Re:$130B wiped off crypto markets in 24 hours
by tobrien6 on Monday January 24, 2022 @10:20AM
(#30058693)
It's backed by mathematics instead of a country. That doesn't make it better or worse, just different, and diversity is generally what people want in their portfolio.
Re:$130B wiped off crypto markets in 24 hours
by eli on Monday January 24, 2022 @10:24AM
(#30058753)
It's not backed by mathematics any more than gold is backed by chemistry.
Re:$130B wiped off crypto markets in 24 hours
by toufka on Monday January 24, 2022 @10:31AM
(#30058845)
Uh, gold _is_ backed by chemistry. If gold were to change nearly any of its chemical properties, it would instantly lose its value. It is stable, generally non-reactive, non-toxic, lustrous, and of generally low abundance - all properties derived directly from its chemistry.
That is actually one of the strongest arguments, to my mind, for why some variant of a cryptocurrency will survive as a store of value. Gold kind of "organically" found its way into value almost precisely because it is backed by the physical laws of nature. Cryptocurrencies went up a level to be backed by the laws of mathematics.
Re:$130B wiped off crypto markets in 24 hours
by immibis on Monday January 24, 2022 @12:27PM
(#30060830)
Gold's value comes from being a Schelling point, not from any particular chemical properties - other than, like, not killing you or exploding.
Bitcoin is also a Schelling point.
Re:$130B wiped off crypto markets in 24 hours
by eli on Monday January 24, 2022 @11:09AM
(#30059415)
Sure and cash is backed by a special linen-cotton blend of paper.
Re:$130B wiped off crypto markets in 24 hours
by hypertele-Xii on Monday January 24, 2022 @10:37AM
(#30058921)
So, quite a lot then?
Making gold has always been the holy grail of chemistry. It's only valuable because chemistry says you can't make it easily.
Simply put, there's just no path forwards where Bitcoin retains it's value long-term. Other crypto is harder to grok (often intentionally so), but I suspect they'll meet a similar fate once the media attention blows over.