I've never lost a dime trading Bitcoin in terms of my initial planned entry/exit points yadda yadda, but I don't consider Bitcoin's purpose as trading or gambling. I currently use Bitcoin as a store of value and keep 0 in the bank because keeping money in a bank account is even more risky to me due to cascading deflationary collapse of fractional reserve fiat when all the debts/loans go bad. It's a true domino effect that you will have the pleasure of witnessing one day (probably sometime soon) and you're either going to receive a big haircut, withdrawal limits, or forever bank holiday.
This is why we hodl:
The currency system that exists is not run as a function to empower the state. It was the opposite, the banks took over the state. ... you choose to be a banker's indentured servant on purpose. Unless you wilfully choose to boycott their system as much as humanly possible, this will always be the case.
Mat's idea of a bright future was the fractional reserve, debt as money systems collapsing, and then him lining up at the table for a second helping of the exact same scam when they clear the board to start anew to steal his money again. Most people who can understand these issues would likely call him a very dumb person, but he seems to think it's just being practical. It's only being practical if there are no alternatives. You are literally choosing to be scammed on purpose when you don't have to be. Pretty much any option is better than signing up to be Ben Shalom Bernanke's slave on purpose.
