crypto is a scam run by the same scum that used to pimp you penny stocks. how did that work out for you ? did you cut and paste your buzzwords ? efficient disrupt
Another point, gold was hugely volatile in the 70's ((IIRC it went from $600 to $800 in one day and gave up those $200 the next day). That doesn't mean it isn't a store of value. The Dalio dismissal of bitcoin because of volatilty is ridiculous, what matters is how they structurally compare to each other
Gold - for people who only want to preserve their purchasing power relative to the dollar. Bitcoin - for people who need 10x their net worth within 1 year. Also good for those seeking tax evasion and money laundering.
Yes, and there is utility that crypto can offer that gold cannot. This biggest utility I see at the moment is the creation of an asset class amid some very volatile price discovery. A central factor that has driven the price so high is the sentiment that somehow ‘bankers’ and monetary policy are part of a larger conspiracy to enslave a population. I think a lot of people are still quite irritated that Wall Street didn’t even get a slap on the wrists for their role in the RE meltdown. Instead they got a bailout, and executive’s got big bonuses. Zeitgeist came out around the same time as well as the Occupy movement. To understand Occupy, one has to look into Ad Busters. The folks into Alt-coin’s like to think of themselves as mini-VC’s and Angel investors in the creation of a fairer more egalitarian future - one where the Military-industrial, big Ag, big Pharma, and special interests aren’t implicitly supported by the use of fiat. Investing in crypto is like a digital opt-out of Imperialistic culture.
I can see that maybe that was true for some people in the beginning. But lately, I'm pretty confident (although cannot prove, just my speculation), that most people buying in just want to make money and think that they will be lucky or wise enough to get out early in case the whole thing collapses. They don't think they are doing a public service any more than someone who buys a penny stock of a biotech right before drug results are released. Actually, those buying bitcoin might be helping to fund North Korea and associated ransom-ware. http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/12/technology/north-korea-bitcoin-hoard/index.html
That is not even a utility. If we are talking advantage over gold: 1. Easier and safer to carry with you. 2. Easier to send. The store of value is very questionable at this moment, since you can't guarantee that BTC will be positive YTD at the end of the year. So far it is down like 30% YTD. That idiocy was invented when the sending money over the net for cheap utility wasn't cheap anymore.
By the way, gold has been mostly flat in the last 5 years, so fairly good as store of value. But if you look at a 20 years chart, it is still on the roll (300 to 1800, stabilizing between 1200-1300), and BTC's chart will be something like that.
I agree the space has become ‘gentrified’ and that some of the original intentions are diluted by the rush of dumb money looking for a fast buck. Two other factors I see driving crypto is the rise of social media and mobile platforms for trading. I haven’t yet found the data to support my speculation.
Good points. Btw, the utility I was referring to is the invention of a conversation. The conversation being anything that can be speculated upon and has the mechanism to allow investment. The alt-coin space is experiencing an explosion of creativity atm. Lot’s of novel and disruptive potential.
99% of crypto trading is by compulsive gambler orientals, metrosexuals, pinheads with more money than brains. The other 1 % are the con men running the scam