People keep saying "oh it's just theft, it's just a scheme" and like yeah obviously but that's not what's interesting. This is raising a genuinely good question which is how do you justify this to the public i.e. what is the nature of the crisis in which holding a bunch of crypto would be beneficial - ThreadSky

bartenderhemry.bsky.social • 1 day ago

People keep saying "oh it's just theft, it's just a scheme" and like yeah obviously but that's not what's interesting. This is raising a genuinely good question which is how do you justify this to the public i.e. what is the nature of the crisis in which holding a bunch of crypto would be beneficial

Reposted from Steven T. Dennis

Wondering what the public interest is in diluting the US dollar to hold Bitcoin and assorted other cryptos in a "strategic reserve." A reserve for what purpose?
We have a strategic petroleum reserve in case we run out of petroleum. We have dollars and people still like them?

Comments

absolutely-not.bsky.social•1 day ago

it's all about breaking the dollar open like a lobster claw to get at the meat inside.

borogove.bsky.social•13 hours ago

"Crypto is the future, all the world economies are going to move to crypto and if we don't go first we'll be left behind but USA NUMBER ONE LFGOOOOOOOOOO"

jbriggeman.liberalcurrents.com•9 hours ago

This is exactly what it is and all that it is

thewettanktops.bsky.social•1 day ago

I feel like... they just don't? Like, this is like item 20 in the 50 most corrupt things this admin has done *so far*.

We're doing this. It's a kick-back. Nobody who voted for Trump because they think he's a magic economy fairy is gonna know or care - Whaddaya gonna do about it?

cormacaroni.bsky.social•1 day ago

And why would you want to signal anything other than ‘the USD is the strongest and best reserve currency the world has ever seen, the foundation of all our trade success’?

dell-adams.bsky.social•1 day ago

Too many other people have dollars. Maybe he wants a rising tide that only lifts his boat

cormacaroni.bsky.social•1 day ago

I mean what he wants is a bunch of crypto he can cash out into dollars lol

thelasttheorist.bsky.social•1 day ago

I don't want any crypto, but that's probably because I don't need to whack 3 people and disappear to Montenegro.

oraclesean.com•1 day ago

Great, thanks, now I need to sell my secret seaside hideout in Budva.

palmereldritch.bsky.social•1 day ago

If they're planning for a post-apocalyptic world, shotgun shells and beef jerky will be a lot more valuable than electronic monopoly money.

jjgass.bsky.social•1 day ago

I’m the public, & I don’t get it. I’m prepared to be persuaded if they make a coherent case, but no one’s making them come up with one. Certainly not the Congressional majorities, whose approval should be required before this “strategic reserve” can be created.

clairecontraire.bsky.social•9 hours ago

Whatever it is, it seems like the opposite of the crisis that they're actually generating (yanking liquidity out of the economy).

officialstehee.bsky.social•23 hours ago

It is a fact that Russia/China want to remove US$ as the world’s reserve currency. They will do that by crashing the value of the $, hence the need for this crypto scam. Trump’s greed will crush the US.

derorfa.bsky.social•19 hours ago

You only have to justify things to people if they challenge what you say.

isthispraxis.bsky.social•1 day ago

there is a distressingly real chance that they know they can't achieve their domestic policy aims (return to pre Teddy Roosevelt levels of cheap labor and manufacturing) without massively devaluing the dollar and ending its use as a reserve currency

bartenderhemry.bsky.social•1 day ago

Assuming you're not making the case that this is just a crypto industry/crypto holder bailout (which, it is), presumably the idea is you see a plausible scenario where the USD is massively devalued. If that's the justification the admin has to make, economic crisis isn't a strong enough term

carterwickstrom.bsky.social•1 day ago

...particularly since crypto is essentially just a reflection of the strength of the US dollar. 😬

tft.io•19 hours ago

Or the initial funds that went deep on crypto are about to close and the VCs are losing their shit

capitalistfool.bsky.social•18 hours ago

It would be nice to hear some Dems say "We'll claw back any efforts to bail out crypto. We'll seize whatever crypto grifters manage to steal and then we'll send them all to jail for life."

missingjigsaw.bsky.social•1 day ago

Trump on the strength of the dollar is kinda fascinating . He wants a strong dollar, but also a trade surplus, which requires a weak dollar, and supports a crypto strategic reserve which is only justified by a catastrophic dollar. None of these positions can coexist but he holds them all easily.

zaphodbeeblebr0x.bsky.social•1 day ago

It’s easy to hold conflicting views when you’re too stupid to understand them

stormancer.com•20 hours ago

There is no scenario where a massive devaluation of USD wouldn't also make crypto irrelevant. The tech is bad at being a currency, and there is no amount of hand waiving and hype that can change that.

The crypto world just takes as granted all the systems that make our modern world tick.

stormancer.com•20 hours ago

This is a fundamental issue, thinking that the world is simple and everything works naturally, and that people who say otherwise or are actually running the systems, from regulators to logisticians, are liars and profiteers.

simonywaking.bsky.social•1 day ago

This might be the theory. It assumes crypto would behave something like gold in a dollar devaluation. Perhaps it would, but I am not sure I can see why that would obviously be so.

bartenderhemry.bsky.social•1 day ago

Honestly this is so bad that it might be a blessing in disguise that we don't have any good reporters in the whpc because simply forcing the admin to explicitly make this case would probably trigger a global depression

loukas.bsky.social•1 day ago

I think the public that likes bitcoin already believes bitcoin is basically gold. So it is sold to them on the basis that this is the same as having a gold reserve.

So this policy is mostly about supporting a particular narrative on bitcoin rather than being national economic policy itself.

badforbusiness.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Many such cases

thedanadecker.bsky.social•1 day ago

Trump is jazzed by the concept of "strategic reserve" and crypto is in the public's mind considered scarce (all those reports about bitcoin mining), so the Trump pitch - classic con man - is "Supply is running out, get yours today, and also, let's have the U.S. Government get in on this as well".

pastoralfunghi.bsky.social•1 day ago

It’s more devious than that. By stating that the Fed will engage with crypto he’s essentially endorsing the crypto world. Watch the holdings of Trump and his cronies soar in value. Classic pump ‘n’ dump but using the office of the presidency to do so.

criminaljustish.bsky.social•1 day ago

Exactly what just happened in Argentina. Presidentially endorsed pump and dump scheme.

thedanadecker.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I will be very interested in the fate of crypto when the big recession kicks in this year. And it will.

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