the argument against bitcoin

3) The environmental impact of mining BTC and other currencies is real, and pointing to other inefficient or wasteful uses of energy does not make BTC mining any less wasteful or lessen its contribution to a worsening climate crisis. No one holds 1 USD and hoping it x100 value, like most of the holders of cryptocurrency. Many This is not the same as gold. However, this feels funny, because I would assume holding gold would not be advised by JLcollinsnh. but ONLY BECAUSE the Bitcoin community loves him so much hundreds of people literally chipped in and donated him more than 100 Bitcoin, COMPLETELY UNSOLICITED because he spent years of his life doing the same thing (Teaching people crypto) without actually owning any himself: https://qz.com/1151233/andreas-antonopoulos-got-1-5-million-in-bitcoin-donations-after-roger-ver-bitshamed-him/, https://twitter.com/aantonop/status/936288356069183488. His youtube channel is an amazing source of info and he is totally independent and is one of THE BEST educators in the crypto space. Dr. Howell was a Fellow in clinical psychology, At roughly half the energy use of the worldwide banking system the chart displayed goes to prove how much energy use bitcoin actually uses. Particularly, in space suits where a small amount of gold layer (about 0.000002 inches) is transparent yet effective enough to reduce suns glare and protect astronauts. Stocks -- Part 1: There's a major market crash coming!!!! But I totally agree that as a medium of exchange / transactional currency the volatility is too high on Bitcoin in particular. Mutability is a feature: The whole financial system is set up on true ups/rounding, rather than absolutes. Andreas has got to be the least controversial figure in all of crypto. And yet those same thousands of cryptocoins you mention have not even come close to be a threat to Bitcoin. Hello Lucas. There is no feel good message about dumping 100k into bitcoin it doesnt turn into an excavator leases that becomes developed land that produces houses. I dont own a large SUV or truck, I dont put out a large Christmas light display, I dont buy marijuana grown in grow houses(or fruit out of season), and I wont be buying any BTC until and unless they figure out the energy issue. Additionally, bitcoin is illegal in some countries and Chain is cracking down on it. Which by your argument, would make gold worth ~10% of its current price. I dont have to quote you the current price because its on every financial ticker in the world.

But with that said, I still dont understand crypto and I dont like my investments that volitile, therefore I dont invest in them. So many people are searching for ways to find happiness in this world of difficulties, relationship problems and emotional pain. I personally still dont understand it, so I dont invest in it. Joe Absolutely. On electricity: Perhaps the reason people arent up in arms about Christmas lights is that it heralds THE MOST PROFITABLE PERIOD OF THE YEAR for many companies and spreads notions of warmth happiness generosity, a time when people come together who otherwise wouldnt. Dr. Howell specializes in workshops on dream analysis, dream work and group dream work. Sorry if I missed it earlier in the post. Thank you Lucas! US Dollar bits and bytes in a bank computer system cant even do that. on PoS Did you miss where I mentioned the ETH2.0 migration (which is Proof of Stake) will decrease energy usage for Ethereum by 99.95%? Chautauqua 2014: Lightning strikes again! And thats assuming it works on the first try.

(4) Again, please compare like for like. You can try your comment again, but maybe copy/paste it first in case it gets lost again. And there are a lot more this kind of examples. Lucas- You can add to the list of legitimate concerns that the technology has inadequate architecture to handle mass usage as an everyday medium of exchange in its current form. How can the author of the simple path to wealth now be jumping onboard the most speculative frenzy, possibly ever?! Me either.

Thats too bad! But netherness, crypto is the future of currency. If you have any pointers on where else to get quality information on crypto/blockchain I would really appreciate it. Warren Buffet has famously said many times: I do not invest in anything I dont understand. Do you have a say in the European Central Banks (ECB) or the US Federal Reserves monetary policy? I do own some bitcoin, but my main issue is asset allocation and I have less than 5% of my investments in bitcoin.

I am excited to see where it goes, hopefully (and eventually) up!

