Re:The Cryptocurrency Singularity
by millettjon on Wednesday September 06, 2017 @12:16PM
(#15184824)
If you live under the influence of a failing government, the liquidity of bitcoin may well be higher that the local failin currency as you can move value to/from the outside world.
This is certainly true. All foreign currencies are not alike in their viability, but this does not address the long term concern of the cryptocurrency itself and its inflationary/deflationary direction.
This is a really good point. Why would anyone spend their crypto on amazon if it could be worth 30% more in a week?
Re:The Cryptocurrency Singularity
by vocatus_gate on Wednesday September 06, 2017 @01:55PM
(#15185680)
By that rationale, why would anyone buy a flatscreen TV today, when they know they could wait a few months and it would be a lot cheaper?
exactly that sort of thing DOES happen though - particularly with goods that have planned obsolescence cycles annually, so I'm not sure it's even a good comparison in the first place TBH
Think of it more from a general level and on even bigger purchases like a house. Everyone stopping buying houses for a year because they think sitting on their own currency (regardless of interest rates and the housing market) will make it cheaper is not a good thing.
Inflation is bad, but so is deflation because it encourages saving your money which, in turn, hurts liquidity in the marketplace (i.e. the amount of cash freely flowing around). Liquidity is essential to keep the economy moving.
Isn't what we want really a currency with just a little bit of inflation that keeps people spending their dollars today rather than saving them for tomorrow?