Friday, June 30, 2017

Book World Should Prevail Over Bitcoin Economy



There are wealthy speculators who are banking on the Bitcoin to become a real currency, perhaps a global one that replaces all currencies.  This would be a huge mistake and lead to horrific economic consequences.  But while the commoditization of a made-up digital jewel gets traded at nearly $3000 a coin, the real economy of books remains steady, but slow-growing.  It just doesn’t seem fair.

The book world, to a degree, reflects the rest of the world’s economy.  Books can be produced digitally or on paper.  They can be sold from a brick-and-mortar store or ordered online.  They can be manufactured by a large corporation, a smaller company or an individual.  Many products or services are created or sold in a similar manner.

But the Bitcoin represents the worst of all worlds.  It is something that no single government can control nor can its existence be verified.  It’s all online, through some mysterious codes and algorithms.  Who is to say how many Bitcoins actually exist?  How do we know the system hasn’t been hacked?  It’s all run under a shroud of mystery.

A Bitcoin, to me, is useless.  It has no intrinsic value and the marketplace just speculates and bids it up too wildly or bids it down with fast, huge drops.  There’s no rhyme or reason to it.  There are no sound economics attached to it, yet some are looking to invest huge sums into it.  Why?

The book economy represents good old values.  Hard work, creativity, and resourcefulness can lead to a profit.  There’s something tangible to it – we can see it, touch it, and understand it.  There’s something measurable and comparative at work here.  A Bitcoin is one part Mafia-controlled craps tables, one-part fixed horse racing.  There’s no honor, truth, or value to the Bitcoin.

Nations should outlaw the Bitcoin and arrest these scammers.  It is not in humanity’s interest to have a single currency that is solely digital and unaccounted for.  It’s not fair to the book market or any industry, where people actually work hard for a living, to just let people gamble on some type of pyramid-scheme fling.

The book world runs with a bit of honor, whereas the Bitcoin industry seems like it only exists to make money without substantive reason.  Books have a value and they spew values.  Bitcoins are almost not real and yet some people will pay thousands for one.  The world’s upside down.

The world has always been this way. Wall Street makes money from money, while the rest of the world has to earn its way.  One may not think to pit Bitcoins vs. books, but think about this:  Two opposites, co-existing in a single world.  Which one do you hold in higher esteem?

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs 


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