Not pure enough. smaulgld **These are affiliate links and should you chose to do business with them, this blog will earn a small commission. While hating the man is nothing new, the current state of bitcoin is its owned/mined by whales and economic frenemies (e.g. I tried to leave a thoughtful comment with my questions and opinions, but WordPress just flags it and wont post it. Hence, the highly erratic volatility in its value today. Its an untenable argument to essentially say, Well, other activities/sectors/industries waste even more energy so crypto aint so bad. All of these bad points are solid points and the rebuttals above are vapid. That said You need to know what you are doing. This is especially if you are investing for retirement purposes. It is a great electrical conductor. Shame on Mr Collins for furthering the debate? If you had a whole pile of them you could burn them to keep warm in the winter. To make it a currency, it must be stable. The inherent value use cases you mentioned have been used at most for 100 years, most less than 50 years. Its a waste of human, computer resources, and electric energy that could be dedicated towards becoming post scarcity, folding proteins, and eliminating the need for money instead. I mean no one on their right mind would put a few million dollars without being brave enough to lose it all or at least a majority. Which currently sits at 1.65% annual which is almost exactly what the expert central banks claim is optimal. How I failed my daughter and a simple path to wealth, Stocks -- Part VI: Portfolio ideas to build and keep your wealth, Stocks -- Part II: The Market Always Goes Up, Stocks -- Part V: Keeping it simple, considerations and tools, Annual Louis Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest, How I Lost Money in Real Estate before it was Fashionable. I think that keeps it from being a universal investment. You really think books require a financial disclosure? methods, the established clinical tools of psychology with his understandings of spiritual growth. Thank you for providing info on a topic that is great interest to me. Stocks -- Part VIII: The 401K, 403b, TSP, IRA & Roth Buckets. Allowing this kind of guest post with a referral link to cash in on the latest fad is beyond disappointing. As Mr Money Mustache pointed out a while ago this is why the 21 million coin cap on Bitcoin is pointless. Rent v. owning: A couple of case studies in Ecuador. Besides this fact, gold inherent value as a great metal with its high heat and light reflective index makes it valuable in certain heavy industrial suit production. I see that this is a guest post, but he should not be giving the other side the time of day. Money will always be necessary, or do you want to trade some chickens for a cow? The interest rate on some of these stable coins are crazy. This post is clearly written by someone invested in it and wants bitcoin to become main stream, while I want this to go away. Nassim Taleb calls this the Lindy Effect.

Google and Amazon. It was true then and its true now Criminals did use the internet and they use Bitcoin, but that doesnt mean we dont use them too. Tracey Our spam filter is having some problems, Im sorry for the trouble. Case Study #2: Joe -- off to a fast start! And at that time one could buy marijuana in putative democracies like the US of A. How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part V: Sold! Why? He has nothing to sell you. Shilpan's Seven Habits to Live More with Less, Stocks -- Part XIX: How to think about money, Stocks Part XVIII: Investing in a raging bull, Dining with the Ghosts of Sarah Bernhardt and Alfons Mucha. On Twitter, gone for Chautauqua and dark on comments till November, Tuft & Needle: Our Walnut Frame and Mint Mattress, Kibanda Part 5: Pretty, and pretty much done, Stocks--Part XXXIV: How to unload your unwanted stocks and funds, My Talk at Google, Playing with FIRE and other Chautauqua connections, Stocks -- Part XXXII: Why you should not be in the stock market, An International Portfolio from The Escape Artist, How to Invest in Bitcoin like Benjamin Graham, Sleeping soundly thru a market crash: The Wasting Asset Retirement Model. Case Study #4: Using the 4% rule and asset allocations. On the other hand I think the blockchain as a technology can change the world. Check out Optimism on Ethereum. As supporters of cryptocurrency proudly flaunt, it is completely unregulated and decentralized. Bitcoin is up 500-1000% since I was last here. He also has 2, soon to be 3, books on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Part XVII-B: ETF vs. Mutual Fund -- What's the difference? The history of technology is the history of underestimating the future capabilities of technology. of personality typing and dynamics, which he has studied and taught for twenty years. All adults, particularly the young working class adults, should be aware of this reality prior to being hyped into investing their hard-earned money. Id wager that all of your money is invested primarily in things you dont understand. 1) Intrinsic value, yes BTC has no more or less intrinsic value than a piece of paper (dollar), but its disingenuous to not recognize that having the US government and economy backing the dollar does not add value to the dollar as a currency. Mind you, when people say they dont understand bitcoin, they may be referring to the non-sensical nature of investing on something with a extremely weak case.

