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Comment by jksmith | Hacker News Reader

Well there's nothing wrong with considering a store of value to keep you from being under the thumb of fiat. So there's works of art, maybe some other metals, some really unusual one-off earth property. So what you have left is crypto or gold.

So invest in gold and encourage more gold mining. Or just trust your government and hold cash. Either way, you're losing a shitload of value. Hedge a small piece of your opinion for a year, then re-evaluate in 2022. Then feel free to come back on HN in 2022 and share your opinions on the subject.

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How's is bitcoin even a hedge against the dollar when it's correlated with the U.S. stock market? So many things just don't add up, like is btc a currency or an investment? Fiat currency is really the only spendable currency.

> when it's correlated with the U.S. stock market?

Source?

I'm a Bitcoin fan and I actually do agree, some of the narratives conflict. From my perspective it is a new asset class and the world is still figuring out what it is.

It does, so far, seem to be a risk on asset, as it didn't perform well in March 2020.

It is already storing over $1 trillion of the world's wealth though, and in this case, money talks. Yes, it might have a correction, but the S&P 500 might as well.

That said, Bitcoin's properties may change over time, and it may become more of a hedge. It does seem to have a lot of believers, and IMO, the technology is what makes it very interesting.

It has been running successfully for a decade, and we'll be able to figure out more of what it is in 2, 3, or 5 years.

I think, why not hold some, even just a little bit? IMO, people shouldn't put 100% in, and definitely don't take out any loans to do so (maybe unless you are a company, but I'm against individuals taking loans out for it). You never know, maybe some of the current narratives are correct.

> I think, why not hold some, even just a little bit?

Because that perpetuates and inflates the Pozi scheme. Any "little bit" of positive now will be more than offset during its collapse, having a larger negative effect on more people.

> So what you have left is crypto or gold.

Right. Because there are no other investments.

What other investments would you consider? To me, if there are bubbles going on, the stock market is in one as well, as is real estate, etc. I've looked at the other investments available, and they also either seem very inflated, with room to fall, or stagnant and not able to keep up with inflation.

I'd prefer to hold cash in a savings account, but the rates are so low now it just doesn't make sense to hold a lot in cash. I don't feel that safe in the stock market either.

Personally, I only consider equity and debt instruments. Other than that you have commodities (oil, gold, digital/crypto assets...) but commodities are basically speculative assets (from an investor's perspective). They require the ability to predict future prices with accuracy, which I don't think I possess. And if you're unable to predict future prices, the optimal portfolio to hold is one consisting of a total-market equity fund and a money market fund, in whatever proportions you prefer. This is known as the two-fund theorem. If you're interested in learning about "passive" investing, I can recommend 2 youtube channels: Ben Felix and the plain bagel.

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