Bitcoin hits US$ 4, after being mentioned on CNN yesterday

Either way, I am waiting to see what happens. I have more than enough bitcoin for a black swan hedge. I am also going to be with bitcoin to the bitter end or the ultimate victory over state-controlled monetary system.

Re: Bitcoin hits US$ 4, after being mentioned on CNN yesterday

#4

Post by Osiris » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 5:29 PM UTC

It looks like had I know the article was going to air, I could have doubled my money almost overnight. I would expect the price to stop dropping any time now.

Re: Bitcoin hits US$ 4, after being mentioned on CNN yesterday

#5

Post by JCB_K » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 5:33 PM UTC

So say I'd have a blog with a huge reach. I hear about bitcoins. I buy a million for $4 each. I blog about it. Next day it's at $8. I'd sell the bitcoins, maybe 10000 a day to not let the market crash, and in 3.5 months I've got $4 million more than I used to.

Re: Bitcoin hits US$ 4, after being mentioned on CNN yesterday

#6

Post by patrickod » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 5:35 PM UTC

I've been watching the price of BTC rise pretty steadily in the last few days but I can't bring myself to believe that this price range is in any way sustainable. $4 per bitcoin? Not even the EUR and GBP have ever reached that in my recollection. I guess it if does stay like this mining is going to become pretty lucrative and certainly financially worth it.

Re: Bitcoin hits US$ 4, after being mentioned on CNN yesterday

#7

Post by TheCoreh » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 5:35 PM UTC

JCB_K wrote: post #5

So say I'd have a blog with a huge reach. I hear about bitcoins. I buy a million for $4 each. I blog about it. Next day it's at $8. I'd sell the bitcoins, maybe 10000 a day to not let the market crash, and in 3.5 months I've got $4 million more than I used to.

It's a still small, unregulated market, so yeah, you could probably do that.

Re: Bitcoin hits US$ 4, after being mentioned on CNN yesterday

#8

Post by Alex3917 » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 5:41 PM UTC

kiba wrote: post #3

This is either a bubble or probably the most awesome J-curve of the decade. Either way, I am waiting to see what happens. I have more than enough bitcoin for a black swan hedge. I am also going to be with bitcoin to the bitter end or the ultimate victory over state-controlled monetary system.

"This is either a bubble or probably the most awesome J-curve of the decade."

The average American isn't smart enough to understand what bitcoin is, how it works, how to buy them, how to spend them, etc. In five years bitcoin is going to be just another failed standard like i-names or GPG, something that doesn't ever get used except for in very niche enterprise usecases or when nerds are trying to impress other nerds.

Re: Bitcoin hits US$ 4, after being mentioned on CNN yesterday

#9

Post by waterlesscloud » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 5:44 PM UTC

On a volume of 53,896 btc since midnight. For some perspective.

Re: Bitcoin hits US$ 4, after being mentioned on CNN yesterday

#10

Post by DavidSJ » Sat, Apr 30, 2011, 5:46 PM UTC

patrickod wrote: post #6

I've been watching the price of BTC rise pretty steadily in the last few days but I can't bring myself to believe that this price range is in any way sustainable. $4 per bitcoin? Not even the EUR and GBP have ever reached that in my recollection. I guess it if does stay like this mining is going to become pretty lucrative and certainly financially worth it.

$4 per bitcoin? Not even the EUR and GBP have ever reached that in my recollection.

Keep in mind that the exchange rate is a function of several inputs, one of which is the rather arbitrary fact of how much total currency is in circulation. There are many fewer BTC than USD, EUR, GBP, etc. (about one million times fewer, to be precise). And conversely, there are many more JPY in circulation, which is part of the reason the yen is much cheaper than the US dollar.

That doesn't mean there's not a BTC bubble. There may very well be. But you can't do the comparison you just did and expect it to be meaningful. If the BTC protocol had specified the decimal point one place to the left, BTC would be trading at 0.40 USD right now, not 4.00 USD. There'd just be 10 times as many.

What you have to do is ask how much total wealth the world will want to store in BTC, and then divide that by how many BTC there are. The answer to the first question is a huge unknown. The answer to the latter is specified by the protocol: 21 million.