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Ask HN: What to do about the destabilizing effect of Bitcoin?

5 points| sillysaurus3 | 8 years ago

There are two facts about Bitcoin worth worrying about:

1. There is no upper bound on the price

2. Everyone who thought the price won't continue to exponentially increase was wrong

Greed is a powerful motivator.

It's easy to smile at this[1] but it will only take a couple more 10x increases before people stop laughing.

What happens when governments start putting money into Bitcoin because they don't want their economy to be left out? It'll only make the price go up even further.

It might be a good idea to take a step back for a moment and stop thinking "Can I get rich?" and start thinking "Before this reaches a point where we should worry, what should we do?"

I'm aware that this has roughly a 0.1% chance of happening. But if you'll suspend your disbelief for a few minutes and accept "What if it might be true?" then you'll find it's an interesting question worth thinking about.

It's starting to feel like no one really has a plan for this contingency. It will be a relief if the price crashes back to $1k, but Bitcoin defies belief. How many of you have parents that are seriously talking about getting in? Everyone wants to become rich. And if that infectious mindset spreads to the whole population, we might get an uncontrolled upward spiral.

Is there a way to prevent that?

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1lfobc/i_am_a_timetraveler_from_the_future_here_to_beg/

1 comment

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[+] architect|8 years ago|reply
I think you mean STABILIZING effect? Since Bitcoin, as well as other cryptos, remove the influence of violence from human interactions, they have a stabilizing effect on every aspect of human interaction in which exchange of value is involved. The current increase in USD valuation is a consequence of this stabilizing effect. The high volatility is an echo of all past instability and violence and insanity that is now being "washed out" of our lives. I'm glad to see improvement happening at such a rapid pace, regardless of current Bitcoin price.