I’m always a bit surprised when people seem to imply that there’s a fundamental human right to perfectly stable stores of value (if you could even define such a quality), and that the absence of that—inflation, price fluctuation, etc—is somehow unfair.

Gold bugs like to say that “value” is what gold is worth, but if you look at the real value of gold over time—in terms of its ability to be exchanged for things that you might, you know, want—it’s anything but: https://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-.... Over a number of multi-decade ranges in the last century, a purchase of gold at the start of the period would leave the buyer the poorer at the end of it.

In reality, there just isn’t such a thing as a single “real” definition of “value.” Prices—of commodities, of securities, and, yes, of both fiat and cryptocurrencies fluctuate. A saver who wants to put money away to spend in the future must, unfortunately, make some sort of bet. (Even if such a magical instrument existed, savers who bought it would still be making a bet that the opportunity cost of avoiding growth investments does not outweigh the value of stability!)

Keeping all your savings in crypto—or in fiat, or in gold, or in your employer’s stock—isn’t a fantastic idea. But that’s not because someone is scamming you; it’s because there just isn’t such a thing as “the one true value”, and no asset that allows you to safely track it. That’s life.