The classic argument that will never die. It only has value as long as people put value on it. Green paper also has no value, but there seems to be nothing that people won't do to get more...
Similarly, the number in the bitcoin wallet has no value itself and is backed by greater fools. If you believe greater fools will continue to increase in number over time then bitcoin is a good bet I suppose, but there's a reason the price is so ridiculously unstable.
Increasingly doesn’t mean as much to people as it used to when it comes to debasing their own currency. See the recent lie about inflation being transitory, which Powell literally just admitted isn’t true.
> the number in the bitcoin wallet has no value itself
This is a weird take and I don’t see what your point is. The number in your fiat bank account means just as much as the number in a BTC wallet. The number there is how much you’re entitled to withdraw or spend.
What is inflation targeting then, and why is inflation targeted instead of deflation?
The answer: so its debt is inflated away.
Other than the fact that I need it to pay my taxes and put food on the table. Neither the government nor the shops around me accept any other form of payment.
The employers around me know that, so they will only offer salaries denominated in the local currency.
So, yes, it has a lot of value.
Could it be that by a process of inflation and deflation of the money supply governments have historically manipulated the value of their population's savings?
Could it be that the current zero interest rate policy has made it impossible to save for the future without taking considerable risk in the stock market?
Could it be that governments have made savings a joke, ensuring that anyone putting their savings in a bank is guaranteed to lose purchasing power over time?
Could it be that some governments are so corrupt that they will force savers to accept negative nominal interest rates, so you get back fewer dollars/euros than you put in?
Could it be that from inception Bitcoin was designed as a better form of money? One that does not leak it's value over time? One that cannot be manipulated by any government or powerful centralized entity because it is truly decentralized? One that comes with a fixed and predictable central bank inflation policy valid from now to the end of time that allows everyone to know exactly how many bitcoin will exist in a given year now, tomorrow or 20 years from now?
Could it be that everything you assume you know about Fiat Currency and Bitcoin is incorrect? Could it be that the fact that you have been consistently wrong in under-appreciating and under-estimating the potential of Bitcoin, should teach you a lesson? That maybe you should examine the flawed assumptions that led you to ignore Bitcoin as yet another Ponzi scheme?
What would it take for you to realize you are wrong?
In fact, unlike saving in a bank, saving in Bitcoin over the long term has proven to consistently outpace inflation. In fact Bitcoin’s return on investment over the past 12 years has 10x’d the equity market.
Some may argue that Bitcoin is risky or speculative. I would argue that none of those who dismiss Bitcoin as risky or speculative have actually done the research to go down the rabbit hole to understand the economic, game theory, technical and social innovations of the Bitcoin protocol. Anyone who has spent 10-100 hours studying Bitcoin instead of dismissing it out of hand discovers an amazingly rich world that promises to deliver sound money to the world.
I would venture that is because looking at green pieces of paper is fun for a while but gets old quite soon.
A big ass boat is fun for a longer time, and says "I'm rich" louder than a number in a bank account.
Real estate and stock are not much fun, but people will pay you to live in your flats and to buy stuff from the companies that you own, and this will get you a bigger boat (see above).