4 ms·

10 Quintillion at current scarcity. If we were to lasso it down to Earth, then the metals would become "too cheap to meter" and not worth 10 Quintillion.

by mc32 4y ago

GordonS 4y ago
Right, but whoever did that would control supply - like OPEC, they could therefore control scarcity.
- mtoner23 4y ago
  not if it's a us company, a monopoly that hurts consumers is illegal
  - labster 4y ago
    Haha, great joke 10/10.
  - bryanlarsen 4y ago
    Monopolies are not illegal. Abusing a monopoly is illegal. Selling inventory in limited quantities is not abuse of a monopoly, unless you are colluding with competitors to do so.
  - GordonS 4y ago
    I'm guessing a company worth a quintillion can get away from just about anything.
DamnYuppie 4y ago
Unless like diamonds you limit their availability to actively prop up the prices. A contrary opinion would be that Gold isn't exactly scare on this planet and we keep mining more of it and it isn't exactly cheap. As of this writing it the spot price is $1,922.40 USD.
- chongli 4y ago
  The asteroid is loaded with nickel and iron. I don’t think you could play the de Beers game with those metals. If you limited supply then people would just carry on like we do now.
  - maerF0x0 4y ago
    Why not? capture the asteroid. Put it in a secure compound, release 1/100th the minerals per year for 100 yrs as a form of multigenerational wealth for the families that own it? Or if you disagree with the fraction consider a different fraction like 1000th, 10000th etc... At some point it could both make someone extremely wealthy and not immediately destroy the price (as supply increases and the price decreases, we'll also find new uses like nickel based paper towels or studs for homes) Edit: ok joke's on me that I missed some important details like diameter and velocity. But the general point applies -- meter the release into the market to not completely saturate the market or depreciate the value.
    - arcticbull 4y ago
      I mean at that point it’s just going to get taken from you lol
    - time0ut 4y ago
      Until the board/investors demand revenue increases...
    - withinboredom 4y ago
      "capture the asteroid" ohhh, you meant I should have stopped it from entering Earth's atmosphere at 0.1c?
    - chongli 4y ago
      Secure compound? Good luck with that. The asteroid is 140 miles in diameter. For comparison, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was less than 10 miles in diameter. There’s no way you could bring the entire thing down to Earth without causing another extinction event. You’d have to keep it in orbit and at that point it’s anybody’s game.
snordgren 4y ago
If 99% of global supply fell into the hands of the single country or corporation that brought it home, they would have the power to set prices. We would be looking at a De Beers-diamond situation.
- MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
  Well up to an amount that's not competitive with earth based resources. Then again, the classic move would be to flood the market for a few years and totally bankrupt the competition before jacking the prices.
  - Ekaros 4y ago
    If we have durable goods, shouldn't someone buy out this flood, stockpile and hold it until prices go up and the sell at profit?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
TomK32 4y ago
Really depends on how you lasso it down to Earth, a hard impact could go very wrong and leave you with barely any humans to buy or even dig up that piece of space metal. Also, just because it is composed of metal, that doesn't mean it's solid. It's only last year that OSIRIS-REx touched down on asteroid Bennu and punched it far deeper than expected because the material was so loose. Pulling that, let alone a 140 mile big Psyche into an orbit that's feasible for exploitation will be a challenge.
spaceman_2020 4y ago
I'm reminded of the story of how America once flexed its financial power by building the Washington Monument...and capping it off with a 6lb aluminum capstone [0]. Aluminum was so coveted that Napoleon had his dinnerware made from it - and that was a bigger flex than eating off of gold. Of course, aluminum today is a dirt cheap metal that's found almost everywhere and in everything. All it took to bring the cost down drastically was figuring out a new refining process and flooding the market with new supply. But I'm sure someone once analyzed soil samples, discovered that nearly 8% of the earth is made of alumnium, and theoretically, all that alumnium was worth XX quadrillion dollars. 0: https://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html https://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.h...
83 4y ago
No chance the metals would become "too cheap to meter". I'd bet on the opposite in fact: step 1) acquire the stockpile of metals step 2) set prices just low enough you drive all current mines/producers out of business step 3) quadruple the prices. It'll take people a long time to spin up new mines and refineries. For bonus profits spend some of your monopoly money on lobbying/regulation. step 4) goto step 2

10 Quintillion at current scarcity. If we were to lasso it down to Earth, then the metals would become "too cheap to meter" and not worth 10 Quintillion.

by mc32 4y ago

10 Quintillion at current scarcity. If we were to lasso it down to Earth, then the metals would become "too cheap to meter" and not worth 10 Quintillion.

