Bitcoin vs Gold as a store of value

misterkel · Jan 20, 2018

d08 said:
Even currencies are better in that to some extent they are backed by governments.

That's the problem - you can't trust governments to impose self-restraint. Zimbabwe, for example, has a thing called the 'dollar' backed by a government. Didn't work out so well.

misterkel · Jan 20, 2018

JackRab said:
It's like how major banks are linking up with Ripple's network, but there's no need for the coin itself... therefore it's of no real use and value is nil...

Kind of like Google stock?

d08 · Jan 20, 2018

misterkel said:
That's the problem - you can't trust governments to impose self-restraint. Zimbabwe, for example, has a thing called the 'dollar' backed by a government. Didn't work out so well.

That's an extreme example. There's also the EUR, USD, JPY.

Overnight · Jan 20, 2018

misterkel said:
That's the problem - you can't trust governments to impose self-restraint. Zimbabwe, for example, has a thing called the 'dollar' backed by a government. Didn't work out so well.

Yeah, and now they use the USD as their currency. That will probably work out better.

henry76 · Jan 20, 2018

misterkel said:
It's also radioactive. Probably undercuts the value.

True now , but I did say in 50 years, after all 50 years ago the idea of making diamonds was unrealistic.

matthewyoung · Jan 21, 2018

Sprout said:
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.

Which is why I expect federal reprisals against crypto holdings. Can already see it in the far east.

JackRab · Jan 21, 2018

misterkel said:
Kind of like Google stock?

Care to explain that?

JackRab · Jan 21, 2018

johnarb said:
There are put options available on bitcoin but they are overpriced but they will limit your losses..

Those put options are 1. traded on an unregulated exchange and 2. quoted in BTC.. which means when you buy puts they are settled in bitcoin, so when bitcoin is at zero those puts are basically worth zero as well. And even if it drops only to a certain level, when you sell the puts you get bitcoins for it and you still need to get out of those to cash in...

All up, there are no proper options on bitcoin for people to short it.

johnarb · Jan 21, 2018

JackRab said:
Those put options are 1. traded on an unregulated exchange and 2. quoted in BTC.. which means when you buy puts they are settled in bitcoin, so when bitcoin is at zero those puts are basically worth zero as well. And even if it drops only to a certain level, when you sell the puts you get bitcoins for it and you still need to get out of those to cash in...

All up, there are no proper options on bitcoin for people to short it.

Where are you getting your information from regarding the 2 items you said?

https://ledgerx.com/about-ledgerx/

http://www.businessinsider.com/bloc...llion-bet-bitcoin-could-soar-to-50000-2017-12

JackRab · Jan 21, 2018

johnarb said:
Where are you getting your information from regarding the 2 items you said?

Righto, I was looking at another bit-options exchange, derebit...

I'll have a close look at this ledgerX thing...