Well I can send you money without paying a middle man now, so that's good. The amount of energy that has gone into creating many cryptocurrencies is insane.
(Devil's Advocate) Given that crypto uses large amounts of energy, which must be paid for in 'real' currency, it might be argued that at least in this regard real value is generated.
@@lukemclellan2141 About 3 years. Some bulbs were bought for the equivalent of a million dollars in today's money, before people finally realized what, exactly, they were doing. Pure speculation. With crypto, all you're buying is a bunch of numbers on a computer screen, and hoping someone will buy them from you for more than you paid someone else for them. The only people who make money on crypto are those who sell it for more currency (ie pounds, dollars, etc.) than they paid for them.
There are only two things I've ever vaguely understood about digital currencies: - they seems perfect to hide value from government and extract value from criminal enterprise - the digital ledger reminds me of a hawala system
Please don't delete this video and please keep come back to update about what you think in the future. I hope you live long and live well to see how things can evolve
Those that advocate it stopped referring to it as a currency long ago and pivoted to "digital gold". The value of actual gold may be completely irrational but it will always have some intrinsic value. I don't see what is stopping crypto going down to zero.
Maybe you can't see it because you haven't looked at all the projects that are adding value to bitcoin! What value would you place on a super secure global database that never crashes and can't be controlled by any individual, company or state? A database the you can permanently record transitions, text or numbers on and can't be deleted or changed and is available 24/7 anywhere in the world or the solar system. Try sending gold to Neptune in 4 hours!
@@Andrew-oe2ge Well fiat currency is not a good investment asset as it famously constantly depreciates. For sure you won't want to be holding a lot of it if it suddenly becomes worthless.
@@foobar476You could start by understanding the significant difference between broad “crypto” and Bitcoin. In reality, ‘crypto’ describes the tens of thousands of “alt coins” which are nothing but complete junk. They are created to extract capital from the lazy folk who want to get rich quick but, get poorer quicker. OGs don’t care for what happens to fools who throw their money at alt coins - they deserve everything they get. As for Bitcoin going to zero? Yeah, good luck with that. If you don’t understand why then, with respect, go and educate yourself. After all, all of the information and data is out there - and it is nobodies responsibility but your own, to go and read it. If you can’t be bothered - that’s your choice - but look at around you and at the state of your life: both laziness and ignorance has a tax and people like you are paying it every single day.
Thank you for calling out the American far right. I would clarify that it is not that the right wing does not have faith in the government, it is that they are opposed to the basic functions of a modern government.
With maybe at least one exception, and that's the law of property rights. If this basic function was taken away, all of the billionaires (along with all other wealth owners) would be up in arms.
Sadly most people don't use it as a currency and have actually reintroduced all kinds of middlemen (the exchanges) whom's deletion was the whole point of establishing the cryptocurrencies in the first place
I think you could argue that fiat currencies tend to zero value. And you could argue that gold and other precious metals have value because of rarity. All crypto is not the same.
Fiat currencies are maintained in value by their usage by the government for taxation and public spending, and by commerce within the state and external to it, in international trade. Bitcoin has pretty much none of this.
They tend to inflate, you need the role of the central banks is trying to match currency is circulation vs whats is being produce, but the way that Capitalism works makes currencies always to inflate because credit is also a way to estimulate eternal economic growth that Capitalism needs, so thats what causes inflation, very hard to control currency circulation and surplus but better to have inflation than deflation, the second would crash the economy as we know today
Is not that the state has to be trusted. Is that the state is serving financial parasites and neoliberal orthodoxy. In the end it is always the same things, power and class interests.
The BOE has been supposed to have been independent since 1997. The Federal Reserve since its inception. The Reagan and Thatcher regimes of the 1980's relaxed credit controls and every government since then has continued light touch regulation. Considering in the global economy the volume of financial transactions (financed by debt BTW) outstrips that of the transactions of real stuff and services many fold, in what sense are governments failing in the trust to manage the currency other than that they have abdicated the role to vested interests which squeeze and suck the life out of the real economy? It is the banks and financial institutions which currently cannot be trusted in managing the currency Sure in the past several governments have cocked their currencies up, but at least they were accountable in one way or another to the people. I am not sure that was the intention of Bitcoin when it began - but yes it does appear to have become a speculative "asset". It is hard to think of something which does not really exist and holds no function as an asset though.
Canadian federal conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is a great advocate of bitcoin. That he is likely to become Prime Minister in the election expected in 2025 disturbs me a great deal.
Crypto should be outlawed, or severely restricted as a gambling asset. It is a direct challenge to the authority of the state and the possibility of democratic control of the economy. Tax is the only thing that can bring the oligarchs to heel.
The oligarchs own the assets, so own the ability to increase prices of goods and services. Increase their taxes and they simply increase the price to the consumer to cover them. Regular folk may pay a smaller portion of their income in taxes, but any benefit will be wiped out by the increased costs of everything.
Regarding price volatility. I suspect Bitcoin is doing what any global, non fiat asset would do in it's infancy. It's price volatility should stabilise more and more over time.
I think Charlie Munger summed up crypto perfectly when he described it as rat poison :). 0:55 Not strictly correct. Are you not describing 'legal tender? Gold, on the other hand, is and has always been the ultimate currency the only real flaw being liquidity but we are now seeing gold backed accounts which get round this little wrinkle.
They do not want to trust governments, so they trust a lot of shadowy characters that 'mine' them. And getting paid for that runs out for bitcoin in 2040 (and reduces to that point). So, the expensive mining has to be paid out of transaction fees. You have to bid how much you will pay to have your transaction registered. Sound like a good scheme to anyone? Anyone? A system with built in friction, that increases over time. Well done.
Sounds like TCP/IP. That is a rubbish system with lots of friction but everyone uses it every day. You remove the friction in layer 2 and 3. That is where you pay for your coffee, NOT on the base layer.
*2140 not 2040. Also, the traits of it can be changed over time, it's an evolving design that can be changed to deal with new problems. Not quite as bad as you think it is, but it's not for everyone.
No. Fiat is a bookkeeping system of debt, which means, money is backed by debt. Fiat can be seen to become a Ponzi, when it is not backed enough by debt. When a bank, which creates money by giving loans loses most of its debtors, it becomes insolvent. Bitcoin is not at all backed by debt. Bitcoin is nothing but a bank, which is insolvent by design. So Bitcoin is the worst case of fiat when you dislike fiat.
"SEC Chair confirms BTC is a commodity but infers ETH is a security. In a recent interview with CNBC, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler confirmed his view that Bitcoin is a commodity, while the majority of remaining cryptocurrencies are securities. - 3 May 2024"
Now that the first quantum computer is up and running, I'm wondering how long before someone turns a quantum computer toward crypto-mining. Would it blow up the crypto system? I have no clue. I claim no knowledge of such tech, only a certain morbid curiosity.
0:25 a currency is not a medium of exchange. This is blunt nonsense economists invented, when they had to explain money, but without any clue, what money is all about. So the did stick with the most superfical observation. A medium of exchange on a market would be designed completely different. Money is a bookkeeping system of debt. When money is being used, we do not have exchange at all. Only one party gives and only one party gets and the payment is the bookkeeping of this transaction.
Cryptos are not mined. The energy is consumed for a lottery. More energy does not creates more cryptos. How many cryptos are generated per hour is a constant and independent from the energy being used. When you mine gold, your output doubles when you double your effort. What is called "mining" and "miners" is a lottery among bookkeepers.
No, the value in real currencies (and not the pump-and-dump scheme that crypto is) is based on the requirement to pay taxes in the currency. That's why (e.g.) Roman coins are so widespread... they paid their armies in coin, and the army paid for provisions in coin--with the promise that the tax collectors would pop around in a bit and demand some of the coins in taxes.
@bzolsen yes, taxes are demanded first, which turns the citizens of the state into debtors, who must demand the money, the state wants to spend. Debt is what makes money being money. Without indebting its citizens the state and its money can be ignored. Tax collection comes at the very end. It is the same as paying back a loan.
With the greatest of respect, you are very early in your journey of understanding what cryptocurrencies are. Once you have done another 1000 hours of research, your opinions will change. Well done for starting your journey though. That's the first step and you're still ahead of most people. Good luck.
From my understanding, even there it's more of a money laundering mechanism to hide the real currency involved, rather than a market primarily using crypto as it's foundation
@@markwelch3564 nope, it's just easier to accept cryptocurrency. How ths fact escapes people I don't understand. For example, I can send you a little money easily with crypto, but it's very hard for you to send me a little without it.
Bitcoin is the separation of money from state where in future governments will be audited on their performance rather than as they are now being allowed to print endless money to cover up their incompetence.
Just mention that Crypto is not currency because currency NEEDs to be a meam of Exchange stable, if Crypto is limited its not a valid mean of Exchange because it tends to deflate the Economy, if it even work it will be at best a reserve value, but unlike gold its scarcity is only theorical while we cannot produce Gold, for example. Considering both have social value ....
Pretty obvious. You call it an asset and avoid the word ‘commodity’. You also don’t seem to realise that you lose crypto when Exchanges go bust because you gave them the keys. Keep your keys and it truly is safe. Crypto is taxed. I have little faith in the banking system so it’s not about having no faith in democracy. What is also obvious to me is that any criticism of Bitcoin, forgetting the other junk, should end with a ‘however’- its a good bet to have a few percent of your capital in Bitcoin as a long time hedge. You missed that off signalling an illogical bias.
