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Comment by this_user | Hacker News Reader

All of the previous Bitcoin bubbles were driven by by new, larger group of people discovering it, and driving prices higher. Hence, any new bubble would require such a new group of buyers to appear. The question is whether that group even exists. Because in 2017 Bitcoin, arguably, went as mainstream as it could go with full-on regular MSM coverage, and most people seem to have heard about it by now. So, who is there to buy, and drive prices even higher as long as its utility stays the same?

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Do you use Bitcoin? No? Then you're part of the group of new buyers.

Don't think you ever would? Opinions can change rapidly when you're struggling to buy food.The article's thesis isn't really that the utility of Bitcoin will increase, it's that the utility of the dollar (its primary competition) will decrease. If your dollars will be worth half tomorrow, it's a no-brainer to get rid of them ASAP and put your money in a currency that isn't being printed rapidly.

Were you a Bitcoin user? Yes, then you won't be a buyer this time around. I will not be putting money in, but I will happily make the bags of others lighter. Of another hype bubble materializes, I will be extracting more of the free money Bitcoin Network printed.

In the states, using crypto is a taxable event. Until that is changed, they can only be stores of value, not currency, as I have no interest in recording every transaction with the IRS. I don't see a differentiation within cryptos coming from USG, so the crypto ecosystem can only be one or the other?

I think a store of value is exactly what MicroStrategy (and other large institutional buyers of crypto) are looking for right now.

If it gets to the point where people will be calling on their Bitcoin reserves, the IRS will no longer be a going concern, at least one that anyone will be paying attention to. It's insurance against the collapse of governments, and so any government regulation other than ones affecting its storage & ownership aren't relevant.

Note that places where the local currency is actually collapsing aren't seeing much cryptocurrency adoption. In Argentina people just buy USD. In Zimbabwe people were using equities in the local stock market as hedge against inflation [1].

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-06/for-zimba...

Compared to what.

> who is there to buy

Pension funds and other financial institutions. These were either locked out or didn't believe in bitcoin. If you were a Pension fund now you're probably keeping an eye on the space to help your returns.

That belief is summarized in the crypto scene as "the herd is coming".

Last bubble they didn't, this time, we will see.

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