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How many products and services are bought every day with conventional monetary systems? How many products and services are bought every day with Bitcoin? I su

How many products and services are bought every day with conventional monetary systems? How many products and services are bought every day with Bitcoin? I suspect BTC will have as much impact on conventional currencies as a fly landing on an aircraft carrier.

Taek 6y ago
Bitcoin also spends about as much money as a fly landing on an aircraft carrier. Sorry Argentina, but you just don't use that much electricity in the context of the global economy. Companies like Tesla are buying Bitcoin, not because they intend to transact with Bitcoin but because it gives them protection against inflation within the US economy, and it gives them a stash of money that cannot be forcibly shut down, allowing them to do business even in jurisdictions that don't want them there. If you are looking at just the "products and services" you are missing the forest for the trees.
- nmfisher 6y ago
  There’s so many things wrong with this comment. Until people start accepting bitcoin for bread, rent and salaries, Tesla most certainly does not have a “stash of money that cannot be forcibly shut down”. It has something that might be able to be exchanged into a local currency to buy those things. What’s more, that stash of bitcoin most certainly could be forcibly shut down at the stroke of a pen. Tesla is a public US company listed on a US stock exchange. If the USA decided tomorrow to criminalise BTC, Tesla would be left with a huge 1.5bn hole in its accounts and a huge number of very pissed off investors. Moreover, if Elbonia doesn’t want Tesla there, how in the hell are Tesla cars going to arrive at ports? How are they going to be registered? How are Tesla going to deploy charging infrastructure? BTC has exactly squat to offer in terms of dealing with jurisdictions that don’t want them there. BTC isn’t some magic wand that lets you operate in a fairy dimension where none of the rules of reality apply.
  - Taek 6y ago
    Just because Tesla doesn't have the ability to sell cars in Elbonia doesn't mean they don't have some form of commerce requirement with Elbonia. Maybe they are paying devs to work on the UI, or paying a computing company to run simulations. Bitcoin is already accepted by many for rent and salaries. Bread is not likely to ever happen because transactions are too inefficient, but that doesn't mean you can't viable have an economy based on larger exchanges.
computerlab 6y ago
I often wonder if the release of Zelle around 2017 (near instant, fee-free transactions between personal and business bank accounts between certain US banks) was motivated by a perceived crypto threat.
- nmfisher 6y ago
  I mean, that’s been pretty standard in every country I’ve dealt with outside the USA for a long long time. If anything, I’d say that’s more a reflection of the poor state of the USA banking sector than its currency.
- zht 6y ago
  vs the rise of Venmo and Square Cash?

Taek 6y ago

Bitcoin also spends about as much money as a fly landing on an aircraft carrier. Sorry Argentina, but you just don't use that much electricity in the context of the global economy. Companies like Tesla are buying Bitcoin, not because they intend to transact with Bitcoin but because it gives them protection against inflation within the US economy, and it gives them a stash of money that cannot be forcibly shut down, allowing them to do business even in jurisdictions that don't want them there. If you are looking at just the "products and services" you are missing the forest for the trees.

nmfisher 6y ago
There’s so many things wrong with this comment. Until people start accepting bitcoin for bread, rent and salaries, Tesla most certainly does not have a “stash of money that cannot be forcibly shut down”. It has something that might be able to be exchanged into a local currency to buy those things. What’s more, that stash of bitcoin most certainly could be forcibly shut down at the stroke of a pen. Tesla is a public US company listed on a US stock exchange. If the USA decided tomorrow to criminalise BTC, Tesla would be left with a huge 1.5bn hole in its accounts and a huge number of very pissed off investors. Moreover, if Elbonia doesn’t want Tesla there, how in the hell are Tesla cars going to arrive at ports? How are they going to be registered? How are Tesla going to deploy charging infrastructure? BTC has exactly squat to offer in terms of dealing with jurisdictions that don’t want them there. BTC isn’t some magic wand that lets you operate in a fairy dimension where none of the rules of reality apply.
- Taek 6y ago
  Just because Tesla doesn't have the ability to sell cars in Elbonia doesn't mean they don't have some form of commerce requirement with Elbonia. Maybe they are paying devs to work on the UI, or paying a computing company to run simulations. Bitcoin is already accepted by many for rent and salaries. Bread is not likely to ever happen because transactions are too inefficient, but that doesn't mean you can't viable have an economy based on larger exchanges.

computerlab 6y ago

I often wonder if the release of Zelle around 2017 (near instant, fee-free transactions between personal and business bank accounts between certain US banks) was motivated by a perceived crypto threat.

nmfisher 6y ago
I mean, that’s been pretty standard in every country I’ve dealt with outside the USA for a long long time. If anything, I’d say that’s more a reflection of the poor state of the USA banking sector than its currency.
zht 6y ago
vs the rise of Venmo and Square Cash?