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>> You're deferring consumption until you have the resources But the point is that everyone is deferring consumption until some time in the future but that per

>> You're deferring consumption until you have the resources But the point is that everyone is deferring consumption until some time in the future but that perfect time when you can cash out all at once never actually happens (note that a blockchain is public so it's not possible to quietly sell your assets without drawing attention and crashing prices; especially for people who own a lot of the asset). Traders can easily front-run you if you attempt any large sale. On the other hand, fiat provides many opportunities for billionaires to cash out and pass the costs onto regular tax payers. The pandemic was a perfect example of that; the reserve banks printed a ton of cash which propped up the markets and allowed billionaires to cash out huge sums without causing any crash. Also, there will always be a new up-and-coming tightly-HODLED coin by a younger generation to compete with yours.

woodruffw 5y ago
> But the point is that everyone is deferring consumption until some time in the future but that perfect time when you can cash out all at once never actually happens (note that a blockchain is public so it's not possible to quietly sell your assets without drawing attention and crashing prices; especially for people who own a lot of the asset). Traders can easily front-run you if you attempt any large sale. I don't understand what this is supposed to be in contrast to. This is precisely how the normal market works: the vast majority of Jeff Bezos's actual wealth is illiquid and impossible to cash out at once, because doing so would be an extremely strong signal to the market that he no longer trusts his investments. This is also fundamentally how retirement (normally) works: Joe Schmo doesn't liquidate all of his retirement accounts the day he turns 65; he draws on them (and potentially incurs taxation) as necessary. Tens of millions of people in the developed world retire every year; the market doesn't crash when they do. To whit: there's nothing new about any of this. If cryptocurrency is an investment and you hold it like any other, then it behaves like any other. The only material differences appears to be the preponderance of scams and unsustainable behavior (cf. permagrowth around the next great coin).

woodruffw 5y ago

> But the point is that everyone is deferring consumption until some time in the future but that perfect time when you can cash out all at once never actually happens (note that a blockchain is public so it's not possible to quietly sell your assets without drawing attention and crashing prices; especially for people who own a lot of the asset). Traders can easily front-run you if you attempt any large sale. I don't understand what this is supposed to be in contrast to. This is precisely how the normal market works: the vast majority of Jeff Bezos's actual wealth is illiquid and impossible to cash out at once, because doing so would be an extremely strong signal to the market that he no longer trusts his investments. This is also fundamentally how retirement (normally) works: Joe Schmo doesn't liquidate all of his retirement accounts the day he turns 65; he draws on them (and potentially incurs taxation) as necessary. Tens of millions of people in the developed world retire every year; the market doesn't crash when they do. To whit: there's nothing new about any of this. If cryptocurrency is an investment and you hold it like any other, then it behaves like any other. The only material differences appears to be the preponderance of scams and unsustainable behavior (cf. permagrowth around the next great coin).