Bitcoin is now synthetically created, through options, derivatives, & ETF. Does that mean it’s endless, just like all the US dollars?

Photo above - Congress purchased Alaska for $7 million on October 18, 1867. Next day this happened - pioneers showed up for the Yukon gold rush . . .

Legend has it that Satoshi Nakamoto (creator of the Bitcoin universe) decreed there can only be 21 million bitcoins ever, until the end of time. Stop laughing – people actually believe this. It underpins the entire idea that Bitcoin is valuable and could be worth $100,000 each or $1 million each. Or worth whatever someone wakes up tomorrow and decides for themselves.

Just 21 million? Not so fast. Yahoo Personal Finance (link below, seldom known for deep insights into money) has come to a startling and simple conclusion: We – the holders and traders of Bitcoin – can make the supply infinite. We are creating new “synthetic” Bitcoins with all the usual Wall Street approved chicanery: Bitcoin exchange trade funds, futures, swaps, derivatives. And the big enchilada – cryptocurrency banks which keep your Bitcoin in a "safe" wallet while lending Bitcoin to somebody else doesn't have any. This what banks do with your checking and savings accounts, which creates "synthetic dollars", too.

Are your eyes glazing over yet?

The amount of US dollars roaming the world in the wild at any given moment is a matter of debate. But it’s huge, and it’s always growing. Because of the american government keeps printing more, issuing treasury bills and all of the clever Wall Street hustles noted. Nobody pretends the US dollar is in any way fixed in quantity. Dollar Inflation seems to be INFINITE. Reality check: America bought Alaska for just $7 million. Don’t try and figure out what it’s worth using one of those ridiculous online “inflation calculators”. They say it’s just $140 million, and they are hysterically wrong. Even without the buildings, roads and ports – just the land alone – Alaska is worth $3.5 TRILLION ($8,375 avg per acre, multiplied by 425 million acres).

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (COIN, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, market cap $50 billion +/-) is desperate to get the 2026 Clarity bill passed. This is understandable - he helped write it. And Mr. Armstrong has said he’d rather have no bill at all, rather than “a bad one”. The Clarity bill exempts Bitcoin (and every other crypto currency) from regulation like stocks.

Just imagine the gazillions of synthetic Bitcoins that will come pouring out these companies if they get their way. That could make the US dollar look like the safest bet.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Bitcoin's 'Infinite' Paper Supply — Not Wall Street — Is The Real Problem, Says Analyst

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoins-infinite-paper-supply-not-203126798.html

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

Bitcoin is an anomaly of the modern age. I have no doubt there will be papers written on it in the future, in a similar vein to the Dutch tulip bubble. Bitcoin has two discrete parts. The means of exchange, where it is like any other currency. And the means of transmission and storage, where it conceals identity of the previous and current owner.. In time, parts of that second function, the block chain technology will no doubt find lasting function. But the Bitcoin value will collapse in time. It has nothing to anchor it.. And if the rise and fall of so many currencies where the underlying value was weakened has taught us anything, it is that what goes around, comes around..😷

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@whowasthatmaskedman good reply. my nuances. . . .

bitcoin was originally conceived of as a "means of monetary exchange". except it was unweildy and required too much expense tech to transfer payments. as opposed to paying online or writing a check. no merchants signed up for bitcoin.

Satoshi should be happy that through some weird accident of fate people decided to hoard something that was almost impossible to spend. without the hoarding, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

there are more than 10,000 other crypto currencies. only 1 (Ethereum) has any hoard activity. the rest of them are worth less than a penny, and their owner/operators generate thousands of spam pieces a day urging people to buy them.

my niece took them up. she's convinced some or all of them will eventually trace the success of bitcoin.