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Comment by mardifoufs | Hacker News Reader

What do you mean only point in it's history? I agree that bitcoin is mostly good for drugs but it's still being used for that as we speak. Some markets are starting to only take Monero, sure, but you can still get around with just BTC. Silk road wasn't the last dn market or even the best, not even close.

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The primary use is now speculation - full stop.

The distinction between store of value and speculation is rather fuzzy IMO.

Is putting money into gold for savings (because an actual savings bank account currently not only loses money in real but even in nominal terms) speculation as well?

Speculation: "investment in stocks, property, etc. in the hope of gain but with the risk of loss." Buying bitcoins seems to match the definition.

You can buy gold as an inflationary hedge, but I don't think people would do that with bitcoin.

How does a bank account lose money in nominal terms? You get paid interest

It depends on where you live. In some countries it's common for monthly fees to exceed the interest you get paid. My corporate bank account ended up in the hands of a colleciton agency that way!

Have you heard of negative interest rates? This is so real that it is real.

Also real: the wild "insanity" that is the picture painted by the writer of this Harper's piece is also exactly the same "insanity" that is present in, well, everything that involves the US dollar.

Money is so tenuous worldwide at this stage that entire central bank policy is designed so that you won't want to keep it anyway. You must spend! We really are jacked directly into the machine. It's pretty wild if you compare it to just a blip ago, historically.

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