Thread

1. seymon · 1789644245 · focus · HN ↗

   I hope they still have the private key.

   1. osigurdson · 1789648222 · focus · HN ↗

      It is an interesting fact about Bitcoin in general. There are 21M tokens in total AND some percentage are lost every year. Run this simulation long enough and there will be very few active Bitcoins remaining.

      1. Roark66 · 1789649066 · focus · HN ↗

         Seems pretty silly to build in deflation into a currency. It incentivises putting your money in a mattress for 100 years.

         1. benenrjdnz · 1789649507 · focus · HN ↗

            Deflation is a good thing, it rewards delayed gratification. Those evil Keynesians have convinced the world a little bit of inflation is good. It isn’t. Losing purchasing power on your money is a bug.

            Nothing wrong with putting money under a mattress for 100y if the value of money is not evaporating.

            For most of human history the money was stable. It’s the disasters of 20th century wars that eroded the value, and 21st century lack of monetary discipline that keeps driving it down now.

            1. SR2Z · 1789649917 · focus · HN ↗

               > Deflation is a good thing, it rewards delayed gratification.

               "Delayed gratification" is also provided by investments producing returns. An economy with lots of investors will outperform one where people stuff their cash into their mattress, and deflation makes it very hard for potential investments to beat that strategy.

               > For most of human history the money was stable.

               [citation needed]

               The Spanish empire was driven to collapse by hyperinflation. Even in the US, there were financial collapses in the 19th and 18th century. Bank runs have been a thing for as long as banks have: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Bank_run" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Bank_run

               Your premise is based on faulty assumptions. The existence of credit itself is what causes monetary instability, and without credit the world would look very different.

               1. pjc50 · 1789651783 · focus · HN ↗

                  &gt; The existence of credit itself is what causes monetary instability, and without credit the world would look very different.

                  Indeed. Credit is money; ultimately anyone can expand the money supply with an IOU.

                  1. benenrjdnz · 1789652301 · focus · HN ↗

                     Money is destroyed when a loan is paid back. Private credit does not expand the monetary supply permanently. Only the state can increase the money supply.

                     1. donavanm · 1789660413 · focus · HN ↗

                        Your understanding of monetary theory is somewhere between 110 and 5,000 years off. Furness had a pretty cogent explanation of a monetary system without central authority or functional currency about 100 years ago with the Yap. They even managed to have bouts of inflation without the concept of a bank or state.

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