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Bitcoin hits $10,000

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361–370 of 389 posts

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan has already embraced cryptos as a legal currency. They won't be the last. As this happens, there will be geopolitical factors at play and it won't be that easy to simply "outlaw cryptocurrencies".

What does this mean? I'm in Japan right now and if anything, Japan is a cash society still and most small stores don't even take credit cards.

The Government has done the opposite of banning bitcoin. They've outright legitimized it.

No, they have not forced private businesses to accept bitcoin.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#362
post #74
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the part that gets me. Bitcoin has scaling issues, is slow and transaction fees are outrageous. Still, I have no doubt some form of crypto-currency will eventually win out.

I connected to the internet with a 14.4k modem and I'm connected to fiber today. Bitcoin is in its infancy. It's a matter of time until it reaches the levels we require for handling all the transactions that we want to happen.

I have no doubt the block chain is the future and one backed by governments. I think Bitcoin and Ethereum are the MySpace before something better came along. They have so many issues that better technology will win out. Being first doesn't guarantee anything nor better technology for that matter but in this case crypto is all about technology not just an experience.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#363
Sometimes when I think if humanity met extremely advanced alien civilization - what kind of "stuff" could they use to trade? At one point I thought - it must be information, pieces of information are ultimately valuable. BTC might be something close to that. Foggy thoughts, but its a foggy concept.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#364
post #4

7 years ago: The first bitcoin article on HN with comments! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1532670 One of the posters says the feds will shut it down. I also thought this too. This remains one of the most enduring mysteries of Bitcoin to me. Why has the government taken such a hands off approach?

"The feds" can't just shut down whatever they want; there is a process.

Tell that to all the people who had cash confiscated at airports and on the road. Too bad their property can't defend itself in the court of its peers - maybe a washing machine and a night stand. NEVER trust any governments.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#365
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Friedman memo showed they were 1-1 cash/usdt back in September, and they've stated clearly it's institutional money coming in. In fact, that's exactly what I would expect for large buyers trying to spread their purchases across exchanges who don't use USD directly. "I agree that if no one was able to get fiat in or out of Tether and USDT were still being issued that would be a huge problem. As it stands, however,…

If you believe them you must believe that they've received $250 million dollars in the month of November alone. https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/ This on a daily pattern that looks like a step function. Where could this money possibly be coming from? Anonymous millionaires?

Their market cap has gone up $68 million in the last 12 hours. If it's truly pegged doesn't that mean they've taken in $68M in that span of time?

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#366
post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On the other hand you'd be crazy to price anything in Bitcoin. Why? It was easy to add Cryptocurrency as a purchasing option for the online store for my shed business. My buildings are priced in dollars, but people can use crypto to pay and the crypto value is pegged at the current rate of trade on an exchange. Bonus: I can use the crypto to go buy materials - never have to convert it to dollars.

If they're priced in dollars and converted into Market price Bitcoin at the checkout... then they're obviously not priced in Bitcoin.

For international sales we accept euro/yuan/pounds/etc but instantly convert it to dollars. I would say that we are pricing in those currencies.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>On the other hand I could create 21M cryptocoins on a blockchain (calling them Bitcoin2 or even just Bitcoin if it pleases). I can make them function identically, similarly or more efficiently than Bitcoin. I can create a new blockchain (network) or put these coins on an existing blockchain (say the Ethereum blockchain). How much would you pay for all 21M Bitcoin? How much would you pay me to create you 21M Bitcoin2…

"Econ 101: The price of a currency is based on people's trust in that currency." Right, but how many people really trust Bitcoin? And by trust, I mean trust that it will retain its value for the foreseeable future. I have trust that the Euro will retain its value, so I feel confident pricing my product and services using it. On the other hand you'd be crazy to price anything in Bitcoin. No one has trust in Bitcoin as…

> I have trust that the Euro will retain its value

You must feel very betrayed every year when you look at the inflation rate and the price increases...

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the story that's missing here. When one of the major exchanges is starting to look insolvent and USDT is getting scarier and scarier by the day, a flight from USDT into Bitcoin is not surprising...

Indeed. When that happens the people that did not exchange their USDT for BTC on time, while BTC and other cryptocoins are crashing as well, will be the ones holding a worthless USDT not backed by actual dollars.

Yep. That’s called holding the bag

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#369
post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: why does gold have intrinsic value? My understanding is that it's scarcity is the prime driver of its value, at least in monetary terms, and bitcoin shares that quality. Of course gold does have physical qualities that are useful, but so do many other metals that are not used as stores of value.

Gold is used to make physical things, like jewelry and electronics.

I am aware of that of course, but gold jewelry itself generally has very little intrinsic value (it's only valuable because people agree it is, just like bitcoin), and most elements (such as silicon) in electric components are much cheaper than gold.

The prime driver of gold's value is clearly its historical role as a commodity and its scarcity, neither of which are related to any kind of intrinsic qualities.

My point is that the two things gold has going for it (scarcity and the fact that people believe it is a good place to store value) can now be said about bitcoin as well from what I can see.

Full disclosure: I do not own any cryptocoins. Too volatile for my tastes.

Re: Bitcoin hits $10,000

#370
post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: why does gold have intrinsic value? My understanding is that it's scarcity is the prime driver of its value, at least in monetary terms, and bitcoin shares that quality. Of course gold does have physical qualities that are useful, but so do many other metals that are not used as stores of value.

many other metals are used as stores of value, but gold is probably the most iconic. From a historical standpoint, It's easy to identify, it's easy to break up into smaller units or consolidate into larger ones, easy to form into coins. It has a global distribution, it's relatively inert so you don't need to worry about degradation. scarcity is only one factor to consider - demand and fungibility are also important f…

> It's easy to identify, it's easy to break up into smaller units or consolidate into larger ones, easy to form into coins. It has a global distribution,it's relatively inert so you don't need to worry about degradation

Everything in that sentence also applies to bitcoin. Probably the one difference I can see is that if someone loses their private key, the bitcoins associated with that key become useless. Gold does not have that problem.

EDIT: Okay, another huge con with bitcoins is that people don't understand them. Most people at least think they understand why gold is valuable. The confusion a "cryptocurrency" creates is a notable negative.

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