@@davidmcculloch8490Fiat Money isn't backed by anything physical, just a belief - that's where the name comes from. Nothing has backed the major currencies since 1971. Commodity Money is what you're describing. "The term fiat derives from the Latin word 'fiat', meaning "let it be done" - used in the sense of an order, decree or resolution." - wiki In other words, fiat currencies have value only because states have declared that they have value.
@@nicholasmball I disagree. The aim of a currency is to "store value" but the value of Crypto is subject to wild fluctuations. Perhaps you know of a better reference which refutes Richard's criticisms? Best wishes Michael
@@michaeldepodesta001 so he's talking solely about bitcoin then, not crypto. The vast majority of crypto isn't designed to be currency. This video would have been a fitting criticism back in 2015, not today.
@@Andrew-oe2ge Good Afternoon. I think Richard Murphy is an accountant, but his profession doesn't matter. What matters is what he says. Regarding your comment, it isn't very helpful to just say "He is wrong..." It would be helpful if you could reference his incorrect statement and then tell us all the way in which he is incorrect. I know that's very time consuming. I am fascinated by this field, but I have never heard an explanation of crypto currencies that makes any sense to me. And for what it's worth I have a PhD in physics and can follow moderately complicated arguments. Best wishes Michael
"If you take away the power of the state to create money" - then how will you devalue the cash that people have in the bank? (Mostly poor people since rich people own assets)
The only way to devalue cash that people have in the bank is when a bank defaults and the government continues to limit depositor protection in the event of a bank default (via FDIC) if they hold more than $250K in that bank (or €100K in Europe). Although, if the government bails out the bank or covers 100% of depositors cash, then there's no problem, but that's a big risk. Also, with an MMT lens, you will learn that creating US dollars doesn't automatically devalue the dollar.
Richard you seem to have a lot of faith in the state, when we’re told we must be prepared for another 2008 AND at present our accounts can be frozen if we disagree with the government, or have I been mislead by conspiracies? The problem is people here and in other parts of the world, do not trust our governments.
They are almost all issued. The little, which is still missing, is economically almost meaningless. We talk of about 5%. Within 8 years this will be reduced to about 1%.
@ThomasVWorm my point is that once all 21 million are mined, an element of the value speculation ceases to exist. No one can obtain any more through mining.
This in an intriguing conversation. Yesterday I purchased some milk and bread from my local OTR in Morphettvale in South Australia (OTR is a local convenience chain). They accept Bitcoin, Eth and a couple of other cyrptos. The purchase was completed and I was not overcome by the urge to invade Poland once.
I agree that crypto coins aren't a good thing, but I'm not sure I understand your "the state is defined by its ability to create money". Countries that use the euro cannot create money, so "they're not states"? Could you please elaborate?
I think you have accidentally hit a nail on the head. Legally countries which use the Euro are states, but in all practice they have ceased to become little more than local authorities because like local authorities they do not have control of the currency they use. The example of the Greek experience makes this abundantly clear. They do though have the option to leave the Eurozone, if prepared to take whatever consequences that may follow, which would restore their real statehood. Until an actual Eurozone country leaves that zone, I think they can be best described as a post states, since they once were states, or limbo states, as they have the possibility to be so again if willing.
No expert on Crypto at all. How do you buy it and how do you sell it? You would have to by a bitcoin at a low price with say Dollars and sell at a higher price in Dollars I'm assuming in order to take your profit. In order to get one bitcoin - what do you buy that with? You haven't got even one bitcoin yet so you can't buy it with bitcoins. It reminds me more of the buyers paying the price of a share on any given hour/minute or day. You could buy for 1 cent at 9.30 am and later on at 3pm it's worth 10 cents. Conversely - you by for 10 cents at 9.30 and at 3pm it's worth 1 cent. You couldn't run a state doing that. Surely it has to be turned into something you can buy something with and sell something with? Otherwise it's worthless in the real world.
Lots of questions Mark, you don't need to buy it, you can get some for free to try it for yourself. The value fluctuates, that's true of everything. You can buy stuff with it, google a nano faucet if you want to try it.
Pure fantasy based of speculation and hype. And then the valuation just explode based on nothing. Out of thin air. Assets value is based on the usefulness and business behind it, like shares. Even that is over valued. Cypto at the highest delusion.
Crypto allows people to make digital payments to other people without going thru private payment processing corporations. I can use Litecoin, for example, to donate to Wikileaks or to pay a journalist reporting on the adventures of empire. The transaction cost is virtually always less than a fraction of a penny, whereas, if I buy a loaf of bread at the corner shop, Visa takes 5p. Granted, crypto currencies are not currencies and I would never speculate on the madness of crowds. It's purely a medium of exchange. Having said that, the initial cost of conversion is annoyingly expensive. You have to pay the private processor to avoid the private processors. I think we should have normal money as we have it, cash and digital, as well as a national digital currency option from a national public bank. It's basically a nationally backed crypto-currency which can replace some of the functions of private banks and credit card companies and payment processors who take a cut every time we move a muscle. I believe in the possibility of a democratic, non-corrupt govt run by and for the people, and see no reason one can't design a digital currency that allows for anonymity, privacy and security
Most people do not understand what crypto is.They ask: *1)* What is it? *2)* What does it do? *3)* How can I benefit from it? *4)* How can I join? *5)* Where is it? *6)* How does it work for me on an everyday basis? Most view it as a ponzi scheme, that will leave many broke and a few walking off with most.
2:40 Bitcoin is not created by "mining" and a lot of compute power. To create Bitcoin, it needs hardly any energy. Bitcoin are raffled off. The compute power is needed to keep the gamblers busy for 10 minutes to guarantee that the distance between two lottery draws are constant 10 minutes. So the more gamblers compete, the more compute power is needed, to keep this distance by lowering the chances for the gamblers.
Claiming crypto has zero intrinsic value is just ignorance. It is outside the fiat banking system. That is a fundamental property which gives it value to many people. Different crypto currencies have fundamental properties which give them value over other cryptocurrencies. Speed of transfer, fees, total transfers per second, to give three key examples.
Fees are cost. Speed of transfer and transactions per seconds are measurements for disadvatages. Cryptos are not backed by claims nor by commodities. There is nothing. So the only thing you can name for giving a value are the costs they create to the users.
Most of which is very true, Richard. But clearly anyone who thinks that crypto will replace world currencies needs to give their head a shake, but it most definitely will have its place in the future. I think most users see it, not as a way to undermine Government, but as a way to undermine the egregious hold that 'finance' has on the economy. Digital currencies main problems are caused by people 'trading' them. This was never supposed to be their function and has led to its apparent and inherent instability. I'm sure some would say that's not a bad thing and could even have been deliberate to undermine it. Like so much in this overly digitised web-based world, the biggest threat is the catastrophic devastation that will be caused by the next Coronal Mass Ejection. Not 'if' but 'when'. It's only a matter of time and anyone who thinks that is just tinfoilhattery, also needs to give their head a shake.
Personally I think you are slightly wrong. You can exchange crypto tokens for goods, but governments are desperate for these not to get used for an exchange of value because they cannot control it. In terms of inflation you’re slight wrong again because you are comparing it to another fiat currency. Because there is a finite amount of some tokens then they themselves don’t really have inflation. For example one bit coin is alway worth one bit coin. Where as given time fiat currencies are continually devaluing. You are absolutely correct that as a store of value though they are essentially worthless. No more valuable than a word document is, but then again what is the store of value in fiat currencies when 99.9% of the time they become worth an ever decreasing amount.
He’s not “slightly wrong”. It’s much worse. He’s fundamentally misunderstood the value proposition, likely due to some staggeringly weak research, which also pollutes his conclusions.
Terrific op Ed on crypto currencies. Totally agree they're Not currencies. They're encouraging wildly unfounded speculative "opportunities ". Finally I think you're nearer the target wrt to the far right using this as a medium to undermine the state. Elon Musk has/is been a big player in the bitcoin arena.
I think the state is doing a great job of undermining itself with neo-Marxist ideology, forever wars, mass migration, 2-tier policing, inflation and censorship!
Not a good look, strange video, you usually seem so well researched and balanced, but not when shilling against the "Crypto" industry. This video seem dumb and half baked and insulting to those inventing and implementing "crypto currency" as though Fiat currency, or Pokemans or or Company shares aren't "imaginary" aren't manipulated or don't have a "certain value" - or that all Governments have our best interests at heart, so trust them. Perhaps discuss your concerns with someone who knows what they are talking about?
It is not strange at all, there are lots of these far leftist boomer types with massive egos that think they are an expert in everything and desperately want to prop up a failing system that will not last 50 years.
What is the purpose of this stuff in parallel to fiat currency? It's just more financial chicanery, that it's more accessible makes it no less manipulative bullshit. It's not a solution to anything except for some whales to get rich, while the world continues to burn
.. and now he seems so ill-informed and unbalanced because he took a valid swipe at crypto currencies? Lol I hold a bit of crypto but my eyes are wide fucking open to what it really is. Speculative and not to be trusted as a 'store of intrinsic value' because it has none.
I like your channel, however, surely the double entry would be credit bank debit asset account, also if one sells and makes a gain it is taxed as a capital gain and also a loss can be brought forward against future gains, thus the same rules as any other tangible asset apply. Finally most people wouldn’t pay tax with crypto as it would trigger another potential tax charge! Don’t go to far off the beam, your content has been good since far!
