ago
      I am pretty sure deflation is the big concern with limited supply, not inflation. For exactly the reason that the supply is limited... There are issues of Bitcoin one could argue about - but inflation is not one of them. Give us a concrete scenario.
      - ivalm 7y ago
        While deflation is a concern for the economy as a whole people who hold money generally like deflation. A lot of why people bought cryptos is in hopes of massive deflation (egbitcoin price going up). Also, the promise of cryptos is essentially deflationary since productivity (and total world wealth) goes up while e.g. bitcoin total supply is constant.
        sedeki 7y ago
        Deflation means that aggregate prices go down over time. I am not sure what it means that, as you said, people bought cryptos in the hopes that the dollar prices of bitcoins would ”””deflate”””. But sure, prices go up when demand go up - is this unusual? (Sorry if I came across as arrogant.) On whether deflation is bad for the economy. The standard example of this is the Great Depression, where massive amounts of credit was created and later people opted out of USD and wanted gold. There were bank-runs, as I’m sure you know. Thus FDR ”banned” gold (he even forced people to return gold or risk confiscation and jail time). Of course dollar prices go down then, i.e. deflation. I don’t see this as an argument that deflation is bad. Or do you have another example or perhaps can correct me?
        ivalm 7y ago

by sedeki 7y ago

knocte 7y ago

Or a Venezuelan.

JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
Or German Marks when they were worthless after WWI and bundled in huge stacks. I feel like people in “developed” countries think “this couldn’t happen to me” when time has shown us time and time again it certainly can and you will be powerless to the whims of your government. Our original poster feels the same false safety in his or her Euros. They have developed amnesia to the lessons of the recent past. Bitcoin can be a safety valve out in case of those same cyclical disasters. It is freedom from your government’s manipulations of your money. Is it perfect or ultra stable? Absolutely not, but every person, especially the ultra rich, needs it in their portfolio. “The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust.” -Satoshi Nakamoto
- mrmonkeyman 7y ago
  I need 10 bitcoins to buy some property, how do I procure these? Credit. This contract itself will be traded, etc. And so it begins. I fail to see how "crypto" plays any part in this credit system whatsoever. It's not the actual number that is hard to trace to its origin, it is the system itself, which can be easily recreated with crypto - to hammer the point home. Edit: Now I think of it. It will in fact be easier to create an immensely complex system out of crypto. It is inheritantly better suited for ridiculously complex digital ruth goldberg type shenanigans. Especially with the smart contracts.
- Guthur 7y ago
  I doubt the ultra rich are keeping significant portions of their wealth in money markets.
- umanwizard 7y ago
  This is a good reason to buy physical gold and bury it somewhere. I'm not convinced it's a good reason to buy Bitcoin.
  - sedeki 7y ago
    Because gold is less risky due to its traditional status as money? Just curious.
    - umanwizard 7y ago
      Yes. If gold ever completely loses value we are probably living in such a total collapse of civilization that all bets are off. Whereas I can easily imagine a scenario where the Bitcoin fad fizzles out and everyone's coins deflate massively in value.
- weego 7y ago
  So we've been ravaged by ww3 and our money is useless. How exactly do I still have Internet access and who is running all this infrastructure to allow me to trade crypto with someone? And why are cryptocurrencies, which are also a limited resource that can't be diluted, immune to inflation?
  - sedeki 7y ago
    I am pretty sure deflation is the big concern with limited supply, not inflation. For exactly the reason that the supply is limited... There are issues of Bitcoin one could argue about - but inflation is not one of them. Give us a concrete scenario.
    - ivalm 7y ago
      While deflation is a concern for the economy as a whole people who hold money generally like deflation. A lot of why people bought cryptos is in hopes of massive deflation (egbitcoin price going up). Also, the promise of cryptos is essentially deflationary since productivity (and total world wealth) goes up while e.g. bitcoin total supply is constant.
      - sedeki 7y ago
        Deflation means that aggregate prices go down over time. I am not sure what it means that, as you said, people bought cryptos in the hopes that the dollar prices of bitcoins would ”””deflate”””. But sure, prices go up when demand go up - is this unusual? (Sorry if I came across as arrogant.) On whether deflation is bad for the economy. The standard example of this is the Great Depression, where massive amounts of credit was created and later people opted out of USD and wanted gold. There were bank-runs, as I’m sure you know. Thus FDR ”banned” gold (he even forced people to return gold or risk confiscation and jail time). Of course dollar prices go down then, i.e. deflation. I don’t see this as an argument that deflation is bad. Or do you have another example or perhaps can correct me?
        ivalm 7y ago