In their most recent episode, BIP podcast hosts Paul Colgan and James Whelan of the VFS Group discussed crypto with Australian blockchain entrepreneur Sergei Sergienko. Much like Peter Schiff, it’s clear they aren’t keen on crypto.
Hosts Not Keen on Bitcoin
The hosts are self-described crypto sceptics and kicked off the episode by referring to crypto fanatics as “religious” and at times “unhinged” or “detached from reality”.
The episode covered the range of common arguments typically made against crypto:
- It’s used for illicit activities: Unlike fiat, crypto is traceable on the blockchain. In 2020, chain analysis showed that 0.34 percent was used for illicit activity. The UN estimates between 2.5 – 5 percent of global GDP (between US$1.6 – $US4 trillion) is for illicit activity. In absolute and in relative terms, fiat accounts for far more illicit activities.
- Governments can and do seize crypto assets: No one has the ability to confiscate your crypto provided you are in sole control of your private keys. As crypto investors will tell you – not your keys, not your coins. Leaving them in a public wallet such as an exchange or with a custodian is an example of you not controlling your keys.
- Use of bitcoin for payment is extremely limited: To an extent it’s true, but not in El Salvador where it is legal tender. For now, as Bitcoin grows in value and in most countries is treated as an asset for tax purposes, it makes little sense to use it for day-to-day transactions. In Australia, the ATO treats Bitcoin as an asset, meaning you are obliged to pay capital gains tax on all individual bitcoin transactions if your exit price is higher than your base cost.
BIP Podcast Host: Bitcoin is Not a Store of Value
In simple terms, a store of value is defined as an asset that preserves its purchasing power over time. Traditionally, gold has fulfilled that role, but increasingly, millennials are switching gold for crypto, even in regions with strong patterns of gold ownership. It’s not surprising, given that over the past 10 years Bitcoin has comfortably outperformed gold.
Notwithstanding the data, Whelan of the BIP podcast saw the “calamity value of gold”, but not in Bitcoin. For that reason, he argues, Bitcoin will never be a store of value:
If everything stopped working and we had to actually go back to the barter system, it’s very handy to have gold in your safe, which is divisible and tradable. Whereas if nothing’s working … your Bitcoin wallet is effectively as useless as a doorstop.
Paul Whelan, BIP podcast
In order to shut down the Bitcoin network, you would need to shut down the internet and all connectivity. It’s difficult to imagine such circumstances, but in such event you may want to have a little gold on hand for the “zombie apocalypse”.
In all other cases, however, Bitcoin’s scarcity, supply inelasticity and exponential returns appear to provide a compelling case for Bitcoin over gold.
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