Difference here is I don't think the government is going to step in and regulate them so they're safer. I think the government is going to treat this all as fraud eventually
I firmly believe crypto is useless. Unlike gold (with metallic and useful properties) or other floated currencies that map back to an economy. Crypto essentially represents spent energy.
If crypto, esp BTC was able to be back converted into the energy used to produce it, that'd be great. But it can't so it's just a net negative IMO.
All traded goods and services essentially represent spent energy.
Crypto is only valuable if you can find a bigger fool, and you are not the one holding the proverbial hot potato.
gold was useless for 99.5% of human history, until the advent of electronics
Even Silver corrodes. Gold never corrodes. It's excessively stable, malleable, and perfect for art pieces.
Since Gold is excessively stable, there are no worries about rashes or itchiness if you wear it all day.
In an age before modern plastics, that is basically miraculous.
If people don't understand stone age economics and why gold was seen as valuable even before modern electronics, oh boy... How do they make sense of more modern concepts? We often discuss a lack of education, especially in terms of science and technology. The situation regarding economics education is so dire most aren't even aware there is an issue.
Over say, Iron?
Yes. Because iron rusts. An iron-coin does not last forever. Copper, Silver, and Gold are easier to take care of, but even old copper/silver coins tarnish and corrode away with time.
Gold does not. A gold coin made 100 years ago would be as brilliant today as it was back then... with minimal maintenance.
There's a _REASON_ why gold was chosen, all across the world, from MesoAmerica, to Europe, to Asia, as a unit of currency.
If that's your worry (and not that you shouldn't), consider that the risk of confiscation of your bank balance or stock accounts is far higher given that those are merely entries in a database held by a third party.
I got a buddy with a bunch of money in Celsius right now, that feels like its been confiscated.
Apparently, cryptocoins can also be "confiscated", and are unable to be sold during these times of duress.
yeah, so exactly like I said, it was pretty much useless
>In an age before modern plastics, that is basically miraculous.
have you heard about glass?
Have you ever worked with glass vs gold?
Dropped a piece of art(isanal good) made of glass and see it shatter and one made of gold and not much happening to it?
That's just two of dozens of reasons why your comparison makes no sense.
we're in the bi-hourly crypto hate thread. the threshold for being useful is set to "is it necessary for basic survival?". "a store of value with additional attached utility" doesn't make the cut, and must be banned to atone for our carbon sins
>Have you ever worked with glass vs gold?
the post above compares gold to plastics
No one wears glass all day.
My Nylon strap for my watch is pleasant and cheap. But the very material itself didn't exist before the 1930s IIRC.
If we're talking about materials that existed even in 2000BCE, gold is one of those metals that you could wear all the time, and never get a rash, allergic reaction, or otherwise get itchy.
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Glass isn't flexible or malleable. Even if we use fiberglass today, its a carcinogen and very bad for the human body. Certainly not a material you want to be wearing all the time.
It only gained popularity by people hoping to get rich in regular currency from the value changing. It morphed into being basically another type of security that gets traded and rises and falls with the general stock market.
And that's ignoring all the scam and theft that has happened. I used to feel bad I didn't buy bitcoin when I was younger, but these days I feel good that I stayed away from cryptocurrency in general.
mind if a propose this as an example of a strawman on wikipedia? it doesn't get any better