"You realise that crypto currencies are a form of non-central bank sanctioned money printing"
-----------------
I see crypto especially Bitcoin having physical gold like defensive features of which goldbugs can get a sense of pride knowing that their once held gold backed currency is coming into fruition but is a subtle twist.
"As long as they stay small and largely irrelevant governments won't care. "
--------------
That though did enter my mind as it shot up to $3K with the Chinese intervention to ban crypto ICO which I had suspected regulators would try to quell any euphoria. It was temporary as we can see before it went exponential.
A lot have asked what Bitcoin is backed by. I would have to say it is dirty fossil fuel since the power consumption is equivalent to Serbia energy yearly consumption. Most of the miners are housed in China where energy cost are cheapest. I read today that the Chinese are cracking on the use of such cheap electricity and this was always my biggest concern with crypto as you also suspect that when it threatens the regulator/CB on their control of fiat, they will devise some methods to permanently quell that appetite.
Whether it is a financial bubble, what this crypto is telling me is that there is a certain minority among us who does not favor fiat currency and the likelihood of a gold back ccy was experimented and then shelved by Nixon for whatever reasons. This is the 'new' version of a gold back currency that is decentralised and I would call it a much more free market valuation absence of CB manipulation in the purist sense. Just like dotcom showed, a lot of early movers will be unsustainable but in time through technology evolution /innovation there will be some winners. Is bitcoin a lasting crypto? Who knows but not many could have seen Amazon went from strength to strength to be one of the largest retailers in the world 18 years after the euphoria.
I don't assume I know how the world works or have the ability to map out the future direction of world events but maybe crypto is shouting loudly that there is a new threat to fiat ccy? I take Warren Buffet's view that I don't want exposure (short or long) in this sector but who knows in time it could be a viable alternative.
There are plenty of sectors to look at and it is dependent on the risk profile of each investor.
NST Price at posting:
$5.84 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)
