Jim Rickards endorses Bitcoin

[cypherdoc]

I don't know if Rickards really used to endorse bitcoin or not, but his current attitude, in his words, is "skeptical" (see his recent interview: http://futuremoneytrends.com/blog/?p=10062 ). Skeptical of what, I don't know. All he says is that bitcoin users should be aware that government is watching. Well, duh... I don't know why he seems to implicitly think that that's any different than for any type of financial transaction. It's pretty obvious that all financial movements are tracked, be it fiat, purchases of gold/silver, or blockchain transactions.

In my opinion, Rickards thinks very well about the global monetary dynamics in general. China, deflation followed by inflation, etc... His macro view makes him a natural gold bug, but he seems to have something of a block when it comes to accepting that bitcoin is a monetary superset of gold, and that if you're bullish on gold, you logically have to be bullish on bitcoin (unless you're trying to insure against an internet-gets-shutdown scenario).

Maybe it's a generational thing.... Many older gold-bug types ARE starting to acknowledge that bitcoin sports all of gold's good qualities (and then some), but *still* have a mental block when it comes to tangibility that's tough for them to rationalize (because it's irrational). These things take time. They may take a generation.

altho Rickards ran thru a laundry list of general terms to describe the Bitcoin "he gets", i think he's probably not gone thru the nuts and bolts of hashing algorithms, POW as it relates to the Byzantine General's Problem, and ECDSA analysis.  not being a mathematician or a coder i wasn't convinced until i had a working understanding of how these things work and why they work not only from a mathematical perspective but from an economic incentive.  the key thing that he is probably missing is that Bitcoin is FAIR.  anyone can participate and not be subjected to a minority strangle.  the thing that made it all click for me was understanding that SHA256 hashing is basically a random function.  this makes my miner's guesses equal to any other miner out there with equal hashing capacity.  so if one wants to or is willing to spend the money to buy a machine that guesses faster than mine i see that as fair play.  clearly there is much more to Bitcoin but that one sticks in my mind.  it's tough work to understand how the system works and quite frankly not everyone has the ability to comprehend its complexity.  

this is Bitcoin's Tension.  

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[Melbustus]

I don't know if Rickards really used to endorse bitcoin or not, but his current attitude, in his words, is "skeptical" (see his recent interview: http://futuremoneytrends.com/blog/?p=10062 ). Skeptical of what, I don't know. All he says is that bitcoin users should be aware that government is watching. Well, duh... I don't know why he seems to implicitly think that that's any different than for any type of financial transaction. It's pretty obvious that all financial movements are tracked, be it fiat, purchases of gold/silver, or blockchain transactions.

In my opinion, Rickards thinks very well about the global monetary dynamics in general. China, deflation followed by inflation, etc... His macro view makes him a natural gold bug, but he seems to have something of a block when it comes to accepting that bitcoin is a monetary superset of gold, and that if you're bullish on gold, you logically have to be bullish on bitcoin (unless you're trying to insure against an internet-gets-shutdown scenario).

Maybe it's a generational thing.... Many older gold-bug types ARE starting to acknowledge that bitcoin sports all of gold's good qualities (and then some), but *still* have a mental block when it comes to tangibility that's tough for them to rationalize (because it's irrational). These things take time. They may take a generation.

altho Rickards ran thru a laundry list of general terms to describe the Bitcoin "he gets", i think he's probably not gone thru the nuts and bolts of hashing algorithms, POW as it relates to the Byzantine General's Problem, and ECDSA analysis.  not being a mathematician or a coder i wasn't convinced until i had a working understanding of how these things work and why they work not only from a mathematical perspective but from an economic incentive.  the key thing that he is probably missing is that Bitcoin is FAIR.  anyone can participate and not be subjected to a minority strangle.  the thing that made it all click for me was understanding that SHA256 hashing is basically a random function.  this makes my miner's guesses equal to any other miner out there with equal hashing capacity.  so if one wants to or is willing to spend the money to buy a machine that guesses faster than mine i see that as fair play.  clearly there is much more to Bitcoin but that one sticks in my mind.  it's tough work to understand how the system works and quite frankly not everyone has the ability to comprehend its complexity.  

this is Bitcoin's Tension.  

