14 ms·

Suffers from no government having a stake in it. If it causes them problems, it can easily become illegal.

by adamc 8mo ago

RealityVoid 8mo ago
Precisely this makes it attractive. If it can't be _your_ currency let it at least be a currency no other nation controls.
- JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
  > If it can't be _your_ currency let it at least be a currency no other nation controls At that point just hoard resources. Holding a bunch of Bitcoin in a crisis is useless for a country if no other country will buy them off you in exchange for tradeable hard currency.
  - RealityVoid 8mo ago
    You are right. My point is that if you have international trade of even mild complexity, having a currency is very convenient so trade will end up being denominated in one. No reason it can't be some crypto that is not backed by any nation.
    - JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
      > No reason it can't be some crypto that is not backed by any nation There is a great reason: a state-backed currency should always be accepted by that state. If the world is in crisis, you may wind up stuck with your Bitcoins.
      - RealityVoid 8mo ago
        I thought we were talking about World reserve currency here i.e. international trade. I agree that you need the currency to be accepted by the state for good local trade support. But that was not the point.
        JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
        > thought we were talking about World reserve currency here i.e. international trade Yes. If you're a random country, you can use your dollars to buy shit from America. Countries hold reserves for basically two direct reasons: to intervene in FX markes and protect their imports. The latter is the main one. At the end of the day, your ideal reserve composition matches your import portfolio because you want currency you can send to the people who are selling you shit.
      - engineer_22 8mo ago
        Is it a conspiracy theory that Bitcoin was developed by the US military as a hedge against US dollar hyperinflation? I've heard that argument made somewhere but maybe it was just a rumor to try to legitimize Bitcoin?
        JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
        > Is it a conspiracy theory that Bitcoin was developed by the US military as a hedge against US dollar hyperinflation? Yes, none of that makes an iota of sense. If a military wants to take inflation into its own hands, it has far-better options. From hoarding to, you know, taking shit.
  - krupan 8mo ago
    "just hoard resources" really has nothing to do with a world currency to replace the dollar, which is what we are talking about here. In a crisis you can't eat dollars, gold, oil, or bitcoin, so yeah, you kinda have a point, but an orthogonal one.
    - JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
      > In a crisis you can't eat dollars, gold, oil, or bitcoin But you can easily trade dollars for stuff Americans will sell you. That's the advantage of a national backer. In a crisis, they'll welcome the influx of capital in exchange for goods and services. Precisely what you need it you want to spend it. This is why sanctions fuck up reserve calculations. If, in a crisis, America will sanction you, you might as well have held gold or Bitcoin.
krupan 8mo ago
Lots of countries outlaw other country's currencies. This is nothing unique to Bitcoin when we are talking about a world currency to replace dollars.
krupan 8mo ago
Several countries do now have a stake in Bitcoin. See: https://bitbo.io/treasuries/countries/ https://bitbo.io/treasuries/countries/

Suffers from no government having a stake in it. If it causes them problems, it can easily become illegal.

by adamc 8mo ago

Suffers from no government having a stake in it. If it causes them problems, it can easily become illegal.

Precisely this makes it attractive. If it can't be _your_ currency let it at least be a currency no other nation controls.

JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
> If it can't be _your_ currency let it at least be a currency no other nation controls At that point just hoard resources. Holding a bunch of Bitcoin in a crisis is useless for a country if no other country will buy them off you in exchange for tradeable hard currency.
- RealityVoid 8mo ago
  You are right. My point is that if you have international trade of even mild complexity, having a currency is very convenient so trade will end up being denominated in one. No reason it can't be some crypto that is not backed by any nation.
  - JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
    > No reason it can't be some crypto that is not backed by any nation There is a great reason: a state-backed currency should always be accepted by that state. If the world is in crisis, you may wind up stuck with your Bitcoins.
    - RealityVoid 8mo ago
      I thought we were talking about World reserve currency here i.e. international trade. I agree that you need the currency to be accepted by the state for good local trade support. But that was not the point.
      - JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
        > thought we were talking about World reserve currency here i.e. international trade Yes. If you're a random country, you can use your dollars to buy shit from America. Countries hold reserves for basically two direct reasons: to intervene in FX markes and protect their imports. The latter is the main one. At the end of the day, your ideal reserve composition matches your import portfolio because you want currency you can send to the people who are selling you shit.
    - engineer_22 8mo ago
      Is it a conspiracy theory that Bitcoin was developed by the US military as a hedge against US dollar hyperinflation? I've heard that argument made somewhere but maybe it was just a rumor to try to legitimize Bitcoin?
      - JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
        > Is it a conspiracy theory that Bitcoin was developed by the US military as a hedge against US dollar hyperinflation? Yes, none of that makes an iota of sense. If a military wants to take inflation into its own hands, it has far-better options. From hoarding to, you know, taking shit.
- krupan 8mo ago
  "just hoard resources" really has nothing to do with a world currency to replace the dollar, which is what we are talking about here. In a crisis you can't eat dollars, gold, oil, or bitcoin, so yeah, you kinda have a point, but an orthogonal one.
  - JumpCrisscross 8mo ago
    > In a crisis you can't eat dollars, gold, oil, or bitcoin But you can easily trade dollars for stuff Americans will sell you. That's the advantage of a national backer. In a crisis, they'll welcome the influx of capital in exchange for goods and services. Precisely what you need it you want to spend it. This is why sanctions fuck up reserve calculations. If, in a crisis, America will sanction you, you might as well have held gold or Bitcoin.

krupan 8mo ago

Lots of countries outlaw other country's currencies. This is nothing unique to Bitcoin when we are talking about a world currency to replace dollars.

krupan 8mo ago

Several countries do now have a stake in Bitcoin. See: https://bitbo.io/treasuries/countries/ https://bitbo.io/treasuries/countries/