[saalweachter]

Another critical difference is that there are commodity uses of gold. The price of gold will never go to zero; it might go to $100 or $10 per oz if all speculation and hoarding were removed from the market but it wouldn't go to $0.

[frgtpsswrdlame]

Sure but what's the importance of that fact? If I buy an ecoin at $1500 and it goes to zero and if I buy gold at $1510 and it goes to $10 it's the same loss. I guess what's the real importance that gold has a floor which is marginally above zero and bitcoin doesn't if both of those floors are far below the current price level.

[saalweachter]

It's valuable because you can, if you do some research, make some pretty educated guesses about what the floor is in the gold market. That tells you whether you are risking 10%, 25%, 75%, or 90% of your money while speculating.

And, uhh, if you don't know why having a good idea of your potential downside is useful when investing, maybe consider finding a trustworthy financial adviser?

[jstanley]

And what's that got to do with bitcoin? If you're going to assert that gold can't go to $0 and imply that bitcoin can, you need to also give a good reason why bitcoin can go to $0.

[fastball]

At one point in time, Bitcoin was worthless. Therefore it is provable that it can be worthless.

At no point in history has gold been worthless.

As far as you and I know, gold has had worth as long as society has had the capability to get it.

[erikpukinskis]

False.

At one point Mussolini was alive. Therefore it is provable that Mussolini could live again.

Sorry, try again.

At one point, these grains of sand were in this glass. Then I poured them into the ocean. But they were in the glass so they could be in there again.

Except no, no they couldn’t. The 2nd law of thermodynamics makes many things non-repeatable.

[fastball]

You are making the opposite claim to mine, they are not comparable. Try these on for size:

  Before his birth, Mussolini was not alive. Therefore, it is possible that he could not be alive again.

  At one point, there were no grains of sand in this glass. Therefore it is possible that there will be no grains of sand in this glass again.

Thermodynamics is really not the tool you should bring to bear in this conversation. Entropy dictates that eventually everything will be worthless, and that includes Bitcoin. The price of Bitcoin is not an irreversible product of entropy, despite what some investors might wish.

[erikpukinskis]

Are you really standing by your logic, or are you just arguing with me for sport? If it’s the latter we can continue but I’m not going to repeat myself if you’re not going to listen.

[fastball]

Yes. My argument is only flawed for things that are tied to entropy, which the price of Bitcoin is not in any meaningful way.

[joering2]

Good reason would be broken or lost blockchain, then all these letters and digits are only worth a thumbdrive you stored them on.

I know it is hard to imagine because generally bitcoin is new technology, but also because of that - its not that it is impossible.

Meanwhile gold is gold; a physical object with very high temperature of vaporization.