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Comment by sumy23 | Hacker News Reader

So short them?

This "short them" argument is so terrible.

Instead of spending my dollars on a speculating on shitcoins, I buy up high-quality instruments. Ex: I-Bonds are yielding 9% right now due to inflation.

If you want inflation protection, there are inflation-protected securities to buy. And they're doing really well right now.

I-Bonds are not a high-quality instrument. They are a small gift from the government. Each person is only allowed to buy $10k. That's hardly enough to qualify as an investment vehicle.

They’re bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. They’re as high quality an asset as you can get.

I-Bonds are a small cash gift from the government in times of high inflation.

So short them.

You see how stupid this "short them" argument is? If you don't like them, then short them.

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If you don't like them, that's fine. I'll just collect my 9% this year while BTC is... what? Down 18% in a day? You should have sold your BTC at the January high and transferred to higher-quality instruments, like I-Bonds or TIPS

Sorry, I don't understand. I-Bonds are almost guaranteed to hold their value so shorting doesn't make sense. Maybe you don't know what short-selling is, but it's when you take a position that the price of an asset will go down. The issue with I-Bonds is not they their value will decrease. The issue is that they are a government program designed to offer a small amount of relief in times of high inflation. The government limits I-Bond purchases to $10,000 a year, and their yield is only good in years with high inflation.

> You see how stupid this "short them" argument is? If you don't like them, then short them.

I mean this in the politest way possible, but you should consider that you don't fully understand types of investments and short selling if you think the statement "short I-bonds" is equivalent to "short crypto" and if you think that I-Bonds can form a major part of an investment strategy.

> "short I-bonds" is equivalent to "short crypto"

It is for the purposes of this discussion.

"Short Crypto" is a terrible meme counter-argument, that ignores the large possibility of a long-term, sideways cryptomarket.

While cryptocoins move sideways, low-risk investments like TIPS or I-Bonds will outperform them. Cryptocoins don't have to "go down" for them to be a terrible investment. Even a "sideways movement" is enough to make them a bad investment.

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As long as lower risk options (such as TIPS and I-bonds) exist that have higher gains than Cryptocoin (definitely the case this year), then I "win" relative to you with my bond-heavy portfolio. No shorting of cryptocoin needed.

What guarantee do you have that you will actually be able to execute the Buy order when these exchanges can unilaterally block trades?

The market can stay irrational longer than most can stay solvent. In this case Crypto has been on a tear for a decade and legitimate criticism is shouted down by the raw gains even when rationally Crypto has minimal real world value.

Hm, that is a great idea! Had I shorted TerraUSD, I'd have multiplied my bet 111x times.

Edit: But knowing WHEN to short it is crucial. Otherwise you drown in interest fees during the short.

And with crypto you need to figure out if you'll be able to get out with your winnings on your short.

I've compromised my ideals for money enough times in my life, I'm not going to make it worse here.

How, from ftx?

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