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Topic: How to value a currency - page 2. (Read 5295 times)

sr. member
Activity: 406
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Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 02:35:34 PM
#24

I've been stating all along that he was wrong because he based his calculations on a flawed premise: That bitcoin's value comes from what you can purchase from it. He's got it backwards. You can purchase things with bitcoin because people value it.
Neither statement is sufficient. It applies both ways: I value it because I can purchase things for it and you can purchase things for bitcoins because I value it. I value fiat currency because I can purchase things with it. The same goes for bitcoins and I expect to increase my purchasing power of any bitcoin holding I may have. A currency like Bitcoin is like a network and the network value rises when more people join that is, when you can trade more things with bitcoins.
sr. member
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Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 02:31:21 PM
#23
Did you even read my OP, Myrkul?
sr. member
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Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 02:30:26 PM
#22
In other words, people think that it is worth buying, so they buy it.
Do I sense that we are reaching some kind of understanding? Smiley An expectation of a large future Q is what drives this investment strategy:
http://youtu.be/NG1qooBzE2w
hero member
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FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
March 31, 2013, 02:27:42 PM
#21
So, what is the "intrinsic value" of a bitcoin? You give the number of $50/BTC up there in your OP. Would you care to explain, then, why it's currently trading at $92.45? And why it started at less than a dollar?

Mr. Market can be crazy at times Smiley

Additionally it was also at less than a Dollar because Q changes over time.

I'm not saying $50 is the correct valuation. I have no clue how to value a currency. But stating that something is incorrect because a (by definition) speculative market trades it at a different price is just silly.

I wasn't stating it was wrong because the market fluctuates, or even that he failed to derive the same value as the market. I was requesting that he explain, using his equations, why this is so.

I can explain why this is so, simply by stating that the people who use bitcoin value it enough to exchange $92.45 for it. When Bitcoin was in it's infancy, people valued it less, and fewer people valued it. Thus, the price was lower.

I've been stating all along that he was wrong because he based his calculations on a flawed premise: That bitcoin's value comes from what you can purchase from it. He's got it backwards. You can purchase things with bitcoin because people value it.

What drives the speculative valuation of $/BTC is an expectation that Q will become large, that M is contained and that V is also relatively stable.
In other words, people think that it is worth buying, so they buy it.
sr. member
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Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 02:23:12 PM
#20
What drives the speculative valuation of $/BTC is an expectation that Q will become large, that M is contained and that V is also relatively stable.
sr. member
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Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 02:21:06 PM
#19
I think you are presenting the Austrian counter argument of my monetarist argument.
Indeed I am. Value is subjective, and each user of the currency values it differently. To see this quite clearly, look at the other threads here in Speculation. Some bitcoin users value it quite highly, and laugh at people who sold. Others value it less, and laugh at people who bought.
I am stating that this prescribes a fundamental analysis. Just like you can analyse stocks from a P/E perspective, Net Present Value or intrinsic value, you can analyse a currency from the equation of exchange. This may not give the full picture but just like a stock is unlikely to be traded below, say, 50 % of intrinsic value, so is a currency also unlikely to deviate too much from this equation although I realise that speculation is very hard to account for.
So, what is the "intrinsic value" of a bitcoin? You give the number of $50/BTC up there in your OP. Would you care to explain, then, why it's currently trading at $92.45? And why it started at less than a dollar?
It started at less than a dollar since no one was trading anything in bitcoins. Q = 0 for 2009 as far as I have understood. I already stated that the uncertainties on all values are huge and that speculation also plays a roll and that speculation is hard to contain in the equation of exchange.
People give something value, not a set of formulas.
I don't even know where to start responding to this nonsense. Too much unreflected Austrian theory in here.
You should listen to Smoothie. For that matter, you should listen to the Austrians. They both have a track record of being correct in their predictions.
Maybe so but you will have to come up with some better arguments than what you have come up with so far. From what you two are saying, the price is completely arbitrary other than what people demand and from your perspective it might as well be 1 cent as 1m dollars. At least my estimate is in the correct order of magnitude. And since I was able to recognize your argument as Austrian you should also recognize that I am not completely ignorant to their arguments and ideas.
legendary
Activity: 2324
Merit: 1125
March 31, 2013, 02:07:31 PM
#18
So, what is the "intrinsic value" of a bitcoin? You give the number of $50/BTC up there in your OP. Would you care to explain, then, why it's currently trading at $92.45? And why it started at less than a dollar?

