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My working assumption is that these digital tokens sell for so much because they are great for estate/inheritance tax evasion. With these digital tokens, you ha

My working assumption is that these digital tokens sell for so much because they are great for estate/inheritance tax evasion. With these digital tokens, you have something that's very liquid, immensely portable, unseizable, and doesn't depreciate like normal cash that you can hand down to your kids. https://newrepublic.com/article/147192/modern-art-serves-rich https://newrepublic.com/article/147192/modern-art-serves-ric...

WheelsAtLarge 6y ago
Art collecting has been a way to bypass taxes and launder money. I read an article where it was used for bribes. A person buys an art piece for 1000 bux and then sells it for 2000. Once the transaction is done no one outside the transaction knows it's a bribe. NFTs will make the process easier.
WalterBright 6y ago
I expect if Elizabeth Warren gets her way in crushing people who have a lot of wealth in stocks, they'll shift their money to collectibles. I.e. instead of investing in productive things like industry, they'll invest in useless things like art objects.
- panarky 6y ago
  Your definition of "useless" is different from mine. What's more useless: a) $2.5m sitting in a bank account, vulnerable to taxation, confiscation, legal judgment, gradual inflation, rapid devaluation and bank insolvency, unlikely to increase much in value, where the only thing you can do with it is trade it for something useful. b) $2.5m invested in something rare, that could increase in value, where you can both trade it for something else you want, or appreciate the object itself and enjoy owning it.
  - WalterBright 6y ago
    Money in a bank account gets loaned out to others who use it productively. Something rare is just that, something rare. It produces nothing.
    - panarky 6y ago
      Production is not the source of all value. And neither is fractional reserve banking.
      - WalterBright 6y ago
        > Production is not the source of all value Yeah, it is.
  - atweiden 6y ago
    > Your definition of "useless" is different from mine. > What's more useless: > a) $2.5m sitting in a bank account, vulnerable to taxation, confiscation, legal judgment, gradual inflation, rapid devaluation and bank insolvency, unlikely to increase much in value, where the only thing you can do with it is trade it for something useful. > b) $2.5m invested in something rare, that could increase in value, where you can both trade it for something else you want, or appreciate the object itself and enjoy owning it. Holding an NFT should be benchmarked against holding BTC. The way you've presented it — as being either USD or NFT — is clearly a false dichotomy.

WheelsAtLarge 6y ago

Art collecting has been a way to bypass taxes and launder money. I read an article where it was used for bribes. A person buys an art piece for 1000 bux and then sells it for 2000. Once the transaction is done no one outside the transaction knows it's a bribe. NFTs will make the process easier.

WalterBright 6y ago

I expect if Elizabeth Warren gets her way in crushing people who have a lot of wealth in stocks, they'll shift their money to collectibles. I.e. instead of investing in productive things like industry, they'll invest in useless things like art objects.

panarky 6y ago
Your definition of "useless" is different from mine. What's more useless: a) $2.5m sitting in a bank account, vulnerable to taxation, confiscation, legal judgment, gradual inflation, rapid devaluation and bank insolvency, unlikely to increase much in value, where the only thing you can do with it is trade it for something useful. b) $2.5m invested in something rare, that could increase in value, where you can both trade it for something else you want, or appreciate the object itself and enjoy owning it.
- WalterBright 6y ago
  Money in a bank account gets loaned out to others who use it productively. Something rare is just that, something rare. It produces nothing.
  - panarky 6y ago
    Production is not the source of all value. And neither is fractional reserve banking.
    - WalterBright 6y ago
      > Production is not the source of all value Yeah, it is.
- atweiden 6y ago
  > Your definition of "useless" is different from mine. > What's more useless: > a) $2.5m sitting in a bank account, vulnerable to taxation, confiscation, legal judgment, gradual inflation, rapid devaluation and bank insolvency, unlikely to increase much in value, where the only thing you can do with it is trade it for something useful. > b) $2.5m invested in something rare, that could increase in value, where you can both trade it for something else you want, or appreciate the object itself and enjoy owning it. Holding an NFT should be benchmarked against holding BTC. The way you've presented it — as being either USD or NFT — is clearly a false dichotomy.