Bitcoin as Collateral?
I read in the Monitor that the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority has voted to accept Bitcoin as loan collateral. What could go wrong?
Bitcoin is described as a cryptocurrency. But currency is supposed to be a “store of value.” And as anyone who has noticed the more than 30% drop in Bitcoin value in the last six weeks, it doesn’t qualify as currency.
Bitcoin has found only two uses. One is to facilitate illegal transactions. A case in point in New Hampshire this week was a scam victim who deposited $9,000 in a Bitcoin ATM at a Cumberland Farm. (I’ve talked to Cumberland Farm clerks, who report that’s the only activity they’ve seen at these ATMs.)
The second use of Bitcoins (probably the more pervasive) is as a gambling medium. Heck, let’s at least rename them Bitchips.