GordonS 4y ago

Right, but whoever did that would control supply - like OPEC, they could therefore control scarcity.

mtoner23 4y ago
not if it's a us company, a monopoly that hurts consumers is illegal
- labster 4y ago
  Haha, great joke 10/10.
- bryanlarsen 4y ago
  Monopolies are not illegal. Abusing a monopoly is illegal. Selling inventory in limited quantities is not abuse of a monopoly, unless you are colluding with competitors to do so.
- GordonS 4y ago
  I'm guessing a company worth a quintillion can get away from just about anything.

DamnYuppie 4y ago

Unless like diamonds you limit their availability to actively prop up the prices. A contrary opinion would be that Gold isn't exactly scare on this planet and we keep mining more of it and it isn't exactly cheap. As of this writing it the spot price is $1,922.40 USD.

chongli 4y ago
The asteroid is loaded with nickel and iron. I don’t think you could play the de Beers game with those metals. If you limited supply then people would just carry on like we do now.
- maerF0x0 4y ago
  Why not? capture the asteroid. Put it in a secure compound, release 1/100th the minerals per year for 100 yrs as a form of multigenerational wealth for the families that own it? Or if you disagree with the fraction consider a different fraction like 1000th, 10000th etc... At some point it could both make someone extremely wealthy and not immediately destroy the price (as supply increases and the price decreases, we'll also find new uses like nickel based paper towels or studs for homes) Edit: ok joke's on me that I missed some important details like diameter and velocity. But the general point applies -- meter the release into the market to not completely saturate the market or depreciate the value.
  - arcticbull 4y ago
    I mean at that point it’s just going to get taken from you lol
  - time0ut 4y ago
    Until the board/investors demand revenue increases...
  - withinboredom 4y ago
    "capture the asteroid" ohhh, you meant I should have stopped it from entering Earth's atmosphere at 0.1c?
  - chongli 4y ago
    Secure compound? Good luck with that. The asteroid is 140 miles in diameter. For comparison, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was less than 10 miles in diameter. There’s no way you could bring the entire thing down to Earth without causing another extinction event. You’d have to keep it in orbit and at that point it’s anybody’s game.

snordgren 4y ago

If 99% of global supply fell into the hands of the single country or corporation that brought it home, they would have the power to set prices. We would be looking at a De Beers-diamond situation.

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
Well up to an amount that's not competitive with earth based resources. Then again, the classic move would be to flood the market for a few years and totally bankrupt the competition before jacking the prices.
- Ekaros 4y ago
  If we have durable goods, shouldn't someone buy out this flood, stockpile and hold it until prices go up and the sell at profit?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

TomK32 4y ago

Really depends on how you lasso it down to Earth, a hard impact could go very wrong and leave you with barely any humans to buy or even dig up that piece of space metal. Also, just because it is composed of metal, that doesn't mean it's solid. It's only last year that OSIRIS-REx touched down on asteroid Bennu and punched it far deeper than expected because the material was so loose. Pulling that, let alone a 140 mile big Psyche into an orbit that's feasible for exploitation will be a challenge.

spaceman_2020 4y ago

I'm reminded of the story of how America once flexed its financial power by building the Washington Monument...and capping it off with a 6lb aluminum capstone [0]. Aluminum was so coveted that Napoleon had his dinnerware made from it - and that was a bigger flex than eating off of gold. Of course, aluminum today is a dirt cheap metal that's found almost everywhere and in everything. All it took to bring the cost down drastically was figuring out a new refining process and flooding the market with new supply. But I'm sure someone once analyzed soil samples, discovered that nearly 8% of the earth is made of alumnium, and theoretically, all that alumnium was worth XX quadrillion dollars. 0: https://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html https://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.h...

83 4y ago

No chance the metals would become "too cheap to meter". I'd bet on the opposite in fact: step 1) acquire the stockpile of metals step 2) set prices just low enough you drive all current mines/producers out of business step 3) quadruple the prices. It'll take people a long time to spin up new mines and refineries. For bonus profits spend some of your monopoly money on lobbying/regulation. step 4) goto step 2