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Someone might rightfully ask the question, "Should I invest in Dogecoin?", and at this stage of our financial markets, I really don't have a good answer for tha
by grey-area 13y ago
Someone might rightfully ask the question, "Should I invest in Dogecoin?", and at this stage of our financial markets, I really don't have a good answer for that.
This is where recognising a distinction between investing and speculating comes in handy. It's quite possible to speculate in dogecoin (relying on greater fools coming after) in the short term and make some money. In the long term it is extremely unlikely to have any value at all, so if you take investment to be long term search for value, the answer to should I invest is no.
The interesting thing about fiat (all our currencies at this point, including crypto ones, unless you want to quibble over semantics), is that it depends on confidence for its value. Without confidence it is worth nothing (Assignats, Zimbabwean dollars etc). This realisation doesn't give me great confidence in Bitcoin or any of its spin-offs though. It's an interesting experiment and noteworthy, but I think fatally flawed as a currency or an investment because of the explicit rejection of verified identity, regulation, and inflation and its attempts to emulate paper cash.
Perhaps the next currency to emerge will be corporate sponsored rather than state-sponsored, as corporations are still rising in power over states, but it will be a very interesting century, because most of the national currencies probably won't survive it, and by 2100, no-one will be using physical tokens for payments (cash). States will naturally resist any encroachment on their power over currency and taxation, which up to now has been absolute. I expect any stateless currencies which do manage to rival say the USD to come under heavy pressure from both speculators like Soros, and currency blocs who perceive a threat to their monopoly on trade.
- steveklabnik 13y ago> Perhaps the next currency to emerge will be corporate sponsored rather than state-sponsored, What about celebrity-sponsored? "Buy his next album in Bieber-coin."
- grey-area 13y agoThat would be hilarious, and quite in keeping with the status of celebrities in our society as the new aristocracy. Gaga-coin or Bieber-coin - millions of fans would actually buy that sort of thing. I think they'd need physical gold coins though, for extra bling, or perhaps Gaga would go for pink plastic. Oh, just looked, and it turns out someone already thought of this but with dollar bills: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/pop-culture-cash-by-james-charles http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/pop-culture-cash-by-james-...
- steveklabnik 13y agoThere has been talk that Snoop Dogg (I think he changed his name back from Snoop Lion, yes?) is going to sell his next album in Bitcoins...
- amark 13y agoI disagree. Dogecoin has the backing of one of the strongest communities on the internet. It's quite feasible to see it as a virtual currency used to pay for online goods, such as karma, games, or media. It's friendliness means it may be adopted by the majority of consumers, who are scared off by the volatility and high price of bitcoins. What needs to happen? First, it needs to distance itself from the meme part of it, and just become the standard fun, digital currency. Second, the barriers to entry need to be reduced. That means buying DOGE with USD instead of bitcoins, and easy online wallets. Finally, it needs uses, the most likely to happen are inter-app payments, such as over reddit or imgur.
- L_Rahman 13y agoI believe you meant "intra" app payments rather than "inter".
- amark 13y agoYes.
- grey-area 13y agoDogecoin is a joke, not a currency (a good joke, but a joke nonetheless), it is not the official reddit currency, that would be reddit gold.
- Kalium 13y agoReddit gold is a product or service, not a currency. You cannot trade it.