Thoughts: Bitcoin

[August1991]

What is a bitcoin worth?

According to the blockchain people, in a future world, we will transact without money or banks. We will exchange immediately.

In such a world. why would I hold a bitcoin?

[August1991]

I was recently abroad, and a taxi driver asked me about the price of bitcoin.

I was reminded of the 1920s - or 2007.

[cannuck]

bitcoin or any other crypto is literally worth nothing.  It is the geek world's invasion into the finance world's "synthetic instruments" and are little different from derivatives.

The real question should be why are "we" allowing any of the above to exist, never mind be traded?

[herbie]

Boils down to a fundamental principle of business.

It is immoral to leave money in the hands of a fool.

And digital currencies show there's a lot of them out there.

[SpankyMcFarland]

Nonsense or not, I’m sorry I didn’t buy it way back when, though. I know one reputable guy online who invested in 10k of it. We followed the ups and downs of it for months until his wife made him sell when he’d doubled his bet. Last time I looked, that investment was worth 27 million which must make for some interesting conversations at home. 

With the benefit of hindsight, I listened to the rational arguments and failed to appreciate the growing distrust of our financial system among younger people. Of course, I’d be penniless if I’d invested in every wild new stock over the years. 
 

 

Edited April 13 by SpankyMcFarland

[August1991]

On 4/13/2025 at 3:09 PM, SpankyMcFarland said:

Nonsense or not, I’m sorry I didn’t buy it way back when, though. 

....
 

 

Such are lottery stories.

====

You can't time the market. It's a fool's errand.

[SpankyMcFarland]

11 hours ago, August1991 said:

Such are lottery stories.

====

You can't time the market. It's a fool's errand.

Bitcoin represents something more than that. It looks preposterous at first glance but it is significant. There is a growing distrust of our financial system, especially among younger people. 

[Michael Hardner]

5 minutes ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

Bitcoin represents something more than that. It looks preposterous at first glance but it is significant. There is a growing distrust of our financial system, especially among younger people. 

So... as with the internet, we shouldn't address that other than to open the gates to charlatans and carnival barkers to step in and roam free ?

I don't think you are actually saying this btw.

 

I agree with the significance, but to me the response needs to be an improvement in the connection that the so-called leadership (intellectual, political,cultural) has with people.  Right now it's tenuous at best.

 

"People don't trust medicine and they think western medicine is racist too"
"Therefore we will let quacks and ethnic medical gurus administer to people's illnesses"

 

No.

[SpankyMcFarland]

37 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

So... as with the internet, we shouldn't address that other than to open the gates to charlatans and carnival barkers to step in and roam free ?

I don't think you are actually saying this btw.

 

I agree with the significance, but to me the response needs to be an improvement in the connection that the so-called leadership (intellectual, political,cultural) has with people.  Right now it's tenuous at best.

 

"People don't trust medicine and they think western medicine is racist too"
"Therefore we will let quacks and ethnic medical gurus administer to people's illnesses"

 

No.

This growing alienation created the opportunity for the current charlatan in the White House. It’s nearly all bad. 

[Michael Hardner]

1 hour ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

This growing alienation created the opportunity for the current charlatan in the White House. It’s nearly all bad. 

What will come after will be better, I am convinced.  It's pretty clear that the current direction is not widely supported.  More people disapprove than approve, and at its peak it's pretty close to 50/50 support/opposition.

The simplest way forward is a change of government, through election, to something maybe a little more familiar.

[August1991]

On 4/16/2025 at 10:27 AM, SpankyMcFarland said:

Bitcoin represents something more than that. It looks preposterous at first glance but it is significant. There is a growing distrust of our financial system, especially among younger people. 

Spanky,

1) There has always been distrust of the financial system - in the US in particular. Such people bought gold.

2) Young people? It's a fad.

3) Ransom, illegal activities. I can see a demand for bitcoin. But how to clean it?

[SpankyMcFarland]

2 hours ago, August1991 said:

Spanky,

1) There has always been distrust of the financial system - in the US in particular. Such people bought gold.

2) Young people? It's a fad.

3) Ransom, illegal activities. I can see a demand for bitcoin. But how to clean it?

The gold bugs weren’t a large social movement. Social media has brought a lot of distrust together and amplified it. Crypto may be a fad but human alienation from an increasingly automated economy is only going to grow. 

[August1991]

On 12/22/2024 at 11:41 PM, August1991 said:

What is a bitcoin worth?

According to the blockchain people, in a future world, we will transact without money or banks. We will exchange immediately.

In such a world. why would I hold a bitcoin?

I want to explain my point more clearly.

Blockchainers/bitcoiners believe that, in the future, ordinary people will be able to transact/trade/buy using a USB stick. phone, touch screen.

In the future, ordinary people will simply trade using an instantaneous "bitcoin" -without any cost, transferred to the buyer or seller.

In such a world, that may possibly exist in the future, why would I hold a current "bitcoin" for even a nanosecond?

So, why do people buy hold bitcoin? Why is it worth Cdn 130,000?

 

[herbie]

And many of the anti-climate change people who claim there isn't enough power to convert to EVs love investing their money in something the gobbles energy like nothing before and produces nothing tangible whatsoever, and who's value is totally imaginary snf backed by nothing whatsoever.
One that goes inaccessible in a power failure and could totally crash the entire world economy by one single EMP or CME.

[User]

18 hours ago, herbie said:

And many of the anti-climate change people who claim there isn't enough power to convert to EVs love investing their money in something the gobbles energy like nothing before and produces nothing tangible whatsoever, and who's value is totally imaginary snf backed by nothing whatsoever.
One that goes inaccessible in a power failure and could totally crash the entire world economy by one single EMP or CME.

I am no fan of bitcoin or crypto currency other than using it as an immediate exchange of money. It is not an "investment" 

That said, the total amount of power it consumes worldwide is not the same as it would take to convert the world to EV's, maybe America alone. 

And if we are talking about the grid being down... all mediums of exchange would be impacted. Banks would be down, credit card machines... and hardly anyone just carries cash. 

Whatever doomsday you are dreaming up would impact more than bitcoin.  

[herbie]

Wouldn't affect the cash in your pocket, would it? That critique you offer is exactly what I pointed out, it's 100% reliant on hydro based communication infrastructure.

And sorry to point out it uses absolutely shitloads of hydro to mine bitcoin. Wasn't cost effective to get into mining when it started and I ran my own ISP serverbank at cheap BC Hydro rates.

[User]

19 hours ago, herbie said:

Wouldn't affect the cash in your pocket, would it? That critique you offer is exactly what I pointed out, it's 100% reliant on hydro based communication infrastructure.

And sorry to point out it uses absolutely shitloads of hydro to mine bitcoin. Wasn't cost effective to get into mining when it started and I ran my own ISP serverbank at cheap BC Hydro rates.

Again... whatever doomsday scenario you are dreaming up that would somehow be so catastrophic as to take down access to Bitcoin would impact the whole worlds infrastructure anyhow. The fact that you have cash in your pocket is not going to pay your mortgage, your car payments, and every other thing you have automated for draft from your bank or online payment systems and the average person is not 100% cash based where they are mailing in cash in an envelope to pay for everything. 

 

[SpankyMcFarland]

As a short-term speculative bet it may have value but it’s dangerous if it infiltrates the legacy economy and makes the rest of us liable for losses one way and another. The notion of a crypto reserve should worry everybody.