So this is the news I came across recently. Typical rant about cryptos being fake money and all that jazz. Seriously, this is what the man said:-
"It's just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed" (source)
He was saying that Bitcoin will closed down by the government due to its rebellious nature. Maybe he's just clueless about the technology, since there's no way to stop this all that easily due to the decentralised nature of cryptocurrency networks. There's no single point of failure, no plug to pull to shut down Bitcoin, Ethereum, Steem, and others. This is open, permissionless innovation.
What if Bitcoin has been the "stable" currency all along since its inception? It doesn't even need to perform exceptionally well, if its competitors, such as national currencies and other traditional assets are slowly becoming "crapcoins". It's all relative. Where else can anyone depend on outside of the system if not on platforms like Bitcoin? It's volatile for sure, but it's one of the only places where your assets are not subject to what some may call predatory inflation and taxation. Who's going to regulate the regulator?
Now onto the tulips.. I'm not sure why I even want to debate this, but let's just say that tulips are perishable and not even remotely close to a form of currency as do cryptocurrencies. In addition, Bitcoin like any other cryptocurrencies are provably scarce and they're engineered to function like money. Bitcoin is the first coming together of idea, money, politics, and technology all wrapped into an automated trust protocol. So the comparison he made is highly anecdotal and not very useful. Bitcoin is no tulip, and not even tech stocks of the 90s. Then to add to his ignorance.. he starts calling Bitcoin a fraud.
Here's the thing: Bitcoin's price can go to zero and it's still not a fraud. Participation is voluntary. The project is open-sourced and its supply regulated by the Bitcoin protocol. Yes, cryptocurrencies are in fact, self-regulated entities. The code ensures predictability and transparency. This should actually be equally viewed as a form of stability. The price of cryptocurrencies might not always reflect that, but it's a fundamental shift away from arbitrary regulations. When centralised systems can be regulated by the whims of governments at any point in time for their own definition of stability, this could actually create mass instability for the rest of us. Most of the times, unknowingly.
Traditional regulation is all about maintaining expected prices just to keep things artificially stable, sometimes longer than it should. Volatility in cryptocurrency is a feature, in my opinion. Unregulated markets better reflect the pains and problems of currencies in real-time, being liquid. So it better be really valuable to deserve a high valuation, and not just because some form of regulation is artificially setting some so-called price stabilisation mechanism on it. It's not definitive and grey, but this discussion can be explored more thoroughly by studying the philosophical differences between Keynesian and Austrian economics - check out this one minute video.
Bitcoin is now still valuable as it is an idea of power decentralisation materialised through clever use of technology. The value is in its perceived breaking away from authoritative monopoly over private property, and it's currently reflected in the market. But who knows what might happen since something better always comes along. Maybe Jamie's government could even end up closing down Bitcoin, whatever that means. Regardless, the powerful ideas that Bitcoin birthed are here to stay. Maybe one day I'll see a headline in 2020 that says:-
"WTF is Steemit and why is it dominating 80% of our top search results?"
regulation too me feels like a dirty word now, like a middleman trying to flog you his stuff because his business neighbour is doing well, i've found governments always want to tax or regulate something they don't understand, if they see money signs and they are not CUT in they wrap it up in 'regulation' - for me it's a belief in the value of what a crypto currency can do, you can put whatever value on it you want for me, i just want the ability to use the process to exchange value.
i'm not a trader i'm not interested in bitcoin being 5k/10k (or more) i'm not in it to make a buck, i'm interested in a better, open, cheaper (eventually) digital currency that works better than what's currently been out there for years. paypal needs to die, it's done, it's team and what they stand for is almost antique in internet years. we NEED an internet micro payments system, one for tipping, small exchanges, quick, cheap, to exchange value across the web, bitcoin (and also litecoin) are those for me right now. having steem come along was a real eye opener that blogging could be monitized as such, i loved that you got paid for involvement, sharing. any of the big boys like fb and reddit could have done but they did'nt. steemit did and it's been running, working. talk is cheap unless you actually demonstrate it working.
