If/when the value rises, so also does the intent/desire to steal high value. IMO the thieves will always remain one step ahead at finding exploits (as they do with Browsers) and present day $600M type thefts/hacks out of the bit coin algorithm would simply scale. At the $21Tn value you suggest the ...

I would add another book reference here: The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age https://www.amazon.com/The-Sovereign-Individual-audiobook/dp/B07TWNP9NB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=sovereign+individual&qid=1629897656&sr=8-1&x=0&y=0 Thanks I'll ...

The present popularity is a consequence of speculation, <1% of corporate assets type allocations that could increase 10-fold, might fail. A penny stock 'low correlation' type bet. Price/value discovery that mid to longer term will disappoint but see considerable volatility along the way. There are ...

First of all, why is she--or anyone--entitled to a positive real rate of interest on their savings? I'm saying that the money should just work. You get paid, you put it in the bank, you're good. If you want to take additional risk, you can invest it. Instead we have made it a policy to erode the pe...

vincent_c wrote: ↑Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:35 am Have tulips been a good store of value after it’s speculative bubble bursted? I’m too young and not a gardener to know anything about tulips.

Tulips and beanie babies are not a good store of value because if their value rises, people produce more of them, driving the value down.

In Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, the most productive members of society grow tired of carrying the yoke. The value of their productive effort is increasingly drained by cronies in Washington. They awaken to the fact that they are responsible for keeping this anti-life system going. They realize it is ...

Wages over the long term typically at least keep up with inflation which they indeed mostly have; check out the AWI from Social Security or AHEPTI from the Federal Reserve Data (FRED) website and compare it to CPI. Ideally they would also keep up with economywide productivity growth above and beyon...

What can you use it for besides selling it to someone else? I've wondered this for a long time. Yeah it's mostly just for exchanging goods, like paper money. You can also set up governance structures where proof of ownership of a coin that is "colored" in some way, gives you a vote in the...

Bitcoin is e-gold. It's in people's interest to hold it over fiat currency because it will not be inflated, and inflation is bad for the people. Jack, Good rebuttal. I liked it. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've appreciated your posts because they reflect a skeptical mind. I've been interested in Bitco...

I just don't see how "anonymity" and "technology that immutably and forever keeps a complete record of all transactions ever" go together at all. Anonymity is unfortunately not baked into Bitcoin and will probably never be. However, my previous example showed how one could own B...

What's the purpose of anonymity? What does it get me that is tangible and useful if I'm not hiding something? Well, we are hiding something. I contribute to this forum anonymously because I don't want you guys coming for my gold and bitcoin. Why is it REALLY in my best interest to use a crytpo-curr...

In terms of regulatory issues, I think Bitcoin has been majorly de-risked in the past few years. It's being financialized, there are publicly traded companies, a question on page one of the 1040, SEC statements. Bitcoin mining operations are setting up here because things are so stable and predicta...

Jack, what do you think bitcoin’s total addressable market is and where do you think adoption is right now and during the next bear market? I think there's a chance that it eats up gold's market cap because it is more rare and easier to store/transport. And a lesser but non-zero chance that it beco...

If you create a new wallet and I send you some Bitcoin, nobody but me knows that you own that Bitcoin. If you acquire your Bitcoin through an exchange w/ KYC requirements, that's another story. Yeah, you are talking to a crypto illiterate. I mean, I understand the concepts of what you just wrote, b...

If you create a new wallet and I send you some Bitcoin, nobody but me knows that you own that Bitcoin. If you acquire your Bitcoin through an exchange w/ KYC requirements, that's another story.

Is there any number at which you would sell your Bitcoin? What if there was a scenario where your Bitcoin had escalated in value (expressed in USD). A lot. And let's say there were storm clouds on the horizon in the form of potential regulatory change that could adversely affect the market. Would y...

Trying to tell people that they can run away with their wealth and start over or can be wealthy in some post-apocalyptic scenario is much harder to do when you're asking them to say "I have a very big number in my possession" as opposed to "I have a lot of gold in my possession"...

There is a good reason why BTC cannot actually be part of the PP at the moment, and that is because in order for you to allocate it to the PP, you need to be able to time the relative valuation of BTC against gold (i.e. whether BTC is over or undervalued compared to gold). I don't follow. Is this b...

My investments in crypto have been based greater fool speculation. Basically as I see more and more mainstream interest and enthusiasm for crypto the more confident I am that there will be a growing market. As long as the market of buyers is growing, the price should go up regardless of why they're...

Given his age though, I think he might have a hard time getting comfortable with the complexity of the technology and the opaque aspects of crypto in general. I'm MUCH younger than Harry Browne, and I have a hard time with those things too. I don't think it's an issue of being "comfortable&quo...

In Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, the most productive members of society grow tired of carrying the yoke. The value of their productive effort is increasingly drained by cronies in Washington. They awaken to the fact that they are responsible for keeping this anti-life system going. They realize it is m...

If you have to qualify it by “hard” when referring to gold, then it’s not money until it’s converted like kbg alluded to. Yeah I guess we're quibbling with definitions. You guys say gold isn't money because it's not a medium of exchange. I consider gold money because it's a sure-fire way to store t...

What we're talking about is money on the nation-state level. The IRS's opinion is not applicable here. The IRS having deemed gold as property has had little bearing on people and nations hoarding it as money. I believe that when Bitcoin's market cap can support such use, countries will hold it in r...

Also, regarding Bitcoin vs cryptocurrencies in general. My mental model of the cryptocurrency world is that Bitcoin is like gold, almost an unchangeable elemental commodity, and other cryptocurrencies are like individual stocks, being under development, having a leader, etc. As such, I would never h...

But I think the proper tax treatment (ie as property) which is what most jurisdictions are treating it as will prevent the mainstream use of BTC for payments. Exactly. I don't understand why the currency conversation keeps coming back (in the US at least), when the IRS has deemed all crypto to be p...