[eric_cc]

when you say up and down you are referring to buying power. And yes, the buying power of a $20 grocery store gift card has gone way down the last few years. Consider how much milk and eggs you could buy in 2018 compared to today.

[steveBK123]

Gift cards are tethered to the dollar, with a discount, because they are essentialy unsecured loans to the gift card issuer.

I also would point out that very few if any people would point to gift cards as a durable store of value and new world currency.

[eric_cc]

Totally agree. I only meant to illustrate that all abstractions of buying power fluctuate in their ability to secure basic needs - food, water, shelter, supplies.

[steveBK123]

And the "tethered to the dollar" part is important. They are basically liquidity/risk discounted dollars, as are many of these examples of "buying power".

No one is tethering their Rolex price to BTC. No one is tethering their home purchase budget to BTC.

Why? It's all tethered to your income, in dollars, and your savings presumably mostly in dollars as well.

Even "jug of water in the desert" is tethered more to dollars than BTC because what are you more likely to have in your pocket, and why?

Dollars are tethered to the government taxing us in dollars, so we get paid in dollars, and our government has nukes & aircraft carriers and such. Everything then gets tethered to it because thats what we get paid & save in.

BTC is tethered to nothing, and there is no natural value you can back into such that you can justify any price level of it.

Other than its usefulness as "untraceable" (what people think, but not what is true.. it is more like "unblockable") cash, and for money laundering/drugs.. it is a trading instrument for punters.

[eric_cc]

> No one is tethering their home purchase budget to BTC.

Whether you tether the purchase of a home to bitcoin or the US dollar is more a state of mind, tribalism, etc. Both the US dollar and bitcoin have no intrinsic value. They both derive value from a human belief system - I believe they have value and that others believe the same. They are both just networks in that sense.

> Even "jug of water in the desert" is tethered more to dollars than BTC because what are you more likely to have in your pocket, and why?

This is silly. But to add to the silliness - you could have bitcoin in your brain. Just memorize your words.

> Dollars are tethered to the government taxing us in dollars, so we get paid in dollars, and our government has nukes & aircraft carriers and such

Now THIS is truly different. The US dollar has violence on its side. I concede that bitcoin is a peaceful currency - at least thus far. Hopefully it stays that way.

> Other than its usefulness as "untraceable" (what people think, but not what is true.. it is more like "unblockable") cash, and for money laundering/drugs.. it is a trading instrument for punters.

This is political bias and parroting talking points of anti-bitcoiners. While your other points are thoughtful, this is not. Why not just call bitcoin a butthead?