Just wrestled with this thought on my way into work-
Would #bitcoin exist if we still had hard money? If the dollars still had a backing?
Would there even be a need for it?
I lean towards no, personally. But I’d love to hear some opinions.
I assume ‘no’ because I believe bitcoin was created as a solution to a problem. It does a great job at being the solution, all the price tag to me is just a reflection of how well it’s solving the problem.
I’ve given that some thought too, and found the answer to be yes, because not having hard money isn’t the only problem #bitcoin solves. Removing intermediaries, streamlining processing, specialisation of financial functions and the one-ledger concepts are all additional problems bitcoin solves by one the lack of hard money.
Solid take, I’m on board.
I guess if the consensus is yes, and we can say that bitcoin would STILL have value/purpose in an economic environment where the money is hard, then that only means one thing-
No one is bullish enough. Especially those who have yet to realize bitcoins face-value benefits.
It’s impressive how many times I have heard “no intrinsic value” being said by so-called experts who did not actually study more than headlines, and miss these valuable concepts.
It’s just buzzwords that talking heads pass down to whatever group of people still listen to them.
I prefer the Austrian economics take on value, no such thing as intrinsic value. Price is always directly correlated to how we value something’s uses
83% sure that #Bitcoin wouldn’t exist
Programmability, non-seizability and scalability across space are things that gold is not good for, at all, and that's exactly why hard money has been lost for so long.
Good take!
Do you think the same applies for a gold backed fiat currency?
They already did make a "gold backed" currency, see how it went 😉
The very first bankers who took gold in exchange for certificates, well before the state issued the gold-backed-paper-cash currencies we know about, immediately started doing fractional reserve, there is just no hope.
On the other side, a "gold backed fiat currency" is kind of a contradiction in terms, as it can either be backed by gold, or be fiat money.
Sorry you’re right- gold backed cannot be fiat, we became fiat after removing the backing, my mistake.
I also wasn’t aware that fractional reserve banking started while being on a gold standard. All this being said, I think we’re definitely on the right path with bitcoin and if previous currencies with backing were subject to fractional reserve then there definitely would’ve been a use case for BTC even on a backed dollar system
Even just from a monetary standpoint, not considering the points you mentioned before. I think I have my answer
