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Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster by SeanLuke on Monday April 26, 2021 @11:45AM (#26943787)
The reason the dollar is a currency is because of the existence of a force (in this case, the Fed) that can tamp down speculation and deflation. Cryptocurrency doesn't have this, and that is its central failing.
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster by HPsquared on Monday April 26, 2021 @11:51AM (#26943883)
What's inherently bad about deflation? It's happened routinely throughout most of history until recently.

Speculation is a good thing, it's a form of entrepreneurship.

Example of historic deflation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Deflation

Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster by reducesuffering on Monday April 26, 2021 @11:57AM (#26943971)
Deflation causes a positive feedback loop of reducing trade. If it's better to hoard currency so you can buy 10% more things next year, everyone starts hoarding currency and reducing trade, leading to suppliers dropping prices to encourage purchases, leading to further deflation, and so on. Trade grinds to a halt as everyone holds currency in anticipation of buying more later.

Stake: 0.05 BTC, 1.2 ETH

Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster by tom_mellior on Monday April 26, 2021 @03:47PM (#26947135)
> If it's better to hoard currency so you can buy 10% more things next year, everyone starts hoarding currency

But they don't. Not if it's things they need now, like food, or want now: electronics have been deflationary for the last 70 years or so -- when you bought the device you typed your comment on, you knew full well that a year later you would get a better one for cheaper, and yet you didn't hoard your currency. Trade in electronics doesn't seem to be grinding to a halt.

Useless crap people don't actually need? Sure, that might suffer from deflation. But ideally the world economy wouldn't be founded on useless crap that people don't actually need.

Stake: Held some Bitcoin ca. 2011-2021, just enough to buy a nice (not fancy) apartment slightly below market price. Divested now. Miniscule amounts of Monero and Tezos, basically written off.

Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster by Weebs on Tuesday April 27, 2021 @01:25PM (#26958886)
I would even argue that it's a good thing in our current environment that we don't facilitate trade for things that aren't needed. Much of the arguments of deflation seem to rely on an economy that has maintained high and ideally growing output, while we live in a world of resources being depleted due to inefficient use and failure to reign externalities.
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster by gher-shyu3i on Monday April 26, 2021 @02:49PM (#26946413)
It will stabilize at some point. We've been trading in deflationary currencies (gold, silver) for most of human history.
Re:Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster by tim333 on Monday April 26, 2021 @01:17PM (#26945145)
The example in that link

>prices of goods, materials and labor decreased, although at a low rate of less than 2% annually

you can deal with. Crypto style 50% drop in months type deflation would make debts in that currency unpayable.