The Great Bitcoin Debate – Max Keiser vs. Steve Keen, RT video (Chaos Monitaur–30)

in #money7 years ago

As the phenomenal growth of cryptocurrencies proceeds, and as fiat currencies in the centers of finance and around the world continue their long, slow slide into irrelevance, oblivion, and true worthlessness, RT hosted a short debate between Max Keiser and Steve Keen to discuss the merits of bitcoin. 

Steve begins by stating that the price of bitcoin is rising only because people are rushing to jump on the bandwagon.   

Steve Keen –  “People are diving in because the price is rising. But that’s one of the definitions of a bubble.”   

Max counters by asserting that bitcoin is both “a store of value” and “a means of exchange.” He adds that many other assets, including all fiat currencies, are in bubbles and set to implode – not least the almighty US$.   

Max Keiser – “Bitcoin’s not in a bubble. The US dollar’s in a bubble. The fiat currency world is in a bubble. Stocks and bonds … are in a bubble.”   

While Steve agrees that bitcoin can be seen as “a store of value,” he does not believe that it is “a means of exchange.”    

Steve – “You’d be a madman to use it for transactions.”   

Steve claims that bitcoin is not money, because people aren’t spending it; they’re holding on to it as it increases in value. (In the hope that they’ll get rich, he implied.)    

He said anyone would be “an idiot” to spend bitcoin, because if you just hold onto it for a few weeks, you will be able to buy much more. Consequently, he believes the price will eventually fall “dramatically.”  

Max – “We’re entering into a period of transition, where fiat money is effectively being replaced by cryptocurrency.”    

Max believes that the price will eventually stabilize, once it reaches its true value in relation to fiat currencies. According to him, the change “from a store of value to a means of exchange is gonna take another few years.”

He points out that cryptocurrencies are being adopted because they easily outperform fiat currencies in most aspects.    

Steve relies on the standard trope that blockchain technology is great, but cyrptocurrencies are flawed. That’s kinda like saying that the internal combustion engine is great, but cars are lousy methods of transportation.   

Like Jamie Dimon and others who are happy with the current mess of affairs, Keen wants to apply distributed ledger technology (DLT, or blockchain) to outdated and failed systems. (Kinda like powering a horse with an internal combustion engine. It seems pointless and in fact foolish.)    

Max – “Bitcoin is unique. … It’s gold 2.0. … The perfect cryptocurrency.”   

In his closing remarks, Max rails against criminal organizations such as JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and HSBC, saying that we have to “get rid of all those financial terrorists,” and that “bitcoin will do it.”   

Steve – “The current rate of increase cannot be maintained.”    

Steve is right when he states that the current rate of growth cannot be maintained. But everyone involved with bitcoin or holding bitcoin realizes that.    

All in all, this debate is between two very astute observers of the current trends. Keen has appeared on the Keiser Report many times, and he and Max have had great discussions about various subjects. In this debate, each held his own, each presented his argument effectively, and each raised several valid points.    

See for yourself.   

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'Economist' Steve Keen has been predicting a Sydney property crash since 2002/3. Still hasn't happened. He does NOT have a good track record.

Thanks for that input. Keen may have some valid points, but his overall argument was rather weak.

For one, his statement that “People are diving in because the price is rising. But that’s one of the definitions of a bubble” does not take into account that people are losing faith in the casino-capitalism economy.

And as for his assertion that only "madmen" and "idiots" will spend bitcoin, there are many clever and astute people who spend bitcoin now. They also earn bitcoin. Granted, many people hoard it, but they also hoard gold and silver.

From my perspective, Mad Max came out ahead in this debate. He may be mad, but he aint stupid!

Agreed. Keen famously lost a bet on Sydney property prices many years ago so not many people take him too seriously.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/keen-to-climb-kosciuszko-after-losing-bet-20100216-o978.html

I do agree to some extent that you would be mad for spending bitcoin in its appreciation phase, but it depends on what you are buying. Would I buy a coffee in bitcoin today? No.

Would I buy a Rolex watch off overstock.com that I know will appreciate in value? Probably. Same goes with property (if I had enough in bitcoin) and other assets that have the potential for appreciation.

I spent a little bitcoin to purchase Steem, expecting Steem to double in price before bitcoin did. Steem then gained about 10%, while bitcoin is the one that has almost doubled. But I have no regrets... almost. :-)

nice post, thanks for sharing following up voted

Thanks, I appreciate the compliment. You may want to check out some earlier posts in my "Chaos Monitaur" series. Cheers!

The people who can’t see the value of BitCoin are the same people who can’t explain why Hollywood community is getting paid more than the garbage bickers community. if all Hollywood go on strike for 10 thousand years not much would be affected. If garbage bickers go on strike for days, federal government will declare martial law. But look at the paycheck difference.

Agreed. And the Wall Street banksters make excessive amounts, too.

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Really good post keep it up!