@@Andrew-oe2ge well he is not wrong. His view of what BTC is, is in fact correct. The only additional thing that could and should have been said, is that BTC is actually not even the actual Bitcoin because BTC is a fork created in 2017 during SegWit protocol change which split the chain into 2, then again BCH was protocol changed again with CTOR and 10 block centralised checkpoints. The result of the 2 chain splits is that because of propaganda in media, influencers, exchanges and MSM, extremely small amount of people even know that what they call and sell as "Bitcoin" is not the actual Bitcoin at all. People in BCH also believe theirs is the actual BItcoin but they are not correct either. There is lot more I could add here but I don't want to waste my time. All the information is out there already, peeople just need to stop listening to these influencers and fake "experts' in both crypto and MSM, and start going back to Bitcoin protocol fundamentals. You have all been deceived is what I can tell you, and I say it as a fact... not an optinion.
You make the typical mistake of coming across like an over-privileged westerner here. Many countries are not stable, do not have stable currencies, and lack any kind of banking infrastructure. People use crypto there because there is no alternative: the local currency may be even more volatile or even not accepted as legal tender. You deliver all the predictable lectures about crypto without any awareness of how this plays out in the underdeveloped world or in countries undergoing major stress like Ukraine.
Your acting like every person in Africa is using Crypto and its a good thing. Or Ukraine can use crypto to buy weapons and aid. It doesnt work like that.
All the banks and large accountants are experimenting with blockchain. Zero the accountancy software company explain it well on their website. This is typical of Richard, always prepared to pontificate and assert from a point of ignorance, very amusing.
Just because crypto isnt broadly a medium of exchange in the traditional sense, doesn't make it not a medium of exchange, you can purchase other crypto currencies with crypto on the blockchain, if you own ethereum you can use that ethereum to buy btc, or any other crypto variation. It is absolutely a medium of exchange within the crypto networks. Crypto currencies should be measured by owning part of the network - for those that don't understand.
@@joaor.8780 I'm sure there are some baseball cards that might have a significant value. You cam't argue BTC has no value... It literally has an exchange price.
Crypto would vanish with the end of the State. How can crypto exist without the internet? How can the internet exist without the state? The super rich want a functioning state. Anarchy would leave them penniless.
Yep, no one is more pro state than the super rich, that is why most of them have fully adopted the ideology of western states, post modern neo-Marxism. It was only when the ideology went too far with censorship, transing kids, forced vaxing and anarchy at the borders that Elon and others started to break from the ideology.
Destructive capitalism is hardly impoverishing the 'super rich'. The idea and intent to reset an economic social (& psychological) system for human assets is part of a vastly disproportional imbalance of wealth leveraging control. Corruption seeks immunity against accountability - Hence its seeks overwhelming control. Whether it can control the destructive energies being unleased is another matter to that it believes manipulating by deceit is the means to the goal.
Ecuador and El Salvador do not issue their own currency -- so are not states? In the UK we are mandated to use the UKP - 'free exchange' does not require a state imposed currency. This is the big state fiat currency fraud that enables the freedom of the 'political class' and their cronies that profit -- in a democracy people should have the choice. Crypto currency would probably not exist if we had free market currencies --- I suspect even the USD would look pretty pathetic compared to Google-Dollars or Apple-Dollars or whatever else that appeared in a free exchange world. Crypto currencies have at least one shared property with fiat currency; they have no asset base -- in the future both will be considered a joke.
Arguable countries like Ecuador and El Salvador are not fully functioning states as their inability to create their own money severely restricts what their governments can do. Maybe that is for the best maybe not. The same can be said for all Eurozone states. Whatever one's opinion of the Eurozone, how it is managed or whether it is a good thing or not, it is abundantly clear that individual countries within it have been unable to act in ways that those countries deemed desirable (Greece being the prime but not the only example) simply because they cannot control the currency they use - or now how they use it. They have become de facto local authorities and it is only the traditions, culture, language and territory that gives the illusion of statehood. The same can be said of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of course there is the possibility that all of these countries could become fully states IF they were willing to give up the Dollar, Euro or Pound and pay the price for doing so. It is possible to do so - Ireland separated from the UK, but initially used the pound, then their own currency but it was a long and painful process, after which having achieved real independence they strangely gave it up and joined the Eurozone.
@@richardhale9664 -- I would call that a circular argument; though I understand that it's hard to see beyond the orthodoxy. States cannot play fiat currency games unless they have a fiat currency -- absolutely true. But sovereign state fiat currency is a system that governments impose on their people so that they can limit property rights and free the ruling class from hard-money limits. State currency is superfluous in a free-market world. Wouldn't you choose to use Google-Coins if they have a proven record and GO UP in purchasing value when you have them?
I suggest you research crypto currencies with utility. There you will find a growing international use of crypto for cross border payment that is much more efficient than the expensive, slow, unreliable and outdated Swift system. Blockchain rails are going to be the way forward. Most crypto is a con, but that with utility is progressive, efficient, very low cost and more reliable than Swift
@@johnburns4017 Not fast at all! Takes ten minutes (blockchain refresh cycle) at least- if your fee for the transaction is accepted, otherwise you have to wait for a cycle where it is. Most bank transfers are measured in milliseconds. But there is actually no wait- banks trust each other, so there is no need for it to complete. I wave my phone over the till, it pings and I walk out of the door. And it costs me nothing, ziltch, nada. What problem are you trying to solve, exactly?
Bitcoin is a store of value. That is the major use-case which is now catching on with hedge funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and sovereigns themselves. Why are you debating about whether of not they are currencies ? Clearly the market has decided that they are a store of value - a hedge against Fiat/Macro. End of debate.
But is it a stable store of value? From Forbes How Volatile Is Bitcoin Compared To Other Assets: "Bitcoin'sBitcoin -2.2% average annual volatility over the past 10 years is 46.31%, according to my own analysis using custom Python tools. This significantly surpasses the volatility of all other assets examined. For example, it's 4.8 times higher than the S&P 500 (9.64%), 5.3 times higher than gold (8.68%), and 3.1 times higher than Apple stock (16.60%) over the past decade." Doesn't sound particularly stable to me...
At the end of the day what makes a Currency useful as a means if exchange is ither people's willingness (confidence) to accept it in exchange for goods you want. The only real difference between a GB banknote, a Scottish or Irish Bank note and Monopoly Money is its acceptability. Sometimes being legal tender (and government backed) is not enough.
The real difference between those and monopoly money is that monopoly money can't be used to pay taxes and hence the users of the other examples haven't a need to obtain them.
This guy must have done zero research. People as a collective give value to everything. If it has value, people will value it and it will have value. One person or small group of people don't get to decide what does and doesn't have value. Bitcoin/crypto is technology and definitely has application and great value to many. To hate on it is exactly the same as those who hated on cars, TV's, computers, the internet. Those people are really just Luddites whose thoughts and opinions just footnotes in history that make brief mention of such fools.
This is esoteric thinking. It is like the fans of homeopathy believing in the effect of an active substance after they have fully removed it from the a medicine.
Fascinating insight into far right political aims... But you need to study the basic principles of Bitcoin. Ignore all other Cryptocurrencies until actual use cases become apparent. But BTC is deflationary and incorruptible (so far). I would love to hear you have a debate with someone who understands BTC and hear your thoughts on the implications of 'banking the unbanked' and 'trustless transactions'. I don't trust the state, as a rule and feel safer with an emotionless algorithm processing my wealth.
So there are no known companies that bit mine. Really? Really? Just one search on google finds over a dozen companies all valued in the billions of dollars. Come on Richard do at least the modicum of research.
Sadly, both sides of the USA Uniparty are on the Far Right and wish to undermine the State and move power more openly to the Big Corporations with no accountability. It is anti-democratic and anti-Human Rights which is why they claim the opposite to keep the gullible quiet. 6:19
nope tulips lasted 18 months, the longer crypto goes on the less it is a craze! As long as global M2 keeps growing at 8% to 12% a year people will be looking at an escape hatch and because Bitcoin isn't controlled by any one person or entity it can't be printed and thus is an attractive investment. The more people adopt it (and thus get a rebate on global monetary inflation) the more other people have to adopt it.
Tell me you don't understand crypto without saying you don't understand crypto: "the only way you can you be sure that what you offer in exchange for something else has value is if it is offered by a government".. The whole purpose of (let's take BTC) is to replace trust (in third parties like a bank or government) with verification, as that trust has been broken by banks and governments time and time again (devaluating currency through money printing / bailout of banks, etc). Are cryptocurrencies currently a medium of exchange? Certainly not. "Money goes through phases, and Bitcion is currently only entering the 2nd phase, becoming a store of value. Here the four stages. 1)Collectible 2)Store of Value 3)Medium of Exchange 4)Unit of Account. Will it ever reach the last stage? Don't know, and it doesn't have to be to have value (e.g. Look at Gold with $17tn MC that has never surpassed the 2nd stage).
Because the currency is not widely accepted, fluctuates in value, and requires a significant amount of electricity to mint, does not render it null as a currency. Every currency has its own problems; just because the problems With cryptocurrency differentiate from legacy currency doesn't mean it's not currency. I'm not entirely sure what your actual point is in this video. You seem to highlight various issues with cryptocurrencies and use these issues as a justification for dismissing them as currencies, despite none of these issues actually suggesting their non-currency status. Every form of money has its challenges, and these challenges don't inherently disqualify a currency from being considered valid.
The fact cryptocurrencies aren't accepted by any government to pay tax torpedoes the narrative that they are currencies. Its wild fluctuations make them extremely unattractive as a meaningful currency that people want to use and it has an unsavoury association with society's criminal elements.
I am also worried about crypto. I may not like some of your views and I am often disappointed when you talk about “the far right” I think what you are referring to are ordinary working people with working class concerns. But Crypto is a scam. And what do the very wealthy people behind these internet tokens do with all the money they get? They buy real things like land and property, pricing the rest of us out. Just the other day I saw a video on UA-cam telling people how to borrow against bitcoin. This will end badly.
