Cryptocurrency

[IR35 Avoider]

I think that counts as niche use as a currency. I think that is a plausible scenario. It probably depends if any cryptocurrencies that may be used by the general public in future give the benefits of bitcoin criminals like. (I'm not sure, but I think if the Bank of England issue a cryptopound, it should be designed so transactions are not anonymous, at least to law enforcement. And it would probably be a welcome feature rather than a weakness if they were reversible, possibly requiring an arbitrator or court or other mutually agreed authority to order the reverse.)

I think I probably assume that there needs to be a non-speculative use that could begin to justify current valuations, and if there isn't and the majority of current value consequently vanishes permanently, then that is failure/going to zero, even if the actual price is still more than zero.

[IR35 Avoider]

Apparently BOE have been considering issuing a cryptocurrency for a couple of years now, but there are some banking issues I don't fully understand deterring them.

Apparently the only BOE money the general public uses is physical cash. The ninety-something percent of other money that we hold electronically does not count as BOE-issued money. (If I were to guess I think this money is created whenever other banks issue loans.) BOE are worried that them issuing so much money would be destabilising, though I don't understand how/why that's so.

Another issue they apparently worry about is that if a cryptopound were in circulation, a run on a bank could get out of control within minutes, given that everyone could transfer their money within seconds of deciding to. (Unlike Northern Rock where people were queuing in the streets over a period of days/weeks to get their money out.)

[Jog On]

The banks and governments are way further ahead of the curve than most people think. Just look at ripple and Bitcoin Cash. They are adopting crypto and have been since it started to take off a few years ago.

https://ripple.com/bankers-guide-to-blockchain/

Public ledger means they can track and tax every financial transaction potentially - what's becoming a crime is to have unregistered and anonymous crypto wallets. There's also speculation that they have taken over the core development team of Bitcoin and are intentionally making it unfit for purpose and too expensive to use.

[scooterscot]

So everyone knows it's going to end up at zero, but are trying to out-guess everyone else about when to get out?

no. It's going to be like gold. Gold is never used as a means of payment but in so doing it does provide anonymity for those that must use it. After the 'great crypto bubble crash' of 2019 the price will stabilise and become a recognised value. There's only ever going to be around 19 million of them, the supply will always keep the value high for those that want to say I own a bitcoin.

[Lance]

Another issue they apparently worry about is that if a cryptopound were in circulation, a run on a bank could get out of control within minutes, given that everyone could transfer their money within seconds of deciding to. (Unlike Northern Rock where people were queuing in the streets over a period of days/weeks to get their money out.)

You fail to understand the fundamentals.

A run on a bank is when everyone tries to get their money out as they fear the bank doesn't have enough to pay everyone.
With a cryptocurrency the amount of coins is the amount. There cannot be a 'run' on them as there are no more than there are. If everyone tried to sell that would be a price 'crash'.

[VirtualMonkey]

Happy New year everyone. let's hope 2018 is even better than 2017

[pjt]

Happy New year everyone. let's hope 2018 is even better than 2017

Fingers crossed.. Its been entertaining if nothing else

[Agent]

any thoughts on how high zclassic will go in the run up to bitcoin private? up 1000% in a week so far, convinced it can go from $90 to $300 with a fair wind. ive just put 20% of my coins into it, so I hope I'm right!

[Fred Bloggs]

Nexus Earth.

The next "big thing" in crypto's, apparently. Though I know less than nothing about them.

[Lance]

The next "big thing" in crypto's, apparently. Though I know less than nothing about them.

Words like quantum resistance make me skeptical.