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311 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 15 Jun \ parent \ on: when do people stop trading houses that are on fire for fireproof houses? bitcoin
I think a person's value assignment to bitcoin can certainly be grounded in ideals, and the more "ideal" something is, the more likely it is that many people will find value in it.
But I also think our own understanding of what is ideal is shaped by the people around us. So if everyone around us stops believing in something, it might be harder for us to maintain that belief in contradistinction to those around us.
Lastly, we can consider a thought experiment of what happens if only one person in the world assigns any intrinsic value to Bitcoin. Then, that person would probably own every Bitcoin, and there wouldn't be a market price for Bitcoin because it won't be traded. For all intents and purposes, it would be the "bitcoin goes to zero" scenario. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't hold value for at least one person out there, and the value may be revived once again if someone else decides to assign value to it as well.
But I also think our own understanding of what is ideal is shaped by the people around us.
We've come back to the 'shared delusion' idea of money, which is entirely correct. And then we have to ask what gives rise to that shared delusion?
Lastly, we can consider a thought experiment of what happens if only one person in the world assigns any intrinsic value to Bitcoin.
I like the thought experiment, and think it is under-considered. It's my grievance w/ Saylor and his ilk. If we decide that Saylor having 5% of the coins isn't a problem, what about 10%? What about 50%? What if he had them all? How do we feel about the implications of such a money? Somewhere in here the sandcastle falls over. How much use do you have for a money where a handful of people are very rich, and the rest are very poor?
A delusion where I'm in a shittier spot than I am today is not one I will readily share, any more than I'm likely to buy into a religious faith that excludes me from its salvation, whatever it is. Such an arrangement puts a lot of weight on tent pole a and I don't think the pole can support it.
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