I agree with many of the author's points. Ultimately we agree for different reasons though. He said something about not being able to short sell bitcoin. I don't understand why he believes short selling is a good thing. And even if it is, I don't understand his reasoning here.
He didn't mention the government taking away the ability to convert bitcoin to fiat and back. I think the government could block our ability to buy and sell it using fiat at some point.
He didn't mention the government taking away the ability to convert bitcoin to fiat and back. I think the government could block our ability to buy and sell it using fiat at some point.
Bitcoin already serves too many purposes to just be abandoned. And they'd never really have the ability to stop it said way. As long as there's ways for people to exchange money (which, lol it's the purpose of money) people will be able to exchange bitcoin. Maybe not openly and transparently, but people will still do it. What's stopping me from just email-transferring you $1000? Or sending you a cheque for "services rendered"? Western Union lets you pick-up cash-transfers without ID using nothing but a "code-word." Jussayin'.
Author is looking at it purely as an investment property, and not as a hybrid investment/currency.
It's sounds more like he's looking at it emotionally. Arguments like "taxes can be burdensome" is not a reason anyone should put off investing in something. Are there alternative investments where you legally won't have to pay taxes on profits? Perhaps he's saying anything other than putting your money in a 401K is too complicated.
It is a pain if you've got some in a Coinbase-type wallet, the government wants to know every time you spend a cent and what the cost basis was for that cent, which makes it practically useless as a currency (if you choose to keep your crypto where someone else can report it at tax time.)
The author is just flat out wrong on that point. You can absolutely short sell bitcoin on many markets/exchanges. It's not a great idea though, and the shorts have gotten liquidated several times over the past few months.
I think the author might be referring to naked short selling. You can't do that with bitcoin because it's an quick way to go out of business for an exchange. In fact bitcoin has done a good job showing that naked short selling destabilizes markets.
All short selling should be illegal, whether covered or not.
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