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Bitcoin Was 2016's Best-Performing Currency (newsweek.com)
The co-founder of Blockchain published an opinion piece in Newsweek today mocking predictions about the death of bitcoin, saying "each is more wrong than the last... Bitcoin was again declared the world's best performing currency in 2016 by Bloomberg. In fact, it's held that title every year since 2010, with the notable exception of 2014, when it was the worst." An anonymous reader writes:
Bitcoin president Nicolas Cary writes that bitcoin has become more stable than many of the world's top currencies, while the British pound "has dropped by more than 17% in a colossal collapse of confidence... In Africa, the Egyptian pound dropped 59% and the Nigerian naira fell 37%. In South America, the Argentine peso plummeted over 17% and the Venezuelan bolivar tumbled so far off a cliff it's difficult to measure -- even bricks of cash are worthless for everyday purchases there. Perhaps most dramatically of all, India, the world's second most populated country, introduced a stunning policy of demonetization declaring banknotes illegal overnight...
"During this time period, and partially in response to it, the price of bitcoin surged... Bitcoin also trounced the stock market from a performance perspective. Brand names like McDonald's, Home Depot and Disney grew at a paltry 1.6% or less; bitcoin outpaced them by over 70 times."
In 2009 one man in Norway bought $27 worth of bitcoin while writing a thesis on encryption, then forgot about them. Six years later, he discovered they were worth nearly $500,000.
"During this time period, and partially in response to it, the price of bitcoin surged... Bitcoin also trounced the stock market from a performance perspective. Brand names like McDonald's, Home Depot and Disney grew at a paltry 1.6% or less; bitcoin outpaced them by over 70 times."
In 2009 one man in Norway bought $27 worth of bitcoin while writing a thesis on encryption, then forgot about them. Six years later, he discovered they were worth nearly $500,000.
" has become more stable than many of the world's top currencies" and "the price of bitcoin surged" contradict each other.
If it's surged then it wasn't stable...
Why would you find this surprising? The volatility in those other currencies is driven by political factors and economic conditions in the countries that produce those currencies. Bitcoin isn't tied to a particular nation, so it is somewhat shielded from the political and economic factors in individual countries that can drive changes in the value of other currencies. However, the rapid increase in the value of Bitcoins concerns me that it may be a bubble and, at some point, there may be more significant corrections in the value of this currency. Just because it's performed well and is insulated from factors that can drive volatility in other currencies doesn't mean that it won't be susceptible to corrections and other factors that will drive it's value. The value of a currency is driven by the willingness of others to exchange goods, services, and other currencies for it.
bitcoin is almost by definition a pure ponzi scheme
I listen to Dave Ramsey who is very anti gold and find the whole concept bizaare.
Gold and bitcoins don't actually produce anything. Investing in a property give you rent as you supply a service. Investing in a company provides you income as that company provides and product or service that other people pay money for
If a few people got rich from either than it is not an investment anymore than casino chips are. Like casino chips they are for betting and speculating. The whole concept of Gold is the government can not do something stupid and it will always retain value .... well people only get rich if it fluctuates. Therefore it is a TERRIBLE currency and negates the whole purpose of bitcoin or gold over a dollar which is stable.
What a dollar doesn't do anything? No shit. It is a currency, not an investment tool.
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