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Bitcoin’s rise reflects America’s decline

30 points by samizdis 6y ago

samizdis 6y ago
Archived (no paywall): https://archive.is/TbKlX https://archive.is/TbKlX
hahahahe 6y ago
This is a very poorly written article and very much reflects the general decline in FT’s quality. Bitcoin is popular across the globe. Fiscal and monetary policies have been accommodative for several years across the globe not just the US. People are not bidding up bitcoin because they fear inflation. They’re being bid up in speculation. Very different.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
yamrzou 6y ago
In my opinion, the rise of Bitcoin reflects a more general phenomenum: the decline of authority. Somehow, the widespread exchange of ideas and information enabled by the Internet is making people question authorities which were previousely accepted without question: moral, scientific, and (here) financial authority.
- 7373737373 6y ago
  So far in human history, most authority was ultimately based on violence. Policing in the real world requires violence (not necessarily of the physical kind). Policing by a violence monopoly is the basis for governance and for the enforcement of rights and obligations like property laws or contracts and the punishment of transgressions. It seems to me that digital decentralization cannot solve this, but only cause further fragmentation (as explored in science fiction books like Freedom™ or Snow Crash). The world is already multipolar, does it need to be more fragmented? Rights, justice and other concepts are of course just abstractions, but will the world be a better one where the lines between actors are even more blurred? With clear hierarchies, planning becomes much easier. Are governance and other complex processes like public research and development even possible without some centralized financial and political authority?
- boh 6y ago
  I don't know what indicator you can point to that suggests a decline of authority. The internet may give you a sense authority is being "questioned" (a fairly passive form of resistance) but that's been happening since the beginning of human hierarchies. Rest assured, no authority has actually been lost.
pontifier 6y ago
First I thought Bitcoin was dumb. Then I started to understand the tech, and thought it was interesting. Then I saw the price and got greedy. Then I started seeing how it's a Haven for abuse and scams. Now I think it's dumb again.
kgin 6y ago
If bitcoin had been designed as a stablecoin, simply as a hedge against inflation with no hope of growth, with zero chance of getting rich, how many of today's holders would have still bought in? I'm guessing it's in the low single digit percentages.
nradov 6y ago
This is silly. Bitcoin's rise reflects Chinese capital controls. Wealthy Chinese want to diversify and move their wealth to countries with less political risk. So they buy mining hardware and electricity with renminbi, generate Bitcoins, and sell those for foreign hard currency.

30 points by samizdis 6y ago

Archived (no paywall): https://archive.is/TbKlX https://archive.is/TbKlX

This is a very poorly written article and very much reflects the general decline in FT’s quality. Bitcoin is popular across the globe. Fiscal and monetary policies have been accommodative for several years across the globe not just the US. People are not bidding up bitcoin because they fear inflation. They’re being bid up in speculation. Very different.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

yamrzou 6y ago

In my opinion, the rise of Bitcoin reflects a more general phenomenum: the decline of authority. Somehow, the widespread exchange of ideas and information enabled by the Internet is making people question authorities which were previousely accepted without question: moral, scientific, and (here) financial authority.

7373737373 6y ago
So far in human history, most authority was ultimately based on violence. Policing in the real world requires violence (not necessarily of the physical kind). Policing by a violence monopoly is the basis for governance and for the enforcement of rights and obligations like property laws or contracts and the punishment of transgressions. It seems to me that digital decentralization cannot solve this, but only cause further fragmentation (as explored in science fiction books like Freedom™ or Snow Crash). The world is already multipolar, does it need to be more fragmented? Rights, justice and other concepts are of course just abstractions, but will the world be a better one where the lines between actors are even more blurred? With clear hierarchies, planning becomes much easier. Are governance and other complex processes like public research and development even possible without some centralized financial and political authority?
boh 6y ago
I don't know what indicator you can point to that suggests a decline of authority. The internet may give you a sense authority is being "questioned" (a fairly passive form of resistance) but that's been happening since the beginning of human hierarchies. Rest assured, no authority has actually been lost.

pontifier 6y ago

First I thought Bitcoin was dumb. Then I started to understand the tech, and thought it was interesting. Then I saw the price and got greedy. Then I started seeing how it's a Haven for abuse and scams. Now I think it's dumb again.

kgin 6y ago

If bitcoin had been designed as a stablecoin, simply as a hedge against inflation with no hope of growth, with zero chance of getting rich, how many of today's holders would have still bought in? I'm guessing it's in the low single digit percentages.

nradov 6y ago

This is silly. Bitcoin's rise reflects Chinese capital controls. Wealthy Chinese want to diversify and move their wealth to countries with less political risk. So they buy mining hardware and electricity with renminbi, generate Bitcoins, and sell those for foreign hard currency.