Apologies for being reclusive over the last couple months. I've been a little busy relocating. Lets discuss some of my favorite topics: monetary policy, global trade, and (you guessed it) cryptocurrencies. First: Hyper inflation, bad... very bad. very very very bad. controlled inflation, ok. Inflation has taken a beating throughout the blockchain community. Mainly from Bitcoin Maximalists. Scarcity, along with supply and demand, creates value. However, scarcity also leads to a decrease in the velocity of money, and lead to hoarding. Why? When resources are scarce, humans conserve. Think of the price of oil. When the price of oil is high, the price of gas is high. When the price of oil is low, the price of gas is low. You can see the correlation by comparing the next two graphs. The price (USD) of oil per barrel. Chart by MacroTrends The price (USD) of a gallon of gas. Chart by Gas Buddy When oil is abundant: supply goes beyond demand (most recent 2014), and p
There are a few things that we need to look at when comparing cryptocurrencies to bubbles. First, supply and demand. Second, the market. Third, value of money. The cryptocurrency bubble and the tulip bubble have some similarities, as well as some differences. When farmers see the price of crop A increasing dramatically, they have some choices. Ignore the price rise and continue to grow crop B, losing out on the potential gain in income, which some will do. This has no affect on crop A. If they are already growing crop A, then they will be able reinvest excess profits and grow more of their cash crop, crop A. This increases supply of crop A. If they are growing any other crop, and see a price rise in crop A, they will have an incentive to shift from their current crop at the end of the season, and grow a crop that will bring in more revenue (crop A). Increasing supply of crop A. However, increasing the supply of crop A won't happen over night, as crops take months to grow. As c