First off, Karl, I want to thank you for writing such a detailed response in a clear and concise manner. I’d like to offer my responses to your rebuttals.
1) Transfer value without a third party
Cash money is still best for that, as you can directly use it after wards, and is also anonymous.
My Response: What if you are dealing with a large sum? Do most people want to carry that much cash with them? What if your bank has a limit on how much cash you can withdraw? What if you are sending money to family far away or overseas? Do you want to pay high fees and have a lag time or customer hours to send your money?
2) Allows me to custody my money and removes counterparty risk for storing my wealth
Weak recovery, for lost passwords, dead of owner or defective devices. No good secure possibility for storing and recovery with third parties.
My Response: I agree there is room for improvement with securing crypto. However, as the value of the space increases, people pay more attention to security and storage. Far fewer people lose track of their Bitcoin today versus when it was less than $5. That being said, this is a good point you have raised and I believe custody, storage, and recovery will be improved.
3) Transfer value 24 hours per day in minutes anywhere in the world
It requires a setup wallet, on an electronic device, and knowledge how to properly secure it!. So there is a large part of the world not able to receive, or protect it.
My Response: 91% of the world has mobile phone access so I would argue it’s more accessible than dollars or gold. There is a learning curve for using it, but that is the case with most technology and it will become more user friendly as adoption increases.
4) Easily and safely transportable store of value
No the required knowledge is far to great, for most of the people, if you want to store it securely, no old mattress, no way to recover if required codes are lost, no way to recover if stolen.
My Response: I’d rather travel with my wealth in crypto rather than gold or cash. It doesn’t need to be declared when traveling, is harder to lose, and requires less personal security. The barrier to entry knowledge-wise is low. Like most technology, adoption will be led by younger generations.
5) Increasingly identified (by people, institutions, and governments) as a store of value not a collectible
Why is it better as the old Rai stones ? value of store changes every year, so no good for long term store, as long as there is no real value behind.
My Response: Stores of value don’t change every year. Gold and silver have been a store of value for millennia. In order for something to be an effective store of value, enough people have to agree there is value to the storage. Bitcoin has reached a tipping point where enough people recognize its value and want to secure some.
6) Can be wrapped and used in decentralized finance where it can be lent/borrowed
Against huge risks, as most lending offers no real accounting of how and for what they are using the money, and big gains are only possible with huge risks. So no different from banks, hedge funds.
My Response: Check out decentralized finance. It’s smart contract-based and everything is transparent and dynamic. You don’t need approvals from bankers and you can borrow/repay your loans at any time. The risk is limited to what your comfort level is.
7) Gives the bankless or people suffering from high inflation an alternative to holding dollars and can be purchased from a cell phone
Cell phone is already possible and quite easy, with normal accounts, and because if transfer fees, i don't see much added value. And that you are fine with paying for the inflation in cheap countries that are now able to print far more money, is not something i want to pay for.
My Response: I can transfer money easily to someone in the US via my bank account, but what about someone in China? With Bitcoin, settlement happens immediately. Imagine how much we pay for bank fraud? Who do you think pays for those losses?
I don’t understand how you are paying for inflation in other countries by holding Bitcoin. If anything, it increases the value of Bitcoin as more people seek Bitcoin rather than their depreciating currency.
8) A store of value that can't be diluted from central banks via money printing and fiscal policy
The printing of money in turkey and other countries, gives the same kind of inflation, as printing money, combine it with cheap electricity, leads to more miners. And more miners, lead to less profit for all.
My Response: More Bitcoin miners doesn’t lead to less profit. It provides more security to the Bitcoin network. If profit were decreasing, you wouldn’t see billion-dollar valued mining companies traded on the stock exchange.
9) Adds diversification to an investment portfolio
There are a lot more interesting opportunities, that give a far better profit.
My Response: Bitcoin is the best-performing asset of the past decade.
10) Able to be used for payments if I were open to part with it for making a purchase
There is a reason, all bankers fear deflation. As it leads to holding money that could be better used.
My Response: I’m more interested in my needs than the bankers’ needs. The world is trillions of dollars in debt backed by fiat currencies that can be printed on demand. I’m not a big fan of having to put all of my money in stocks or real estate to protect my wealth from inflation.
