Not OP, but for me it would be about when crypto actually starts doing something. Smart contracts and NFTs show the hint of a possible future use case.
But Bitcoin seems to have no use case, and it takes more and more energy as the price goes up.
The higher price absent any use case or advantage seems like it only has speculative value. It could become a religious thing where it has value because people value it: a lot of gold’s value exists for this same reason.
But I’ll wait to see how things play out with Tether before thinking that is likely. They are under pretty severe reporting requirements for the next two years and if they can’t show reserves for the $30 billion they printed last year they are in trouble.
BTC is digital gold for now. I think an asset class that holds value and can't be printed at whim is a powerful idea. Yes it completely relies on our belief in its valuation and programmed scarcity and decentralization. It is a powerful hedge esp in current times where fiat is printed like there's no tomorrow.
Please share which asset class has value without humans valuing it? If earth was to be wiped out of its human inhabitants, would any asset have any value in human terms? The Indian Rs 500 note lost value instantly as soon as it was banned, just as the German Reichsmark did through inflation. Tribal humans used seashells and beads as currencies. Their belief was no different than your belief in Apple or USD, and my belief in Bitcoin :)
Energy : The power that nation states derive from printing money aka foreign interventionism, military, inefficiency in all processes etc. is likely orders of magnitude higher. BTC energy consumption is concerning but shouldn't be viewed in a void.
Tether afaik is a nothing burger and will not hurt BTC valuation.
But Bitcoin seems to have no use case, and it takes more and more energy as the price goes up.
The higher price absent any use case or advantage seems like it only has speculative value. It could become a religious thing where it has value because people value it: a lot of gold’s value exists for this same reason.
But I’ll wait to see how things play out with Tether before thinking that is likely. They are under pretty severe reporting requirements for the next two years and if they can’t show reserves for the $30 billion they printed last year they are in trouble.