Do you think bitcoin...

Quote: Pacomartin

Nowadays you are just likely to be a victim of cyber-crime and they will steal thousands.

And cyber thieves will go to cyber fences. Cyber victims will go to bankruptcy court.
Is this better or worse than Swedish thieves having to go to fences and Swedish victims having to go to medical clinics? If you can't mug a little old Swedish lady for forty kroner you can still steal her car, break in to her unattended rural cabin, steal her canoe and put it all into a stolen truck and drive across the border.

Quote: Fleastiff

If you can't mug a little old Swedish lady for forty kroner you can still steal her car, break in to her unattended rural cabin, steal her canoe and put it all into a stolen truck and drive across the border.

It's Swedish krona, and Norwegian kroner. In any case 40 kroner is less than US$5.

Sweden's smallest coin is worth 12.225 cents, so they don't have the argument about pennies and nickels. But unlike South Korea they are not getting rid of their coins, and in fact they recently issued 273 million new coins (population 10 million) which replaced the older larger heavier coins.

They are also not going crazy by eliminating large banknotes like the UK is considering. The bulk of cash is in 500 krona banknotes worth about US$61 apiece. Now their largest banknote worth US$122 has been reduced by about 93% from it's peak, and is now very rare.

So they haven't gone completely insane. Circulation is down to six notes per capita of the 500 krona banknotes, so it is not possible for more than a small percentage of the population to stuff a home safe. However, as they are part of the EU, and they are truly paranoid, they can get a hold of 100 or 200 Euro banknotes and hoard them. The 500 Euro banknote is bad for hoarding as they are not going to be renewed with the new series. The old ones are still valid legal tender, but they are being destroyed as fast as legally possible. In the event of a crisis the 500 Euro notes may be difficult to spend.

If they issue an electronic krona, and they fix the exchange rate, currently at 1 EUR = 9.82844 SEK to something easy like 1 EUR = 10 SEK then the e-krona may become very popular outside of Sweden.

Quote: Pacomartin

Ripple went up 1000% in about 3 weeks.

Mind money, funny money, fake
money. Has no value in the real
world. If it was circulated as
everyday cash, it would collapse
into the negative so fast if you
blinked you'd miss it.

Bitcoin $252,361,358,082
Ripple $139,663,914,568
Ethereum $100,306,063,251
Bitcoin Cash $41,125,681,171


The cryptocurrency market has reached $763 billion with 70% composed of the above five currencies (out of 1389 overall). Bitcoin is dropping to a record low of 33%.

Ripple is the complete darling right now jumping as much as 25% in a single day.

Quote: Pacomartin

The cryptocurrency market has reached $763 billion with 70% composed of the above five currencies (out of 1389 overall). Bitcoin is dropping to a record low of 33%.

I'm beginning to wonder what the value of the real estate market was right before the bubble burst int he last recession.

Quote: Nareed

I'm beginning to wonder what the value of the real estate market was right before the bubble burst int he last recession.

I don't have a clue to that question but I remember that multiple sources claimed real estate in Tokoyo was worth more than the real estate in the entrie state of California before Japan crashed.

Quote: Pacomartin

Ripple is the complete darling right now jumping as much as 25% in a single day.

That's what I want to see when I invest,
it going up and down like a carnival
ride. That really engenders confidence.

Quote: kenarman

I don't have a clue to that question but I remember that multiple sources claimed real estate in Tokoyo was worth more than the real estate in the entrie state of California before Japan crashed.

The Money Culture. 1991
https://www.amazon.com/Money-Culture-Michael-Lewis/dp/0393338657

Michael Lewis wrote his 3rd book which consisted of collected essays. He subsequently became more famous as the author of "The Blind Side, Moneyball, and The Big Short" all of which were adapted into films.

As the book was written right at the height of the Japanese bubble, he mentioned that one firm in Tokyo held real estate that was theoretically more valuable than City of London.

But, of course, he asked the question why the wealthiest city in the world was built on one of the most unstable pieces of earth on the planet. The ramifications of a repeat of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake(142,807 deaths) were examined on the world economy.

Deadlier earthquakes have since Great Kantō , notably the 1976 Tangshan earthquake where an estimated 655,237 died. Also the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake which killed 297,200. Finally the 2010 Haiti earthquake which killed 222,517.

While it is impossible to rank the value of lives lost, the repercussions on the world financial system of wealth destroyed were interesting. Michael Lewis claims that for decades the Japanese have been insuring themselves with very profitable policies financed by the USA. Very profitable until the unthinkable happens.

It's an old book, so it should be cheap, but the essays were fascinating.

Quote: Pacomartin

As the book was written right at the height of the Japanese bubble, .

I remember when the Japs were
buying everything in the 80's.
Rockefeller Center, movie studios
(Columbia and Universal) and we
were crapping our pants that their
economy was taking over the world.

In 1995 they lost Rockefeller Center
after filing for bankruptcy. So much
for world domination.

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/12/business/japanese-scrap-2-billion-stake-in-rockefeller.html?pagewanted=all

Quote: Evenbob

I remember when the Japs were
buying everything in the 80's.
Rockefeller Center, movie studios
(Columbia and Universal) and we
were crapping our pants that their
economy was taking over the world.

In 1995 they lost Rockefeller Center
after filing for bankruptcy. So much
for world domination.

Japan has never recovered from their bubble economy in the 1980s, which popped on almost the last day of that decade. Now their national debt may strangle them for all the unneeded projects built to prop things up since. Their population decline will be a mirror to the future for the rest of the world.