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One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

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Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#41

Post by dragontamer »

synaesthesisx wrote: post #15
seanalltogether wrote: post #6

I'd be curious to know at this point what amount of bitcoin transactions are actually retail focused. There was a big push a couple years back by users wanting to make actual purchases with bitcoin and helping to build the infrastructure around that. Does this retail side of bitcoin still exist, or is everyone just mining and selling -> buying and holding?

Why would I want to make actual purchases when it's rallying like this? You'd almost always be better off holding instead...

That's the problem.

If no one is actually using the coin for practical purposes, you've created a glorified Ponzi scheme. The minute that "better off holding" is no longer the most common opinion, the price of BTC will drop.

I dunno how long that will take: it took years for Enron to drop to zero for example. But I do not place much trust in the whims of stranger's opinions.

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#42

Post by swearwolves »

purephase wrote: post #7

As someone not invested in any of this at all, its fascinating to watch as people jump in completely oblivious to risk involved. I've listened to friends and family discuss investing "only $100" or "only $1000" for fractional amounts of bitcoin with the idea that they're sure fire bets for making money. I feel a bit like a rube sitting it out on the sidelines (and they're chastising me for not acting) as the price ke…

The grossly oversimplified answer... as long as a not-insignificant amount of people keep believing in its value as we approach the 21 million cap - it will continue to rise quite significantly. Simple supply and demand.

It could have literally zero utility whatsoever - as long as people keep buying the hype that this will one day be a massive store of value - it will be a massive store of value.

The better answer ...no one knows anything. 100% unadulterated speculation.

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#43

Post by Omnius »

komali2 wrote: post #35
and0 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP but as someone familiar with BTC tech / history I still haven't discovered any real use for it. As in, issues 99% of people in first-world countries have with fiat that it solves, rather than exacerbate (let alone the other massive hassles with using BTC). It seems to only exist for speculation. Its meteoric rise in the face of all this screams bubble to me. (But.. I've also been saying this for a while.)

Really? I often buy drugs with BTC. I have friends that use it to buy software. I guess "but that's illegal!" is a strong argument for those that have a lot of trust in governments. I... don't... so I'm happy to use non-governmental instruments. I still pay my taxes and contribute, I'm not an anarchist, I just like having means to express value that aren't controlled by governments.

Yeah but your a small minority compared to the people using it as a means to speculate and trade. For the vast majority of buyers its pruelly investment into something they will never use beyond trading it back into cash.

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#44

Post by nxsynonym »

komali2 wrote: post #32
purephase wrote: post #7

As someone not invested in any of this at all, its fascinating to watch as people jump in completely oblivious to risk involved. I've listened to friends and family discuss investing "only $100" or "only $1000" for fractional amounts of bitcoin with the idea that they're sure fire bets for making money. I feel a bit like a rube sitting it out on the sidelines (and they're chastising me for not acting) as the price ke…

I haven't been convinced that this has happened before, so other than "not diversifying is dumb," anybody that says with any authority "you should not be investing a small amount of money in cryptocurrency" has an equally strong argument as someone that says "you should be investing a small amount of money in cryptocurrency." I say as long as you follow centuries-old investment advice (diversify, always have a backup…

This is my feeling on it too.

Nobody can predict what is going to happen with BTC or the whole cryptocurrency eco-system in general. There's still potential for the technology to take off and gain widespread adoption, just as there's the potential for all the big players to lose interest and move on to something else.

If you want to 'invest'(I prefer gamble, or play at this point) - go for it. Just like every fad there are groups of people who believe strongly in the idea of the thing, and those who just want to get rich off of the thing.

At this point nobody has definitive answers on the future of BTC.

Public interest / perception is the biggest factor at play here. There can be literally 0 uses for cryptocurrency, but if news outlets are telling a layperson to buy it, they'll buy it. As long as the big players are interested in keeping it afloat, I don't see what would cause it's price to crash down to 0 over night.

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#45

Post by komali2 »

olympus wrote: post #10
rb808 wrote: post #2

I want to make some money buying bitcoin it just keeps going up! Which is the best exchange I should use? Is Coinbase best?

Two tips: 1. Don't keep your BTC in any exchange account for very long, and check the popular forums for people complaining about transactions being held up before transferring BTC into your account. Lots of people got screwed by MtGox, and it can happen on any exchange. 2. Don't spend any money other than money you would be willing to give away for free (totally discretionary money). The bottom has fallen out of mar…

Hmm, I have a problem with comparing BTC to tulips, houses, or beanie babies, because there never was a powerful and active market for exchanging beanie babies for real world product (i.e. functioning as currency) as we have seen for BTC and buying drugs or software. I also don't like the comparison to .com stocks because those are already an instrument (stocks), which represent company values, and the collapse of an industry doesn't necessarily reflect upon the likelihood of an entirely new investment instrument collapsing.

