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In a real currency that thing that happens every once in a while (i.e. massive volatility) has very real impacts on food prices and salaries and is highly undes

In a real currency that thing that happens every once in a while (i.e. massive volatility) has very real impacts on food prices and salaries and is highly undesirable.

jatone 5y ago
fundementally this is due to bitcoin's lack of adoption as an actual currency. the larger the user pool the less it would fluctuate.
- grey-area 5y ago
  Yes, something which doesn’t look like changing as it is a dismal currency.
viraptor 5y ago
Yes, the impact on people, salaries, etc. would be a very interesting topic indeed. I'm very curious if anyone is being paid BTC salary already and if it was adjusted, or is everyone expecting a quick recovery, or is the reliance on BTC is high enough that the crash changes the fiat prices as well. But that's not what the article is about, or I wouldn't criticize it for being shallow.
- grey-area 5y ago
  Some sports personalities in the states have taken their salary in bitcoin and will lose a lot of money as a result of this crash. Not sure what is happening in el salvador with that.
vmception 5y ago
El Salvador uses oracle pricing of goods in USD when paying in BTC. Which solves over half of the equation. The other half, of course, is people that choose to continue holding BTC would have wildly fluctuating purchasing power ether way.
- grey-area 5y ago
  By oracle pricing I assume you mean they actually pay salaries in USD (a reasonably stable currency), then convert to BTC at the last minute in order to try to avoid price fluctuations - this doesn't help any of course if it crashes right after they were paid and they can't pay their rent. What a terrible way to be paid - you get paid and then your salary may drop in price by 10% that day, and you have no idea whether it will happen or not. This is the sort of thing that starts revolutions.
  - emteycz 5y ago
    What a great way to be paid - you get paid and then your salary may rise in price by 100% that day, and you have no idea whether it will happen or not. This is the sort of thing that starts vacations.
    - grey-area 5y ago
      I would be extremely unhappy to be paid in such an unstable currency without any sort of hedging.
      - emteycz 5y ago
        Who's stopping you?
  - vmception 5y ago
    No I wasn’t referring to salaries and no I wasnt referring to just in time asset purchases. Oracle pricing just determines how much bitcoin - already owned - will be sent for a payment at the time of purchase. No more, no less.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - grey-area 5y ago
      Oh I see you mean the pricing of assets is actually in USD, but then they convert to bitcoin at the last minute, in an attempt to avoid the instability of bitcoin (which renders it entirely unsuitable for pricing anything). I like the cute name though - oracle pricing. But this won't help you if you're paid in bitcoin then it crashes, it will make it even worse than if things were priced in bitcoin where at least your spending power for the internal market would not change (even if external goods became more expensive).

In a real currency that thing that happens every once in a while (i.e. massive volatility) has very real impacts on food prices and salaries and is highly undesirable.

jatone 5y ago

fundementally this is due to bitcoin's lack of adoption as an actual currency. the larger the user pool the less it would fluctuate.

grey-area 5y ago
Yes, something which doesn’t look like changing as it is a dismal currency.

viraptor 5y ago

Yes, the impact on people, salaries, etc. would be a very interesting topic indeed. I'm very curious if anyone is being paid BTC salary already and if it was adjusted, or is everyone expecting a quick recovery, or is the reliance on BTC is high enough that the crash changes the fiat prices as well. But that's not what the article is about, or I wouldn't criticize it for being shallow.

grey-area 5y ago
Some sports personalities in the states have taken their salary in bitcoin and will lose a lot of money as a result of this crash. Not sure what is happening in el salvador with that.

vmception 5y ago

El Salvador uses oracle pricing of goods in USD when paying in BTC. Which solves over half of the equation. The other half, of course, is people that choose to continue holding BTC would have wildly fluctuating purchasing power ether way.

grey-area 5y ago
By oracle pricing I assume you mean they actually pay salaries in USD (a reasonably stable currency), then convert to BTC at the last minute in order to try to avoid price fluctuations - this doesn't help any of course if it crashes right after they were paid and they can't pay their rent. What a terrible way to be paid - you get paid and then your salary may drop in price by 10% that day, and you have no idea whether it will happen or not. This is the sort of thing that starts revolutions.
- emteycz 5y ago
  What a great way to be paid - you get paid and then your salary may rise in price by 100% that day, and you have no idea whether it will happen or not. This is the sort of thing that starts vacations.
  - grey-area 5y ago
    I would be extremely unhappy to be paid in such an unstable currency without any sort of hedging.
    - emteycz 5y ago
      Who's stopping you?
- vmception 5y ago
  No I wasn’t referring to salaries and no I wasnt referring to just in time asset purchases. Oracle pricing just determines how much bitcoin - already owned - will be sent for a payment at the time of purchase. No more, no less.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - grey-area 5y ago
    Oh I see you mean the pricing of assets is actually in USD, but then they convert to bitcoin at the last minute, in an attempt to avoid the instability of bitcoin (which renders it entirely unsuitable for pricing anything). I like the cute name though - oracle pricing. But this won't help you if you're paid in bitcoin then it crashes, it will make it even worse than if things were priced in bitcoin where at least your spending power for the internal market would not change (even if external goods became more expensive).