[0109] Jim Rickards: Normally Level Headed... Except on Bitcoin

I don't normally reply on Twitter, but I just had to reply to this time.

I don't mind Jim Rickards perspectives on finance, but when it comes to Bitcoin, he is hard to take. It's like he is stiffly defending a point of view. He just can't bring himself to take an even balanced, objective view of Bitcoin.

In his tweet, he cleverly "welds" basic facts with his own narrative about the "use case" of Bitcoin, which is completely misleading. And makes out that early adopters have planned a great big ponzi scheme and are cashing in on it. According to plan.

And no one has ever had benefit from the use of Bitcoin.

In my mind, he has to defend his view of "Bitcoins demise" because of his ego. Oldest story around. Jim needs to be seen as the grand financial prognosticator. The "out-witter of everyone" at the table of finance. The grandmaster tactician, which he may well be from time to time.

But Jim has made one mistake. He has made a big call and now he has to stick to it. He has publicly made the call that Bitcoin won't last.

Basically, Jim Rickards needs to stick to his view for reasons that are more emotional than mathematical. The fact that he can't hold a line of thinking on both sides of the fence and present a balanced pro's and cons is telling.

Emotion is dominating clear thinking.

But calling for the death of Bitcoin is like calling for the end of the Roman empire at it's height. It's a safe prediction that you won't get wrong in the short term. And if you get it right, then you can say "I told you so!" on twitter and write lots of books about it.

Which is exactly how Jim plays it. He hedges his bets.