Mr. Market can be crazy at times Smiley

Additionally it was also at less than a Dollar because Q changes over time.

I'm not saying $50 is the correct valuation. I have no clue how to value a currency. But stating that something is incorrect because a (by definition) speculative market trades it at a different price is just silly.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
March 31, 2013, 02:04:25 PM
#17
I think you are presenting the Austrian counter argument of my monetarist argument.
Indeed I am. Value is subjective, and each user of the currency values it differently. To see this quite clearly, look at the other threads here in Speculation. Some bitcoin users value it quite highly, and laugh at people who sold. Others value it less, and laugh at people who bought.
I am stating that this prescribes a fundamental analysis. Just like you can analyse stocks from a P/E perspective, Net Present Value or intrinsic value, you can analyse a currency from the equation of exchange. This may not give the full picture but just like a stock is unlikely to be traded below, say, 50 % of intrinsic value, so is a currency also unlikely to deviate too much from this equation although I realise that speculation is very to account.
So, what is the "intrinsic value" of a bitcoin? You give the number of $50/BTC up there in your OP. Would you care to explain, then, why it's currently trading at $92.45? And why it started at less than a dollar?

People give something value, not a set of formulas.
I don't even know where to start responding to this nonsense. Too much unreflected Austrian theory in here.
You should listen to Smoothie. For that matter, you should listen to the Austrians. They both have a track record of being correct in their predictions.
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 286
Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 01:52:07 PM
#16
People give something value, not a set of formulas.
I don't even know where to start responding to this nonsense. Too much unreflected Austrian theory in here.
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 286
Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 01:50:26 PM
#15
I think you are presenting the Austrian counter argument of my monetarist argument.
Indeed I am. Value is subjective, and each user of the currency values it differently. To see this quite clearly, look at the other threads here in Speculation. Some bitcoin users value it quite highly, and laugh at people who sold. Others value it less, and laugh at people who bought.
I am stating that this prescribes a fundamental analysis. Just like you can analyse stocks from a P/E perspective, Net Present Value or intrinsic value, you can analyse a currency from the equation of exchange. This may not give the full picture but just like a stock is unlikely to be traded below, say, 50 % of intrinsic value, so is a currency also unlikely to deviate too much from this equation although I realise that speculation is very to account.

According to your claims, the price of a currency is totally arbitrary and has nothing to do with the for instance M. Well, what is the problem of printing money then? Smiley
legendary
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LEALANA Bitcoin Grim Reaper
March 31, 2013, 01:33:23 PM
#14
People give something value, not a set of formulas.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
March 31, 2013, 01:28:02 PM
#13
I think you are presenting the Austrian counter argument of my monetarist argument.
Indeed I am. Value is subjective, and each user of the currency values it differently. To see this quite clearly, look at the other threads here in Speculation. Some bitcoin users value it quite highly, and laugh at people who sold. Others value it less, and laugh at people who bought.
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 286
Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 01:14:05 PM
#12
A currency derives its value from the objects that you can buy with it.

