Along with the Bitcoin price fluctuation, recently there are increasing noises about this controversial financial product. Many bloggers have made comment on Bitcoin and they mostly focused on whether Bitcoin is a bubble or whether there is any value of investing on it. Most bloggers analyzed Bitcoin on it functionality against the legal tenders like the trading function, value storage function ...etc. However, they all overlooked or neglected one fundamental that why on earth crytocurrencies exist in the world. None of them talked about this very underlying element.
While bloggers commented the nature and future of the Bitcoin, many other readers raised their opinion about it. Some said Bitcoin attributed to the waste of electricity and even deteriorating climate due to globe warming resulting from the power consumption spent on Bitcoin mining. Their comment are all partly reasoned. Nonetheless, a view from another angle perhaps can enable us to see this topic better.
Every economic activity exists for a reason. Only when it meets a need then it can last or even thrives. No rational one will ever engage his valuable resources in mining Bitcoin if there is no market need. So what is this market need indeed?
To answer this question, we can find the clue on the centre point of the Bitcoin, ie., it is a product of block chain technology which has a decentralization characteristic. There is no centralized clearing house of each Bitcoin transaction. That is the beauty of Bitcoin, at least to some groups of people, because transactions are not monitored by the governments around the world. Who likes this most? Of course the underground economy like terrorists, drug traffickers, smuggling syndicates ...etc. Prior to the age of Bitcoin, they have to launder their profit by money-laundering which is troublesome and risky. Now life is much easier for those groups at lease in realizing the profit from underground economy to the surfaced one.
So Bitcoin is a lubricant to the crime? Well perhaps criminals are the groups that can capitalize on the beauty of Bitcoin most but they are not the only beneficiaries. Any individual whom has the need to transmit money across borders is one of the examples. In fact what crime money is indeed is a controversy per se. Firearm trade in Hong Kong is of course a crime but it is legal in the America. Casino is forbidden in Hong Kong but they thrive in Macau. There is too much grey area between crime money and its counterpart. After all, Bitcoin is only a intermedia just like a knife is a productive tool to a butcher but a deadly weapon to a psycho.
Some said Bitcoin is a bubble which will vanish just like the tulip bubble did. Well, as long as it keeps meeting the need of some interested groups, I don't see it will die out. Yet whether one should join the bandwagon, it is totally one's assessment. No doubt there is a quite obvious tendency of price manipulation because the Bitcoin holding concentrates in the hands of a few players whom can drive the price in either direction. What makes it even complicated is that the Wall Street is stepping in this once alienated financial product by operating futures for Bitcoin. Higher volatility in the future is unavoidable and the price call will gradually shift from the existing big players to the Wall Street. When Wall Street tasted the blood of Bitcoin then it is unlikely that it will let Bitcoin dies out.
沒有留言:
張貼留言
注意：只有此網誌的成員可以留言。