Bitcoin.....

[pumpernickel]

I did not claim they were the same. Bitcoin is one of the more popular cryptocurrencies. You are right: How crypto is stored and traded differs from hard currencies and sits in a digital exchange instead of a bank, wallet, or purse. But the point is not about storage differences...they are all currencies and the basic function of a currency is for it to be traded for goods or services. Currency is what moved humans away from the barter system.

Hard currency values fluctuate around the globe based on certain macroeconomic factors like relative inflation, monetary supply, etc. But within any given country the value of the currency is the same: $1=$1. Local inflation may mean it buys less, but you can always exchange your $ at a bank one for one. The USD has only been devalued 1 time, in February 1934 as part of a post-Depression change to Roosevelt's gold policy. Other countries, especially in the Third World, have had to devalue more frequently due to economic turmoil. Many of us have seen pics of post-WWI Germany when hyperinflation made the Mark nearly worthless:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...World-War.html

Once the major currencies have digital equivalents their value compared to each other will still fluctuate based on the same reasons they do now. And a digital dollar will still be the same as a paper dollar.

When that occurs where does the value of an independent crypto currency come from? They are stored in the same manner, transferred and recorded in the same way, but they don't carry the cache of official currency. What's the point in having them anymore?

The USD is backed by the Federal government...perhaps Full Faith and Credit is overly simplistic, but this article explains the concept well:

https://vaulted.com/nuggets/what-bac...states-dollar/

The government won't need to ban crypto; the masses will abandon it because the digital dollar accomplishes the same thing without the same level of risk. Current crypto currencies were certainly innovative, but in the end they will become sacrificial Guinea Pigs once official crypto is rolled out.

I think you evaluating crypto/bitcoin as a currency is where we're off. It's (digital) property. The basic function of it being traded for goods or services is where it's wrong-- it's a hard asset. It has properties of currency sure, and among those properties it's vastly superior due to market timing, divisibility, portability, etc., but that's not it's best features. It does own those features though, for sure. No one is going to ditch bitcoin cause of the digital dollar, the only thing that would make people ditch bitcoin is if there's a way to untap the scarcity then it becomes useless to varying degrees.

It's more akin to a house than to hard currency. When the digital dollar gets introduced, that's not going to change or influence housing at all. Much like it won't for bitcoin. You realize bitcoin's value is actually more internationally renowned, at this point, than domestically right? The mechanism of value is the scarcity and the appeal is global digital property. 1 bitcoin is worth 1 bitcoin anywhere and everywhere, much like 1 Houston River Oaks house is worth 1 Houston River Oaks house everywhere and anywhere but the mechanism to extract value is vastly easier via BTC than real estate. 1 usd is not the same anywhere and everywhere. As exchange ratios vary, as inflation runs in other countries and in ours, and as money printing continues here or wherever else, the bitcoin arbitrage as a store of value gets exponentially more valuable. Do you see how marking BTC to the digital dollar is quite off? You have to mark it as a hard asset, but the portability & liquidity resembles a currency but even stronger.

The currency aspect is incredible though, and that hasn't even scratched the surface. For example, I have a vacation house in Croatia. I bought it using bitcoin on a Saturday. If I wanted to buy it with regular USD to Euro's to then purchase it, it would've been a massive process and expensive one with exchange ratios and fees and shit I could not close on a Saturday. So yes, I used it like a currency but that's just an extra benefit the real underlying value is having it marked as a hard asset because there's only so much of these. I likely in 7-10 years grossly overpaid for it, shit as of today I overpaid for it given the ratio. That's an excellent hedge though cause I'm still very, very long the digital property.