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Two questions for the author, You say bitcoin can’t be debased. How is that true? Aren’t there a few big holders of btc? If they decide to exit all at once wo

by dartos 2y ago

Two questions for the author, You say bitcoin can’t be debased. How is that true? Aren’t there a few big holders of btc? If they decide to exit all at once wouldn’t the value crash? And in the last paragraph you mention “the core value proposition of bitcoin” What do you believe that is?

rikafurude21 2y ago
Those "few big holders" havent created any of their own BTC, they just own a part of the 21 million BTC that can exist- if they sell, sure the price might fall, but its not debasement like with the USD where they just print more dollars, 'out of thin air'
- dartos 2y ago
  Is there a practical difference? “The price may fall” is a nice way to say “the value would be mostly erased” Like with any store of value, the value of bitcoin is backed by the fact that people believe it holds value. Unlike gold, however, bitcoin has no practical value in and of itself. (Gold, at least, looks pretty and doesn’t really decay. It’s a great conductor of electricity too) Bitcoin also isn’t as eternal as gold. In a doomsday scenario where global internet access goes down, gold would still work, bitcoin would not. You can’t debase gold either. So what value does bitcoin have? It’s easier to transfer, maybe? (One must compete with gas prices IIRC)
  - rikafurude21 2y ago
    “the value would be mostly erased” implies that the price goes down to 0, which is alot more extreme than price fluctuation. Gold wouldnt survive your doomsday scenario either, if youre going that far to find the fault in bitcoin then you will also have to concede that your gold is just going to be a metal, worthless in a scenario where guns and bullets mean holding power, no matter how pretty it looks or which technologies depend on it.
    - 20after4 2y ago
      So perhaps bullets would be the best store of value?
      - rikafurude21 2y ago
        if you expect doomsday to come anytime soon, sure
      - dartos 2y ago
        Metro had it right
    - dartos 2y ago
      > “the value would be mostly erased” implies that the price goes down to 0 No, it means the value would be much much closer to 0 than it is now. That’s why I said “mostly erased” and not “entirely erased” > Gold wouldnt survive your doomsday scenario either Yes it would… if the internet goes down, gold will still “survive.” It’s not going anywhere… > if youre going that far to find the fault in bitcoin then you will also have to concede that your gold is just going to be a metal “a metal” has inherent value as a material. A record in a digital ledger does not… > worthless in a scenario where guns and bullets mean holding power, no matter how pretty it looks or which technologies depend on it. You say that, but historically gold was valuable even though technology didn’t depend on it and even though guns existed. Even before that, actually. It’s strange that I need to explain that…
      - rikafurude21 2y ago
        inherent value as a material assuming there is a market to sell it at, no? We were talking about your doomsday scenarios, no internet and all, which means there wont be a market. So yes, even if it "survives", its just a metal. No inherent value except maybe when civilization is rebuilt we can use it to make technology. Historically gold was valuable because it was somewhat rare and you could barter with it.
        dartos 2y ago
- dqft 2y ago
  Now add Tether into the equation. RIP Nikolai Mushegian.
- dkjaudyeqooe 2y ago
  How is it "debasement"? People create bitcoin for no particular reason except that they can and the Fed creates (and destroys) money as a part of managing the currency. Bitcoin has wild swings in value just because. It has no inherent value so it can be priced at anything. Meanwhile the Fed manages the USD to keep the currency stable, ie avoiding inflation or deflation as much as possible. You can't debase bitcoin because it has no basis to begin with.

by dartos 2y ago

rikafurude21 2y ago

Those "few big holders" havent created any of their own BTC, they just own a part of the 21 million BTC that can exist- if they sell, sure the price might fall, but its not debasement like with the USD where they just print more dollars, 'out of thin air'

dartos 2y ago
Is there a practical difference? “The price may fall” is a nice way to say “the value would be mostly erased” Like with any store of value, the value of bitcoin is backed by the fact that people believe it holds value. Unlike gold, however, bitcoin has no practical value in and of itself. (Gold, at least, looks pretty and doesn’t really decay. It’s a great conductor of electricity too) Bitcoin also isn’t as eternal as gold. In a doomsday scenario where global internet access goes down, gold would still work, bitcoin would not. You can’t debase gold either. So what value does bitcoin have? It’s easier to transfer, maybe? (One must compete with gas prices IIRC)
- rikafurude21 2y ago
  “the value would be mostly erased” implies that the price goes down to 0, which is alot more extreme than price fluctuation. Gold wouldnt survive your doomsday scenario either, if youre going that far to find the fault in bitcoin then you will also have to concede that your gold is just going to be a metal, worthless in a scenario where guns and bullets mean holding power, no matter how pretty it looks or which technologies depend on it.
  - 20after4 2y ago
    So perhaps bullets would be the best store of value?
    - rikafurude21 2y ago
      if you expect doomsday to come anytime soon, sure
    - dartos 2y ago
      Metro had it right
  - dartos 2y ago
    > “the value would be mostly erased” implies that the price goes down to 0 No, it means the value would be much much closer to 0 than it is now. That’s why I said “mostly erased” and not “entirely erased” > Gold wouldnt survive your doomsday scenario either Yes it would… if the internet goes down, gold will still “survive.” It’s not going anywhere… > if youre going that far to find the fault in bitcoin then you will also have to concede that your gold is just going to be a metal “a metal” has inherent value as a material. A record in a digital ledger does not… > worthless in a scenario where guns and bullets mean holding power, no matter how pretty it looks or which technologies depend on it. You say that, but historically gold was valuable even though technology didn’t depend on it and even though guns existed. Even before that, actually. It’s strange that I need to explain that…
    - rikafurude21 2y ago
      inherent value as a material assuming there is a market to sell it at, no? We were talking about your doomsday scenarios, no internet and all, which means there wont be a market. So yes, even if it "survives", its just a metal. No inherent value except maybe when civilization is rebuilt we can use it to make technology. Historically gold was valuable because it was somewhat rare and you could barter with it.
      - dartos 2y ago
dqft 2y ago
Now add Tether into the equation. RIP Nikolai Mushegian.
dkjaudyeqooe 2y ago
How is it "debasement"? People create bitcoin for no particular reason except that they can and the Fed creates (and destroys) money as a part of managing the currency. Bitcoin has wild swings in value just because. It has no inherent value so it can be priced at anything. Meanwhile the Fed manages the USD to keep the currency stable, ie avoiding inflation or deflation as much as possible. You can't debase bitcoin because it has no basis to begin with.