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Bitcoin just crossed $7.00.

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Re: Bitcoin just crossed $7.00.

#11
post #6

The reason for that is the death of Bitcoinica. Bitcoinica offered shorting, which stabilized prices at around $5. When Bitcoinica went out of business, the only way to make money on Bitcoin is to speculate its' price increase which will drive demand; which will drive its' price even more. That being said, it might be the right time to buy Bitcoins, and sell before the bubble bursts. However, for a more stable Bitcoi…

Interesting, thanks for this info.

Re: Bitcoin just crossed $7.00.

#12
post #3

The last thing Bitcoin needs is another speculation craze based on its high value. If Bitcoin's value is growing, that's fine, let it keep growing naturally. Don't start publicizing it so it starts another speculation roller coaster, at least until the Bitcoin market is big enough to not be impacted much by speculation-based transactions.

Obviously, you are absolutely right. Then again, as much as I despise myself for it I did make a killing last time a bunch of idiots started buying them for >20$ a pop so I wouldn't mind. Taking money from speculators and giving money to geeks... I'm sure someone could spin this into something positive.

I don't think it's going to hurt bitcoin, it's proven itself to withstand it and is here to stay.

Re: Bitcoin just crossed $7.00.

#13

I was a big opponent of bitcoin- still wouldn't use it for anything that matters- but there are some great use cases. With government bans on online gambling bitcoin could really take over(that market). And, of course, there is the illegal drug trade. When people say that "it's not backed by anything" all they need to do is fire up tor and take a peak at silkroad. It's backed by one of the most in-demand products eve…

This is also my opinion. For me, BTC doesn't make sense when purchasing, say, computers. But for buying e-goods, MMO game items, or anything else where there are huge margins, it actually makes sense.

And yeah, it's backed by the Silk Road :)

Re: Bitcoin just crossed $7.00.

#14

I was a big opponent of bitcoin- still wouldn't use it for anything that matters- but there are some great use cases. With government bans on online gambling bitcoin could really take over(that market). And, of course, there is the illegal drug trade. When people say that "it's not backed by anything" all they need to do is fire up tor and take a peak at silkroad. It's backed by one of the most in-demand products eve…

I wonder if it's liquid enough to do an "instant trade". Essentially, you could route (possibly international) financial transactions through BitCoin and avoid big fees by doing a buy on the buyer's side, transferring the coins to the seller, then having them sell the coins in their local currency.

The best part about this is that neither the buyer nor the seller needs to have the slightest interest in BitCoin and it doesn't matter at all if the value of the currency is reasonable so long as it's reasonably stable. Even better, neither side needs to know the other's bank details, just a throw-away BitCoin account number. This isn't just an IMT-killer, it's a PayPal killer as well.

Assuming the BitCoin market is more or less efficient relative to currency markets, and assuming those transactions could be cleared within ~1 day, you could absolutely kill the international transfer market (known for high fees, long delays and shitty exchange rates).

Re: Bitcoin just crossed $7.00.

#16

http://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=1985065&mc=34&#3... they are way too cumbersome to buy, why invest in a currency that the average computer user can't figure out how to buy?

The barrier to entry is a good thing, kind of a safeguard for new users. You are storing real money on your computer, you need to be able to keep that safe. I'm sure someone will offer banking services in the future to solve this "problem" and make it work like any online account, which just happens to be denominated in bitcoins.

Re: Bitcoin just crossed $7.00.

#17
Isn't bitcoin trade on like a few million dolars per day globally according to some really rosy estimates ? If I'm reading this correctly it has 1.6M$ on the bid side. Do people realize that with such low liquidity the price is irrelevant ? Real news would be it doing $100M transactions in a day or having $100M on bids, not that it would be significant but that would show some real growth, this is just a few people playing with their savings.

Re: Bitcoin just crossed $7.00.

#19

http://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=1985065&mc=34&#3... they are way too cumbersome to buy, why invest in a currency that the average computer user can't figure out how to buy?

I'm not advocating the purchase of bitcoins, simply providing an answer. I have no opinion on whether or not bitcoins are a good "investment."

The transactional friction is a reason the market is small. If it's easier to transact and more people can do it, the supply/demand curves will push the price up in the future. Assuming demand is proportional to the size of the market.

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