In Private Eye's Malgorithm style, there's a post on here which appears like so many other "recommendations" for what IMO look like other highly dodgy investment schemes which are flooding YT. And no, I wouldn't trust a crypto promoter any further than I could throw him/her/+. Even before crypto, I often wondered how it was possible for criminals, paedos, etc to pay for whatever it is they do, without the money being traced. Which banks were turning a blind eye?
Oh my god.. this was not very good at all. Go back 100 years and i'd say.. Yes.. right on. But now. What would digital banking be if not a centralised crypto? Value of an asset - an asset is only worth what ppl are willing to pay for it. Van gogh's sunflowers is a, not very good, painting.. somehow worth millions. It's useless.. you can't eat it. You can't surf on it... It just sits there looking mediocre in the face of much better paintings. If that went up in a fire would that not be the same as someone throwing away a computer with crypto passwords? Promise to pay... with what? if everyone ends up using centralised digital currency then how would that translate? I promise to pay using other numbers on a screen right up until we get a solar flare. Profits? OMG from what? Profit = Deficit ... it's not a zero sum game. A lot could be said here. And currently.. banks have been given permission to counterfeit money like there's no tomorrow. QE is that too and fractional reserve banking... all complete con jobs that have inflated society and are destroying the currency. There is no limit to baseless fiat currency... so where is the value there? It is diminishing that's for sure. There are limits to Bitcoin though. I assume you don't use your debit card then - given it's just numbers on a screen and nothing more. Ahh no.. backed by government.. .. Ohh you mean with over a trillion in debt that is increasing exponentially? They promise to pay?.. well that can't last forever can it? Look at american 35 trillion debt... that'll blow up at some point. And not being able to pay taxes with it... if they can introduce a law to put you in prison for something you type on facebook.. surely they can also create something that allows you to pay using crypto... after all.. what would digital currencies be backed by if not nothing? No.. dude.. you need to get out of this very restricted fantasy.... and that's coming from me who still uses a flip phone and cash.
A promise to pay is exactly that. The government can back it up by providing a safe, secure and good quality country to live in the more they do this the more you trust that they "have your back". That promise is sacrosanct. Banks are licenced by the government to issue money. A counterfeiter has not been licensed. The activities of a counterfeiter will completely destabilise a country's economy as the money he makes is uncontrolled and unaccounted for. The US national debt of $35 trillion won't just blow up. That money, that debt, represents all the productivity and dynamism in the US economy. Ultimately, that's what backs up the money. So long as the US government has the trust of the people it governs and that trust won't go away soon. The reason you can't pay tax in crypto is because it is not a substitute for your dollar or pound or euro.
Shame. This video is so poorly researched, especially in relation to the largest crypto currency - bitcoin. Way off the mark with nearly everything here. A blended, blindfolded stab in dark criticism of bitcoin, all alt-coins (of which there are many, with completely different make ups) and crypto exchanges. I really like all his other videos, but this isn't good
At this moment in time, every crypto-whatever is _measured_ against another one, or a government issued convertible value - what we may regard currency. A property of crypto IS that it isn’t «issued» by an entity outside of itself - the mining efforts. That makes crypto more like any commodity needing «work» to get more of it in total, like gold. What I’m saying doesn’t make crypto «worthless», but the thing with an «issued» currency goes wider than its speculative (relative). value. For hates or likes, the issuing ability creates political agency - for governments, but also for banks in the private realm. For good or worse - that’s opinionated and shifting over time. Tax of course becomes irrelevant, as crypto can’t be «destroyed» either - it can only deprecate against other metrics. Oh, that’s old school inflation… Not being able to «issue» or «destroy» a currency, makes debt (credit ownership) the remaining option - what the whole non-governmental finance sector does already. Every «country» (and corporation, private or state) enters a Greece vs Euro 2014 captive state of indebtedness. That’s «freedom»…? Ok, maybe the commodity based economy is the future, but it will probably favour rents more than trade - a feudal system. That’s already an ongoing trend. Wasn’t that the past we «enlightened into modernity» to overcome…? 😅
PS: don't stop at Bitcoin. It's just the first successful product and the innovation is in the tech. "Crypto" is to Value what the Web is to Information.". Open, global, decentralized, secure, fast, run 24/7. it is a platform for financial innovation!
Cryptocurrency is just another useless 'game' for the punters to play on casino planet earth....Everyone who has put money into the game is lost to making this a better world.....they have to keep on trying to get more and more investors and saying it's the best idea on the planet... ...it's the only way they can 'win' and not lose on their investment. They all hope to get rich from investing in it.
Nope, Weimar lacked a deep and liquid bond market. If Britain trys to print too much the bond market will quickly step in and produce much higher borrowing costs (even if the BOE doesn't do anything). This is why inflation could only reach about 10% recently even though central banks were very slow to raise short term rates, longer term rates had already been rising for a year because of falling bond prices.
Cryptocurrency balances are just gambling tokens. The fact that some companies and individuals accept these gambling tokens to pay for goods and services does not take this away. They are no more a currency than a poker chip.
I do agree it is a speculative asset but actually that is what I like about it. People are comparing with tulips but there are 2 differences. 1. you cant manufacture new bitcoin beyond its finite supply. and 2. the tulip bubble was a 'bubble' that involved less than 10,000 investors while bitcoin is a bubble with 4 billion people arguing over the value of 21m coins - the first truly global financial internet linked bubble and perhaps the one we can only guess as its true top....
What value has crypto created?
How much energy has been used to create crypto so far?
Well I can send you money without paying a middle man now, so that's good. The amount of energy that has gone into creating many cryptocurrencies is insane.
Value- none, energy used in mining- a horrendous amount.
@@alexjohnward But there are still transaction fees, I just looked it up, bitcoin transaction fees can be up to 3% for
(Devil's Advocate) Given that crypto uses large amounts of energy, which must be paid for in 'real' currency, it might be argued that at least in this regard real value is generated.
@@desperatefortuneproduction3296 some crypto doesn't have any mining, and trivial energy use, but still has value. I can buy stuff with it.
At least tulip bulbs can grow into pretty flowers.
How long did tulip mania last?
@@lukemclellan2141 About 3 years. Some bulbs were bought for the equivalent of a million dollars in today's money, before people finally realized what, exactly, they were doing. Pure speculation. With crypto, all you're buying is a bunch of numbers on a computer screen, and hoping someone will buy them from you for more than you paid someone else for them. The only people who make money on crypto are those who sell it for more currency (ie pounds, dollars, etc.) than they paid for them.
There are only two things I've ever vaguely understood about digital currencies:
- they seems perfect to hide value from government and extract value from criminal enterprise
- the digital ledger reminds me of a hawala system
Yes, it's just based on trust. Real money has to be some kind of proxy on a real economy of useful productivity IMHO.
Please don't delete this video and please keep come back to update about what you think in the future. I hope you live long and live well to see how things can evolve
A very generous comment!
As Jon Stewart says at the end of this week's The Weekly Show episode with Mark Cuban, crypto is "kind of a mass illusion".
Those that advocate it stopped referring to it as a currency long ago and pivoted to "digital gold". The value of actual gold may be completely irrational but it will always have some intrinsic value. I don't see what is stopping crypto going down to zero.
Maybe you can't see it because you haven't looked at all the projects that are adding value to bitcoin! What value would you place on a super secure global database that never crashes and can't be controlled by any individual, company or state? A database the you can permanently record transitions, text or numbers on and can't be deleted or changed and is available 24/7 anywhere in the world or the solar system. Try sending gold to Neptune in 4 hours!
@@Andrew-oe2ge Well fiat currency is not a good investment asset as it famously constantly depreciates. For sure you won't want to be holding a lot of it if it suddenly becomes worthless.
@@foobar476You could start by understanding the significant difference between broad “crypto” and Bitcoin. In reality, ‘crypto’ describes the tens of thousands of “alt coins” which are nothing but complete junk. They are created to extract capital from the lazy folk who want to get rich quick but, get poorer quicker. OGs don’t care for what happens to fools who throw their money at alt coins - they deserve everything they get.
As for Bitcoin going to zero? Yeah, good luck with that. If you don’t understand why then, with respect, go and educate yourself. After all, all of the information and data is out there - and it is nobodies responsibility but your own, to go and read it. If you can’t be bothered - that’s your choice - but look at around you and at the state of your life: both laziness and ignorance has a tax and people like you are paying it every single day.
Thank you for calling out the American far right. I would clarify that it is not that the right wing does not have faith in the government, it is that they are opposed to the basic functions of a modern government.
With maybe at least one exception, and that's the law of property rights. If this basic function was taken away, all of the billionaires (along with all other wealth owners) would be up in arms.
Who are the american far right ?
I agree with your concern, it is hyped and hype is vapour
Sadly most people don't use it as a currency and have actually reintroduced all kinds of middlemen (the exchanges) whom's deletion was the whole point of establishing the cryptocurrencies in the first place
Most don't even keep their crypto in their own wallet despite the amount of exchanges that have gone under. Just lazy.
I think you could argue that fiat currencies tend to zero value. And you could argue that gold and other precious metals have value because of rarity. All crypto is not the same.
Fiat currencies are maintained in value by their usage by the government for taxation and public spending, and by commerce within the state and external to it, in international trade. Bitcoin has pretty much none of this.
@@dreams99 when i spoke about fiat tending to zero i was talking about inflation.