Yeah, maybe that gets at his issue... His stated skepticism is related to government action (at least that's what he articulates) which perhaps stems from a fundamental non-confidence (borne of ignorance) in the technical underpinnings; ie, the fact that gov *can't* actually shut bitcoin down. But being skeptical of new things without being able to firmly and rationally state why is fine. Humans often have an intuition about new things which they can only later explain fully, right or wrong. Unless Rickards is just unreasonably stubborn, he will necessarily fully (and/or grudgingly) come around on bitcoin the longer it exists. EDIT: Since by merely existing for longer, it should provide him with empirical evidence of bitcoin's sufficiently solid technical underpinnings, irrespective of whether or not he's going to go through the effort of fully understanding all the technical components.

[tvbcof]

In my experience, many many 'goldbugs' are old fossils, completely orthodox thinkers who are threatened by anything new, or both.  A fair number of them are actually just kind of stupid...and a much greater percentage of the silver-bugs fit this description.  There are a few exceptions, and I'm certainly not surprised to see Rickards evaluating Bitcoin critically.  Keiser also.  BTW, I'll bet that Rickards read and understood more about the technical nuts and bolts of Bitcoin in 1/2 an hour than most Bitcoiners will ever know (cypherdoc.)

I could have seen Denninger going either way.  He disappointed me by being close-minded in spite of the fact that he has the technical skills to understand the system readily.

I dunno if Sinclair will ever weigh in, but I'd love to see his read.  I'm afraid I would be disappointed though.

[420]

In my experience, many many 'goldbugs' are old fossils, completely orthodox thinkers who are threatened by anything new, or both.  A fair number of them are actually just kind of stupid...and a much greater percentage of the silver-bugs fit this description.  There are a few exceptions, and I'm certainly not surprised to see Rickards evaluating Bitcoin critically.  Keiser also.  BTW, I'll bet that Rickards read and understood more about the technical nuts and bolts of Bitcoin in 1/2 an hour than most Bitcoiners will ever know (cypherdoc.)

I could have seen Denninger going either way.  He disappointed me by being close-minded in spite of the fact that he has the technical skills to understand the system readily.

I dunno if Sinclair will ever weigh in, but I'd love to see his read.  I'm afraid I would be disappointed though.

G. Edward Griffin likes gold backed government money but says he's open to the free market and private currencies competing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_hBhymFfm8#t=15m22s

[justusranvier]

I could have seen Denninger going either way.  He disappointed me by being close-minded in spite of the fact that he has the technical skills to understand the system readily.

Denninger understands Bitcoin extremely well - I made sure of that when I was an active and long-time member of his forum.

He opposes Bitcoin because he understands it.

The man is an extreme authoritarian and dislikes Bitcoin because he sees the potential it has to free people from centrally-planned money.

[cypherdoc]

I could have seen Denninger going either way.  He disappointed me by being close-minded in spite of the fact that he has the technical skills to understand the system readily.

Denninger understands Bitcoin extremely well - I made sure of that when I was an active and long-time member of his forum.

He opposes Bitcoin because he understands it.

The man is an extreme authoritarian and dislikes Bitcoin because he sees the potential it has to free people from centrally-planned money.

i used to read him everyday and was a member of his forum for a while.

i don't get the part about him being an extreme authoritarian when he criticizes everything about gov't vehemently?

[justusranvier]

i don't get the part about him being an extreme authoritarian when he criticizes everything about gov't vehemently?

He criticizes the government when it doesn't do what he wants it to do (which is most of the time).

Because of that, he comes across as a libertarian.

Find one of his hot button issues though and he'll just start raving. Undocumented immigrants, for example. Muslims are another.

It also shows up in the manner in which he administers the forum, especially how he handles dissenting viewpoints and evidence that contradicts his positions on hot button issues.

If you look in depth at his proposals he advocates, he wants an MMT monetary system that's controlled by the Treasury instead of the Fed, with the Secretary of the Treasury acting as a central planner in charge of all bank loan policies and currency issuance.

