Peter Schiff vs. Barry Silbert: Gold and Bitcoin

[deisik]

Let`s say fiat died off, what would be a better measure for goods? gold or bitcoin?

TIME.

Time is the only true currency of value which is why The Man would never encourage its use to measure against the crap they're trying to sell you. With dollars at least there's some abstraction to take your mind off what you're squandering.

If it's actually staring you in the face every time you part with your Time then you're suddenly going to become a lot more discerning

But there's a problem

For money to exist and function as such, it should be a universal metric and measure. That means it should work as a yardstick for assessing the value of casual things (like groceries or whatever). Apart from that, it should be freely and easily exchangeable (like in the movie, yeah). Without these prerequisites, it is not suitable for the purpose of being a means of exchange, alas, and you can't get around this if you want to use time as money

[traderethereum]

I don't think about that debate because for me, that debate is useless and there will be no ended of the debate.
Each person will defend their argument, and they will say that what they choose is the best.
Rather than debate, I think it's better if they can get one way to conclude that bitcoin gold will work together and there is no need to debate about which is the best.
Each person needs to realize the advantage and the disadvantage of bitcoin and gold, and they will not take the disadvantage of both so bitcoin and gold can solve the economic problem.

[muratsink]

gold is mined, BTC is also mined.  the same concept with a different system. 
both can damage the environment.  BTC mining only affects the country's electricity supply and gold mining has an impact on nature. 
so.  in my opinion. what must be discussed is about the intensity of gold and bitcoin as the future currency.

[kamBlanV]

why did they discuss the two?  both are currencies that will replace fiat. 
gold is in demand by many people because the value is extraordinary and very intrinsic, and BTC is in demand by many people because of the new currency and has high and fast volatility.  both are good choices for us.

[ck343]

Here's a great debate between gold bug Peter Schiff and bitcoin bull Barry Silbert:

https://youtu.be/zN0NIcghT0g

I thought Schiff did a great job pointing to the historical value of gold, though I tend to side with Silbert in this debate. While I am much more bullish about bitcoin than gold, I believe gold is money and a form of insurance to economy uncertainty. I felt Silbert could have done more to rebut Schiff's point about the environmental costs of bitcoin mining.

The flaw of the argument of gold's historical value is that what has been valid until today doesn't necessarily have to be valid onwards.
When one brings that argument up, he has to explain why gold has been value for so long and why it will still be the case

[franky1]

For money to exist and function as such, it should be a universal metric and measure.

without even thinking about the world. did you know just in the U.S
a $10 bank note is near 2 hours labour in wyoming and georgia ($5.15 min wage)
a $10 bank note is near 1 hours labour in Connecticut and maryland($10.10 min wage)
a $10 bank note is near 50 minutes labour in Massachusetts ($12 min wage)

as for a loaf of bread.
going store to store i bet you will see an array of different prices for a basic loaf. all varying location to location

"universal metric and measure." pfft

[Slow death]

Here's a great debate between gold bug Peter Schiff and bitcoin bull Barry Silbert

these are an unnecessary debate. The same people who have gold will buy bitcoin. And the same people who have bitcoin will buy gold. stay competing about who is better, is something very unnecessary. I always tell people to use both.

I don't think about that debate because for me, that debate is useless...

I agree, and I hope they stop wasting time with this type of debate, nobody will stop buy gold even knowing that it destroys nature, just as no one will stop buy bitcoin

[pushups44]

Why does everything have to be so binary?

Personally I think gold's a load of boring, staid bollocks that I'd only bother with as a paperweight. At the same time I totally understand why people would consider it over BTC and I really don't think there's much overlap in the type of person who'd consider either. Even better they can have a dabble with both.

Pretty much my thoughts. Silbert was against gold hence I didn't like his stance, not like Voorhees'[1] stance. There was definitely a conflict of interest for both Silbert and Schiff that they had to defend their asset no matter what simply because they're incentivized to do so.

Bitcoiners can be gold bugs too. As both advocate for these assets because both are simply against fiat in the first place.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8R71WGO3qU

Bingo. Bitcoin and gold are both potential bets against the U.S. dollar and other fiat currencies. They thus have more in common than Schiff and Silbert are willing to admit.

[deisik]

For money to exist and function as such, it should be a universal metric and measure.

~
without even thinking about the world. did you know just in the U.S
a $10 bank note is near 2 hours labour in wyoming and georgia ($5.15 min wage)
a $10 bank note is near 1 hours labour in Connecticut and maryland($10.10 min wage)
a $10 bank note is near 50 minutes labour in Massachusetts ($12 min wage)

as for a loaf of bread.
going store to store i bet you will see an array of different prices for a basic loaf. all varying location to location

"universal metric and measure." pfft

I'm not sure what you want to say by that

Anyway, 10 dollars are 10 dollars anywhere across the States, be it Wyoming or Georgia, Connecticut or Maryland, or whatever. It just turns out that labor is priced and valued differently, and not just in America (read, it is not dollars that are different). I'm sure you will find startling discrepancies in the price of labor in different countries, but that has nothing to do with money as such (though you can use dollars pretty much anywhere, just in case). Regarding a loaf of bread, it looks like not all loaves of bread are born equal. But that's in the nature of things

[buwaytress]

A bit too long to listen to, and there's been quite a bit of misquoting going on in the media with Schiff's comments about India and central banks buying gold haha (India's not the only one, I'm sure!).

Silbert seems pretty solid but yeah, there's really quite a bit of good arguments against the rather nonsensical "bitcoin mining damages the environment" rhetoric, it's strange no one's really bothered to come back at them.