The shiny rocks can be turned into cutlery or jewelry, or used for making computer chips and circuit boards. They have intrinsic value.
The funny computer coins are rare, and as long as enough people think they have value, they do.
Watched an episode of Dr. Phil a couple of years ago. Topic was crypto.
He had ine older guy saying crypto was really smoke and mirrors and 3 millennials advocating for how great it was and the next big thing.
All 3 of them had this little smirk on their faces throughout the whole show like they knew something no one else did.
I had already made up my mind on the subject but that was just one more thing that told me to avoid it.
Exactly. Those rather peculiar-looking slips of otherwise nearly worthless paper in your wallet have value because we all agree they have value. Say . . . Perhaps you can answer this crypto question. I’ve heard of people “mining” Bitcoin, gobbling up a good deal of electricity and computer power in the process. What exactly are they “mining”? Why does it require so many resources? Where do the physical tokens come from? Has anyone tried counterfeiting them? I guess that’s more than one question . . .
You can bury the shiny rocks in the ground, and dig them up later to enchant or bewitch barbarians - but when the lights go out for 100 years, your magic computer coins ain’t shit.
Yes, and as soon as a critical mass of people figure out that they've invested their savings into something with zero intrinsic value (and not backed by any legal guarantees, unlike paper money or government bonds), the whole house of cards will come crashing down.
I find it hilarious to hear libertarians complain about paper money being "fiat currency" while promoting cryptocurrency, which is one level below fiat: rather than being backed by laws of contract, it's backed by nothing at all.