The existence of Bitcoin threatens that vision.

[cypherdoc]

i don't get the part about him being an extreme authoritarian when he criticizes everything about gov't vehemently?

He criticizes the government when it doesn't do what he wants it to do (which is most of the time).

Because of that, he comes across as a libertarian.

Find one of his hot button issues though and he'll just start raving. Undocumented immigrants, for example. Muslims are another.

It also shows up in the manner in which he administers the forum, especially how he handles dissenting viewpoints and evidence that contradicts his positions on hot button issues.

If you look in depth at his proposals he advocates, he wants an MMT monetary system that's controlled by the Treasury instead of the Fed, with the Secretary of the Treasury acting as a central planner in charge of all bank loan policies and currency issuance.

The existence of Bitcoin threatens that vision.

i do know that he is an authoritarian on his own forum.  he doesn't tolerate any dissent.

he also hates gold.  i guess he rubbed off on me.  no wonder he hates Bitcoin too.

[keystroke]

i don't get the part about him being an extreme authoritarian when he criticizes everything about gov't vehemently?

He criticizes the government when it doesn't do what he wants it to do (which is most of the time).

Because of that, he comes across as a libertarian.

Find one of his hot button issues though and he'll just start raving. Undocumented immigrants, for example. Muslims are another.

It also shows up in the manner in which he administers the forum, especially how he handles dissenting viewpoints and evidence that contradicts his positions on hot button issues.

If you look in depth at his proposals he advocates, he wants an MMT monetary system that's controlled by the Treasury instead of the Fed, with the Secretary of the Treasury acting as a central planner in charge of all bank loan policies and currency issuance.

The existence of Bitcoin threatens that vision.

i do know that he is an authoritarian on his own forum.  he doesn't tolerate any dissent.

he also hates gold.  i guess he rubbed off on me.  no wonder he hates Bitcoin too.

Yea I used to read him back in the day but he is such an authoritarian that I stopped. His writing style is very aggressive but he uses asterisks to remove the profanity which I find to be ironic. As if hatred is cool but a word isn't. Thanks for putting this criticism into words.

[applelover]

Yea I used to read him back in the day but he is such an authoritarian that I stopped. His writing style is very aggressive but he uses asterisks to remove the profanity which I find to be ironic. As if hatred is cool but a word isn't. Thanks for putting this criticism into words.

lol nice well said

[420]

what makes u think he hates gold??

[cypherdoc]

what makes u think he hates gold??

he's penned many anti-gold pieces.

[justusranvier]

what makes u think he hates gold??

He bans anyone who mentions gold in any forum area except one set aside as a ghetto for precious metal discussions.

[420]

How does he think treasury should run the us dollar

[justusranvier]

How does he think treasury should run the us dollar

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/12/more-madness-from-bill-still-and-his.html

[420]

How does he think treasury should run the us dollar

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/12/more-madness-from-bill-still-and-his.html

no rickards on that page

[cypherdoc]

How does he think treasury should run the us dollar

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/12/more-madness-from-bill-still-and-his.html

no rickards on that page

we're talking about Karl Denninger.

[lonelyminer (Peter Šurda)]

I spoke with Jim Rickards at a conference last month, we were both speakers there. He said he's not anti-bitcoin, he just points to the risks. My impression was that he's a pragmatist. I don't know if he's libertarian but I don't think he's a big fan of the state.

[RationalSpeculator]

I spoke with Jim Rickards at a conference last month, we were both speakers there. He said he's not anti-bitcoin, he just points to the risks. My impression was that he's a pragmatist. I don't know if he's libertarian but I don't think he's a big fan of the state.

The only thing he does is give arguments why bitcoin is no good. And if he points to nice qualities, it is followed with a 'but'.  

That is being anti bitcoin.

It could be worse though if he were to reject it outright, not giving it any airtime, like several other reputable goldbugs do.

Author of 'Currency Wars', oh irony.

[inform]

i think bitcoin is beter spme curency