They tend to inflate, you need the role of the central banks is trying to match currency is circulation vs whats is being produce, but the way that Capitalism works makes currencies always to inflate because credit is also a way to estimulate eternal economic growth that Capitalism needs, so thats what causes inflation, very hard to control currency circulation and surplus but better to have inflation than deflation, the second would crash the economy as we know today
Government has sadly inflated away our currency, the state cannot be trusted in managing the currency. But yes at best Bitcoin is a speculative asset
Is not that the state has to be trusted. Is that the state is serving financial parasites and neoliberal orthodoxy. In the end it is always the same things, power and class interests.
The BOE has been supposed to have been independent since 1997. The Federal Reserve since its inception. The Reagan and Thatcher regimes of the 1980's relaxed credit controls and every government since then has continued light touch regulation. Considering in the global economy the volume of financial transactions (financed by debt BTW) outstrips that of the transactions of real stuff and services many fold, in what sense are governments failing in the trust to manage the currency other than that they have abdicated the role to vested interests which squeeze and suck the life out of the real economy? It is the banks and financial institutions which currently cannot be trusted in managing the currency
Sure in the past several governments have cocked their currencies up, but at least they were accountable in one way or another to the people.
I am not sure that was the intention of Bitcoin when it began - but yes it does appear to have become a speculative "asset". It is hard to think of something which does not really exist and holds no function as an asset though.
Money only exists on a ledger. They print a physicsl representation of that ledger. Bitcoin is a public ledger. @@richardhale9664
Canadian federal conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is a great advocate of bitcoin. That he is likely to become Prime Minister in the election expected in 2025 disturbs me a great deal.
Crypto should be outlawed, or severely restricted as a gambling asset. It is a direct challenge to the authority of the state and the possibility of democratic control of the economy. Tax is the only thing that can bring the oligarchs to heel.
The oligarchs own the assets, so own the ability to increase prices of goods and services. Increase their taxes and they simply increase the price to the consumer to cover them.
Regular folk may pay a smaller portion of their income in taxes, but any benefit will be wiped out by the increased costs of everything.
Should stocks and shares be outlawed for the same reason?
@@lukemclellan2141 quite, or gold?
Regarding price volatility. I suspect Bitcoin is doing what any global, non fiat asset would do in it's infancy. It's price volatility should stabilise more and more over time.
I think Charlie Munger summed up crypto perfectly when he described it as rat poison :). 0:55 Not strictly correct. Are you not describing 'legal tender? Gold, on the other hand, is and has always been the ultimate currency the only real flaw being liquidity but we are now seeing gold backed accounts which get round this little wrinkle.
Currency's an insult. Bitcoin is money.
They do not want to trust governments, so they trust a lot of shadowy characters that 'mine' them. And getting paid for that runs out for bitcoin in 2040 (and reduces to that point). So, the expensive mining has to be paid out of transaction fees. You have to bid how much you will pay to have your transaction registered. Sound like a good scheme to anyone? Anyone?
A system with built in friction, that increases over time. Well done.
Sounds like TCP/IP. That is a rubbish system with lots of friction but everyone uses it every day. You remove the friction in layer 2 and 3. That is where you pay for your coffee, NOT on the base layer.
*2140 not 2040.
Also, the traits of it can be changed over time, it's an evolving design that can be changed to deal with new problems.
Not quite as bad as you think it is, but it's not for everyone.
Anyone can mine. You can mine. Are you shady?
@@experiment54 I regard expending processing power to approximate functions contrary to the needs of society- so I guess I am not shady.
@@Tensquaremetreworkshop banks use more energy. The fiat system uses more energy than bitcoin network.
Fiat is a ponzi 😭😭😭
No. Fiat is a bookkeeping system of debt, which means, money is backed by debt.
Fiat can be seen to become a Ponzi, when it is not backed enough by debt.
When a bank, which creates money by giving loans loses most of its debtors, it becomes insolvent.
Bitcoin is not at all backed by debt. Bitcoin is nothing but a bank, which is insolvent by design.
So Bitcoin is the worst case of fiat when you dislike fiat.
"SEC Chair confirms BTC is a commodity but infers ETH is a security. In a recent interview with CNBC, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler confirmed his view that Bitcoin is a commodity, while the majority of remaining cryptocurrencies are securities. - 3 May 2024"
Value is not the same thing as Price! So, the Price of Crypto goes up and down like a yo-yo. The value is always constantly Zero.
It's a token prize for solving a puzzle. It ain't currency, and it certainly ain't money.
Gold is a token prize for solving a digging puzzle
You can use gold for all sort of purposes. Bitcoin? Use it for what?...exactly.
@@joaor.8780 you can build on it. That's the digital world. You can use it as an exchange of value, money.
No, some crypto does not reward puzzles.
@@joaor.8780Lugano, Switzerland
Now that the first quantum computer is up and running, I'm wondering how long before someone turns a quantum computer toward crypto-mining. Would it blow up the crypto system? I have no clue. I claim no knowledge of such tech, only a certain morbid curiosity.
0:25 a currency is not a medium of exchange. This is blunt nonsense economists invented, when they had to explain money, but without any clue, what money is all about. So the did stick with the most superfical observation.
A medium of exchange on a market would be designed completely different.
Money is a bookkeeping system of debt. When money is being used, we do not have exchange at all. Only one party gives and only one party gets and the payment is the bookkeeping of this transaction.
speculating with laundered money ? just an opinion.
Most laundering goes through the City og London. No wise money launderer would use crypto. Too many crypto crooks; for their liking.
@PaxAlotin-j6r
Who pays for all the electricity used for this mining of crypto? Where do they get the money to pay for this?
Selling crypto.
Cryptos are not mined.
The energy is consumed for a lottery.
More energy does not creates more cryptos. How many cryptos are generated per hour is a constant and independent from the energy being used.
When you mine gold, your output doubles when you double your effort.
What is called "mining" and "miners" is a lottery among bookkeepers.
@@ThomasVWorm not all cryptos are the same. Bitcoin can be "mined". Ethereum cannot.
If you can’t pay tax is not worth anything..
You can't pay taxes in shares, property or gold. Are they worthless too?
@@lukemclellan2141I'm sure that if you owe enough ta , they will be pretty flexible about how it is paid. Let alone seize assets when you don't pay.
@@lukemclellan2141They are not money/currency.
Yeah. He kinda nails it. And his English is very good even though he isn’t American.
Money/tax complementary opposites - Art of war
0:45 this is circular reasoning: the government money is backed, because the government can give you its money for its money.
No, the value in real currencies (and not the pump-and-dump scheme that crypto is) is based on the requirement to pay taxes in the currency. That's why (e.g.) Roman coins are so widespread... they paid their armies in coin, and the army paid for provisions in coin--with the promise that the tax collectors would pop around in a bit and demand some of the coins in taxes.
@bzolsen yes, taxes are demanded first, which turns the citizens of the state into debtors, who must demand the money, the state wants to spend.
Debt is what makes money being money. Without indebting its citizens the state and its money can be ignored.
Tax collection comes at the very end. It is the same as paying back a loan.
In Jerome Powell's words crypto is gold.
Only the name crypto gives me creeps...and i start to vomit when i hear "bit coin" ... absolutely disgusting
With the greatest of respect, you are very early in your journey of understanding what cryptocurrencies are. Once you have done another 1000 hours of research, your opinions will change.
Well done for starting your journey though. That's the first step and you're still ahead of most people.
Good luck.
0:45 - wrong. Lots of trading is made in crypto on the dark web.
How do you know?
@@michaelmayo3127 that's pretty much how all trade is made on dark web marketplaces.
From my understanding, even there it's more of a money laundering mechanism to hide the real currency involved, rather than a market primarily using crypto as it's foundation
@@markwelch3564 nope, it's just easier to accept cryptocurrency. How ths fact escapes people I don't understand. For example, I can send you a little money easily with crypto, but it's very hard for you to send me a little without it.
Crypto can never fulfil the purpose it was designed to fulfil as long as capitalism exists.
You are confusing capitalism with financialisation.
Bitcoin is the separation of money from state where in future governments will be audited on their performance rather than as they are now being allowed to print endless money to cover up their incompetence.
Just mention that Crypto is not currency because currency NEEDs to be a meam of Exchange stable, if Crypto is limited its not a valid mean of Exchange because it tends to deflate the Economy, if it even work it will be at best a reserve value, but unlike gold its scarcity is only theorical while we cannot produce Gold, for example. Considering both have social value ....
Pretty obvious. You call it an asset and avoid the word ‘commodity’.
You also don’t seem to realise that you lose crypto when Exchanges go bust because you gave them the keys. Keep your keys and it truly is safe. Crypto is taxed.
I have little faith in the banking system so it’s not about having no faith in democracy.
What is also obvious to me is that any criticism of Bitcoin, forgetting the other junk, should end with a ‘however’- its a good bet to have a few percent of your capital in Bitcoin as a long time hedge. You missed that off signalling an illogical bias.
5:00 Crypto is not going to completely take the states powers away. Fiat currency will always be present.
Fiat currency having backing and a reliable promise to pay. Spot the difference?
@@davidmcculloch8490the US dollar used to be backed by gold. That ended under Nixon. Tell me, what now backs the US dollar?
(Nothing)
@@davidmcculloch8490Fiat Money isn't backed by anything physical, just a belief - that's where the name comes from. Nothing has backed the major currencies since 1971.
Commodity Money is what you're describing.
"The term fiat derives from the Latin word 'fiat', meaning "let it be done" - used in the sense of an order, decree or resolution." - wiki
In other words, fiat currencies have value only because states have declared that they have value.
Thank you: This is the most sensible comment on Crypto that I have yet heard.
