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It’s interesting giving attribution of crime to Bitcoin and not the internet or hackers. The internet has facilitated a staggering amount of crime as well as th

It’s interesting giving attribution of crime to Bitcoin and not the internet or hackers. The internet has facilitated a staggering amount of crime as well as the fiat currencies of the globe. Let’s suppose this 14billion dollar number of Bitcoin crime is right … https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/01/06/crypto-crime-hit-an-all-time-high-of-14b-in-2021-as-prices-climbed-chainalysis/ https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/01/06/crypto-crime-hit-an... Global credit card fraud hit 32billion in 2021 - https://chargebacks911.com/credit-card-fraud-statistics/ https://chargebacks911.com/credit-card-fraud-statistics/ And that’s just credit cards. It’s not wire fraud or other fraud. Why do you focus on the mode of criminality and not the crime or criminals itself? I’ll give you that Bitcoin like ALL the other value transfer mechanisms has some criminals using it but surely you aren’t suggesting Bitcoin is worthless and only provides a mechanism for crime. As for investment risk. Check Netflix stock ytd or for that matter Enron. Or the entire bank crisis of 2008. Is Bitcoin really deserving of this much attention?

kelnos 4y ago
> The internet has facilitated a staggering amount of crime as well as the fiat currencies of the globe. Sure, but both the internet and fiat currencies have facilitated a huge amount of legitimate activities, far, far more than crime. I would assert that the vast majority of users of Bitcoin (>90%) are either speculators or criminals (the vast majority of that majority being speculators, with some small but significant minority being criminals). > Let’s suppose this 14billion dollar number of Bitcoin crime is right [...] Global credit card fraud hit 32billion in 2021 Those numbers are meaningless without comparing them to the total monetary value of transactions pushed through them yearly. I suspect you'll find that, when talking about percent of total, Bitcoin fraud is higher than credit card fraud (and I would suspect that's still true if you consider other kinds of fraud in addition to CC fraud). > surely you aren’t suggesting Bitcoin is worthless and only provides a mechanism for crime. I'm not the person you're replying to, but I would suggest exactly that. The vast majority of Bitcoin use is either speculation or crime. And speculation basically destroys it as a stable store of value, which is something that's essential for a currency. Sure, there are people using it for legitimate purposes, or to get around unjust currency controls perpetrated by their governments. But I'd wager that's a tiny percentage of users, and they do so at great risk, both legally and financially. > As for investment risk. Check Netflix stock ytd or for that matter Enron. Or the entire bank crisis of 2008. Is Bitcoin really deserving of this much attention? Yes, absolutely. Your average person should not be investing in individual stocks. They should have the bulk of their investment assets in index funds, or at most, actively-managed funds. Regarding specific company stocks, sure, you can always cherry-pick examples that did worse than Bitcoin. That doesn't prove anything, though. Regardless, looking at the all-time history of BTC does not inspire confidence in it as an investment, especially were I to consider opening a position today.
- social_quotient 4y ago
  I disagree with nearly everything you wrote all the way down to investing in single stocks. But I appreciate your thoughts and you sharing them.

kelnos 4y ago

> The internet has facilitated a staggering amount of crime as well as the fiat currencies of the globe. Sure, but both the internet and fiat currencies have facilitated a huge amount of legitimate activities, far, far more than crime. I would assert that the vast majority of users of Bitcoin (>90%) are either speculators or criminals (the vast majority of that majority being speculators, with some small but significant minority being criminals). > Let’s suppose this 14billion dollar number of Bitcoin crime is right [...] Global credit card fraud hit 32billion in 2021 Those numbers are meaningless without comparing them to the total monetary value of transactions pushed through them yearly. I suspect you'll find that, when talking about percent of total, Bitcoin fraud is higher than credit card fraud (and I would suspect that's still true if you consider other kinds of fraud in addition to CC fraud). > surely you aren’t suggesting Bitcoin is worthless and only provides a mechanism for crime. I'm not the person you're replying to, but I would suggest exactly that. The vast majority of Bitcoin use is either speculation or crime. And speculation basically destroys it as a stable store of value, which is something that's essential for a currency. Sure, there are people using it for legitimate purposes, or to get around unjust currency controls perpetrated by their governments. But I'd wager that's a tiny percentage of users, and they do so at great risk, both legally and financially. > As for investment risk. Check Netflix stock ytd or for that matter Enron. Or the entire bank crisis of 2008. Is Bitcoin really deserving of this much attention? Yes, absolutely. Your average person should not be investing in individual stocks. They should have the bulk of their investment assets in index funds, or at most, actively-managed funds. Regarding specific company stocks, sure, you can always cherry-pick examples that did worse than Bitcoin. That doesn't prove anything, though. Regardless, looking at the all-time history of BTC does not inspire confidence in it as an investment, especially were I to consider opening a position today.

social_quotient 4y ago
I disagree with nearly everything you wrote all the way down to investing in single stocks. But I appreciate your thoughts and you sharing them.