7 ms·

Agreed. The bailout money will go straight into crypto. I predict that people are going to start taking out bank loans at 0% interest to buy crypto. Crypto ass

Agreed. The bailout money will go straight into crypto. I predict that people are going to start taking out bank loans at 0% interest to buy crypto. Crypto assets have a very unusual attribute that they cannot always be recovered in case of bankrupcy because only the owner knows the private key to their wallet and they can claim to have 'lost their keys'. Cryptocurrencies therefore offer a decentralized mechanism to allow people to convert their ever inflating debt-money (which is not even their own money) into money that is their own and in limited supply. Is it unethical? Yes, but we all know what happens when everyone start doing the wrong thing; it becomes OK. That's how fiat money came about; it's also highly unethical (compared to gold-backed currency), but when all the banks started loaning money backed by gold which they didn't actually have, it became OK too. Our financial system's incentives which reward reckless behavior are going to be its own demise.

MadSudaca 7y ago
Ironically, if cryptocurrency succeeds, it will only help to put another nail in the marxist coffin.
- cryptica 7y ago
  I think you may be right. What we would get after with cryptocurrencies might be some kind of unregulated anarcho-capitalism. According to Marx, the absence of regulations should clear the path for capitalism's self-destruction. So I don't know if this would mark the end of Marxism or be a catalyst for its revival. But it probably won't be a smooth transition. But who knows, maybe anarcho-capitalism will work if the communities are small enough.
  - MadSudaca 7y ago
    How can you have Marxism without control of capital and/or means of production?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
Nursie 7y ago
I also predict some utter idiots will indeed take out low interest loans and stake them in the heavily manipulated, volatile casino that is the cryptocurrency market. Then they will find themselves with a pile of debt and no way to pay it off, just as many have before when 'investing' in hokey schemes and outright scams.
- cryptica 7y ago
  But think about it. What does bankrupcy actually mean if all of the bankrupt person's assets are in crypto and only they know the private key? The bank/creditors cannot recover these assets. So by that definition, is the person actually bankrupt if they still control all of these crypto assets? One could argue that crypto makes reckless individuals bankruptcy-proof.
  - cesarb 7y ago
    > What does bankrupcy actually mean if all of the bankrupt person's assets are in crypto and only they know the private key? The bank cannot recover these assets. There are two cases: either the person declares these assets, or the person tries to hide these assets. If these assets are declared, they must be sold to pay as much as possible of the debts, or the debts won't be forgiven. If the person tries to hide these assets, the consequences are much worse; a quick web search tells me the debts won't be forgiven (or the forgiveness will be revoked after the fact), these debts cannot be forgiven later on another bankruptcy, and the person can even be arrested and/or pay a heavy fine (source: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/bankruptcy/hiding-assets-property-bankruptcy.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/bankruptcy/hiding-as...).
    - cryptica 7y ago
      They can probably leave their home country and go to some country like Russia or China (or they could probably do the reverse and come to the US if their creditors are in China) and take their crypto with them. Even in the absolute worst case, some countries won't extradite to others. Even the UK willingly accepts money from rich Russians. A lot of properties in London were bought with dirty Russian money; Russia can't get it back.

MadSudaca 7y ago

Ironically, if cryptocurrency succeeds, it will only help to put another nail in the marxist coffin.

cryptica 7y ago
I think you may be right. What we would get after with cryptocurrencies might be some kind of unregulated anarcho-capitalism. According to Marx, the absence of regulations should clear the path for capitalism's self-destruction. So I don't know if this would mark the end of Marxism or be a catalyst for its revival. But it probably won't be a smooth transition. But who knows, maybe anarcho-capitalism will work if the communities are small enough.
- MadSudaca 7y ago
  How can you have Marxism without control of capital and/or means of production?
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

Nursie 7y ago

I also predict some utter idiots will indeed take out low interest loans and stake them in the heavily manipulated, volatile casino that is the cryptocurrency market. Then they will find themselves with a pile of debt and no way to pay it off, just as many have before when 'investing' in hokey schemes and outright scams.

cryptica 7y ago
But think about it. What does bankrupcy actually mean if all of the bankrupt person's assets are in crypto and only they know the private key? The bank/creditors cannot recover these assets. So by that definition, is the person actually bankrupt if they still control all of these crypto assets? One could argue that crypto makes reckless individuals bankruptcy-proof.
- cesarb 7y ago
  > What does bankrupcy actually mean if all of the bankrupt person's assets are in crypto and only they know the private key? The bank cannot recover these assets. There are two cases: either the person declares these assets, or the person tries to hide these assets. If these assets are declared, they must be sold to pay as much as possible of the debts, or the debts won't be forgiven. If the person tries to hide these assets, the consequences are much worse; a quick web search tells me the debts won't be forgiven (or the forgiveness will be revoked after the fact), these debts cannot be forgiven later on another bankruptcy, and the person can even be arrested and/or pay a heavy fine (source: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/bankruptcy/hiding-assets-property-bankruptcy.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/bankruptcy/hiding-as...).
  - cryptica 7y ago
    They can probably leave their home country and go to some country like Russia or China (or they could probably do the reverse and come to the US if their creditors are in China) and take their crypto with them. Even in the absolute worst case, some countries won't extradite to others. Even the UK willingly accepts money from rich Russians. A lot of properties in London were bought with dirty Russian money; Russia can't get it back.