It's completely ignorant of crypto😂
@@nicholasmball I disagree. The aim of a currency is to "store value" but the value of Crypto is subject to wild fluctuations. Perhaps you know of a better reference which refutes Richard's criticisms?
Best wishes
Michael
@@michaeldepodesta001 so he's talking solely about bitcoin then, not crypto. The vast majority of crypto isn't designed to be currency. This video would have been a fitting criticism back in 2015, not today.
@@nicholasmball Thank you. That's an interesting distinction which I will bear in mind. M
@@Andrew-oe2ge Good Afternoon.
I think Richard Murphy is an accountant, but his profession doesn't matter. What matters is what he says. Regarding your comment, it isn't very helpful to just say "He is wrong..." It would be helpful if you could reference his incorrect statement and then tell us all the way in which he is incorrect. I know that's very time consuming.
I am fascinated by this field, but I have never heard an explanation of crypto currencies that makes any sense to me. And for what it's worth I have a PhD in physics and can follow moderately complicated arguments.
Best wishes
Michael
"Even Gronk know that not real money."
"If you take away the power of the state to create money" - then how will you devalue the cash that people have in the bank? (Mostly poor people since rich people own assets)
The only way to devalue cash that people have in the bank is when a bank defaults and the government continues to limit depositor protection in the event of a bank default (via FDIC) if they hold more than $250K in that bank (or €100K in Europe). Although, if the government bails out the bank or covers 100% of depositors cash, then there's no problem, but that's a big risk. Also, with an MMT lens, you will learn that creating US dollars doesn't automatically devalue the dollar.
Richard you seem to have a lot of faith in the state, when we’re told we must be prepared for another 2008 AND at present our accounts can be frozen if we disagree with the government, or have I been mislead by conspiracies? The problem is people here and in other parts of the world, do not trust our governments.
Trump loves it and, rather ironically, so does Anthony Scaramouche, a very logical republican.
We won't know what bitcoin truly is until all the coins have been issued.
They are almost all issued. The little, which is still missing, is economically almost meaningless. We talk of about 5%. Within 8 years this will be reduced to about 1%.
@ThomasVWorm my point is that once all 21 million are mined, an element of the value speculation ceases to exist. No one can obtain any more through mining.
This in an intriguing conversation. Yesterday I purchased some milk and bread from my local OTR in Morphettvale in South Australia (OTR is a local convenience chain). They accept Bitcoin, Eth and a couple of other cyrptos. The purchase was completed and I was not overcome by the urge to invade Poland once.
It's true that there are a very few businesses that accept crypto, but for most people it's just not an option, particularly in the UK.
I agree that crypto coins aren't a good thing, but I'm not sure I understand your "the state is defined by its ability to create money". Countries that use the euro cannot create money, so "they're not states"? Could you please elaborate?
@@Andrew-oe2ge you might want to watch and listen to the whole video before commenting.
I think you have accidentally hit a nail on the head. Legally countries which use the Euro are states, but in all practice they have ceased to become little more than local authorities because like local authorities they do not have control of the currency they use. The example of the Greek experience makes this abundantly clear. They do though have the option to leave the Eurozone, if prepared to take whatever consequences that may follow, which would restore their real statehood. Until an actual Eurozone country leaves that zone, I think they can be best described as a post states, since they once were states, or limbo states, as they have the possibility to be so again if willing.
No expert on Crypto at all.
How do you buy it and how do you sell it?
You would have to by a bitcoin at a low price with say Dollars and sell at a higher price in Dollars I'm assuming in order to take your profit.
In order to get one bitcoin - what do you buy that with?
You haven't got even one bitcoin yet so you can't buy it with bitcoins.
It reminds me more of the buyers paying the price of a share on any given hour/minute or day.
You could buy for 1 cent at 9.30 am and later on at 3pm it's worth 10 cents.
Conversely - you by for 10 cents at 9.30 and at 3pm it's worth 1 cent.
You couldn't run a state doing that.
Surely it has to be turned into something you can buy something with and sell something with?
Otherwise it's worthless in the real world.
Lots of questions Mark, you don't need to buy it, you can get some for free to try it for yourself. The value fluctuates, that's true of everything. You can buy stuff with it, google a nano faucet if you want to try it.
Anything that a value can be put on make no mistake about it Washington DC will find a way to steal it
Pure fantasy based of speculation and hype. And then the valuation just explode based on nothing. Out of thin air. Assets value is based on the usefulness and business behind it, like shares. Even that is over valued. Cypto at the highest delusion.
Crypto allows people to make digital payments to other people without going thru private payment processing corporations. I can use Litecoin, for example, to donate to Wikileaks or to pay a journalist reporting on the adventures of empire. The transaction cost is virtually always less than a fraction of a penny, whereas, if I buy a loaf of bread at the corner shop, Visa takes 5p.
Granted, crypto currencies are not currencies and I would never speculate on the madness of crowds. It's purely a medium of exchange. Having said that, the initial cost of conversion is annoyingly expensive. You have to pay the private processor to avoid the private processors.
I think we should have normal money as we have it, cash and digital, as well as a national digital currency option from a national public bank. It's basically a nationally backed crypto-currency which can replace some of the functions of private banks and credit card companies and payment processors who take a cut every time we move a muscle. I believe in the possibility of a democratic, non-corrupt govt run by and for the people, and see no reason one can't design a digital currency that allows for anonymity, privacy and security
Most people do not understand what crypto is.They ask:
*1)* What is it?
*2)* What does it do?
*3)* How can I benefit from it?
*4)* How can I join?
*5)* Where is it?
*6)* How does it work for me on an everyday basis?
Most view it as a ponzi scheme, that will leave many broke and a few walking off with most.
Bs.
2:40 Bitcoin is not created by "mining" and a lot of compute power.
To create Bitcoin, it needs hardly any energy. Bitcoin are raffled off. The compute power is needed to keep the gamblers busy for 10 minutes to guarantee that the distance between two lottery draws are constant 10 minutes. So the more gamblers compete, the more compute power is needed, to keep this distance by lowering the chances for the gamblers.
Claiming crypto has zero intrinsic value is just ignorance. It is outside the fiat banking system. That is a fundamental property which gives it value to many people. Different crypto currencies have fundamental properties which give them value over other cryptocurrencies. Speed of transfer, fees, total transfers per second, to give three key examples.
Fees are cost. Speed of transfer and transactions per seconds are measurements for disadvatages.
Cryptos are not backed by claims nor by commodities. There is nothing.
So the only thing you can name for giving a value are the costs they create to the users.
Is it debt money?
Money is debt but not all debt is represented by money.
It's a ponzi scheme (a clever one, but there you go!).
Just to add, once quantum computers arrive all crypto will be worthless.
@@malkum61 Interesting. Can you elaborate?
It's more like a pump and dump pyramid scheme.
@@helenheenan3447
The housing/land market is a ponzi scheme, but most cannot see that either.
Yep, so is the Turkish Lira but I know which one I trust more, the Ponzi that far more people will adopt!
Most of which is very true, Richard. But clearly anyone who thinks that crypto will replace world currencies needs to give their head a shake, but it most definitely will have its place in the future. I think most users see it, not as a way to undermine Government, but as a way to undermine the egregious hold that 'finance' has on the economy.
Digital currencies main problems are caused by people 'trading' them. This was never supposed to be their function and has led to its apparent and inherent instability. I'm sure some would say that's not a bad thing and could even have been deliberate to undermine it.
Like so much in this overly digitised web-based world, the biggest threat is the catastrophic devastation that will be caused by the next Coronal Mass Ejection. Not 'if' but 'when'. It's only a matter of time and anyone who thinks that is just tinfoilhattery, also needs to give their head a shake.
Satoshi never said bitcoin would replace world currencies. Satoshi said it would become one alongside others. That is coming true.
Personally I think you are slightly wrong. You can exchange crypto tokens for goods, but governments are desperate for these not to get used for an exchange of value because they cannot control it.
In terms of inflation you’re slight wrong again because you are comparing it to another fiat currency. Because there is a finite amount of some tokens then they themselves don’t really have inflation. For example one bit coin is alway worth one bit coin. Where as given time fiat currencies are continually devaluing.
You are absolutely correct that as a store of value though they are essentially worthless. No more valuable than a word document is, but then again what is the store of value in fiat currencies when 99.9% of the time they become worth an ever decreasing amount.
He’s not “slightly wrong”. It’s much worse. He’s fundamentally misunderstood the value proposition, likely due to some staggeringly weak research, which also pollutes his conclusions.
The future is not the fiat con, folks are starting to realize just how much fiat takes from low and middle income earners.
In order to pay for something using Crypto, one needs electricity and the internet.
Crypto isn’t for socialists. If you don’t understand risk v reward then stick to savings accounts.
Terrific op Ed on crypto currencies. Totally agree they're Not currencies. They're encouraging wildly unfounded speculative "opportunities ". Finally I think you're nearer the target wrt to the far right using this as a medium to undermine the state. Elon Musk has/is been a big player in the bitcoin arena.
Bit player.
I think the state is doing a great job of undermining itself with neo-Marxist ideology, forever wars, mass migration, 2-tier policing, inflation and censorship!
Thank you for this one. Are you planning to do CBDCs at some stage? 💚
The" point", in my opinion, is that you have to buy it with "real" money.
Unicorn trading.
Not a good look, strange video, you usually seem so well researched and balanced, but not when shilling against the "Crypto" industry. This video seem dumb and half baked and insulting to those inventing and implementing "crypto currency" as though Fiat currency, or Pokemans or or Company shares aren't "imaginary" aren't manipulated or don't have a "certain value" - or that all Governments have our best interests at heart, so trust them.
