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Bitcoin gets its value from its anti-authoritarianism.

• hakfoo 6y ago
  It's interesting to look at cryptocurrency on a philosophical level-- what does money mean in an era when it's no longer just abstractions that eventually reference a hoard of gold coins somewhere. The "you need it in order to pay taxes" is a solid argument. In a way, the inverse also holds true: cryptocurrency's volatility problems are in part because there are no real-world anchors to its price, like real-world products priced in it or having to settle an annual tax bill in it. But "value from anti-authoritarianism" is sort of a concerning argument. If its value is based on being compelling to a certain community, it creates some severe shock risks. Say that Bitcoin goes mainstream in a big way-- Wells Fargo starts putting bitcoin kiosks in every branch, McDonalds introduces the 10-satoshi value meal, and every payment processor figures out how to hammer it into a shape ordinary consumers will find palatable. The enthusiasts who bought in for the anti-authoritarian message will probably flee for something else-- Monero, Zcash, Transdnisterian plastic roubles-- and then you lose their interest in trying to guide the platform forward. TBH, I suspect we passed that moment years ago. The primary stakeholders now are speculators-- anyone with mere technical or philosophical vision doesn't have the hash-clout to steer these protocols. So the value is the old joke about the old woman in a strapless dress: what's holding it up? The combined will of everyone in the room!