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> That it's a safeguard (not hedge) against tyrannical money. Then why isn't BTC and other cryptocurrencies skyrocketing right now and seeing widespread adopti

> That it's a safeguard (not hedge) against tyrannical money. Then why isn't BTC and other cryptocurrencies skyrocketing right now and seeing widespread adoption by Russian oligarchs looking to move around their money? After all, if you're on the losing end of it sanctions are "tyrannical money". There's also an argument to be made that it is precisely the tyranny behind fiat currency to ultimately gives it its value. The United States has a vast array of coercive means (from locking you in prison for forgery to trade weapons that can destroy your economy) to ensure that the USD has value. There is never a technical solution to realpolitik. We'll increasingly see this in the coming months with crypto as powerful people will get their piece of the pie from the crypto boom, while most average players will be left with nothing.

rglover 4y ago
> Then why isn't BTC and other cryptocurrencies skyrocketing right now and seeing widespread adoption by Russian oligarchs looking to move around their money? Because people are and have always been foolish and ego/pride driven. > The United States has a vast array of coercive means (from locking you in prison for forgery to trade weapons that can destroy your economy) to ensure that the USD has value. Do you view that as a positive? I sure don't. That's a really depressing reality when you have something like Bitcoin which doesn't necessitate any of that. > We'll increasingly see this in the coming months with crypto as powerful people will get their piece of the pie from the crypto boom, while most average players will be left with nothing. "Crypto" isn't Bitcoin. The conflation of the two is, in part, why the market fluctuates as violently as it does.
- nradov 4y ago
  Maintaining the value of fiat currency through a state monopoly on violence is absolutely a positive. It works out better overall than anything else we've ever tried, including cryptocurrency.
  - rglover 4y ago
    If by "working out better" you mean obliterating the value of it and effectively enslaving your own citizenry because your greed incentivizes you to do so, then sure.

rglover 4y ago

> Then why isn't BTC and other cryptocurrencies skyrocketing right now and seeing widespread adoption by Russian oligarchs looking to move around their money? Because people are and have always been foolish and ego/pride driven. > The United States has a vast array of coercive means (from locking you in prison for forgery to trade weapons that can destroy your economy) to ensure that the USD has value. Do you view that as a positive? I sure don't. That's a really depressing reality when you have something like Bitcoin which doesn't necessitate any of that. > We'll increasingly see this in the coming months with crypto as powerful people will get their piece of the pie from the crypto boom, while most average players will be left with nothing. "Crypto" isn't Bitcoin. The conflation of the two is, in part, why the market fluctuates as violently as it does.

nradov 4y ago
Maintaining the value of fiat currency through a state monopoly on violence is absolutely a positive. It works out better overall than anything else we've ever tried, including cryptocurrency.
- rglover 4y ago
  If by "working out better" you mean obliterating the value of it and effectively enslaving your own citizenry because your greed incentivizes you to do so, then sure.