Perhaps discuss your concerns with someone who knows what they are talking about?
It is not strange at all, there are lots of these far leftist boomer types with massive egos that think they are an expert in everything and desperately want to prop up a failing system that will not last 50 years.
What is the purpose of this stuff in parallel to fiat currency? It's just more financial chicanery, that it's more accessible makes it no less manipulative bullshit. It's not a solution to anything except for some whales to get rich, while the world continues to burn
.. and now he seems so ill-informed and unbalanced because he took a valid swipe at crypto currencies? Lol I hold a bit of crypto but my eyes are wide fucking open to what it really is. Speculative and not to be trusted as a 'store of intrinsic value' because it has none.
I like your channel, however, surely the double entry would be credit bank debit asset account, also if one sells and makes a gain it is taxed as a capital gain and also a loss can be brought forward against future gains, thus the same rules as any other tangible asset apply. Finally most people wouldn’t pay tax with crypto as it would trigger another potential tax charge! Don’t go to far off the beam, your content has been good since far!
Agreed.
If I understand your argument, crypto is not a currency because it is not debt?
You are wrong, sir.
No he is not wrong
He is very much correct
@@Andrew-oe2ge well he is not wrong. His view of what BTC is, is in fact correct. The only additional thing that could and should have been said, is that BTC is actually not even the actual Bitcoin because BTC is a fork created in 2017 during SegWit protocol change which split the chain into 2, then again BCH was protocol changed again with CTOR and 10 block centralised checkpoints. The result of the 2 chain splits is that because of propaganda in media, influencers, exchanges and MSM, extremely small amount of people even know that what they call and sell as "Bitcoin" is not the actual Bitcoin at all. People in BCH also believe theirs is the actual BItcoin but they are not correct either. There is lot more I could add here but I don't want to waste my time. All the information is out there already, peeople just need to stop listening to these influencers and fake "experts' in both crypto and MSM, and start going back to Bitcoin protocol fundamentals. You have all been deceived is what I can tell you, and I say it as a fact... not an optinion.
@@Andrew-oe2ge...so you're saying you've made a counterargument. What are your counterarguments?
What makes you say that please, with references.
You make the typical mistake of coming across like an over-privileged westerner here. Many countries are not stable, do not have stable currencies, and lack any kind of banking infrastructure. People use crypto there because there is no alternative: the local currency may be even more volatile or even not accepted as legal tender. You deliver all the predictable lectures about crypto without any awareness of how this plays out in the underdeveloped world or in countries undergoing major stress like Ukraine.
Ukraine-the money-laundering capital of the world.
Your acting like every person in Africa is using Crypto and its a good thing. Or Ukraine can use crypto to buy weapons and aid. It doesnt work like that.
All the banks and large accountants are experimenting with blockchain. Zero the accountancy software company explain it well on their website. This is typical of Richard, always prepared to pontificate and assert from a point of ignorance, very amusing.
Just because crypto isnt broadly a medium of exchange in the traditional sense, doesn't make it not a medium of exchange, you can purchase other crypto currencies with crypto on the blockchain, if you own ethereum you can use that ethereum to buy btc, or any other crypto variation. It is absolutely a medium of exchange within the crypto networks. Crypto currencies should be measured by owning part of the network - for those that don't understand.
Just because you can exchange something for something else, doesn't make either of the things exchanged media of exchange
@@ProfessorSensiblethe people agree on what is a value of exchange not the governments
I can exchange magic game cards for other cards. But does that give them value? No...worthless. like crypto.
@@joaor.8780 you can build on bitcoin, that's the digital world. You can exchange bitcoin as a exchange of value, that's money.
@@joaor.8780 I'm sure there are some baseball cards that might have a significant value. You cam't argue BTC has no value... It literally has an exchange price.
Crypto would vanish with the end of the State. How can crypto exist without the internet? How can the internet exist without the state?
The super rich want a functioning state. Anarchy would leave them penniless.
Yep, no one is more pro state than the super rich, that is why most of them have fully adopted the ideology of western states, post modern neo-Marxism. It was only when the ideology went too far with censorship, transing kids, forced vaxing and anarchy at the borders that Elon and others started to break from the ideology.
Destructive capitalism is hardly impoverishing the 'super rich'.
The idea and intent to reset an economic social (& psychological) system for human assets is part of a vastly disproportional imbalance of wealth leveraging control.
Corruption seeks immunity against accountability - Hence its seeks overwhelming control.
Whether it can control the destructive energies being unleased is another matter to that it believes manipulating by deceit is the means to the goal.
Ecuador and El Salvador do not issue their own currency -- so are not states? In the UK we are mandated to use the UKP - 'free exchange' does not require a state imposed currency. This is the big state fiat currency fraud that enables the freedom of the 'political class' and their cronies that profit -- in a democracy people should have the choice. Crypto currency would probably not exist if we had free market currencies --- I suspect even the USD would look pretty pathetic compared to Google-Dollars or Apple-Dollars or whatever else that appeared in a free exchange world. Crypto currencies have at least one shared property with fiat currency; they have no asset base -- in the future both will be considered a joke.
Arguable countries like Ecuador and El Salvador are not fully functioning states as their inability to create their own money severely restricts what their governments can do. Maybe that is for the best maybe not. The same can be said for all Eurozone states. Whatever one's opinion of the Eurozone, how it is managed or whether it is a good thing or not, it is abundantly clear that individual countries within it have been unable to act in ways that those countries deemed desirable (Greece being the prime but not the only example) simply because they cannot control the currency they use - or now how they use it. They have become de facto local authorities and it is only the traditions, culture, language and territory that gives the illusion of statehood. The same can be said of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of course there is the possibility that all of these countries could become fully states IF they were willing to give up the Dollar, Euro or Pound and pay the price for doing so. It is possible to do so - Ireland separated from the UK, but initially used the pound, then their own currency but it was a long and painful process, after which having achieved real independence they strangely gave it up and joined the Eurozone.
@@richardhale9664 -- I would call that a circular argument; though I understand that it's hard to see beyond the orthodoxy. States cannot play fiat currency games unless they have a fiat currency -- absolutely true. But sovereign state fiat currency is a system that governments impose on their people so that they can limit property rights and free the ruling class from hard-money limits. State currency is superfluous in a free-market world. Wouldn't you choose to use Google-Coins if they have a proven record and GO UP in purchasing value when you have them?
I suggest you research crypto currencies with utility. There you will find a growing international use of crypto for cross border payment that is much more efficient than the expensive, slow, unreliable and outdated Swift system. Blockchain rails are going to be the way forward. Most crypto is a con, but that with utility is progressive, efficient, very low cost and more reliable than Swift
Check out blockchain timing with Swift. The latter is thousands of times faster.
It is not a currency for sure. So is it another method of fast payment between two parties doing business eliminating banks
@@johnburns4017 Not fast at all! Takes ten minutes (blockchain refresh cycle) at least- if your fee for the transaction is accepted, otherwise you have to wait for a cycle where it is. Most bank transfers are measured in milliseconds. But there is actually no wait- banks trust each other, so there is no need for it to complete. I wave my phone over the till, it pings and I walk out of the door. And it costs me nothing, ziltch, nada. What problem are you trying to solve, exactly?
Japan has announced a nationwide adoption of crypto for payments by 2025. You can find more detail if you search this.
“japanese banks use crypto by 2025”. Search this and you see what Japan is doing with crypto.
Bitcoin is a store of value. That is the major use-case which is now catching on with hedge funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and sovereigns themselves. Why are you debating about whether of not they are currencies ? Clearly the market has decided that they are a store of value - a hedge against Fiat/Macro. End of debate.
But is it a stable store of value? From Forbes How Volatile Is Bitcoin Compared To Other Assets: "Bitcoin'sBitcoin -2.2% average annual volatility over the past 10 years is 46.31%, according to my own analysis using custom Python tools. This significantly surpasses the volatility of all other assets examined. For example, it's 4.8 times higher than the S&P 500 (9.64%), 5.3 times higher than gold (8.68%), and 3.1 times higher than Apple stock (16.60%) over the past decade." Doesn't sound particularly stable to me...
Store of value. That can be anything. LoL. Even gold has its use.
@@rick-lj9pc Best performing asset globally in 8 of the past 11 years, average anuual gain of over 50% since 2014. The figures speak for themselves.
At the end of the day what makes a Currency useful as a means if exchange is ither people's willingness (confidence) to accept it in exchange for goods you want.
The only real difference between a GB banknote, a Scottish or Irish Bank note and Monopoly Money is its acceptability. Sometimes being legal tender (and government backed) is not enough.
The real difference between those and monopoly money is that monopoly money can't be used to pay taxes and hence the users of the other examples haven't a need to obtain them.
This guy must have done zero research. People as a collective give value to everything. If it has value, people will value it and it will have value. One person or small group of people don't get to decide what does and doesn't have value. Bitcoin/crypto is technology and definitely has application and great value to many. To hate on it is exactly the same as those who hated on cars, TV's, computers, the internet. Those people are really just Luddites whose thoughts and opinions just footnotes in history that make brief mention of such fools.
This is esoteric thinking.
It is like the fans of homeopathy believing in the effect of an active substance after they have fully removed it from the a medicine.
Fascinating insight into far right political aims... But you need to study the basic principles of Bitcoin. Ignore all other Cryptocurrencies until actual use cases become apparent. But BTC is deflationary and incorruptible (so far). I would love to hear you have a debate with someone who understands BTC and hear your thoughts on the implications of 'banking the unbanked' and 'trustless transactions'.
