RischioCalcolato is one of the main italian economics blog, it is owned by Paolo Rebuffo. Today he published an interesting article about Bitcoin that raises some interesting points. Sorry for the translation but it's better than the googlish one!
THE BITCOIN ENVYSo the question is:
The guy who has become "rich" because he believed in BTC in time, so he bought or "mined” it helping to create nodes in the BTC network. Does he deserve to have become rich?
I know the question is pure "sex of angels." Apart from the fact that he has earned, and whatever the word "deserve" means, the guy eventually became rich.
But for all those who have not become rich (and are gnawing at it), what is the guy in question? A parasite? A privileged? A benefactor?
I say it now, for me at least he is a person who has risen above the others at the right time
and therefore he deserves his wealth. But in case that Bitcoin (or another cripto-money) will keep its promise to wipe out the central banks or even just to reduce their power then, in my opinion,
he would also be a benefactor of mankind. Only I'm afraid we will be very few to think this way, very few. Indeed, the vast majority of people accustomed to fiat money in the end will hate bitcoin for two reasons:
First of all, there is envy, and I know something about it, I happened to have to deal with hordes of spiteful and envious people (even people who email me with threats of reporting to the authorities... because I bought gold... crazy stuff) I'm talking about when the yellow metal was on the highest and therefore also on the front pages of the media. I expect more or less the same when we come back.
Then there is the thorniest issue that we still don't see.
If a cripto-money should become quite popular
it would be the end of free lunches offered by the government (at the expense of wealth producers).
Imagine a world in which the majority of transactions happens in cripto-money (not necessarily only BTC) that are inflated with a mechanism that cannot be influenced by anyone, that is no one can create any significant amounts out of nowhere.
Well then let's try to issue government debt in BTC for redistribution at the expense of the unborn (that bastards, do you understand how immoral it is?), because one thing is to exchange one currency you don't really own, that is, a credit, such as the euro or dollars, with another less liquid title of credit such as government bonds, for a small rate.
Another thing is to exchange full possession of BTC for government securities. Yes you can do it... but at what rate?
Let's say 15% a year? Indeed it seems too little. And then:
- Would you give your BTC to the government ?
- Would you trust the government to tell you: give us your physical gold, I'll give it back in a year with an interest in physical gold.
Ahahahahahah yeah I do believe it!
So the end of the free lunch, the end of the creation of money/debt. Who will survive? In fact how would you survive?
You survive in just one way: producing something useful and/or valuable to be exchanged with BTC or other virtual currencies. And there will not be much room for parasites and, unfortunately, even for the weak and unfortunates, unless we form new types of communities (or states) that decide to deal with this problem.
You understand that the revolutionary potential is huge, but it's rare that revolutions don't shed blood.
Ok, back to topic, I am sure of one thing:
the majority of the citizens of the world will hate the BTC but much more they will hate those who own them and use them. They will ask for the defense of the good old central bank currency that offered free lunches. There will be a mortal struggle with BTC, they will ask for prison, death and torture to those who own them and use them. Fortunately, it is not a foregone conclusion that they will succeed. From my point of view, the main defect is that BTC is having
too much success too quickly, I do not like it on the pages of newspapers, in ETFs, in cfd and trading platforms, I think that it is culturally too early. But at the same time this advertising of BTC has the great merit of instilling doubt, that there is something other than the shitty currency created by the central banks and the shitty fractional reserve. The cultural background is growing, eventually it will take the present generation of men and women connected to the internet to complete the process, but at least it's a start.
It will be a war, and I'm already on the side of the benefactors who have created this new opportunity, and I wish them wealth and prosperity.
P.S. however I'm gnawing at it, but I will get to live with it while I prepare my luggage for Switzerland.
P.P.S. about Bitcoin and Gold comparison, I do not think that they are in competition. Rather the opposite, it is a cultural issue.
