Bitcoin is heading for $10,000. This came to mind:
Just pray your pension fund has more sense than to partake in this madness.
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If the government were to liberalise the bitcoin economy, then a lot of them will switch to cash and cards. Alas, that means decriminalising cannabis, cocaine, and prostitution and reducing the duty on cigarettes, pretty much everything except guns. This would be good for tax and policing too.
But this is an authoritarian government we live under, that can’t even get conservative on free trade.
So Bitcoin will continue to prosper – I’m betting on it being even higher by next Easter.
Why do you work for the government Mike?
I think people getting involved with Bitcoins should understand what they are doing. Since the only practical uses for Bitcoins are on the dark web, everyone handling them is probably handling the proceeds of crime. Handling the proceeds of crime is called “money laundering”. Money laundering is a criminal offence. Good luck!
George says:
November 27 2017 at 1:24 pm
“I think people getting involved with Bitcoins should understand what they are doing. Since the only practical uses for Bitcoins are on the dark web, everyone handling them is probably handling the proceeds of crime. Handling the proceeds of crime is called “money laundering”. Money laundering is a criminal offence. Good luck!”
Quite a lot like any fiat currency then, George.
I think we’re going to see cryptocurrency go mainstream. As currency it’s not much use yet because no one knows what its value will settle at, but at present is as good a speculative bet as the stock market. (Unless you pick wisely) Possibly better given the stock market is only going to go one way from the inflated prices at present. Sooner or later they have to ‘correct’. The damage will be immense.
Bitcoin could go a hell of a lot further and also become a usable currency. To some extent it already is.
It’s already a usable currency in Japan, where it’s legal tender https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/12/bitcoin-price-rises-japan-russia-regulation.html
More fool the Japanese
I wonder what effect it might have on inflation… if people pay their taxes in Bitcoin, there won’t be the necessary destruction of yen there otherwise would be. Also, what happens to the Bitcoins once they’ve been paid as taxes? It would be a foolish government which didn’t seek to utilise in some way an appreciating asset. Maybe they’ll be hanging on to them, possibly secretly and personally. I have no idea what MMT makes of the situation in Japan, but I’d be interested to hear.
They can’t pay in Bitcoin
They translate into Yen at an official exchange rate
Tax is not charged in Bitcoin
Richard Murphy says:
November 28 2017 at 7:54 am
“They can’t pay in Bitcoin
They translate into Yen at an official exchange rate
Tax is not charged in Bitcoin”
And logically can’t be; if I’m understanding your teachings. Because tax must be paid in the governments own currency. (?) The big shift will come (may come) when governments issue their own digital cryptocurrency.
Only concerted efforts of the financial sector will, in my view, prevent that happening. At present they are wracking their brains to devise a way of ensuring they continue to get their cut. The volume of disparagement of cryptos is a fair indication of the current level of fear in the big finance houses that they become redundant – a barbarous relic.
Better get the cuffs ready for this lot then George… http://www.wheretospendbitcoins.co.uk/
What pension fund?
🙂
I only recently joined one for the first time
Good Luck. I hope your contributions don’t all end up parked in a marina in the Med. 🙂
What need has an academic of a pension, Richard ? Academics don’t retire they just lose their faculties. 😉
I don’t think that Bitcoin was what Keynes had in mind for a bancor.
The recommended reading for getting up to speed on cryptocurrencies is “Attack of the 50-Foot Blockchain” and, as you would expect of anything I recommend, it is vitriolic, cynical and sarcastic.
This is the correct attitude to Bitcoin and the associated criminality.
It is also thoroughly researched and clearly explained, and much of what is published on this subject is neither; and, sometimes, deliberately misleading.
Why is the value of Bitcoin quoted in the form of a fiat currency, surely as a challenger to the social construct that is fiat currency it should have its own distinct index of value.
KeithP says:
November 28 2017 at 4:39 pm
“Why is the value of Bitcoin quoted in the form of a fiat currency, surely as a challenger to the social construct that is fiat currency it should have its own distinct index of value.”
It’s a fair question on the face of it but I think the answer lies in the question: it’s a ‘challenger’ so it measures itself against what it challenges.
It is now the de facto yardstick for the other cryptos. So in a sense it really is in a class of its own. I don’t think anyone believed it was going to outperform gold as a safe haven, but that’s what it’s doing. Gold ‘should’ be sky high in the current uncertain geopolitical maelstrom and it’s barely moving.
I think when South Korea launch their government crypto scheme next year its yardstick is more likely to be Bitcoin than fiat currency. I don’t think Bitcoin is going to go away. Its demise has been prematurely announced too many times already.
Are we seeing a Bitcoin bubble or are we seeing fiat currencies reverting to their true value. ? Received wisdom says they always do eventually.
The price of silver should be many times higher than the sky, yet curiously, it’s not. Price manipulation would seem to be the answer. This is a problem which the fixers seem unable to bring to bear on Bitcoin. So far, anyway.