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How the hell does this work?? I have five dollars in a box, and I buy a different box, also known to have five dollars in it, for the $5 in the first one. Now

How the hell does this work?? I have five dollars in a box, and I buy a different box, also known to have five dollars in it, for the $5 in the first one. Now, according to this logic, I have a portfolio worth $10, since I still have the original box, worth $5 and the new one, also worth $5. If I tried this at a gas station, I would be arrested if I got caught.

TuringNYC 2y ago
Many numbers in this sphere can seem arbitrary: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/business/elon-musk-420-twitter-filing.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/business/elon-musk-420-tw... https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-humor-jokes-over-years-titter-420-69-2023-4 https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-humor-jokes-over-...
xandrius 2y ago
It's more like: I have a box with $5 and you have a box with $5. We agree to merge our boxes into one and now we both have 1 box with $10. Plot twist: me and you are the same insane person.
- Munksgaard 2y ago
  Also, you don't actually have $5 in either box, but you once sold a 1% ownership stake in each box for 5 cents. There's only 10 cents in the in the merged box, but you value it at $10.
maronato 2y ago
I think it’s more like: I have some paper that says I own 50% of a box T. People are willing to pay up to 10 cents to get 1% of that box T, so if I gave my paper to them, they’d give me $5. I want to buy another box X for $1, so I go to a bank and ask for $1. To make sure I pay, I give them a paper saying they can take 10% of my original box T if I don’t pay them back. I build another box A and people get excited. They say they’ll pay 5 cents for 1% of it, and I have a paper that says I own most of it. Time passes and the amount people are willing to pay for the boxes changes, and at some point people are close to not believing box T is worth 10 cents per 1%. If that happens, the bank will want their 10%! To prevent that, I decide to sell box X to box A. I pick the price I want for the sale, but the important part is that I make sure box A writes a new paper saying that the bank now has to get 20% of box A if box A fails to pay them, not box T anymore. In the end, I can’t say I own box X anymore, but I never cared much for it. I only bought it as a meme. That’s okay though, because I don’t need to give any of my box T to the bank, and people are willing to pay 8 cents for 1% of my box A since it now owns box X too.
- JakeAl 2y ago
  This is awesome. Now do stock options and every other derivative.

TuringNYC 2y ago

Many numbers in this sphere can seem arbitrary: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/business/elon-musk-420-twitter-filing.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/business/elon-musk-420-tw... https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-humor-jokes-over-years-titter-420-69-2023-4 https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-humor-jokes-over-...

xandrius 2y ago

It's more like: I have a box with $5 and you have a box with $5. We agree to merge our boxes into one and now we both have 1 box with $10. Plot twist: me and you are the same insane person.

Munksgaard 2y ago
Also, you don't actually have $5 in either box, but you once sold a 1% ownership stake in each box for 5 cents. There's only 10 cents in the in the merged box, but you value it at $10.

maronato 2y ago

I think it’s more like: I have some paper that says I own 50% of a box T. People are willing to pay up to 10 cents to get 1% of that box T, so if I gave my paper to them, they’d give me $5. I want to buy another box X for $1, so I go to a bank and ask for $1. To make sure I pay, I give them a paper saying they can take 10% of my original box T if I don’t pay them back. I build another box A and people get excited. They say they’ll pay 5 cents for 1% of it, and I have a paper that says I own most of it. Time passes and the amount people are willing to pay for the boxes changes, and at some point people are close to not believing box T is worth 10 cents per 1%. If that happens, the bank will want their 10%! To prevent that, I decide to sell box X to box A. I pick the price I want for the sale, but the important part is that I make sure box A writes a new paper saying that the bank now has to get 20% of box A if box A fails to pay them, not box T anymore. In the end, I can’t say I own box X anymore, but I never cared much for it. I only bought it as a meme. That’s okay though, because I don’t need to give any of my box T to the bank, and people are willing to pay 8 cents for 1% of my box A since it now owns box X too.

JakeAl 2y ago
This is awesome. Now do stock options and every other derivative.