I would think maybe a comparison to other forms of currency would be a better metaphor - i.e. gold or something. Inherently value-less (gold is pretty and historically been used for currency, that's about it - it's not traded as a commodity for its usefulness as a raw good like Oil or whatever) but still valued.

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#46

Post by aaron-lebo »

komali2 wrote: post #35
and0 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP but as someone familiar with BTC tech / history I still haven't discovered any real use for it. As in, issues 99% of people in first-world countries have with fiat that it solves, rather than exacerbate (let alone the other massive hassles with using BTC). It seems to only exist for speculation. Its meteoric rise in the face of all this screams bubble to me. (But.. I've also been saying this for a while.)

Really? I often buy drugs with BTC. I have friends that use it to buy software. I guess "but that's illegal!" is a strong argument for those that have a lot of trust in governments. I... don't... so I'm happy to use non-governmental instruments. I still pay my taxes and contribute, I'm not an anarchist, I just like having means to express value that aren't controlled by governments.

Out of interest, is it dangerous to publicly state that you buy drugs with BTC (with or without personally identifying information attached)?

As in, is it likely that someone would/could be targeted by law enforcement because of that, and could a comment like that be used in court?

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#47

Post by komali2 »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #46
komali2 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I often buy drugs with BTC. I have friends that use it to buy software. I guess "but that's illegal!" is a strong argument for those that have a lot of trust in governments. I... don't... so I'm happy to use non-governmental instruments. I still pay my taxes and contribute, I'm not an anarchist, I just like having means to express value that aren't controlled by governments.

Out of interest, is it dangerous to publicly state that you buy drugs with BTC (with or without personally identifying information attached)? As in, is it likely that someone would/could be targeted by law enforcement because of that, and could a comment like that be used in court?

Meh. If they wanted to they could fine me ten bajillion dollars for having a pirated version of Zootopia on my harddrive.

I guess my words could bite me in the ass but I am fairly confident as a non-dealer I'm not exactly a target. Probably on a radar for when the Fed runs out of Big Fish, but for now probably fine.

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#48

Post by rsynnott »

komali2 wrote: post #35
and0 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP but as someone familiar with BTC tech / history I still haven't discovered any real use for it. As in, issues 99% of people in first-world countries have with fiat that it solves, rather than exacerbate (let alone the other massive hassles with using BTC). It seems to only exist for speculation. Its meteoric rise in the face of all this screams bubble to me. (But.. I've also been saying this for a while.)

Really? I often buy drugs with BTC. I have friends that use it to buy software. I guess "but that's illegal!" is a strong argument for those that have a lot of trust in governments. I... don't... so I'm happy to use non-governmental instruments. I still pay my taxes and contribute, I'm not an anarchist, I just like having means to express value that aren't controlled by governments.

But given the now rather excessive cost and/or slowness involved in bitcoin transactions these days, it seems inevitable that it’ll be ousted by some other crypto currency in the illegal markets.

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#49

Post by komali2 »

Omnius wrote: post #43
komali2 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I often buy drugs with BTC. I have friends that use it to buy software. I guess "but that's illegal!" is a strong argument for those that have a lot of trust in governments. I... don't... so I'm happy to use non-governmental instruments. I still pay my taxes and contribute, I'm not an anarchist, I just like having means to express value that aren't controlled by governments.

Yeah but your a small minority compared to the people using it as a means to speculate and trade. For the vast majority of buyers its pruelly investment into something they will never use beyond trading it back into cash.

Well that vast majority has no idea the wonderful drugs they are missing out on! ;P

Re: One of the Biggest Bitcoin Exchanges Just Added 100,000 Users in a Single Day

#50

Post by Omnius »

stefano wrote: post #20
synaesthesisx wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I want to make actual purchases when it's rallying like this? You'd almost always be better off holding instead...

So everyone is holding and buying it, and no one is making anything useful with it. Sounds like a great allocation of capital! /s

I am all for bitcoin but you think about it as it is right now. People turn their cash into ether then extract more cash then they put in later only because a bunch of other people are doing it too. This has to pop and when it does i buying a shit ton of it for the next rally.

--edit extra should have been extract.

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