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There is no much point in arguing with a cult. This phenomenon will have to work its way through the susceptible demographic, meaning that the large majority of

There is no much point in arguing with a cult. This phenomenon will have to work its way through the susceptible demographic, meaning that the large majority of "speculators" will have transferred their disposable wealth to a minority of shrewd operators. The masses will subsequently be "seasoned", or immunized and will no longer participate, at best disappointed, disgusted and mildly embarrassed, at worst suffering serious financial setbacks. It happened in all previous bubbles, it will happen again. "crypto" could have been literally anything. Its not pretty, it does not reflect well on society that it can be so abusive of its more gullible members. But I guess we didn't need this particular pathology to figure that out.

elif 5y ago
better than the cult of USD. how's that doing this year? or last year? or the year before? or ever? does it even have a THEORETICAL path to value? I'll take my currently existing and computationally reinforced and yes bubbly increase of value.
- belval 5y ago
  If inflation makes the USD worthless, there will be significant social instability and most likely chaos at the GLOBAL level. This is why we can all be part of the cult of USD. If Bitcoin falls to 0$ tomorrow, the vast majority of people would shrug and move on with their lives.
  - elif 5y ago
    It doesnt take USD going to 0 to cause social instability. i'm pretty sure we're already there in 2022. If you take the 7% inflation of 2021 at face value, and apply it to the M1 money supply, the headline of this article (130B lost) played out for USD eleven times in 2021 without recovering.
    - danaris 5y ago
      The issues we're having in 2022 have nearly nothing to do with the value of the USD.
- andybp85 5y ago
  USD is an actual currency, and if everybody HODLs it we wind up in a recession (or worse). This comparison is wildly invalid.
- rocgf 5y ago
  What do you mean a "theoretical path to value"? If I understand you correctly, I think you're implying that everything has to be speculative, like currencies too?
  - elif 5y ago
    No. I'm implying that a currency should make an effort to maintain its value to be considered a currency. The fundamentals of USD are not backed by a trade surplus or by a demand for foreign reserves, as has been the case for the majority of time since the end of the gold standard. In this context, indefinite QE unsupported by economic growth puts USD in an unprecedented position, and is exposed to runaway inflation.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
CryptoPunk 5y ago
I have no idea what future crypto prices will do, but you do realize that smart contracts allow people to bank, from their browser with nothing but a MetaMask extension, without a bank, right? There's heavy dose of speculation present in any emerging market, but crypto, especially its smart contract sector, is not just speculation.
- soared 5y ago
  A digital wallet that can trade isn’t banking though. Can you direct deposit, pay rent, be fdic insured, etc with that solution?
  - tiku 5y ago
    What is banking anyway, in theory it is transferring x to x? Can be done through a digital wallet if both parties agree upon it. You just need a lot of parties to use that same system or easy bridges to send it through the old system.
  - CryptoPunk 5y ago
    Right now, no, but in principle, yes. You can effect transactions. Everything else is just a matter of adoption.
  - immibis 5y ago
    You would be surprised to find out there are literally insurance "companies" operating on the blockchain, which you can lend collateral to, buy shares in, and take out insurance policies from, which aim to reimburse their customers in case of a major system hack for example.
- tomp 5y ago
  Wasn't there an article recently, that basically revealed that "from their browser/device" basically means just using the API to access the blockchain? So you're still using "a bank", just that the bank is the API provider. A bit more modern, but not a game changer.
  - 5y ago
zozin 5y ago
z16a 5y ago

elif 5y ago

better than the cult of USD. how's that doing this year? or last year? or the year before? or ever? does it even have a THEORETICAL path to value? I'll take my currently existing and computationally reinforced and yes bubbly increase of value.

belval 5y ago
If inflation makes the USD worthless, there will be significant social instability and most likely chaos at the GLOBAL level. This is why we can all be part of the cult of USD. If Bitcoin falls to 0$ tomorrow, the vast majority of people would shrug and move on with their lives.
- elif 5y ago
  It doesnt take USD going to 0 to cause social instability. i'm pretty sure we're already there in 2022. If you take the 7% inflation of 2021 at face value, and apply it to the M1 money supply, the headline of this article (130B lost) played out for USD eleven times in 2021 without recovering.
  - danaris 5y ago
    The issues we're having in 2022 have nearly nothing to do with the value of the USD.
andybp85 5y ago
USD is an actual currency, and if everybody HODLs it we wind up in a recession (or worse). This comparison is wildly invalid.
rocgf 5y ago
What do you mean a "theoretical path to value"? If I understand you correctly, I think you're implying that everything has to be speculative, like currencies too?
- elif 5y ago
  No. I'm implying that a currency should make an effort to maintain its value to be considered a currency. The fundamentals of USD are not backed by a trade surplus or by a demand for foreign reserves, as has been the case for the majority of time since the end of the gold standard. In this context, indefinite QE unsupported by economic growth puts USD in an unprecedented position, and is exposed to runaway inflation.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

CryptoPunk 5y ago

I have no idea what future crypto prices will do, but you do realize that smart contracts allow people to bank, from their browser with nothing but a MetaMask extension, without a bank, right? There's heavy dose of speculation present in any emerging market, but crypto, especially its smart contract sector, is not just speculation.

soared 5y ago
A digital wallet that can trade isn’t banking though. Can you direct deposit, pay rent, be fdic insured, etc with that solution?
- tiku 5y ago
  What is banking anyway, in theory it is transferring x to x? Can be done through a digital wallet if both parties agree upon it. You just need a lot of parties to use that same system or easy bridges to send it through the old system.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  Right now, no, but in principle, yes. You can effect transactions. Everything else is just a matter of adoption.
- immibis 5y ago
  You would be surprised to find out there are literally insurance "companies" operating on the blockchain, which you can lend collateral to, buy shares in, and take out insurance policies from, which aim to reimburse their customers in case of a major system hack for example.
tomp 5y ago
Wasn't there an article recently, that basically revealed that "from their browser/device" basically means just using the API to access the blockchain? So you're still using "a bank", just that the bank is the API provider. A bit more modern, but not a game changer.
- 5y ago

zozin 5y ago

z16a 5y ago