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Re:Bitcoin Blows Past $9,000 by pizza234 on Sunday November 26, 2017 @06:21PM (#15783669)
The rich ones are those who got rich (by cashing out) - not the ones getting rich.

The latter ones are not "rich"; they're "paper rich", which is radically different.

I think it's crucial to highlight the difference, since the BTC may be toilet paper tomorrow, or maybe not; and this is how lotteries work.

Re:Bitcoin Blows Past $9,000 by MoBattah on Sunday November 26, 2017 @09:46PM (#15784466)
I don't like these "paper rich" comments. Why? Because the vast majority of people who hold BTC can market sell their coins now without affecting the market.

Your statement, from my understanding, is saying "if people cash out, everything will crash". That's simply not true. More so, it's not true because that's fundamentally not how markets work.

Whenever someone buys 400 BTC, that means someone else sold or "cashed out" 400 BTC. This is a highly liquid market system with many participants, not a lottery system.

Re:Bitcoin Blows Past $9,000 by pizza234 on Monday November 27, 2017 @09:13AM (#15787443)
> Your statement, from my understanding, is saying "if people cash out, everything will crash"

I never wrote that. I've been quite specific:

> BTC may be toilet paper tomorrow, or maybe not; and this is how lotteries work.

The difference between wealth and "paper wealth", in this interpretation, is simply in the volatility of the assets.

BTC is extremely volatile both in the short and long terms, therefore being rich can't be disassociated from the cash out.

Association is the concept I'm stressing. With lowly volatile assets, one can be reasonably confident the value of the assets, so cashing out can be reasonably ignored, but with highly volatile ones, one can't, so it's all about the moment of the conversion.

Lottery has probably been a wrong term - probably gambling is better, but the concept still stands.

Re:Bitcoin Blows Past $9,000 by pmoleri on Sunday November 26, 2017 @10:48PM (#15784662)
However it's crazy how volatile it is. When you Cash out, you would put your money in a less volatile currency or asset.