As the currency is completely decentralized a peer-to-peer system, you are its master. Whats the point of having a currency if you cant use it? This makes gold very inherently valuable, unlike cryptocurrency which does not have any inherent qualities or value whatsoever. I would recommend anything from Andreas Antonopoulos. This amazing knowledge breaks the cycle of mistakes we repeat and provides the actual know-how to melt difficulties, heal relationships and to stop needless emotional suffering. Debate is everything. If so, what were your reasons? The Simple Path to Wealth is now Published! Just look at what happened in 2008: we placed our money in banks and they failed us. But a network of a billion nodes has a bit more value. Stocks -- Part XXIV: RMDs, the ugly surprise at the end of the tax-deferred rainbow, Summer travels, writing, reading and other amusements, Stocks -- Part XXIII: Selecting your asset allocation, Stocks -- Part XXII: Stepping away from REITs. 6. https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/01/02/why-bitcoin-is-stupid/. I Like Pizza. The other side is a relative term.

We are already living with a highly volatile system, which could be pushed to the brink should another financial crisis occur. Weve been innovating on it for decades and banks, swift, PayPal Visa can easily substitute any currency in (and do country to country). Crypto ETFs make no sense to me. I will let you in on a little secret: Bitcoin issuance is capped at 21 Million, now and forever. EDIT: Incidentally this is why Salt was the store of value and medium of exchange before Gold, because it has truly inherent value no life is possible without it. Do they always succeed? Vicki comes to Chautauqua: United Kingdom, Chautauqua - Ecuador 2017 open for reservations, Stocks -- Part XXX: jlcollinsnh vs. Vanguard, Reviews of The Simple Path to Wealth; gone for summer. Think again. 7.

When you compare the energy used to transfer money with Bitcoin or any other PoW crypto with established systems like Fedwire you find that PoW crypto takes orders of magnitude more energy to transfer the same value. Over years of research and practice, Dr. Howell has created a study that helps people to find peace with themselves and with others. And that is different because the government is sanctioned to enforce rules with violence, which is what makes them hard to break. Layer 2 for the US$ are banks, swift, paypal, visa. Stocks -- Part XVI: Index Funds are really just for lazy people, right? Are those not the Bitcoin equivalent of this green paper has inherent value because US Gov things ? Ill rethink my recommendations.

When I saw the headline of this email in my inbox, I almost decided not to read it. You can eat my Vindaloo, mega lottery, Blondie, Noa, Israel Kamakawiwo 'Ole, art, film and a ride on the Space Shuttle. Time Machine and the future returns for stocks, Kibanda: Mr. Anti-house buys his dream house. That Layer 2 solutions to btc/eth are in development and coming soon is code for those features will forever be in development, always just around the next corner as they have been for years now.

8. Consignment Shops: Best business model ever? The other critical difference between Bitcoin and the USD is that anyone can copy the source code of Bitcoin, run a find/replace to rename it SuperBitcoin. I think your skepticism is well warranted nobody knows how this is going to play out. The store of value that dropped by 50% if you bought about 60k. Suggesting USD has no inherent value is patently false too. If you dont understand how this works, you do not understand Bitcoin, see #7 below , Bitcoin has no inherent value they say. All payments take a minimum of 10 minutes to be verified. Case Study #8: Ron's mother - she's doin' all right! Also If you actually had any idea what you were talking about, you would know that Andreas does have millions in Bitcoin. There is absolutely no reason to not screw over existing holders: Bitcoin isnt the only crypto network but yet there appears to be a notion that whenever crypto goes full mainstream that (some) existing networks and assets will be maintained. court ruling, true ups, or just plain clerical errors etc). These and many others are genuine concerns about the future of Bitcoin that deserve intense debate and scrutiny, but they dont fit into an outrage headline and dont have clear answers so you wont hear them everyday. Bitcoin, like all other units of exchange in history only has the value that people give it and only functions as a store of value when people collectively use the value system together. Thanks for the comment Michael. By the time you read this, that number may have wildly changed. Great (and quick!) Stocks Part XXI: Investing with Vanguard for Europeans, Case Study #7: What it looks like when everything financial goes wrong, 1st Annual Louis Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest 2013 results, and my forecast for 2014, Closing up for the Holidays, see you in 2014, Case Study 6: Helping an ill and elderly parent, Stocks -- Part XX: Early Retirement Withdrawal Strategies and Roth Conversion Ladders from a Mad Fientist, Death, Taxes, Estate Plans, Probate and Prob8, Case Study #5: Zero to 2.6 million in 25 years. A lively and energetic speaker, Dr. Howell is a regionally known workshop and seminar presenter. Yes, in that the market value of that share or coin is what the open market shows and you could sell 1 share (or coin) for that value on the market. How I learned to stop worrying about the Fiscal Cliff and you can too. If you are inclined to take Mahers opinion on things, here is his outlook on so called smart phones circa 2003. Today I want to look at the most common arguments against Bitcoin that you are likely hearing every day. btw, an article from beginning of 2018 is not a while ago in mid 2021. 4. The problem with both gold and crypto is that it doesnt generate value over time. Meaning the amount of energy used in mining will NOT scale up based on the number of transactions. There are other issues, but I think those are the biggest in my mind. Thanks for all of the good insight. The thousands of cryptocurrencies that have been created show just how easy this is. Cryptos volatility is a concern if its ever going to be used as a stable store of value. Were right in the middle of another crypto-mania bubble, but this time it feels different. https://jlcollinsnh.com/2021/05/13/collins-on-crypto/. And then they attack you and want to burn you. You can find people arguing both sides persuasively. I have applied the principles laid out in a Simple Path to Wealth and have recently become financially independent, but am really excited about cryptography & Bitcoin. https://www.ofnumbers.com/2021/02/14/bitcoin-and-other-pow-coins-are-an-esg-nightmare/.

