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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...
Brand names like McDonald's, Home Depot and Disney grew at a paltry 1.6% or less; bitcoin outpaced them by over 70 times.
Is bitcoin trying to be a currency, or an investment scheme ?
It's a stable currency, and it went from $27 to $500,0000 in 8 years! Everybody, buy, buy, buy! We're all going to get rich!
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
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.
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.
http://saveie6.com/
Not just because it doesn't work as a currency, but because for currencies big swings in valuation, up or down, are no "good performance". Ideally a currency would be completely stable. What $1 buys now would be what $1 buys tomorrow, and what it buys in a thousand years. Of course in reality none of them are totally stable, but the good ones are pretty stable. They move a very small amount, and do so very gradually. They function as a good store of wealth for that reason, and more importantly make for a useful medium of exchange. Since their value is pretty constant, people have a good feeling for how much they are "worth" and can mentally price things.
Bitcoin did well as a speculative bet. If you want to play financial speculation, Bitcoin is a good target as it moves like a very thinly traded stock. That means it can swing bit and make you a lot of money. Also means it can swing big the other way and lose you a lot. So like any sort of speculation, you need to know what you are getting in to and understand the risks.
You BTC promoters can't have it both ways: If Bitcoin is a good currency then it needs to be stable. If Bitcoin is a good investment, then it isn't a currency.
The ideal currency doesn't bounce around, it moves back and forth only to provide economic stimulus or a break on the economy. The "ideal" currency shouldn't rise or fall and I think McDonalds shares would form a far better currency than bitcoin.
"Bitcoin president Nicolas Cary writes that bitcoin has become more stable than many of the world's top currencies"
Bitcoin guy says "Bitcoint is awesome!". Film at 11.
Except as others have pointed out, its volatility means it is in NO WAY "stable" by any use of the word that I'm familiar with.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
You compare it against "many of the world's top currencies", and then reveal those currencies to include the Egyptian pound and the Nigerian naira? You ignore the wild surges and plummets that take place in very short time spans, then call it stable? You call it a currency at all, then compare it to stock? What is going through your head, the Meow Mix jingle on loop?