Tag Archives: Bitcoin

This article concludes a three-part series: Bitcoin Valuation I: The Wrong Answers Bitcoin Valuation II(1): What Might Work Bond Economics Bitcoin Valuation Part II(b): What Might Work Brian Romanchuk

The rise of Bitcoin (and other crypto-currencies) appears that it will have a negative net effect for most law-abiding citizens, but it has provided us with a rather wonderful teaching opportunity. It underlines the weaknesses of existing analytical techniques. (I discussed Bitcoin in a previous article, but I used it to take a sideswipe at DSGE models, and I didn't bother giving the correct answer.) Due to article length, this article will discuss incorrect valuation techniques. Part II...

The Lightning network is being touted as the solution to Bitcoin's scaling problems. If lots of transactions can be taken off the main chain, the thinking goes, then Bitcoin can still take over the world despite its considerable performance problems. Lightning enthusiasts say that when fully enacted, the network will be able to process millions of transactions at, er, lightning speed, without compromising decentralisation, security or transparency.But there are dissenting voices. For...

From an MMT perspective.Clint BallingerOf Bitcoins and Balance Sheets: The Real Lesson From Bitcoin

There's a huge amount being written about Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain with the focus on Bitcoin volatility. so I am going to be selective in posting. John Aziz is a good analyst and MMT-friendly. He sorts through some of the complication.azizonomics Bitcoin Is Failing As Money—But Bitcoin Cash Isn’tJohn Aziz

Money has three principal functions: as a medium of exchange, as a store of value, and as a unit of account. Secondary attributes that have aided the adoption of various forms of money include interestingness (“Ooh! Look how shiny that gold is!”), uniform divisibility, portability, resistance to counterfeit, and imposeability. That last one is important, because it is what makes state-backed fiat currency the dominant form of money in the world. The U.S. government is territorially and...

Peter Schiff, the guy who has been so wrong about everything, is now saying that bitcoin is going to zero. This is why you should probably buy every single dip.Remember Schiff's predictions?QE will cause hyperinflation. The Chinese will stop "lending" to us and interest rates will skyrocket. Gold is going to $10,000.And more.Bitcoin is not a bubble. It's a symptom of the world's desire to "de-dollarize." And while it will not become any kind of mainstream currency anytime soon because of its...

Read the comments, too. Just like most economists, Bitcoin fans overlooked transaction costs.Wolf StreetBitcoin Proves You Cannot Have Your Digital Cake and Eat it Too Nathan McDonald, Sprott Moneyalso The EU is targeting bitcoin anonymity, saying the measure is needed to tackle tax evasion and other crimes. Anonymity of the cryptocurrency holders is a built-in feature that the EU hopes to undermine.The new rules concerning cryptocurrency passed on Friday by the European Parliament and the...

Guest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action. First a word from my sponsor – IPA’s kind enough to let me use some time writing these links up almost every week for the last 2.5 years, but there’s no such thing as a free link. If you’d go to www.poverty-action.org/donate and help us make our end-of-year budget I’d appreciate it. And, I’ll draw up a few winners (at random of course) for your choice of a) a tote bag from Ghana (long story), b) a very cheap lunch with...

Guest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action. First a word from my sponsor – IPA’s kind enough to let me use some time writing these links up almost every week for the last 2.5 years, but there’s no such thing as a free link. If you’d go to www.poverty-action.org/donate and help us make our end-of-year budget I’d appreciate it. And, I’ll draw up a few winners (at random of course) for your choice of a) a tote bag from Ghana (long story), b) a very cheap lunch with some of...