She posed an interesting question about collecting rent on real estate. Could there be an easy, trustless, and reliable way for Bitcoin holders to collect interest on their holdings, and use the interest as passive income? If so, that might be the killer app.
Discussion
What would justify the interest?
Similar to a loan perhaps.
Right.
So interest would be paid on loans because the lender is at risk of default. But unlike with fiat, there is no one to bail you out if this does happen. No FDIC insurance if the bank blows up. No click of a button to reimburse you in case things go belly up.
You'd have to ask yourself whether that risk is worth a bit of interest. Is the interest needed in today's world, where Bitcoin already keeps going up in price as people figure out its value proposition?
And after that? In a hypothetical world where Bitcoin is the standard? The interest you're looking for is found in the productivity improvements in the world, which will show up in Bitcoin price deflation. nostr:npub1s05p3ha7en49dv8429tkk07nnfa9pcwczkf5x5qrdraqshxdje9sq6eyhe wrote an interesting book called "The Price of Tomorrow", which goes into this subject. Worth a read 😇.
I think the lenders could be somehow pooled in a technical fashion. Thinking outside of the box a bit, the risk to an individual can be distributed and reduced to a negligible amount, and accounted for with insurance, smart contracts, etc. The market already knows how to do this.
collect interest in bitcoin on bitcoin holdings? so that you can accumulate bitcoin for doing nothing?
Yes. Similar to a bank. There is going to be a huge market for lending and the ability measure risk and insure both sides is data driven and possible to achieve via decentralized technical means rather than statist institutions.
ability *to* measure …
decentralized = trustless. why would you lend to someone you don’t trust?
Reputation can be established and credit worthiness, just like in the current credit market. Lenders and borrowers can be pooled and the risk can be predictable and accounted for with the interest rates and insurance. It’s a very mature market, but currently tainted with regulatory burden that could possibly be avoided to make it even more sophisticated.