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Illegal transactions are also 11-12% of the USA's economy.[1] In 2019, forex volume was $6.6T per day [2], or $1716T per year. Meanwhile global GDP was only $8

Illegal transactions are also 11-12% of the USA's economy.[1] In 2019, forex volume was $6.6T per day [2], or $1716T per year. Meanwhile global GDP was only $87.5T [3]. In other words, almost 95% of global currency volume is speculation. Why would anyone use currencies that are mainly used for speculation? Both the traditional and crypto economies are reflections of human behavior, but because crypto is more transparent, you can see it for yourself. And a lot of people don't like what they see. But it's not a new problem nor unique to new currencies or technologies. [1]: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/032916/how-big-underground-economy-america.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/032916/how-big... [2]: https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/execution/bis-survey-daily-fx-volumes-jump-30-to-6-6-trillion-in-2019/ https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/executio... [3]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/268750/global-gross-domestic-product-gdp/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/268750/global-gross-dome...

danans 4y ago
> In other words, almost 95% of global currency volume is speculation. Why would anyone use currencies that are mainly used for speculation? Much of that trading volume, speculative or not supports the international trade of real goods and services and hedges currency risk for large international companies [1]. The same cannot be said of Bitcoin, which does provide the same utility. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-international-role-of-the-u-s-dollar-20211006.html https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-...
KptMarchewa 4y ago
> Illegal transactions are also 11-12% of the USA's economy.[1] Much of that figure are payments for untaxed, but otherwise legal activities. On the other hand, crypto figures are straight up payments for illegal activities.
imtringued 4y ago
Not really, the speculation has nothing to do with human behaviour. The conventional money system and the thousands of cryptocurrencies that copy it are inherently speculative and reward people for being indecisive aka being liquid. Liquidity is the ability to instantly change your mind and that ability has very little to do with human nature and more to do with the nature of your money.

danans 4y ago

> In other words, almost 95% of global currency volume is speculation. Why would anyone use currencies that are mainly used for speculation? Much of that trading volume, speculative or not supports the international trade of real goods and services and hedges currency risk for large international companies [1]. The same cannot be said of Bitcoin, which does provide the same utility. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-international-role-of-the-u-s-dollar-20211006.html https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-...

KptMarchewa 4y ago

> Illegal transactions are also 11-12% of the USA's economy.[1] Much of that figure are payments for untaxed, but otherwise legal activities. On the other hand, crypto figures are straight up payments for illegal activities.

imtringued 4y ago

Not really, the speculation has nothing to do with human behaviour. The conventional money system and the thousands of cryptocurrencies that copy it are inherently speculative and reward people for being indecisive aka being liquid. Liquidity is the ability to instantly change your mind and that ability has very little to do with human nature and more to do with the nature of your money.