Quote:
Originally Posted by BananaPancakes
ALL new technology creates bubbles. That's just how markets work; it's nothing new and has nothing to do with the promise of the underlying technology. For me, I think the least interesting thing about cryptocurrencies is the price.
After talking with people on the subject, I've found that the people who instantly see that value crypto are the people who grew up in countries with unstable/corrupt governments or have family that did. Ask people from Venezuela, Brazil, Greece, Ukraine, Cyprus, Vietnam, the list goes on. They know what it's like to experience hyperinflation, currency control, and corrupt governments that literally steal your money.
Here in Canada, we're so lucky that we've never had to worry about such things and I think that's the reason some people here see it wasteful, unnecessary, or stupid. Imagine one day you go to the bank to withdraw some money and they don't let you. Or there's less money in there than you left. Or your lifesavings can only buy a fraction of what it could a month ago. You might change your mind.
I encourage people to forget about the price/investing, and read up on the actual benefits of what an open, decentralized, distributed network can do for currency and the global economy.
I have no idea where the prices will go, or what cryptocurrencies we will end up on top. But I really think cryptocurrencies are going to do for money, what the internet did for information/communication.
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I am genuinely trying to remain open on this, so this is not a loaded question:
How are the extremely volatile price changes that all of these cryptocurrencies have experienced in the past few years any different than the bolded above? Sure, I could imagine people in the countries you listed got screwed. How is that any different than them putting their savings in bitcoin 3 months ago only to see the value collapse? What am I missing here?