laszlo-kiss

I thought the Lira lost its value, which is 'inflation'. If it was experiencing deflation then it would become more and more valuable, because it is becoming scarcer.

Inflation is caused by the oversupply of money, it is because the government in charge of that currency is printing it w/o limits. It is a way to pay back loans with cheap money.

Indeed, governments can ban things, but if there is a market for the banned item then there is going to be a supply. Governments don't seem to have the means to block drugs entering prisons, how will they stop ordinary citizens that feel the need to protect themselves from doing what they need to do?

I'm not saying that the US would tie the dollar to Bitcoin willingly. It would have to do it out of necessity to be able to interact with nations that have resources that the US needs.

This of course applies to all countries, not just the US. The dollar as the world reserve currency enables the US to rob the recipients of the value of their holdings after the fact. I don't think any nation is happy about that. It would also reduce undue influence of a single nation across the world and therefore maybe reduce the attractiveness of terrorist organizations' railing against it.

A currency that can't be debased is a stabilizing factor in international affairs (my take). This also translates to each country's citizens, they can't be robbed by their government...

Financial (or economic) sanctions affect the target country's citizens. I would submit that after the sanctions on Russia, Putin has gained support from the Russian people. Iran has been sanctioned for how many years? Yet Iran's citizens don't find the means to depose of their leadership... Maybe they like the way things are... Sanctions and all.

In my opinion your statement "the world embracing crypto all at once would escalate the financing of combat to unconscionable heights" is unsupported. Bitcoin is available now (has been for a decade), so what keeps bad actors from using it to purchase arms now. The international monetary system is not a gate (to cash out Bitcoin purchases). The Mexican cartels apparently have no problem using the banking system to finance their operations...

Roman Empire is a biggie. The Weimar Republic is the most obvious.

I guess we are now arguing 'Austrian Economics' vs. 'Keynesian Economics'... This is a fair simplification. As long as you hold real assets to protect your wealth, the government's debasement of the currency (modest inflation) is of no concern.

Clearly, when a person lives from paycheck to paycheck the only concern is "Can I buy food next week?" and "Can I pay the rent on the 1st?". Wealth preservation and modest inflation is not on the radar. However, it is still hurting the man that earns $12/hr, no matter the modesty of the inflation.

Just look around right now. Is the current inflation rate modest? Did everyone get a raise to account for the CPI going up? Will everyone get an 8.5% raise next year?

In my opinion decoupling the currency from anyone's "control" is the key idea behind Bitcoin.

It seems Canada matches the 'good banking system' and 'stable currency' attributes, yet didn't the truckers get robbed by the government?

When a government is able to engage in financial retribution against its critics, its own citizenry, Bitcoin might be necessary.

Interesting, this sounds like the Old West. Look at it now.

I think these hardships are the exact indicators of a dynamic new frontier. Apply caution, yes, but ignoring it might not be a good strategy either.

Theoretically I can stand up a mining operation in my apartment. That means that the 51% attack (as long as it can be detected) can be thwarted by folks at the grass roots level (as long as they actually care). Am I wrong about this?

I'm not an expert on this by any means, but I would think that mechanisms exist that allows for the evolution of the technology to protect itself. The key for me is that we strive for a financial foundation that no-one can debase.

I view Bitcoin as an agreement and an understanding of a unit of value that we can all rely on.

I'm not sure what you mean by the 'old ruse'. The use of gold in ancient times was adopted because it removed the need to trust the other guy's currency.

Unless Satoshi shows up tomorrow and cashes out his coin I think we are not in danger of diluting the value of Bitcoin - which would be like the 'old ruse' I think.

I think the biggest 'positive' is that the government in control of the currency is unable to alter the value of it. It is clear that inflation is bad for the citizenry, yet that has been done throughout the ages by every dying civilization. I'm simply looking/hoping for a mechanism to stop it. It would be a 'positive' for you too!

Is Bitcoin the ultimate answer? I can't say, but it is a good first step.

Indeed using Bitcoin for payment does not seem a good fit. However, Bitcoin could be viewed as the world reserve currency that is impossible to debase. This can give stability to all other currencies that are based on it. I think that would be a good thing. It would reduce governments' ability to deficit spend, thus reduce the likelihood of financing armies that can be used for aggression... It would not eliminate wars entirely, but would make financing them very difficult.

Unfortunately, scammers are everywhere. I think it is my responsibility to do the best I can to avoid falling for various schemes. I hold that Bitcoin is not the cause of the scams. I unfortunately missed the early days of Bitcoin because I was concerned about being robbed and secondarily I did not understand (or even known about) the intent Satoshi had when he invented the thing...

Thank you for your feedback!

It is encouraging that there is a lot of interest in looking at the weaknesses of Bitcoin and crypto in general. This, I think, is "a good thing." However, the author is not one to bring forward a well reasoned case (initially I thought I was reading an article written by a 15 yr old). There are references to all kinds of documents, but it is clear that the author does not have the technical background to clearly convey (or pinpoint) the supposed issues that he is highlighting. Instead we are to believe the arguments because crypto is a kind of tulip mania and those that buy in are suckers...

I'm doubling down on my crypto purchases... Thanks!

As long as there are oppressive financial systems (central banks, the world bank, the current financial pyramid) crypto (decentralized) currencies are going to be around and will provide a needed _service_. The harder the folks (running the 'official Ponzi scheme') fight crypto the more valuable crypto currency technology will be, more smart folks will pay attention to it and it will evolve further.

Since there is no way on Earth that the financial elite will just give up and go away, demand for crypto transactions will be ever present. They can pass laws to make it illegal, but that means that servicing the demand is going to be even more profitable. Consider that the risk of owning an outlawed crypto currency is nowhere near to carrying around a kilo of white powder...

Every time a windbag (insider/rich guy/financial guru), like Taleb or Bill Gates, bad mouths crypto, it should be considered an endorsement of the concept.

Which crypto you choose to put your fiat into however, is your business.

My wife and I experience this on a regular basis. We even tested it. Picked a subject that is never a conversation piece, we spoke about it with our phones and Amazon's Alexa near by and guess what: an ad that we have never seen showed up within hours that was directly related to this subject... We are convinced that our conversation is minimally listened to if not recorded (for AI training purposes of course).