my opinion is that the governments of the world work on notion of things running unoptimized, it gives them a place for them to be wasteful and 'lose money' through the cracks, back handers, stupid money spent on stupid services with 'authorized downline companies' friends of friends that they can farm out work too. the idea of open, transparent scares them to death because if their world was exposed you would see a hive of poorly constructed tenders for projects and absolutely unbelievable costings, we have too many 'grey suits' in the positions of power fleecing the system and playing the game. they won't let the new talent in. call it ego, generational, whatever it is, that's what we are fighting against. i worked for a local government as a computer operator for over 8 years and i can tell you, it's a shit storm in there.
bottom line is the idea is out there now and like some of my favorite scenes in V for Vendette, you simply cannot stop an idea, it's obvious that the world has a requirements for a crypto/digital currency, if it's not bitcoin it will be something else, we will alway have an underlayer to any technology that the system, the man or the 'normal's decide to build - on every coin there is another face. .
Yeah inflation kinda makes budgeting lazy and ineffective since people can just print to no end.. well i personally think the two worlds will come to meet in the middle, although I can't visualise how things will be in that sense..
I like your finish to your story and I think Steem is like a volcano waiting to erupt. Just like Bitcoin really came on to many people's radar just recently so Will Steem and Steemit in the very close future. The things that are now being built on top of steem like D tube, Discord etc is creating an eco system which will adopt users from all kinds of social media. Anyways, your post was actually mainly about bitcoin, so sorry for ranting about steem. As for Bitcoin it seems like this statement come from someone that has paid zero time to read up on it, or he is just a spokesman for some entity, which thinks this kind of talk will affect people's opinion on the matter. Those who know Bitcoin and crypto will stay long, atleast that's what I am planning to do ! Nice post Kevin !
Lol JPM found to have bought Bitcoin on the dip after shouting fraud :P if you read the news xD
Hehe yea I didn't know it when I posted this article hehe but now I have seen a lot of posts stating this fact. .. Nothing should surprise you when it comes to the things bankers do I guess...
Steem Price is bound to increase as more Users join it's platform! It's already out there, as we speak there is someone out there considering to join. Just like Airbnb, growth is slow at first but once Steemit goes mainstream! Steem will not make the same moves as Bitcoin except for it being on it's own Space Shuttle on the way to the Moon
"The project is open-sourced and its supply regulated by the Bitcoin protocol. Yes, cryptocurrencies are in fact, self-regulated entities. The code ensures predictability and transparency. ". That why Bitcoin is called a modern smart contract. I have read a little bit about Nick Szabo article (Smart Contract). Bitcoin is beyond from cryptocurrency but inside Bitcoin we will find many aspect, just like Nick Szabo mentioned in his article. Nice :)
@kevinwong - So true. Artificial regulation is what the traditional money system all about. Politicians sort of gauge what the public opinion is on certain things at any point of time and decide how to leverage it by manipulating tax regulations and controlled pricing. Regulation of crude oil prices by OPEC countries and regulation of petroleum product pricing by governments in some countries is a classic example
Bitcoin has had over 160 obituaries since it's conceptions as I can see from news reports and it is still going strong! Yes it will be volatile but will always be transparent and decentralized. It is no tulip as you have correctly pointed out.
Thanks for this blog which helps to dispel some of the negative propaganda. Upvoted full.
I like the ending of your blog too. Steemit indeed is slowly becoming a rage. I have been away a bit from Steemit and it was a pleasure to see your blog after a while. I have not had the pleasure to interact with you through comments on blogs like I used to couple of months ago. I request you to see my blogs and provide feedback too whenever you have some free time. Thanks
Regards,
Not saying there's anything wrong with regulation, but the problems comes when it's something as large as a nationwide regulation, which doesn't make much sense to me. I think regulations for smaller jurisdictions, working like "house rules" makes much ebtter sense.
I agree. It is very hard to gauge what a large sized population sample needs and hence it is that much more easier to get waylaid with biased opinions and views. It is also harder to transparently demonstrate cause and effect of regulations.
