Fundstrat’s Tom Lee: 99% of USD is Speculative, Why Discredit Bitcoin?

[Doyenne]

Bitcoin critics say that the cryptocurrency should never be regarded as a means of exchange because it’s mostly used for speculation. Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee disagrees with this statement, saying that most of the US dollars are used for speculation as well.

https://bitcoinist.com/fundstrats-tom-lee-99-of-usd-is-speculative-why-discredit-bitcoin/

[Carlton Banks]

*holding* USD (or any currency) is speculation, never mind if you speculate on something different by borrowing USD


a safe bet is still a bet

[pixie85]

Tom Lee also disagreed when people said that Bitcoin would fall below 10 thousand dollars in 2018

*holding* USD (or any currency) is speculation, never mind if you speculate on something different by borrowing USD


a safe bet is still a bet

Every move you make with your money is speculative because there's a degree of risk.

You buy a car it could break, burn, get stolen. You buy a house it could get flooded, burn, get burglarized or vandalized. You put money in a bank it could go bankrupt or freeze your money and say they suspect illegal activity or whatever.

The only safe thing you can do with your money is spend it on yourself.

[Pearls Before Swine]

I'm not even sure if I trust his numbers on this one, that only 1% of dollars are used to buy goods/services and that the rest is used to speculate on something else.  The 1% figure seems extremely low given how robust the U.S. economy is and how much money gets spent each year.

But assuming it's right, the remaining 99% of dollars is used to speculate *on something else*.  That does not say that the U.S. dollar is being speculated on, only being used to pay for stocks or whatever else people gamble on.  The same is *not* true of bitcoin, which people spend U.S. dollars on in order to hold or trade.  There is a disconnect there, a leap in logic that I don't like.

He's being defensive about bitcoin, which I can appreciate.  His argument isn't solid, tho.

[hello_good_sir]

Bitcoin critics say that the cryptocurrency should never be regarded as a means of exchange because it’s mostly used for speculation. Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee disagrees with this statement, saying that most of the US dollars are used for speculation as well.

https://bitcoinist.com/fundstrats-tom-lee-99-of-usd-is-speculative-why-discredit-bitcoin/

Isn't by going off his logic, everything is basically speculative? Even buying houses, cars, and holding money is all speculative since we will never actually know what is going to happen in the future.

I respect Tom Lee since he is one of those big investors that actually pays attention to crypto-currency and doesn't have a set in stone sort of mindset that a lot of the other corporate people usually have, and this is a great interview.

[hatshepsut93]

Bitcoin critics say that the cryptocurrency should never be regarded as a means of exchange because it’s mostly used for speculation.

I think that's kind of a strawman, speculation itself is not the problem, the fact that Bitcoin is volatile is the problem. And it's not even because people speculate too much, it's just because Bitcoin's future is still uncertain and people are betting on all sorts of outcomes. I'm sure time will fix it all, eventually Bitcoin will become a "boring" asset and speculators will move on to other things.

[CryptoBry]

Bitcoin critics say that the cryptocurrency should never be regarded as a means of exchange because it’s mostly used for speculation. Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee disagrees with this statement, saying that most of the US dollars are used for speculation as well.

Personally, I am agreeing with Tom Lee on the point that people seem to be exaggerating on speculations holders and investors are heaping on Bitcoin. Speculation is itself is not bad at all. This has become a force of pushing an asset like Bitcoin into the consciousness of the people, much like launching a big star in the world of entertainment. We all need that kind of inertia that can propelled a rocket into the outer space, much like what speculations had dome to Bitcoin in the past. People speculate because they are seeing that there is big chance for Bitcoin to rise (or short when they think it can fall in grace).

Now, if we are targeting speculations in itself then all assets must be subjected to the same treatment as there is nothing that is free from speculations. However, the thing is that in Bitcoin the degree of speculations can be higher compared to other assets, that is something we have to face as fact. So is there anything we can do to lessen speculations on Bitcoin? Should we then limit people's participation on it? Can we say then that an asset where only one or two people are speculating on can be better than Bitcoin?

[Eugenar]

Bitcoin critics say that the cryptocurrency should never be regarded as a means of exchange because it’s mostly used for speculation.

I think that's kind of a strawman, speculation itself is not the problem, the fact that Bitcoin is volatile is the problem. And it's not even because people speculate too much, it's just because Bitcoin's future is still uncertain and people are betting on all sorts of outcomes. I'm sure time will fix it all, eventually Bitcoin will become a "boring" asset and speculators will move on to other things.

What most people want and wait is for bitcoin's market price to surge or soar way up higher, not considering the volatility of it as a problem, but the main advantage when people take part in trading it. What the bitcoin future can provide is the creation of other crypto assets, more of a stable coins. These will be the way for investors to have a stable and less volatilie crypto asset not used for speculation, and solely for a purpose of establishing their business using crypto.

[Darker45]

Bitcoin critics say that the cryptocurrency should never be regarded as a means of exchange because it’s mostly used for speculation. Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee disagrees with this statement, saying that most of the US dollars are used for speculation as well.

https://bitcoinist.com/fundstrats-tom-lee-99-of-usd-is-speculative-why-discredit-bitcoin/

Who is not speculating? Even the 1% buying public has some rough speculations running inside their heads, about what will happen to the USD's value in the next years, about how much purchasing capacity would be left with their monthly allocation for groceries in the next couple of years, about whether the upcoming elections' results would somehow affect it, and so on. Bitcoin adversaries will have to think of new arguments. This kind of loose argument will not sway the public's view on Bitcoin.

[goaldigger]

We all speculate the money, we don’t know the future result on any updates on any currency so we should not believe that bitcoin should not be used for exchange. Speculation is everything, and those bitcoin critics are just messing around to create panic so they can buy cheap believe me this is their strategy over the past years.

[blckhawk]

Even if they're both speculative, the factor to consider a currency to be a medium of payment is its volatility and convenience. But even though bitcoin could be difficult to use for transactions alone, with fiat, it's possible and more convenient and secure. It could be a speculative asset and at the same time mode of payment, if used with fiat, such that products can be in USD but could be paid in BTC equivalent at the specific time of transaction.

[hv_]

https://fsinsight.com/2019/12/06/bitcoin-sv-interview-hosted-by-tom-lee/

Getting it ?

[tsaroz]

The thing that makes USD strong is its exchange value. The price of goods and services remains similar to the value of fiat as they are generally priced against fiat.
For example buying a television set with fiat won't differ  a huge when buying with USD while differs a lot around time when buying with bitcoin.