Financial instruments like stocks and bonds are real legal claims on the real assets of an entity. They are not creating value out of nothing, they are transferring ownership rights.
Derivatives are a zero-sum game. There is no value out of nothing, the money you make is your counterparty's loss.
Seignorage is what the government does when it creates dollars (or when bitcoin is created). That truly is creating money for nothing.
Well, not really.
Financial instruments like stocks and bonds are real legal claims on the real assets of an entity. They are not creating value out of nothing, they are transferring ownership rights.
Derivatives are a zero-sum game. There is no value out of nothing, the money you make is your counterparty's loss.
Seignorage is what the government does when it creates dollars (or when bitcoin is created). That truly is creating money for nothing.