the FT says what digital figments of the imagination are not for
"It isn’t a store of value — bitcoin is 70 per cent off its highs and down 25 per cent in the last five days alone.
It isn’t an inflation hedge — it would be up 10 per cent this year if it were. It isn’t uncorrelated to interest rates — far from it!
It doesn’t provide a hedge to equity markets — again, far from. It isn’t better at shifting money around the place than conventional methods — for those of us not evading taxes, money laundering or fleeing war zones.
It isn’t environmentally friendly and, crucially, it isn’t easy to use. As all the fluff around it disappears it is hard to see what will be left for crypto holders."
so what is it for?
1) separating mug punters from the money they have saved or borrowed
2) enabling criminals to move money around, often unseen
3) money laundering
anything else?
"It isn’t a store of value — bitcoin is 70 per cent off its highs and down 25 per cent in the last five days alone.
It isn’t an inflation hedge — it would be up 10 per cent this year if it were. It isn’t uncorrelated to interest rates — far from it!
It doesn’t provide a hedge to equity markets — again, far from. It isn’t better at shifting money around the place than conventional methods — for those of us not evading taxes, money laundering or fleeing war zones.
It isn’t environmentally friendly and, crucially, it isn’t easy to use. As all the fluff around it disappears it is hard to see what will be left for crypto holders."
so what is it for?
1) separating mug punters from the money they have saved or borrowed
2) enabling criminals to move money around, often unseen
3) money laundering
anything else?