Voices
in
Japan

quote of the day

Japan can no longer leave things unattended with global developments over digital currencies moving so rapidly.

9 Comments

A finance ministry official. Japan is beefing up its diplomatic efforts to regulate digital currencies globally, a sign of the government's growing alarm that a proliferation of new forms of private money could upend the financial system.

© THomson Reuters

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

9 Comments
Login to comment

the environmental damage of 100,000 times the electricity needs remains the elephant in the room

That's only temporary. When the bonus payout of bitcoins from successfully mining a block on the chain ends, there will not be the same financial motivation to be mining, and the number of miners will drop significantly. At that point, it becomes much more sustainable, and indeed, will likely drop as that point (2032 IIRC) as people will know it's coming, so investing in new servers won't make as much sense with a limited span in which the coins will pay out.

So far digital currencies are for criminals and suckers.

When bitcoin first started out, it was basically worthless, and the only traders using it were basically just early adopters, playing with something interesting. Then, with the Silk Road website, which sold anything (guns, drugs etc) on the dark web, using bitcoin for payment, was how usage increased. At that point, it was for criminals. But that brought far enough into the public consciousness that the "suckers" as you call them came in and started investing.

A 1% few seem legitimate.

Only if you don't bother to research into it at all. Bitcoin is used heavily around Africa, as it creates a stable currency within volatile local economies. As the price stabilizes moving forward, people in more countries will begin to use it as a normal currency, and it will be mostly legitimate, with no "suckers" (no crazy profits in a stable currency), and criminals making up only a small percentage of the market.

Of course, this is if Bitcoin is the winner. Maybe another cryptocurrency will prove itself better over time.

These aren't currencies, they are coupons. You don't care about their value, you care about their value in USD.

By that definition every currency is a "coupon". World currencies are related in terms of USD.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

These aren't currencies, they are coupons. You don't care about their value, you care about their value in USD. That's not a currency

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Yes it can. So far digital currencies are for criminals and suckers. A 1% few seem legitimate. Also the environmental damage of 100,000 times the electricity needs remains the elephant in the room, with only a recent Elon Musk tweet bringing light to the topic. That's a poor industry for the future

2 ( +2 / -0 )

so far, these "currencies" have failed to show themselves as viable currencies. They are speculative assets with no underlying assets. Until that changes, the authorities have nothing to worry about.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Those now already unstoppable pyramidal systems are highly criminal, highly volatile and have nothing to do with a currency or money. Money is meant for stable keeping the value that you’ve made by own work or business for yourself, after that to exchange that conserved value with other people for goods and services that are not possible to get from your own work or business. It’s surely not meant to be given to or stolen by a few IT pros, the third world and their dictators or elite, skilled hacker groups from infamous countries like you might guess yourself and just gambling speculators.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

How would Japan want to regulate digital currencies when even in 2021 most local banks have trouble transferring money from account to account within hours? Or when the vast majority of banks are unable to say in advance how much it will cost to transfer money from account to account under specific conditions (but within the banks' boundaries)? Or the cash card, cash book and similar nonsense. Or secure internet banking.. First you need to start from the bottom, only then can you work on the roof.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The financial system will upend itself, with or without cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies merely provide a digital alternative for people who don't wish to be wiped out themselves when the financial system does upend.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

This statement could have ended at the word "unattended".

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites