[OJFord]

It's also a risk, since, at least in the UK, after you cross a certain threshold (off the top of my head, obviously not advice, I think it's actually 20% rather than the perhaps more intuitive 50%) it's considered to be your core activity, i.e. you become an investment company that for whatever reason dabbles in <whatever you consider to be your core business> which of course comes with tax implications (or it would be an easy way to avoid tax on your personal investments) and potentially an unwanted regulatory burden.

[jiveturkey]

not an expert (in anything else either), but in the US, bitcoin is not a financial instrument. they might as well be buying tulips or beanie babies (no slam intended), as far as the authorities are concerned.

[OJFord]

Ah true, and certainly that varies in different jurisdictions, I was just responding in general to the 'what are they doing investing when they're a software engineering company' point I suppose.

[Melting_Harps]

> 'what are they doing investing when they're a software engineering company'

Did it ever occur to you they may be accumulating a token that is required to operate on the most secure network devised by Man? And are you so immersed in your own narrative (echo chamber) that the potential value of building systems with this infrastructure at it's core never entered your mind? (Someone on a tech related community tried to relate it to Beanie Babies should say it all, FFS.)

Especially with the endless amounts of leaked information that is seen on a daily basis coupled with a situation where Nation-states (and Corps like Ticketmaster and likely larger ones with valuations that rival many country's GDP) are engaging in ever more Cyber warfare than conventional kinetic warfare, just for context: the International arm's trading racket is ~$100 billion/year Industry. Not to mention the ever expanding amount of Surveillance Capitalism tools that will eventually make it into the hands the blackhats and Cyber Military groups.

I highly doubt Saylor is doing that myself, he seems too short sighted on the media to think otherwise but it may be a facade; large institutional players are now coming with a bunch of inflated fiat holdings wanting to get in and are exploring so many more business models that it won't be long before this happens in my view. IBM certainly tried, failed and lost a lot of its potential because it tried to make its own blockchain while disparaging Bitcoin only to see Ripple (a token it focused on for its Hyperledger ecosystem) get sued by the SEC for selling unsecured securities and BTC sits at greater ATHs.

> Most people on HN have a negative view of crypto because of sour grapes. That's fine if you can afford the missed opportunity caused by this kind of luddism.

I get the sourgrapes, we all went through same regretful delays in buying in when we first heard of it as no one 'get's it' right away; but you make it seem like you can't just onboard right now and what irks me the most is the realization that it's the indignation of not having the astronomical gains from being early adopters that prevents you from doing so. It's fine to accept that mistake, we won't judge you (too much) as we've all been there to some degree and will be entirely if you just admit that mistake when you join in and try to do more than just make it a part of your portfolio and hopefully apply your skill set to earning BTC for your services rather than simply buying it.

That's when it all really sinks in and is the best watershed moment that I know of that makes everything click.