Bitcoin is dead (again)

It’s up $4k since when you posted this :D

At the risk of outing my OCT identity (meh, I never go there anymore anyway), digital currencies aren't going anywhere now. But whether BTC itself holds up is another matter. Unlike gold, technology can quickly become antiquated. The best way for BTC to stay relevant is institutional adoption like becoming the national currency, that way it will enjoy government protections like fiat currently does. But that defeats the whole point of Bitcoin.

To move away from a culturally accepted medium of value exchange requires a cultural shift. Some media have more inertia than others due to how widespread the cultural acceptance is and levels of institutional support and infrastructure around it, like gold. There could be a shift away from gold, but it would require a massive cultural shift and abandonment of financial infrastructure. The opposite is your average shitcoin, which has been adopted by a small, fickle group of technologists who are very apt to pick up the next new thing and abandon it. Bitcoin is in between but the strong trend is moving towards increasing cultural acceptance, not abandonment, which will make it more effort to abandon in the future.

WhoMe said:

it will enjoy government protections like fiat currently does. But that defeats the whole point of Bitcoin.

in relation to states bitcoin should be seen as a trojan horse or poison pill

of course I'm happy if bitcoin is adopted by anyone, including governments
of course I'm happy if its price in USD grows - I don't care about growth of wealth in dollars but my purchasing power is increasing, that's what I value

but all this is incompatible with state in the long-term - existence of the state is dependent on theft and use of coercion to make slaves pay for what they wouldn't voluntarily - all that is grounded in the ability to create worthless credit out of thin air and make people to work for what they can print without limits - adoption of bitcoin redefines the state and kills it inevitably

You shall never sell your btc.

I wasn't much of a crypto fanatic at first, for years, out of ignorance. But I support it for an obvious reason: banks have too much power and it's getting worse. Fueled by governments because they'd otherwise face hundreds of millions of euros in fines (which happens regularly), is KYC. It's often just a challenge to transfer five figures these days. BTC makes it possible to transfer money to another country on the other side of the world in five seconds. Wonderful. With banks it's a permanent hassle with delays, checks/questions, and freezing of funds. Doesn't matter if you're entirely whitehat these days. They'll make your life hell if they feel like it. Imagine the economy if money wasn't constantly held back and could simply keep flowing.

We must do everything we can to transition to a crypto based system as our fundament that bypasses banks and allows for instant, cost-free transfers. If BTC can facilitate or improve this even 10% in the future, I'll be overjoyed.

JohnnyDoe said:

too optimistic. It will “just” become the global reserve currency, and redefine monetary policies.

even if it would stop at just becoming the reserve asset it will change the world order, i.e. changing who is the boss now - the courageous ones will benefit, the ossified nation states will suffer, seems disruptive enough to me

but I don't believe it will stop there, they will be forced to back their fiat by bitcoin eventually (making it no "fiat" anymore...)

JohnnyDoe said:

People will use btc as storage of value, and xmr for everyday transactions.

no matter how much I'd prefer this scenario I don't think this will happen - centralized rails with provable bitcoin backed reserves will take over the daily spending, it's just a matter of lower resistance and convenience

87k rn; Black Friday came late this year

JohnnyDoe said:

I see nothing disruptive in the current state of affairs:

1) it's not just about podium... it makes a huge difference to move from 100+ to top 20
2) these "holders" didn't (officially) buy pretty much anything - putting aside El Salvador and Bhutan, they have basically stolen it

it's a pretty good deal to print worthless credit and buy the scarcest thing in the universe, the race didn't start yet

or I'm just a dreamer and wrong as usual ;)

If you consistently do the opposite of what the EU claims its strategy is, you’ll always end up being right 😉

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