I've read everything but this seems more questions than answers (well I know no one can tel for sure). The only thing I found so funny is that when I used to trade earlier, the currency would be different, some up and some down and you could play it. With the latest developments, new to me, feels exciting at all prices, since all major currencies are down almost as much as the percentage, and when they start climbing a bit, they all do it at the same time and almost for the same value. . Looks like you are the one who asks: maybe the cause of such synchronized movements? "Because no one else has not proved successful, no triangles, or Fibonacci has sense and the currency just acts weird and chaotic @kevinwong
Oh that phenomenon is mainly because that most cryptos have their values paired with BTC..
Fantastic piece @kevinwong. I recently read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. One of the pieces that stuck out to me most in it was the fact that what makes us humans special is our ability to believe in fictions.
So what if Bitcoing is "not a real thing."
Neither is:
The fact that we believe something is valuable, exists, or is a "thing", makes it so. This goes for all types of things in our society, including both fiat and cryptocurrencies. That's why what Jamie said is nonsensical.
Yeap that's a book I've read recently as well , although I watched that ted talk last year I think. Intrinsic value and subjective value have always been debated to no end.. but I'm more to the subjective valuation side, since what's intrinsic is also a subjective thing.. we're just putting some numbers on them.
Well put - thanks for the response Kevin. Digging into your writing and enjoying it quite a bit so far!
Great opinion piece @kevinwong - I'm not sure whether Dimon is ignorant or clueless to be honest. He is using one of the oldest and best known tools to fight off the threat of positive change, innovation and revolution: Fear. And he succeeded in leaving a dent using that tools....at least temporarily. The markets have dropped yes but what people like Dimon are probably ignorant about is another a conceptually new threat beside change - resilience through interconnectivity and decentralisation. The markets will drop, yes, the people will run away with their money for a while but you cannot scare people off forever. What they are truly ignorant of is that decentralised, self-regulating (or self-organising) systems is the way the universe works. Dimon's old world system and way of thinking is the real natural fraud.
So it looks like he's not both ignorant and clueless, seeing that JPM bought the dip after calling bitcoin a fraud. Well these guys should know what they're talking about..
Yes agree @kevinwong naturally it was all orchestrated. So let me correct what I said before differently: "They are fully conscious that the inevitable new world is decentralised and they are using every dirty trick from the 'old world' to get a slice of it"
I agree with you. Ideas are bulletproof.
Bitcoin as an idea can never be killed. Vilify it. Call it scam. Try to run it down. An idea is birthed and cannot be killed.
I'll love to see steemit dominate the search result. As someone that joined last month, it'll be a thing of joy to see that. Thanks
Loved your post I have bitcoin and bcc and I'm making money is all I know and its going well I believe it's the wave of the future and also steemit, thanks for the information I always need to learn all I can and see all sides of it, have a beautiful Wednesday🌺
Thanks for dropping by . As long as its disposable income, just hold on and enjoy the ride :)
My friend, who recently went to China told me that while paying for some BBQ pork on a stick by the roadside street vendor, he was asked to pay through their epayment system. He was like blown away, like what? Street food and I couldn't pay with cash.
I am just an artist whose entry to cypto was through Steemit so I don't know the deeper details.
I think it's clear that epayment is the future and many things are to come and turn things around. It's only sensible. Guys like Apple would always help facilitate that with their own new things.
Thanks for the info dude!
Heard a similar story from China. A friend was there when she was approached by a flower girl. She tried to push her away with the excuse of not carrying cash. She was persistent and asked her to pay through AliPay, their electronic payment system.
