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> BTC is supposed to be a "value store" yet is down 30% from November It certainly would be hard to argue against the fact that gold and silver are stores of v

> BTC is supposed to be a "value store" yet is down 30% from November It certainly would be hard to argue against the fact that gold and silver are stores of value. (Even if you don't invest in them, it's pretty clear that the vast majority of market demand for precious metals comes from store of value.) Yet silver is currently 55% off its peak, just a few years ago gold was 40% off its peak. Store of value doesn't imply that an asset can never decline in price. It implies that an asset is likely to hold its value when other assets in your portfolio are down significantly, or even worse when other assets are seized or destroyed. > It's supposed to be a "currency" but you can't use it as one The dollar is a currency, but the majority of dollar owners live in foreign countries where you can't pay for things in dollars. > "decentralized" but mining is monopolized by a handful of mining pools The concentration of miners is essentially irrelevant at current levels to decentralization. From a user's perspective decentralization matters because of the possibility of censorship. Bank of America can freeze my account. To censor a transaction in the Bitcoin network for more than 1 day would require controlling 99% of the hash power in the network. Consequently a Bitcoin transaction has never been censored in the history of the network.

dvt 5y ago
> It certainly would be hard to argue against the fact that gold and silver are stores of value. I don't think gold and silver are stores of value, but (certain) Rolexes and Ferraris are. And so is real estate. > The dollar is a currency, but the majority of dollar owners live in foreign countries where you can't pay for things in dollars. Not sure if you've done much traveling, but the USD is basically usable everywhere. > Bank of America can freeze my account. I think this is a solution looking for a problem. It's extremely rare that a bank will freeze an account for non-legitimate reasons. But I mean, sure, you're technically correct: there's a non-zero probability BofA will freeze your account.
- lowkey 5y ago
  > I think this is a solution looking for a problem. It's extremely rare that a bank will freeze an account for non-legitimate reasons. But I mean, sure, you're technically correct: there's a non-zero probability BofA will freeze your account. It’s lucky I guess that you don’t hold any unpopular political views. Let’s hope for your sake it stays that way. If you for example wanted to donate to Wikileaks or Julian Assange’s defense or the Canadian Truckers - the banks would very likely want to censor those transactions. Or imagine you held political views that called into question the validity of the big banks or you if you wanted to get in the business of sex toys or some other ‘immoral’ industry, suddenly censorship resistance matters quite a bit. Just because Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant properties haven’t benefited you personally yet, doesn’t mean they don’t offer the world value by means of freedom to engage in commerce - even if the bankers would prefer you didn’t.
thanhhaimai 5y ago
Why is it hard to argue gold and silver aren't a good store of value? I've never considered them a good store of value, and I don't think I know anyone in my circle that hold silver/gold as a store of value. If one really wants to avoid investing in equities and estates, T notes are much less volatile and a better store of value than gold/silver.
- camjw 5y ago
  T notes don't store value wrt inflation, which is what precious metals are supposed to hedge against. Earlier chat about metals holding value when equities/bonds are selling off is misleading, imo.

dvt 5y ago

> It certainly would be hard to argue against the fact that gold and silver are stores of value. I don't think gold and silver are stores of value, but (certain) Rolexes and Ferraris are. And so is real estate. > The dollar is a currency, but the majority of dollar owners live in foreign countries where you can't pay for things in dollars. Not sure if you've done much traveling, but the USD is basically usable everywhere. > Bank of America can freeze my account. I think this is a solution looking for a problem. It's extremely rare that a bank will freeze an account for non-legitimate reasons. But I mean, sure, you're technically correct: there's a non-zero probability BofA will freeze your account.

lowkey 5y ago
> I think this is a solution looking for a problem. It's extremely rare that a bank will freeze an account for non-legitimate reasons. But I mean, sure, you're technically correct: there's a non-zero probability BofA will freeze your account. It’s lucky I guess that you don’t hold any unpopular political views. Let’s hope for your sake it stays that way. If you for example wanted to donate to Wikileaks or Julian Assange’s defense or the Canadian Truckers - the banks would very likely want to censor those transactions. Or imagine you held political views that called into question the validity of the big banks or you if you wanted to get in the business of sex toys or some other ‘immoral’ industry, suddenly censorship resistance matters quite a bit. Just because Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant properties haven’t benefited you personally yet, doesn’t mean they don’t offer the world value by means of freedom to engage in commerce - even if the bankers would prefer you didn’t.

thanhhaimai 5y ago

Why is it hard to argue gold and silver aren't a good store of value? I've never considered them a good store of value, and I don't think I know anyone in my circle that hold silver/gold as a store of value. If one really wants to avoid investing in equities and estates, T notes are much less volatile and a better store of value than gold/silver.

camjw 5y ago
T notes don't store value wrt inflation, which is what precious metals are supposed to hedge against. Earlier chat about metals holding value when equities/bonds are selling off is misleading, imo.