I don't trust the state, as a rule and feel safer with an emotionless algorithm processing my wealth.
Lastly, utility as an argument is usually due to lack of familiarity with current use cases and Proofs of Concept underway.
Shallow.
So there are no known companies that bit mine. Really? Really? Just one search on google finds over a dozen companies all valued in the billions of dollars. Come on Richard do at least the modicum of research.
😂😂😂😂Boomer you really don't understand this.
Good one.
Crypto currency seems similar to tulips 🤷🏻♂️
Was the Tulip bulb craze during the 1600's!
Nahhh, tulips look pretty.
Sadly, both sides of the USA Uniparty are on the Far Right and wish to undermine the State and move power more openly to the Big Corporations with no accountability.
It is anti-democratic and anti-Human Rights which is why they claim the opposite to keep the gullible quiet.
6:19
nope tulips lasted 18 months, the longer crypto goes on the less it is a craze! As long as global M2 keeps growing at 8% to 12% a year people will be looking at an escape hatch and because Bitcoin isn't controlled by any one person or entity it can't be printed and thus is an attractive investment. The more people adopt it (and thus get a rebate on global monetary inflation) the more other people have to adopt it.
The tulips were at least real and physical as apposed to imaginary or a digital representation
Tell me you don't understand crypto without saying you don't understand crypto:
"the only way you can you be sure that what you offer in exchange for something else has value is if it is offered by a government"..
The whole purpose of (let's take BTC) is to replace trust (in third parties like a bank or government) with verification, as that trust has been broken by banks and governments time and time again (devaluating currency through money printing / bailout of banks, etc).
Are cryptocurrencies currently a medium of exchange? Certainly not. "Money goes through phases, and Bitcion is currently only entering the 2nd phase, becoming a store of value. Here the four stages.
1)Collectible
2)Store of Value
3)Medium of Exchange
4)Unit of Account.
Will it ever reach the last stage? Don't know, and it doesn't have to be to have value (e.g. Look at Gold with $17tn MC that has never surpassed the 2nd stage).
Very well said!
Because the currency is not widely accepted, fluctuates in value, and requires a significant amount of electricity to mint, does not render it null as a currency.
Every currency has its own problems; just because the problems With cryptocurrency differentiate from legacy currency doesn't mean it's not currency.
I'm not entirely sure what your actual point is in this video. You seem to highlight various issues with cryptocurrencies and use these issues as a justification for dismissing them as currencies, despite none of these issues actually suggesting their non-currency status.
Every form of money has its challenges, and these challenges don't inherently disqualify a currency from being considered valid.
The fact cryptocurrencies aren't accepted by any government to pay tax torpedoes the narrative that they are currencies.
Its wild fluctuations make them extremely unattractive as a meaningful currency that people want to use and it has an unsavoury association with society's criminal elements.
Really just an admission of ignorance. Disappointed.
I am also worried about crypto. I may not like some of your views and I am often disappointed when you talk about “the far right” I think what you are referring to are ordinary working people with working class concerns. But Crypto is a scam. And what do the very wealthy people behind these internet tokens do with all the money they get? They buy real things like land and property, pricing the rest of us out. Just the other day I saw a video on UA-cam telling people how to borrow against bitcoin. This will end badly.
In Private Eye's Malgorithm style, there's a post on here which appears like so many other "recommendations" for what IMO look like other highly dodgy investment schemes which are flooding YT. And no, I wouldn't trust a crypto promoter any further than I could throw him/her/+.
Even before crypto, I often wondered how it was possible for criminals, paedos, etc to pay for whatever it is they do, without the money being traced. Which banks were turning a blind eye?
You have people at all levels of society turning a blind eye.
If potatoes were kept in a crypt and used as currency it could be called cryptoes.
Underrated comment 😂
Oh my god.. this was not very good at all. Go back 100 years and i'd say.. Yes.. right on.
But now.
What would digital banking be if not a centralised crypto?
Value of an asset - an asset is only worth what ppl are willing to pay for it.
Van gogh's sunflowers is a, not very good, painting.. somehow worth millions. It's useless.. you can't eat it. You can't surf on it... It just sits there looking mediocre in the face of much better paintings.
If that went up in a fire would that not be the same as someone throwing away a computer with crypto passwords?
Promise to pay... with what? if everyone ends up using centralised digital currency then how would that translate? I promise to pay using other numbers on a screen right up until we get a solar flare.
Profits? OMG from what? Profit = Deficit ... it's not a zero sum game. A lot could be said here.
And currently.. banks have been given permission to counterfeit money like there's no tomorrow.
QE is that too and fractional reserve banking... all complete con jobs that have inflated society and are destroying the currency.
There is no limit to baseless fiat currency... so where is the value there? It is diminishing that's for sure.
There are limits to Bitcoin though.
I assume you don't use your debit card then - given it's just numbers on a screen and nothing more.
Ahh no.. backed by government.. .. Ohh you mean with over a trillion in debt that is increasing exponentially? They promise to pay?.. well that can't last forever can it? Look at american 35 trillion debt... that'll blow up at some point.
And not being able to pay taxes with it... if they can introduce a law to put you in prison for something you type on facebook.. surely they can also create something that allows you to pay using crypto... after all.. what would digital currencies be backed by if not nothing?
No.. dude.. you need to get out of this very restricted fantasy.... and that's coming from me who still uses a flip phone and cash.
A promise to pay is exactly that. The government can back it up by providing a safe, secure and good quality country to live in the more they do this the more you trust that they "have your back".
That promise is sacrosanct.
Banks are licenced by the government to issue money. A counterfeiter has not been licensed. The activities of a counterfeiter will completely destabilise a country's economy as the money he makes is uncontrolled and unaccounted for.
The US national debt of $35 trillion won't just blow up. That money, that debt, represents all the productivity and dynamism in the US economy. Ultimately, that's what backs up the money. So long as the US government has the trust of the people it governs and that trust won't go away soon.
The reason you can't pay tax in crypto is because it is not a substitute for your dollar or pound or euro.
Shame. This video is so poorly researched, especially in relation to the largest crypto currency - bitcoin. Way off the mark with nearly everything here. A blended, blindfolded stab in dark criticism of bitcoin, all alt-coins (of which there are many, with completely different make ups) and crypto exchanges. I really like all his other videos, but this isn't good
It's embarrassing
Just a heads up: there are "cryptocurrencies", and there is Bitcoin. Two completely different things. Do not conflate the two.
He is an activist, the last thing he wants is an education, if he did he would spend time doing the research himself!
Correct, Bitcoin can no longer be used as a currency.
Very good comment @@aac74
At this moment in time, every crypto-whatever is _measured_ against another one, or a government issued convertible value - what we may regard currency.
A property of crypto IS that it isn’t «issued» by an entity outside of itself - the mining efforts. That makes crypto more like any commodity needing «work» to get more of it in total, like gold.
What I’m saying doesn’t make crypto «worthless», but the thing with an «issued» currency goes wider than its speculative (relative). value. For hates or likes, the issuing ability creates political agency - for governments, but also for banks in the private realm. For good or worse - that’s opinionated and shifting over time.
Tax of course becomes irrelevant, as crypto can’t be «destroyed» either - it can only deprecate against other metrics. Oh, that’s old school inflation…
Not being able to «issue» or «destroy» a currency, makes debt (credit ownership) the remaining option - what the whole non-governmental finance sector does already.
Every «country» (and corporation, private or state) enters a Greece vs Euro 2014 captive state of indebtedness. That’s «freedom»…?
Ok, maybe the commodity based economy is the future, but it will probably favour rents more than trade - a feudal system. That’s already an ongoing trend.
Wasn’t that the past we «enlightened into modernity» to overcome…? 😅
Bitcoin is just the OG "Cryptocurrency"...
I value your videos Richard, and I predict in the near future your content will be promoting BTC, and the alternative coins.
That ship has sailed, if he was going to he would have done several years ago
First comment is a scammer, it’s going to be one of those days for me I see 😂
very disappointing to hear this from a respected economist. I hope you will change your mind before all global value system run on it :(
PS: don't stop at Bitcoin. It's just the first successful product and the innovation is in the tech. "Crypto" is to Value what the Web is to Information.". Open, global, decentralized, secure, fast, run 24/7.
it is a platform for financial innovation!
Double-spend protection is a defining characteristics of cryptos
Tulip bulbs spring to mind.
Cryptocurrency is just another useless 'game' for the punters to play on casino planet earth....Everyone who has put money into the game is lost to making this a better world.....they have to keep on trying to get more and more investors and saying it's the best idea on the planet... ...it's the only way they can 'win' and not lose on their investment. They all hope to get rich from investing in it.
Is Britain entering a Weimar period?
no
Nope, Weimar lacked a deep and liquid bond market. If Britain trys to print too much the bond market will quickly step in and produce much higher borrowing costs (even if the BOE doesn't do anything). This is why inflation could only reach about 10% recently even though central banks were very slow to raise short term rates, longer term rates had already been rising for a year because of falling bond prices.
Cryptocurrency balances are just gambling tokens. The fact that some companies and individuals accept these gambling tokens to pay for goods and services does not take this away.
They are no more a currency than a poker chip.
I do agree it is a speculative asset but actually that is what I like about it. People are comparing with tulips but there are 2 differences. 1. you cant manufacture new bitcoin beyond its finite supply. and 2. the tulip bubble was a 'bubble' that involved less than 10,000 investors while bitcoin is a bubble with 4 billion people arguing over the value of 21m coins - the first truly global financial internet linked bubble and perhaps the one we can only guess as its true top....
Who created Bitcoin?
@@BOZ_11 Thanks.