A currency derives it's value from the desire of it's users to accept it. If the users of a currency really want that currency, it's value will be high, and you can purchase large amounts of other things for small amounts of the currency. If the users of a currency do not want that currency, it's value will be low, and you will require large amounts of currency to buy small amounts of other things.
Yes. Demand/supply is by definition what determines the price since the price is defined as the last traded deal on a major exchange. But my willingness to accept a currency depends on how other people value it (that is my use of it) and thus on what I can get for said currency which is what the formula QP=MV describes. I think you are presenting the Austrian counter argument of my monetarist argument. My own understanding of this monetarist argument is that it describes a natural level for a currency around which the price can deviate due to speculative effects. And what you are describing is merely the definition of the price (a descriptive argument) and not some kind of fundamnetal analysis (a normative argument).
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
March 31, 2013, 01:13:10 PM
#11
A currency derives it's value from the desire of it's users to accept it.
How is this different than "from the objects that you can buy with it?"
He is trying to quantify value, and I am pointing out that it is subjective.
full member
Activity: 182
Merit: 106
March 31, 2013, 01:00:04 PM
#10
A currency derives it's value from the desire of it's users to accept it. If the users of a currency really want that currency, it's value will be high, and you can purchase large amounts of other things for small amounts of the currency. If the users of a currency do not want that currency, it's value will be low, and you will require large amounts of currency to buy small amounts of other things.
How is this different than "from the objects that you can buy with it?" Should he have qualified it with the "quantity" of objects, or the "amount of different" and "quantity" of objects? In either case, it's in the same vein, and entirely sound.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
March 31, 2013, 12:55:22 PM
#9
A currency derives its value from the objects that you can buy with it.

I'm afraid you're wrong, here. Since the rest of your formula hinges off this flawed premise, it's interesting, but futile, maths.

A currency derives it's value from the desire of it's users to accept it. If the users of a currency really want that currency, it's value will be high, and you can purchase large amounts of other things for small amounts of the currency. If the users of a currency do not want that currency, it's value will be low, and you will require large amounts of currency to buy small amounts of other things.
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 286
Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 31, 2013, 12:46:44 PM
#8
Q is the dollar value of goods being traded in BTCs. Silk Road has an overturn on about 1m per month I have heard, and Bitcoinstore has a revenue of 400k-500k dollars per month, I believe. This is 1.5m dollars per month. Let us assume that these two constitute a tenth of the total bitcoin trade. So the total BTC trade is worth 30m dollars per month that is 180m dollars per year, let us round that up to Q=200m $ per year.

What about USD?  There are about a trillion dollars in circulation, and you can buy them with bitcoins, so it seems like your Q is off by several orders of magnitude.
I believe you have misunderstood something... These trillions of dollars are not traded in BTCs.
But 100 million dollars per month on MtGox is.
These USD 100m should not all count in Q since many of them may be speculative and the result of daytrading and do thus not count as currency transactions. As others have pointed out, it is supply/demand that determines the value but the above calculations try to seek a more fundamental valuation than just the last traded price.
sr. member
Activity: 406
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Neptune, Scalable Privacy
March 28, 2013, 12:04:55 PM
#7
But 100 million dollars per month on MtGox is.
And that would make Q=1.2bn $ + 40 %(?) ~ 1.7 bn $ and thus val = 420 $/BTC all other factors held constant. Interesting. But the other factors have very large uncertainties though.

Edit: 40 % to take into account all those BTCs that are not traded on Mt. Gox.
sr. member
Activity: 304
Merit: 250
March 28, 2013, 11:59:58 AM
#6
Q is the dollar value of goods being traded in BTCs. Silk Road has an overturn on about 1m per month I have heard, and Bitcoinstore has a revenue of 400k-500k dollars per month, I believe. This is 1.5m dollars per month. Let us assume that these two constitute a tenth of the total bitcoin trade. So the total BTC trade is worth 30m dollars per month that is 180m dollars per year, let us round that up to Q=200m $ per year.

What about USD?  There are about a trillion dollars in circulation, and you can buy them with bitcoins, so it seems like your Q is off by several orders of magnitude.
I believe you have misunderstood something... These trillions of dollars are not traded in BTCs.
But 100 million dollars per month on MtGox is.
sr. member
Activity: 348
Merit: 250
March 28, 2013, 11:58:48 AM
#5
I believe you have misunderstood something... These trillions of dollars are not traded in BTCs.

How do you separate the dollars that are traded for bitcoin with the dollars that are not?  Just curious what the methodology is.
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