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Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @07:11PM (#26160721)
Why would you hedge against something like inflation, which is relatively constant over a year, by putting your money into a highly speculative risk asset with absolutely insane volatility over that same timeframe? Like many arguments for Bitcoin, this one just doesn't make sense.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by disruptalot on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @07:32PM (#26160975)
"Relatively constant over a year" seems very loose don't you think? In the past year we've seen an unprecedented injection of money into the system. Presuming you're living in the U.S. have a look south of the border to find out how every national currency is always a few economic policies from throwing inflation targets out of the window.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @07:50PM (#26161122)
Even countries that do have hyperinflation experience it at a somewhat predictable pace. With Bitcoin, you don't know if it's down 80% tomorrow, then up 200% the next day, then down 50% the day after. It's a huge tail risk.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by base698 on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @12:27AM (#26163052)
In the Weimar republic eggs went from $0.5 to $500 pretty quickly and by 8 months eggs were $1,500,000. Happens quicker than you think and that's a hell of a tail risk.

Bitcoin has been pretty consistently up on any timeline over the last decade. I've been present every crash and my tolerance for keeping a small percentage of net worth in it increases each time.

You don't have to keep 100% of your cash in bitcoin. With the current pace of money printing I think not keeping something in it is basically negligence to your family.

Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @10:30AM (#26167409)
> Happens quicker than you think and that's a hell of a tail risk.

It's not a tail risk. If you see prices increase exponentially over the span of months, you will have had plenty of time to react. Inflation is mostly a problem of the wage earners who don't have cash savings in the first place. Otherwise, if you have significant life savings all in cash, you're financially illiterate and cryptocurrency is the last thing you should put your money into.

> Bitcoin has been pretty consistently up on any timeline over the last decade.

Bitcoin also has been consistently down 50% from the previous high most of the time. It has pump-and-dump penny stock levels of volatility.

Bitcoin is fine as a speculative asset, as an inflation hedge it's just completely asinine. There is virtually no correlation between actual inflation and the value of Bitcoin. There may be some correlation to the level of panic about hyperinflation among the uninformed public. If you want to ride that wave, go for it.

Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by bluecalm on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @12:55AM (#26163202)
This happened because there wasn't enough eggs or food in general. If there is food shortage in the future people will pay all the bitcoins they have to get a loaf of bread or a few eggs.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by lupire on Thursday February 18, 2021 @09:44PM (#26188951)
Yes, inflation happens when there is more money than goods. What point are you making?
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by adhoc32 on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @07:37PM (#26161011)
The inflation may be constant each year but over the years it accumulates. Check yourself the inflation impact on your savings:

https://www.rl360.com/row/tools/inflation-calculator.htm

With inflation rate 2% after 25 years you lose about 40% of your savings value.

Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @07:54PM (#26161163)
I'm fully aware of that, but there's many financial instruments to hedge against inflation. To that end, I'd sooner put my money into Rolex watches or sneakers than cryptocurrency.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by adhoc32 on Thursday February 18, 2021 @05:18AM (#26178126)
Friendly advice, buy 20$ of Bitcoin to feel how it works before judging it. It might change your mind.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Thursday February 18, 2021 @08:48AM (#26179731)
I do know how it feels, because I do hold some Bitcoin for "fun". Most of the time, it's down 80% from the previous high. Then it randomly appreciates 10x before cratering again. With any meaningful amount of money, that doesn't feel good at all.

The purchasing power I might lose from a mere $20 is of course irrelevant. If I put it into Bitcoin it might turn into $100 or $200 at an off-chance, but that has nothing to do with inflation. Bitcoin just isn't that correlated with cash. If I wanted to make a $20 bet that the dollar inflates dramatically, I would buy an option to buy gold at $5000.

Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by unstatusthequo on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:35PM (#26161957)
Because our government just printed a LOT of money. Look into what money supply does to inflation. More supply of money means things cost more. Interest rates go down, and it’s better to not have cash but assets. I just loaded up on gold, platinum, silver, art, crypto, and real estate. Those will all fare better than cash or savings as hyperinflation grips the country.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @10:48PM (#26162406)
> Because our government just printed a LOT of money.

That may be true, but the broader money supply hasn't really changed much:

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/money-supply-m2

It's also not really clear how it would. Banks aren't out there giving out loans like candy to everyone for anything. The little bit of helicopter money doesn't even cancel out the lack of spending due to COVID layoffs. You just can't have CPI inflation that way.

> I just loaded up on gold, platinum, silver, art, crypto, and real estate.

One of these is not like the others.

> Those will all fare better than cash or savings as hyperinflation grips the country.

You've probably listened too much to gold/silver salesmen who have been warning about the next crash and hyperinflation for many decades.

In reality, inflation is arguably bullish for all these heavily indebted companies in the stock market. A market crash can be hedged against too, just look at how Universa Investments performed in 2020. How did gold perform though? Unimpressive.

Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by dlubarov on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @11:55PM (#26162866)
> broader money supply hasn't really changed much

Did you zoom out? M2 money supply increased 25.6% in the past year. Might be easier to see at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2

Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @10:21AM (#26167286)
A modest change, considering that M1 has almost doubled.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by tradertef on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @08:48PM (#26174470)
What? Is 25% change in total money a modest change?
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Thursday February 18, 2021 @10:25AM (#26180854)
In perspective, yes it is. In a normal year you might expect M2 increase by 5%. Last year was special, of course. People are acting as if hyperinflation was right around the corner because M1 just doubled, ignoring that M1 quadrupled in the ten years before 2020 and that it didn't cause hyperinflation then either.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by tradertef on Saturday February 20, 2021 @02:34AM (#26202355)
So, we just print 5x normal amount (which is also a big why) and it is all good.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by incrudible on Sunday February 21, 2021 @12:32PM (#26215320)
You can have a pandemic, or you can have liquidity crisis on top of a pandemic. Choose wisely.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by tradertef on Thursday February 25, 2021 @12:58PM (#26265800)
Is that so? People have lived through pandemics when they were using gold as a medium of exchange. The pandemic is an excuse for printing money. I would prefer that debasing of fiat would not exist, i.e. there is only limited supply which can not be inflated arbitrarily.
Re:Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto by evilos on Friday February 19, 2021 @04:12AM (#26191102)
FYI they do not print money. The US fed gives banks money in exchange for collateral (US govt debt). The banks cannot spend this money, it has to sit there doing nothing. The banks do make a small amount of money from the assets they swapped for the money. Eventually the swap is reversed, and if the bank does not return the money then the fed keeps the collateral.

The M2 has increased because interest rates are down (on purpose) and more money is being borrowed.