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Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

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Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#31

Post by seibelj »

arcticbull wrote: post #26
seibelj wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I posted this in the other thread from today that briefly hit the front page: Bitcoin is a social phenomena - no government or company backs it. The only reason it has value is if people value it. Bitcoin promoters have convinced people it's a store of value, like gold except digital. As the Cult of Bitcoin spreads, it doesn't take that many new enthusiasts to push the price up, as unlike literally all other commodit…

Bitcoin is a Bitfinex and Tether phenomenon. Since the Tether article was posted a few weeks ago another $2B fake dollars have been generated and used to buy Bitcoin. This absolutely and completely dwarfs the pennies Square and PayPal threw into the wishing well.

Tether is a cornerstone of the crypto industry. You can post some random blog posts here but Tether is actually used by trading firms, and can be minted and redeemed through their portal here https://app.tether.to/app/login

The Tether FUD is so dumb, but it's the last straw being grasped by perma-bears.

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#32

Post by jonfw »

lawn wrote: post #15

While the market is likely driven by fomo and manipulation, cryptocurrencies do have valuable use-cases. See this book[0] for a list of some and an explanation of how Bitcoin works. [0]: https://whycryptocurrencies.com/

Crypto is great- but BTC is a terrible crypto. Modern cryptos trade faster, with more anonymity, and more efficiently. BTC will never see mainstream transactional use- it's purely a store of value.

It still has some transactional use in online black markets for ease of purchase and name recognition- but it's considered 'legacy' and moving into unreccomended and unsupported territory on most markets.

I do believe that crypto does and will continue to gain use cases- but BTC is already on the tail end of it's useful life in any of those.

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#33

Post by arcticbull »

seibelj wrote: post #31
arcticbull wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin is a Bitfinex and Tether phenomenon. Since the Tether article was posted a few weeks ago another $2B fake dollars have been generated and used to buy Bitcoin. This absolutely and completely dwarfs the pennies Square and PayPal threw into the wishing well.

Tether is a cornerstone of the crypto industry. You can post some random blog posts here but Tether is actually used by trading firms, and can be minted and redeemed through their portal here https://app.tether.to/app/login The Tether FUD is so dumb, but it's the last straw being grasped by perma-bears.

lol go on redeem some. If you actually read their terms of service it specifically says tethers do not grant you any claim on their reserves. I’ve no doubt they’re used by exchanges that don’t want to comply with the law and follow AML/KYC. That’s the point.

Don’t carry water for these scammers they literally don’t have a bank account and admitted in court [1] much of their reserves are IOUs and crypto. Audit or gtfo (to tether inc not you).

[1] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theblockcrypto.com/amp/dail...

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#34

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

arcticbull wrote: post #19
lawn wrote: post #15

While the market is likely driven by fomo and manipulation, cryptocurrencies do have valuable use-cases. See this book[0] for a list of some and an explanation of how Bitcoin works. [0]: https://whycryptocurrencies.com/

There is not a single use case better solved by cryptocurrencies or blockchain than by a classical solution. Name one, I’ll wait. When there is I’ll eat my, err, hat.

The permissionless nature does enable some use cases where the overhead associated with the classical solutions makes them impractical.

With Bitcoin, anyone can start a cash-to-bitcoin/bitcoin-to-cash office. All you need is a phone with Internet.

Could Western Union solve the same problem? In theory, yes, in practice, the overhead cost of joining the network means the guy with a phone in some remote village isn't going to do it.

This is obviously mostly relevant where the classic solutions aren't already ubiquitous. Want to wire money from Germany to France? Just use SEPA. Want to wire money from Germany to the US? You're probably better off with some traditional money transfer service like TransferWise or (for bigger amounts) a Forex/brokerage account.

Want to "wire" money from a remote village in Africa to a remote village in Asia? That's where you might benefit from your neighbor having set up a physical crypto exchange.

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#35

Post by dustingetz »

jayd16 wrote: post #22

Can someone explain why BTC going from 13k to 20k in a month isn't the yearly pump and dump?

Patio11's take: (2019)

"Credit bubble? Yes, there can no longer be serious doubt about this: people bought Bitcoin with money that didn’t exist, pushing up the price of Bitcoin. A lot of people currently think they are richer than they are."

https://www.kalzumeus.com/2019/10/28/tether-and-bitfinex/

I'd be interested in reading a counter-take, most bitcoiners I know just look away.

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#36

Post by WealthVsSurvive »

crumbshot wrote: post #29

Bitcoin and other compute-intensive cryptocurrencies should be banned or taxed so heavily that it's financially infeasible to use them. The amount of energy being wasted (reportedly more than seven nuclear power plants worth) on what is essentially an unproductive project is quite absurd. In a world where we should all be increasingly concerned about the looming climate catastrophe, it's wholly irresponsible for Bitc…

It's a plutocrat wealth store during uncertainty, like gold, but it has no intrinsic value. That's it, that's its only purpose.

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#37

Post by miguelmota »

jayd16 wrote: post #22

Can someone explain why BTC going from 13k to 20k in a month isn't the yearly pump and dump?

The PayPal integration of cryptocurrencies had a huge positive impact. Also more large institutions are diversifying their portfolio into Bitcoin.

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#38

Post by str33t_punk »

crumbshot wrote: post #29

Bitcoin and other compute-intensive cryptocurrencies should be banned or taxed so heavily that it's financially infeasible to use them. The amount of energy being wasted (reportedly more than seven nuclear power plants worth) on what is essentially an unproductive project is quite absurd. In a world where we should all be increasingly concerned about the looming climate catastrophe, it's wholly irresponsible for Bitc…

You would love Eth 2.0 then! The idea of proof of stake is to remove waste from the equation

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#39

Post by jakupovic »

arcticbull wrote: post #19
lawn wrote: post #15

While the market is likely driven by fomo and manipulation, cryptocurrencies do have valuable use-cases. See this book[0] for a list of some and an explanation of how Bitcoin works. [0]: https://whycryptocurrencies.com/

There is not a single use case better solved by cryptocurrencies or blockchain than by a classical solution. Name one, I’ll wait. When there is I’ll eat my, err, hat.

The problem of exchanging value between parties without intermediary or third-parties.

Re: Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record

#40

Post by disown »

Seems like everything is hitting all-time highs. Housing prices, stock market, bitcoin.

If you have a lot of assets, it's honestly the best time. Especially if you owned a lot of tech stocks the past decade.

If covid and the worldwide economic disruption can't put a dent in asset prices, then what will happen when the pandemic passes and the economy recovers in the next few years? I used to laugh when people said bezos or elon might be the first trillionaire in a few years, but now I think it's possible. Just have to cross your fingers and hope the good times continue.

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