Re:What the Crypto Crowd Doesn’t Understand About Economics
by nradov on Tuesday June 22, 2021 @11:46AM
(#27593167)
The closest analog to what crypto seems to want to become in our financial markets is cash hidden in a briefcase. The value is primarily in evading currency controls for smuggling wealth out of China and other authoritarian states.
Re:What the Crypto Crowd Doesn’t Understand About Economics
by danaris on Tuesday June 22, 2021 @11:31AM
(#27592944)
It may not be what informed observers want it to be, but it's still what every single person I've seen trumpeting the virtues of cryptocurrency here on HN has been shooting for.
The argument is invariably "the value of cryptocurrency is giving us a currency that's not controlled by central banks". Never have I seen someone saying cryptocurrency should be used because it's highly volatile and great for speculating.
So there seems to be a significant divide between the people who use cryptocurrency (but don't attach a moral value to it) and the people who believe in cryptocurrency (but ignore what it's actually used for).
Re:What the Crypto Crowd Doesn’t Understand About Economics
by koheripbal on Tuesday June 22, 2021 @12:05PM
(#27593413)
If we forget all the "wants" various parties might have today, I think we can all agree that IF the scalability issue can be ironed out, then there is extremely significant value in cryptocurrencies acting as a real world currency.
Very few informed observers seriously expect crypto to become a general-use currency. That's a role it detached from years ago, first in practice and then in rhetoric.
The closest analog to what crypto seems to want to become in our financial markets is in risk-free assets. Universal collateral. This used to be gold. Now it's Treasuries and Bunds. None of those markets are terrifically efficient or universalized. And neither requires long-term price stability; just predictability.
(Note: it does not follow that crypto will be as valuable as e.g. the Treasury market. Treasuries serve as a safe asset. They also finance the U.S. government. Figuring out the worth of the former detached from the latter is difficult.)