You can find his thoughts here: One thing I want to better understand is that money serves two roles: JL actually wrote up his own position about crypto just a couple weeks ago in the last blog article. The entire point of crypto is to get rid of intermediaries. Required fields are marked *. Bitcoin represents none of that, or rather, what it has represents is at base level cessation/no faith all the way to the extremes of mass scale fraud/skullduggery/murder/ransomware and other crimes. They will ultimately fail and I agree their so-called Market Caps are a fairy tale. And lastly, just because people use a stupendous amount of energy for christmas decorations you cant say other usage of a lot of energy is fine. This is one of the good ones I alluded to, which I too worry about. Lo can't save you. At least do a tiny bit of digging mate! I actually dont really post or write anywhere else at the moment.

No, I cant quantify the value of a cryptocurrencys network effects. This is the BEST crypto article I have found on the internet. Using it as a means of currency is flawed because of the same reason, and also because of the high costs of transactions. Between now and then Bitcoin has built in issuance (inflation). On deflation While Bitcoin issuance is capped, the cap will not be reached until roughly the year 2140.

Having received his Woohoo, lets go celebrate together. No one really wants bitcoin: People want VTSAX because it represents a piece of the largest companies, their workers, their wins and losses. I have nothing against the idea of crypto or the underlying blockchain technology. Stocks -- Part IV: The Big Ugly Event, Deflation and a bit on Inflation. By the way, I actually own a little bit of both Ethereum and Bitcoin, but I am still very sceptical about the real life use of it.

(5) Market Cap is a pointless measure of bitcoin. What we need now is not a race to the bottom and rationalization, but a real reckoning on how we both generate and use power regardless of ho its generated. Can we justify their huge market-caps? If you ever decide to go down the rabbit hole, I recommend starting with an Andreas Antonopoulos video or 2. It has been very helpful. See more interviews, videos and podcasts featuring jlcollinsnh, Copyright 2022 jlcollinsnh.com Privacy Policy Disclaimers. In that sense, a US dollar is a green piece of paper that can do nothing for you. Its messed up. It is highly sourced for high tech innovation, since it resists corrosion too. But as you said in the final point, the volatility is too high. Is it not wiser to start placing trust in algorithms rather than fallible individuals? For self-custody learning I would start here: https://aantonop.com/workshops/introduction-to-bitcoin-and-open-blockchains/. That has been more-or-less true for gold over the millenia. Does that mean the company (or coin) is worth that total value? You own it. and Dr. Even now there is probably not a single week without a report that someone lost access to a large amount of their coins. Can you please stick to your routes and if you have to talk bitcoin to get the blog views, at least report on it with a healthy dose of scepticism? This new crypto would have exactly the same functionality as Bitcoin, and the only thing keeping it from taking off would be support from miners/users.