Wealth and holding onto it

Are cryptocurrencies doomed? Judging from this article in Technology Review, it doesn’t look good. One of the big features of cryptocurrencies was it’s supposed security. At the cure of the 1500 or so Bitcoin like currencies is the blockchain. They were advertised as being uncrackable. As it turns out, they aren’t as secure as once thought. Please read the article if you are into those currencies.

There are things I like about state free money. The very idea appeals that part of me that revels in living outside the system. For me one of the more interesting features was how easy it is to cross International borders and take your money with you. If you have to leave a repressive government in the middle of the night, that’s a good thing. However, at the very heart of cryptocurrencies are computers wasting resources and energy doing useless calculations. That’s my take on it. Feel free to disagree.

Traditionally, if your country was about to collapse, taking its currency with it, you’d convert as much of it as possible into something physical. Gold, silver and jewels are traditional. They have a lot of value for the space they take up. That makes it a bit easier to smuggle across borders.

Governments might say they are for free trade, but that ends when you want to freely trade your personal goods across a border. Border guards are trained to prevent exactly that sort of thing. Spoil sports.

When someone has a fair amount of wealth they like to hold onto it. Putting funds into real estate was usually a fair bet. Even that has limitations. For example, a Jew didn’t benefit from owning property in Nazi Germany. Politics can make property a liability. Most governments tax property. Unless it’s generation income from things like rents, it can be expensive to own. If you want to see real estate investing gone really bad just look at all the new empty cities in China build purely on speculation.

Unfortunately my investment situation is more along the line of buying another bag of dried peas and a box of .22 ammo. I don’t exactly have a lot of wealth to worry about. One less thing to deal with.

-Sixbears