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> they have no intrinsic value It's funny how much weight is placed on this word "intrinsic", as if we need to penetrate down to some singular identity layer o
by themodelplumber 5y ago
> they have no intrinsic value
It's funny how much weight is placed on this word "intrinsic", as if we need to penetrate down to some singular identity layer of a thing to be comfortable assigning it value as a store of anything.
Exactly what that layer is supposed to look like is always somehow described with gobs of words that easily map onto other things that people have already valued for millenia.
You might as well just ask, "is it popular with some people"? If the answer is yes, it's probably a carrier of human interest to some degree, regardless of whatever snooty value systems may be applied to that, so you can likely buy it low and sell it high with a slightly-educated squint at a moving average chart.
(I noticed that people really like to think they are good at assigning value to things, so perhaps this comes down to some core human fear...certainly the typical concern about future outcomes also applies, in which we learn that people have apparently never heard of contingency planning and calculated risk...both of which may be even more useful than intrinsic-whatever subjectivity)
- pixelbath 5y ago> they have no intrinsic value Nor do paper dollars (or paper rupees). They're special because a group of people said they were, which isn't that different from cryptocurrency in concept.
- cyanydeez 5y agoexcept the groups in cryptocurrency are not connected in any central way and have no stake in the value excepr their own shallo2 self interesr.
- themodelplumber 5y ago> are not connected in any central way and have no stake in the value excepr their own shallo2 self interesr "Describe business owners for us" "Describe humans for us"
- trixie_ 5y agoThe intrinsic value of crypto is that is the first form of electronic cash that isn't a proxy for bank to bank transfers. It's intrinsic value comes from being an excellent form of currency and store of value - easy to store, fast to send, easy to verify, easy to hold personally, difficult to create more of, etc.. Up until Bitcoin there were not digital forms of money that came close. Physical forms of money are hindered by being physical which means transportation and validation are more complicated. It's not easy to find a form of money that has all these properties above, Bitcoin and other crypto currencies do which is WHY they are valuable. That is their intrinsic value - being good at being money.
- chii 5y ago> being good at being money. i would argue that bitcoin isn't good money at the moment, since certainty of value is one property that is very high on the list of requirements, and bitcoin lacks certainty (or stability). It's very good at being a speculative asset - like gold. But not money. Not yet anyway. I'm not saying it can never be good money - that's what people are speculating about!
- trixie_ 5y agoHolding value is also important. Fiat currencies are notoriously bad at holding their value over any long period of time. Bitcoin might not be stable (as a result of not being easily manipulated by the government), but over the long term its value has increased due to scarcity. Many people use both today with Bitcoin debit cards that allow converting to fiat for use with lower level transactions.