Crypto What cryptocurrencies represent

Bitcoin is almost at $6000 Au.

Aside from the investment opportunities discussed here in other threads, I'm more interested in what it represents.

A free market - it can't be shorted by government like gold and silver are so can't be manipulated. The uptrend is due to accumulation while silver and to some extent gold, which is at an artificial low is being sold more that accumulated.... for various reasons not due to its real value.

Decentralisation - this is exciting and interesting to see what society will do with this.

The decentralisation of media (social media, YouTube etc) has given people control over what gets broadcasted but it has not led to the freedom I thought it would lead to.

People are wasting it by broadcasting what they eat and whinging about things that the government should do not realising that they actually have the power to make changes through critical mass and the tools to do it.

As exciting as cryptocurrencies are and what they represent I'm not holding my breath that people will use them to their full power. I can already see the simple minded fear around them and confusion as people run towards company owned cryptos to make a quick dollar instead of researching the bigger picture.

 

I can't believe no one has anything to say about this ....

 

Don't have enough knowledge to say anything

I think it represents what's to come in how people transacts in the future. Rather than an account with an institution separate from each otehr, you might have one account that can be accessed from multiple institution

 

The question that a lot of governments are asking, is how can it be taxed?

 

I don't think it can be if it's considered a currency exchange

 

I dont understand it much either. But there is an entire thread about it

 

Lots of threads and videos on the internet.

Here people are basically discussing what they bought it for and when they should sell - more to it than that

 

Sorry what is your point? I think the subject has already been well covered.

 

That's not the ATOs view, and I think you'll find their view matters more than yours.

 

It's not so much cryptocurrencies per se that does this. It's the blockchain - the underpinning technology that may have wider applications in decentralisation.
The blockchain gives you a verified distributed ledger and opens up interesting opportunities - you can potentially use it in share transactions (instead of clearing houses like CHESS), land titles in property, P2P energy transactions, etc. It could disrupt existing gatekeepers (such as stock exchanges) or come to nought.
When you think this way, a cryptocurrency is s subset of the way blockchains (and the tokens that are used to trade in the system) can operate.
It will be interesting if smart contracts built from the ethereum network will come to anything

 

I'm sure it is.

What's their view?

 

My general feeling is people should be able to do whatever they want with cryptos provided they have read and demonstrated an understanding of the original white paper.

Other than that I'd point to Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

The blockchain is interesting technology, cryptos not so much for me.

 

It's the same as if you were to be paid by someone in gold bars. What's the ATO going to do? Tell you that you should give 1 gold bar to them. It becomes a tax issue when you want to exchange your bitcoin into AUD.

 

Interesting to watch the trend of comments over time and views changing.

The changes cryptocurrencies will make to society will be bigger than the internet.

Some people will waste that potential on the crypto equivalent of pictures of their food and others will use the technology to their advantage.

Interesting space to watch

 

And another $10,000 has been added to BTC since this post a few months ago - wow!

 

That's what I was just going to post.

$15,064.89 Australian Dollars today!

 

I really hope they don't waste it. There are a number of really cool use cases popping up for Blockchain and I hope that people will start to adopt it and give it the attention it deserves to evolve into something more than a lot of pretty pictures of your breakfast..

I saw an article a couple of weeks ago saying that Coronis Group are accepting bitcoin for rental payments.

Interesting times indeed.

 

Doesn't sound like a massive speculative bubble at all...

In all seriousness, I think blockchain as a technology has potential value. Bitcoin? Not so much. People are buying it only to try to make a quick buck, not because of any knowledge or true grounding for the product, and yes I know supporters like to say "it's an amazing new technology like wow if you bet on the internet in the 1990s you made bazillions and bitcoin is the same". But that is complete rot, because the overwhelming majority of tech stocks during the dotcom bubble tanked to zero and a lot of people lost out. The late 1990s were a technological graveyard. Bitcoin might have long term value, but whether that value is represented at present is an entirely different question, and no one I've spoken to or heard from is buying based on its value (but rather are buying only because of the "wow look how high it is now" factor).

Another issue is regulation. Governments will (and are) regulate it, which will erode much of its so-called appeal. A "de-centralised currency" is a problem, because governments need to control their money, or they could potentially lose revenue. Bitcoin is a common tool for capital flight (along with other dodgy things like laundering). Eventually it will be regulated. China's government, for example, is already proposing its own cryptocurrency which would take a lot of the wind out of bitcoin given most of it is mined and transacted in China.

Yet another issue is the nonsense argument that "wow it's a digital currency" because no it's not, and even if it is we already have that. People purchase stuff on the internet every day. There is no real market for doing the same with bitcoin. Even if they were, people don't trust it and probably never will, because it's too prone to hacking, wallet loss, fraud etc. Again it's rising because of speculation alone, not because of any inherent value.

I'm not saying it won't keep rising, it could keep going up for who knows how long, but bubbles always burst eventually. It's a bet some money on it and see what happens at best, and a horribly risky investment at worst. The fact it's in an obvious mania only supports this. Be cautious when others are greedy.

The last comment I'll make here is if there's no other reason for you to avoid buying bitcoin, it's this: it is an actual environmental disaster in the wings. The planet isn't doing terribly well, and bitcoin mining now uses more electricity than 159 countries combined. That's a very, very big problem.

 

Venezuela to launch oil-backed cryptocurrency called 'petro'

 

That'll end well....