thank you @kevinwong, for sharing emerging issues about ICO, bitcoin and cryptocurrency. there are fears that blockchain technology will ease terrorist and drug dealers transactions . I believe the inventor of blockchain technology is currently looking for ways to retain what they have built and have brought benefit for the users. Jamie was too worried and say that people who participated in the transaction were stupid, he would fire his employees who bought bitcoin, but he also admitted that his daughter also bought bitcoin. Hopefully he does not fire his daughter either :)
I think the normal channels are receiving more funds for "illicit" transactions.. and decentralisation would pretty much render terrorism ineffective (not now, but sometime in the future). The inventor of bitcoin is anonymous, nobody knows where he/she/they went :)
Yes.. the inventors are unknown, but the technologies are present because of many smart ideas and like you said.. the ideas never die. The Austrian economy see the economy as social process, although the concept of balance is very useful but the economy tend to not find balance so that it should be focuse in dinamic process
Banks and Government fear crypto because being decentralized, they are not able to control and regulate crypto. Just want to thank you for being an active follower and this is my shout out.
Newbie Nuggets: Using Spectacles To Enhance Engagement With My Followers
@kevinwong --- I knew you were legit as soon as you dropped a quote by Taleb. Crypto reminds me of his book Antifragile, where when the world starts trying to resist, it only gets stronger. Also, this reminds me of the Sapiens book where the author talks about our lives being directed by myths (money, religion, beliefs, etc). I see no fundamental difference between the whole world believing in the value of paper tied to governments that come and go throughout time and that of crypto. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I look forward to more posts like this from you. Cheers!
The value of decentralization is that one dude in a suit somewhere does not get to decide the price that suits him, it is regulated by an independent system which promotes transparency.
Well said @ehiboss :)
I see BTC price either if t goes up or down really is still excellent, it makes a good time to buy and sell in the market. It is what is important for me.
Steemit BTW is starting to get even better as many people will eventually find its power in their daily lives.
Hopefully we'll see Steem doing its thing by end year. I still think the lower capital risk for Steem users are a bit of a tougher sell compared to Bitcoin's higher capital risk entry. There needs to be a culture of entrepreneurship and investment for any platforms like this to succeed, imo.
Money is base of stability cryptocurrency. Good days comming for other money users for next generations.
Yes, Steemit go for the next generation!
When I hear bankers yelling scam. I know that something is upsetting the apple cart and I should investigate this disruption. Bitcoin is here to stay and I'm glad it's on sale again for me to buy more.
Always trust internet and yahoo ! Reliable sources
Its not real if we dont see them xD
This sort of attacks aimed towards the crypto world are to be expected. Whenever the old establishment is threatened they will come out with big statements like this. Maybe the beast way to react is to ridicule them for the hypocrites they are and move on with the important news :)
Officials constantly say that they will close Bitcoin @kevinwong, but they still do not want to. 20 years ago from the Internet, too, wanted to get rid, because it also interfered with someone else, but look now you can stop it :)
Lol i dont remember any stories about people wanting to get rid of the internet.. but i wouldn't be surprised. Luddites are everywhere, and I think we'll see more at the turn of this decade..
Rather, to say the Internet the same was predicted by extinction from the day of its foundation in 1969 and only in 1991 it firmly entered our world :)
Being in the crypto for just a month and being a believer of the blockchain tech, I am pissed. He doesn't need to make bad remarks against his competitors. But maybe that's just the way it is. I don't understand as much as he or the others can cause I'm just a newbie. I believe in the potential of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and I know that this is the future. If only people with weak hands can see it. In the mean time, buy the dips and still hodling my baby alt coins 😁
I personally havent been buying to hold btc, but yeah, the baby alts :)
Why wait until 2020? I'm hoping we see that headline in 2018 hahaha! When that time comes, even today's minnows could be at least dolphins haha!
I like to be conservative with my estimates lol..
Hey kevinwong,
i appreciate your thoughts - sure, you can always debate over the worth of money - no matter which one - in times of war and deep crisis, everything, not needed for pure survival is worthless.
In 2nd WW people traded their jewelry, paintings and even houses for some food or fuel - after the war, these things got their pre-war-value back, but they only work out of crisis.
