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RE: Bitcoin Is Not A Bubble, The Dow Jones Is!
"The reality is that some of these companies including Bitcoin have to get a business up and going to show what this industry will actually look like ... I mean can any of them actually make any money?"
But you actually know that cryptocurrency are decentralized and therefore the exact opposite of a company? It´s not about making money but about enabling every single individual to handle his/her finances without any bank being involved. It´s about giving the power back to the people.
I can put a price on a company for the next 2-5 years but honestly I can´t put any price on Bitcoin for that as the potential is just too huge whenever people recognize it.
Correct, which is why they are called crypto"currencies", which incidentally trade 24/5 on the global markets. The price of a currency is based purely on the level of supply and demand for that currency (so because most global trade is priced in USD, there is a disproportionate demand for USD). We know supply will be limited. Right now, there is a lot of BTC demand from speculators and almost none from end users. The speculators are chasing volatility - which is the exact opposite of what end users want. To me, that is what is causing the price movements right now.
Incidentally, although I am a believer in Crypto, I think that the design flaws in BTC will ultimately prove to be fatal, so in the long term, I think BTC will end up losing most of its value.
Thanks for your comments.
I agree that some of the operating processes are decentralized but the organizations that oversee the processes operate virtually the same as companies. We can call them different names but their functions are basically the same. Also legally because of how they have raised funds from the public, there must be someone accountable.
Also, someone or group has to oversee things or chaos reigns. Further they take a financial stake in the "businesses" or they delegate that stake to someone else. In the end they produce a product or a service. Whether that is the creation and overseeing of a system that produces a coin or token, one that operates a blockchain based social network, or one that produces smart contracts. Look at Steem for example, the founders here have a stake and the platform sits on top of a decentralized foundation, but the business is fairly traditional. In other words, the underlying operating model might be "decentralized" but take away whoever oversees things and they move toward entropy. This is why I made the comparison.
In terms of valuing Bitcoin I agree with you that it is hard to project a value, but it is not difficult to figure out the things that will give it a value. In short if it is to be a "currency " it has to be stable and able to transact like all currencies do meaning immediately and predictably. If it is to be a currency transfer mechanism, it needs to be faultless and predictable. If it is a store of value, it needs to be bulletproof and stable. If you believe that it will be any one of these options, it can give indication of where Bitcoiin's prices might be going over time. The challenge is that many are saying it will be all of these. I cannot see how that can actually happen although I am open to hearing any ideas on how.
The challenge is right now is that there is not enough real data to figure out what we really have with Bitcoin (and the other currencies). So in my opinion, what we see is lots of speculation and hype and as always in situations where these are the circumstances around new tech, things are flying all over the place. As far as I can see, this is the new normal for a while. I have a few friends that are making a killing on Bitcoin's uncertainty right now. They have figured out how to buy low and sell high and want this chaos to go on as long as possible. In part a lack of regulation and to a lesser extent, the opaqueness of the marketplace fuels this. So if we want change (and we do), both will have to be seriously dealt with.
These are my observations.
Thanks.