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The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
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Author: sykesix   😊 😞
Number: of 21943 
Subject: Re: o/t, debtors and creditors,
Date: 06/30/24 6:52 PM
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Second - The government is being separated from the money supply. You can't spend what you don't have and can't print. In the last year, Bitcoin has seen a dramatic shift in regulatory certainty and institutional adoption. (See ETFs, Hong Kong, Argentina, Larry Fink, Trump/Kennedy etc.) BTC is the cure for inflation and overspending. It's happening all over the world.

Since this thread is already marked O/T...

Except that institutional adoption isn't happening. Sure, you can buy a Bitcoin ETF which allows you to speculate on the price on a nice, centralized platform without the hassle of using blockchain, but it is still basically impossible to do a peer-to-peer transaction with Bitcoin. It is way too slow and expensive for small transactions, and the slow speed and volatility make it unusable for big transactions. Sure, there are third-party aps, but now 1) the transaction is no longer decentralized (which is the entire point of Bitcoin, right?), and 2) all the aps do is turn your Bitcoin into filthy fiat money so the merchant will accept it. For a small fee, of course.

Before you can say "Lightning Network" the LN still doesn't work very well, and has high friction for adoption. Evidence for adoption will be when we see goods and services priced in Bitcoin. When will that start happening? Even Bitcoin conferences don't list prices in Bitcoin and don't accept peer-to-peer transactions. Even the maxis don't seem to want to use Bitcoin for payments.

There is an old saying "your margin is my opportunity." Visa's margins are crazy. I'd have to look it up to be sure, but it is something like 45-50%. Figuring out a better payment system would be the key to the bank. Yet here we are 15 years in and no one is using Bitcoin for payments. It can't be a cure for overspending if there is no Bitcoin spending.



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This community has written 21,448 posts about Berkshire Hathaway. The article-length ones it recommended most:
BRK: Why Not XOM? · 62 recs · 2024
Second quarter comments · 60 recs · 2023
Berkshire's Profit Contributors · 57 recs · 2023
Summary of 2Q 2026 · 54 recs · 2026
3Q Summary · 53 recs · 2024
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