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But using the word scarcity seems to try and piggyback on what we all know scarce goods are. Goods become scarce because of excess demand or difficulty with pro

But using the word scarcity seems to try and piggyback on what we all know scarce goods are. Goods become scarce because of excess demand or difficulty with production. A real finite thing. what is scarce about tokens? the hash? why are they desired, for speculative investing?

throw_nbvc1234 4y ago
"Excess demand" can be a 1st or 2nd order effect. If you artificially limit supply then a consistent amount of demand will suddenly become excessive.
jsmith45 4y ago
No, think scarcity in the "artificial scarcity" sense where only 1000 copies of a certain handbag were made so they can market it as "limited edition" and demand a higher price than if they were making as many as they could.
- seibelj 4y ago
  Yes - Ferrari could make far more cars than they do. But new cars are limited edition and sold only to prior owners of Ferraris. This is a marketing strategy that keeps them artificially exclusive cars.
  - hdlothia 4y ago
    The problem is web3 hasn't yet come up with an experience as cool as owning and driving a ferrari and it's much easier to recreate/knockoff an nft than it is to make a facsimile ferrari
ravivyas 4y ago
Scarcity is desired to increase perceived value.
- seibelj 4y ago
  I would pay a lot of money for a Crypto Punk, the very first NFT collection. The floor price is about $50,000 currently. I would pay around $10k, but maybe in the future I’d be willing to pay more. Owning a Punk is a status symbol in crypto. I know many wealthy crypto people who have them. It’s like an expensive watch or classic car - I want it because of what it signals to the community I’m part of. But at $50k… a bit too expensive for me at this moment. However I know people who have paid hundreds of thousands for them.
  - randomhodler84 4y ago
    Why would you want to tag your addrs like this. I just don’t get NFT as a conspicuous consumption device. What happens to someone who lights a flare in the dark forest?
  - rgbrgb 4y ago
    > I want it because of what it signals to the community I’m part of Curious, what does it signal?
    - seibelj 4y ago
      That you are a hardcore cryptocurrency enthusiast
ppqqrr 4y ago
And yet, our current medium of exchange relies on artificial scarcity as well, controlled by central banks. This is where your average crypto proponent will follow up with their spiel on the benefits of decentralization, but I personally believe decentralization is a distraction, or at best only relevant for those in charge of the supply of the currency. On the demand side, what cryptocurrencies really bring to the table is an alternative, asymmetrical channel for currency and values to move through; and in a capitalist system that naturally skews towards inequality, the more money changes hands, the more likely it is that the next hand to take it will be that of the rich. So as far as the rich are concerned, the incentives to bootstrap the crypto economy and keep it funded well enough to slowly suck up conventional economic activity is already there.
- seibelj 4y ago
  You and I have fundamentally different world views. I don’t see an increase of commerce = more inequality. I see it as more services and goods being provided and more needs being met. I like when commerce happens. It means people are voluntarily exchanging useful things and mutually benefiting.
  - ppqqrr 4y ago
    Despite my cynical tone, I don’t see inequality as a primary outcome of commerce, either; I do see the increased exchange of goods that the crypto economy brings as a general positive. But it’s almost always been the case that the more commerce happens, the more extreme the gap between the rich and the poor becomes; arguably it’s not always a bad thing, as long as everyone’s getting a piece of the pie. I’m just speculating on why there’s big money rolling into crypto, and there will continue to be.
    - selimthegrim 4y ago
      I question your assumption about the velocity of money belonging to rich people. Barring flash trading, if they’re not hoarding it and collecting interest, they’re spending it on real goods or investing? Isn’t that more along the lines of what seibelj said? Aren’t the rich mode likely to sit and let it collect interest?

throw_nbvc1234 4y ago

"Excess demand" can be a 1st or 2nd order effect. If you artificially limit supply then a consistent amount of demand will suddenly become excessive.

jsmith45 4y ago

No, think scarcity in the "artificial scarcity" sense where only 1000 copies of a certain handbag were made so they can market it as "limited edition" and demand a higher price than if they were making as many as they could.

seibelj 4y ago
Yes - Ferrari could make far more cars than they do. But new cars are limited edition and sold only to prior owners of Ferraris. This is a marketing strategy that keeps them artificially exclusive cars.
- hdlothia 4y ago
  The problem is web3 hasn't yet come up with an experience as cool as owning and driving a ferrari and it's much easier to recreate/knockoff an nft than it is to make a facsimile ferrari

ravivyas 4y ago

Scarcity is desired to increase perceived value.

seibelj 4y ago
I would pay a lot of money for a Crypto Punk, the very first NFT collection. The floor price is about $50,000 currently. I would pay around $10k, but maybe in the future I’d be willing to pay more. Owning a Punk is a status symbol in crypto. I know many wealthy crypto people who have them. It’s like an expensive watch or classic car - I want it because of what it signals to the community I’m part of. But at $50k… a bit too expensive for me at this moment. However I know people who have paid hundreds of thousands for them.
- randomhodler84 4y ago
  Why would you want to tag your addrs like this. I just don’t get NFT as a conspicuous consumption device. What happens to someone who lights a flare in the dark forest?
- rgbrgb 4y ago
  > I want it because of what it signals to the community I’m part of Curious, what does it signal?
  - seibelj 4y ago
    That you are a hardcore cryptocurrency enthusiast

ppqqrr 4y ago

And yet, our current medium of exchange relies on artificial scarcity as well, controlled by central banks. This is where your average crypto proponent will follow up with their spiel on the benefits of decentralization, but I personally believe decentralization is a distraction, or at best only relevant for those in charge of the supply of the currency. On the demand side, what cryptocurrencies really bring to the table is an alternative, asymmetrical channel for currency and values to move through; and in a capitalist system that naturally skews towards inequality, the more money changes hands, the more likely it is that the next hand to take it will be that of the rich. So as far as the rich are concerned, the incentives to bootstrap the crypto economy and keep it funded well enough to slowly suck up conventional economic activity is already there.

seibelj 4y ago
You and I have fundamentally different world views. I don’t see an increase of commerce = more inequality. I see it as more services and goods being provided and more needs being met. I like when commerce happens. It means people are voluntarily exchanging useful things and mutually benefiting.
- ppqqrr 4y ago
  Despite my cynical tone, I don’t see inequality as a primary outcome of commerce, either; I do see the increased exchange of goods that the crypto economy brings as a general positive. But it’s almost always been the case that the more commerce happens, the more extreme the gap between the rich and the poor becomes; arguably it’s not always a bad thing, as long as everyone’s getting a piece of the pie. I’m just speculating on why there’s big money rolling into crypto, and there will continue to be.
  - selimthegrim 4y ago
    I question your assumption about the velocity of money belonging to rich people. Barring flash trading, if they’re not hoarding it and collecting interest, they’re spending it on real goods or investing? Isn’t that more along the lines of what seibelj said? Aren’t the rich mode likely to sit and let it collect interest?