WAX ON: The Fundamental Reason Bitcoin Has Value
Content:
0:00 - 0:30 Intro
0:31 - 1:00 Bitcoin's special powers
1:01 - 2:10 These utilitarian properties don't influence the value (example)
2:11 - 2:58 Why Gold has value
2:59 - 4:40 Bitcoin = a hedge against 21st century risks
4:41 - 4:04 Which way the price of Bitcoin is going
5:20 - 5:46 Outro
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Transcript:
Someone recently asked me to explain Bitcoin. More specifically, why do people (some people at least) covet it. Now this person happened to be a venture capitalist, who I’ve known for a long time. And he knows that I like to find the one clear reason for investing in something. Sweeping away all the minor reasons, the nice to have’s, to find the fundamental real reason I like an investment.
Now, a few years ago, I would have immediately jumped to Bitcoin’s special powers. Those 5 unique traits, of Bitcoin: it’s immutable, transferable, uncensorable, anonymous, secure.
But these are, the utilitarian properties of Bitcoin. They’re not the reasons people value Bitcoin. These properties make us more confident that we’ll be able to retain the value we place in our Bitcoin. But they’re not the reason we assign value to Bitcoin, in the first place. It’s easy to test this point by the way. If I gave you one share of common stock, in WeWork, and I told you, this stock certificate is globally transferable, every transaction is immutable, you can securely store it better than anything else on earth, oh, and you can own it, anonymously. In other words, this stock certificate has all the utilitarian properties of Bitcoin. Would that make your share of WeWork Common Stock certificate valuable? No. It wouldn’t. Because all you've done is wrap a bunch of nice properties, around something, that probably has no value. It’s like picking up a half eaten hot dog on the road and then asking your friend if they’d like to buy it. They’d probably say no. “It has no value.” And then if you said “Ok, but what if I put the hot dog in this amazing vault, that only you have access to, and you can trade the hot dog to anyone, in the world, without a middle man, and with no counter-party risk! Now would you like to buy it?” They'd probably say nope, they wouldn't. Because those fancy properties don’t transform a worthless thing into treasure.
People who value Bitcoin, often compare it, to Gold. So why do people value Gold? Remember we’re looking for that one fundamental reason. Well in the 20th century, with the rise of Government-Issued Fiat Money, Gold became a safe harbor, against people’s greatest economic fears: massive government deficits, debasement of the country’s currency, runaway inflation. Gold became a key holding of the 20th century economically literate investors. And the price of gold, served as a warning sign, an index, an index that measures the fears that economically savvy investors have about government fiscal mismanagement.
So what about Bitcoin? Bitcoin , is a fear index, but for the 21st century. An index, of the fears of technologically informed people. You could say Bitcoin, is a key holding of the nerds.
So while inflation was the 20th century boogeyman, but it’s been tamed, Bitcoin is an insurance policy, a hedge, against some of our biggest mdoern fears. In this respect, Bitcoin is very much what you might call modern gold. Gold is ultimately a fear index for inflation. Bitcoin, just addresses a different set of fears. And the rising price of Bitcoin, serves as an index to gauge the level of those fears. The fear of, surveillance capitalism, the loss of agency and control over our digital identities, our privacy. Fear of censorship. Being de-platformed. Digitally quarantined, by some powerful corporation. The fear of, the regulatory state. The rise of permission-based societies. Banking restrictions. Unjust asset seizures. Closed borders. The fear of, modern day lawlessness. Cyber theft. Chargebacks. Dishonest counterparties. Read the rest of the transcript at https://wax.io/blog/wax-on-what-is-the-fundamental-reason-that-bitcoin-has-value
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Disclaimer
The information contained herein is for general informational purposes only. Nothing herein shall be construed to be financial, legal, or tax advice. The content of this video is solely the opinions of the speaker(s). Buying and selling cryptocurrencies poses considerable risk of loss. The speaker(s) does not guarantee any particular outcome. Past performance does not guarantee future results. You should do your own research, incorporating your own personal financial situation and risk tolerances, before making any purchase or trading decisions. The speaker(s) is not an investment advisor, broker or dealer. Your financial decisions are solely your responsibility.
