The Swiss central bank prints francs and buys US equities, essentially for free. Which country buys bitcoin next doesn’t really matter. Which of 5 central banks with an in demand currency follows the Swiss model by debasing in secret, and obtaining bitcoin does matter. Only one will get away with it, and the price of bitcoin is inconsequential to this ultimate speculative attack. Knowing this is the most likely end game is why I’ve never sold any bitcoin.
https://mises.org/power-market/swiss-national-banks-us-stocks-150-billion-and-counting
And what will be the reaction to some countries or central banks successfully using this speculative attack and leaving others behind?
I guess the reaction of powerful states (that were too slow and thus come under pressure) will be: use other means of power (economical, political, military, ..) to try to coerce the successful first movers to yield.
I shudder to think, but I imagine it will be rough…possibly violent.
The only possible remedy to this would be very widespread adoption throughout most/all states and institutions and populations.
Theoretically, as soon as it becomes obvious to states/institutions who are lagging behind that they need to buy in, there is only one thing that can stop them from doing so, since AFAIK there's no technical way for any third actor to stop them: their unwillingness for ideological "reasons".
Appears likely to me that this will be the main issue: ideological reasons and narratives will prove very stubborn, which will needlessly bring instability.