During crisis, best be able to be function without money :) learn everything and take up some survival skills.
governments in some countries are beginning to look for how to make money from these bitcoin transactions, they can not manage bitcoins but in exchange for real currency, and all digital transactions begin to enforce tax laws, but they are all newly designed, as they do bitcoin and then bitcoin will get higher price
You know they are getting scared of crypto and blockchain when they start wheeling out the big guns to take a shot at it. Its classic modern behavious. They only care about stopping it dead in its tracks.
As you have said though. They dont even understand that much!!
Yeah it would seem like some big shots don't get the gist of cryptos..
I see that being the case for a long time!
That's really interesting, I was on bitcoin side for a long time but recently and mainly because of Ari Sharif, I feel like the bitcoin is really not backed by anything. The bitcoin value is totally psychological and based on the belief it will replace money one day. At the beginning, the dollar was backed by gold and now the system is just too attached to it. I hope the system of social networking will be one with steem so it will stay valuable ^^
Please check my new post, I think you will like it!
@paps
It's all about belief and hodling..
even if they destroy internet to stop crypto currencies we will still exchange them with Bluetooth, notes and smoke signals...
lol manual ledger entries following crypto's protocol? seems like its possible, and slow.. i still haven't got to thinking about that :)
You did good research work to present this article, bitcoin & other currencies are yet downwards trend but will recover in near future, beacuse these have great worth of their investors & developers team in back. This is good time to buy , hold for bright future.
Up voted post. Goodluck!
lol, these guys don't wanna lose their job. Well said, Ideas never dies, it expands. :-) Great post, loved it. Resteemed, voted.
Thanks @srkattel :) Market leaders should change and get replaced all the time..
A good meme for this news
smooth operator lol
News will always be there and it will always be inconsistent as its all talk and a lot of people are talking. Just say fuck ot and do what you rationally see fit.
True, it's actually okay to leave out news and just do our own sh*t. I haven't been reading any, except for crypto related stuff
There are some people who have a negative perception on bitcoin because for them its threat in our economy, they are not fully aware of how beneficial it is in our society. The other thing is that, those people are are skeptical about cryptocurrency are lack of ideas and knowledge about it. If bitcoin will be one our currency, cashless program is very possible.
cashless is already happening, especially in places like india. but cashless and decentralised cash are different concepts :)
The Demon (or Dimon, or however he wishes to spell it) ought to be more concerned with his own fortunes than with Bitcoin's.
The people will only bail out his bank so many times before they start looking for better alternatives.
Not clear on the story of JPMorgan, but yeah i guess the bailing out has been happening too many times? I can't believe he's talking down on his daughter in public just because she bought some bitcoin lol
Looks like he is jealous about missing the early ride.. aahh sour grapes it is ;)
I dont think he has none. He must have some.. ;)
and after this the market is in completely red situation :(
hope you didn't sell :p
hahha i didn't sell them i am smart ;)
You wrote that the other currencies are becoming crapcoins. This is my feeling, too. Thanks for the article.
these news were holding me back in doubt,
But now my confidence on these is regaining hold,
Thanks for retrieving our trust back in our digital gold !!
What did we learn from space technology if we are not going to use the knowledge gained. Satelite technology has moved more than one new invention.
Suggest narrow-minded people should throw away their cellphones, get rid of their computers and move back to the dark ages.
Change in Fintech is way overdue and the best move made has been bitcoin. The blockchain technology is still open to so many new inventions I don't even think one can start to consider what more it will be used for.
Have an awesome weekend @kevinwong you have got a community talking.
cryptocurrency is future Mr. Jamie. adopt it.
Nice post @kevinwong
yes. you are right . and thanks for share it .
Banks interests to keep control of world economy are too high to allow a decentralized currency to create a precedent to which many other cryptovalutes can be inspired
I like your post , thanks for share
Thank you for sharing :)
Terry Brock brought me here.
You made a great point. Thanks for this
nice post,, thank you for sharing.
at this time no one can block bitcoin, so rapidly growing. this is indeed a threat to the government.
they should be able to adjust
I think this electronic way to get steem will did big things in people lives becouse its a different way to get ,earn, and offcourse live from it. Maybe in futere it happens the same as like for money now , but then maybe will didt need money at all.