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1804 sats \ 11 comments \ @Undisciplined 14 Nov 2023 meta

Floating exchange rates were the bad argument that took down the gold standard. What will be the bad argument that provides the most resistance to a Bitcoin standard?

From the Invisible Hand to the Invisible Sleight-of-Hand By George Ford Smith "Advocates of unbacked paper money claim that theirs is the “civilized” choice, as opposed to gold, or what Keynes called “that barbarous relic.” These inflationists, however, are the ones wrecking civilization as we have known it."

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579 sats \ 1 reply \ @elvismercury 15 Nov 2023

It appears from this article that the Austrian heartland still has not warmed up to bitcoin. I periodically wonder at this. If this article on sound money features the word bitcoin zero times, what does that imply?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 15 Nov 2023

The old guard over there aren't quite up to speed, but they do have people who write about Bitcoin, so I don't think it's an institutional failing. People don't like learning new stuff (even scholars).

548 sats \ 4 replies \ @gabybaby 14 Nov 2023

"BTC is dangerous because it's not controlled by XYZ government officials"

Appeal to the average pleb's fear center in their brain which irrationally overrides any logic that may pierce the veil and expose the truth that BTC has tremendous value precisely because it's not under any government's control.

71 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 15 Nov 2023

I'm not sure how well this will work at the moment, but it's a pretty timeless bad argument.

394 sats \ 1 reply \ @gabybaby 15 Nov 2023

Also, I wanted to get your take on a question I've been wrestling with lately. Beyond CBDC's, we also need to worry about the BTC market ultimately fracturing into potentially "white-listed" (by the government) and "black-listed" (again, by the government, not by users) markets.

What kind of arguments could you see being raised by gov't to persuade unsuspecting, relatively unsophisticated normies to trudge over to the white-listed (but fake, I would posit) asset vs. the real deal?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 15 Nov 2023

I might not be understanding your premise exactly, but they might appeal to the "legal recourse" argument (if you get screwed by someone in the approved economy, you can use the state's legal system to seek compensation).

I assume there would also be the same smears that are currently made against Bitcoin that it's used by criminals, so using it is aiding criminals and makes you suspect as well.

394 sats \ 0 replies \ @gabybaby 15 Nov 2023

Certainly not entirely relevant at this very moment, but I surmise it may be soon enough when the US CBDC inevitably arrives in some form or another.

444 sats \ 3 replies \ @grayruby 14 Nov 2023

Inelastic supply. "we need to be able to expand the money supply in times of crisis".

My response: a) man made crises like wars and recessions will be a lot less prevalent. And when they do occur, you can still expand the money supply with debt issuance, but actually need to have a plan to pay it back now.

b) natural disasters and humanitarian crises will still occur and when they do occur, you can still expand the money supply with debt issuance, but actually need to have a plan to pay it back now.

394 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby 14 Nov 2023

I know it is contrary to what a lot of Bitcoiners believe but there will still be some degree of fractional reserve banking on a bitcoin standard.

People are going to create claims on bitcoin whether we like it or not.

495 sats \ 0 replies \ @gabybaby 15 Nov 2023

Agreed, on a BTC standard though (much like a "pure" gold standard might've been) trusted third parties will be incentivized to be good actors and make sound lending decisions since trust and reputation will actually count as things earned, not assumed.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 15 Nov 2023

I like this one. It doesn't quite apply to the gold standard, since you could always mine more gold if prices went high enough (or low enough, I guess).