Quote of the Day
#Bitcoin, crypto, and blockchain will likely go down as the biggest example of popular delusions and the madness of crowds in world history. The overall losses when the bubble finally pops will be staggering. It’s not just the speculators who will be left holding a bag of worthless Bitcoin, but also the investors who funded all the infrastructure and related businesses. This is likely the biggest misallocation of resources in human history. Not only will the net losses to society be staggering, but Bitcoin itself will do more to tarnish the reputation of libertarian capitalism and the concept of sound money than any failed government program ever has.
Peter Schiff @PeterSchiff
Posted on X, November 11, 2024
I am in tentative agreement about bitcoin being the biggest popular delusion in world history. The possible exception to this is faith in communism. And the tremendous amount of electricity consumed just boggles my mind.
But the bubble will last as long as enough people have faith in it. It is conceivable that will be decades or even a century.*
But the [dollar | bitcoin] will last as long as enough people have faith in it. It is conceivable that will be decades or even a century.
* Edited as per a suggestion via email from Mike H. only November 13, 2024.
And Fiat money not backed by gold is better, or also a delusion?
It is slightly better than Bitcoin because the issuing government will always accept it as payment of your taxes.
“always”?
Does germany still accept wiemar marks?
The country that ruled the Germany territory and issued the Wiemar Republic Mark’s doesn’t exist anymore.
Zimbabwe Dollars would probably be a better example. Or even any of the countries that switched to Euros is a valid counterpoint. So, I consider your point valid.
It would be better to say that as long as they issue their fiat currency, they will accept it in payment of taxes.
What is bitcoin mining but
a brute-force attack on the blockchain?
Am I missing some obscure technical detail, and does the obscure technical detail merely make my point? Any other brute-force attack is merely a circumvention of an obscure technical detail.
What is an attack on the blockchain? I can’t even imagine how you might *define* such a thing.
Mining is what the bitcoin software does. The software defines what bitcoin is. The only way to attack bitcoin is to change what the software does. The only way to change the software and not be ignored by the other miners, is to be the software doing the majority of the mining. If your software produces a result that more than half the other miner’s software disagrees with, your result is trashed.
Unless you mean attacking public key crypto systems, but if you’re doing that, you can rob banks.
I’m old, so I’m always dubious about things I can’t hold in my hand. And I’m sure there are good safeguards in bitcoin which I know nothing about.
But even people trying to hedge inflation with gold and silver in FDR’s time found out the hard way.
If government wants something, they steal it. Even having cash is risk-adverse in hard times. And having something the government can “hack an track “, then turn off what they don’t want you doing?
I’d stick to cash, with gold and silver back-up.
And right now there is a reason Warren Buffett of Berkshire-Hathway fame is sitting on a 1/3 rd. of his assets in cash. And getting out of banks.
He wants to have the money available to buy crashed assets for pennies on the dollar in the coming years. And I would imagine he has more inside info than the rest of us on what’s going on in the near future.
Auctions always go to the highest CASH bidder.
I myself, still like food and ammo. Cause when the government gets down to stealing that? There won’t be no government to speak of.
And thieves can be shot on site.
THIS.
The best way to stop a stronger force taking what’s yours, is for nobody to know you have it.
The blockchain is public. It links your bitcoin to your public key, which uniquely identifies you, when you use your private key to access them, which you do over the internet, with an IP address. You can play games with VPNs and cybercafes, but over time, geographic data is leaked, and you become identifiable.
And the same is true for those you transact with…
And as soon as someone tries to convert to/from USD, if it’s not in meatspace, they’re outed, and they can out you. If it *is* in meatspace, why use bitcoin?
If you’re still going there: have a look at monero.
Bitcoin could be something very useful. A currency that isn’t tied to a government can be useful when most governments are issuing paper as they drive the country deeper into debt. Is the rise in the dollar price of bitcoin a gain in worth or a loss in the value of the dollar?
There are plenty of examples of currency that isn’t accepted by the issuing country. India did it recently. I wouldn’t spend much in real money on bitcoin. You need to be prepared to lose anything you put into it. I’m up more than 1000%, but it’s all fake until you convert it to some tangible good. If it went away tomorrow it would merely be a fun experiment that cost me less than I spend on dinners out with the wife.
Anything can be a medium of trade as long as those involved agree. Fiat money is only good as long as we agree it is. Try to buy something with Yapese stone money.
Rarity increases value. We don’t use sand as currency, it’s too common. Keep printing fiat money and it loses it’s value (inflation) and becomes like sand. Bitcoin has a limit, there will only ever so so much of it.
I have no personal use for gold or silver except for the fact others value it and I can use it in trade. Same for Bitcoin or any other e-money.
Digital age, Tulip bubble anyone?
Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies are nothing but digital forms of Fiat Currency. In fact Bitcoin may be superior as it can’t be “printed” magically out of thin air. It requires actual mathematical calculations be done for each Bitcoin created. So it actually is in some ways superior to the Dollar as it can’t be artificially inflated. And both only have value because people BELIEVE they have value. Once that belief dies the value disappears.