31–40 of 134 posts
Damnit I remember when they were less than $1 and thinking to myself "this will never take off". If I had invested $100, I could have sold today for $1K.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Am I the only one to think Bitcoin is just a big Ponzi scheme benefiting the first users/creators who got all the first ones?
In the last 6 months, I've never held onto a bitcoin for more than about 30 minutes. Strictly use them for their utility as a currency.
I really don't get Bitcoin. What is the point in a currency that ranges from $2 USD to $12 USD in a year ?
Commission-free electronic transactions with anyone in the world?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Commission-free electronic transactions with anyone in the world?
So it is free to convert from USD to Bitcoin and vice versa ? Because clearly I wouldn't want to hold anything in Bitcoin for a long period of time due to its instability.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>We have no evidence to the contrary except the previous mega-crash. >bitcoin being a deflationary uh, no, it's not yet. Masses of new bitcoins are being created every day. That is inflationary (and much more so than USD). @greg_bt: it matters little how you frame it, but the supply of bitcoins is increasing. It will gradually reduce and stop, all of which is predetermined, yes. Today it is inflationary (IIRC its abo…
I don't know if 'bitcoins are being created every day' is the right way of looking at it? Bitcoins are more discovered as opposed to created. It would be like if every USD ever was buried and people were gradually digging them out of the ground and everyone knew exactly how many were buried? The amount of bitcoins in circulation is increasing but the total amount of bitcoins that will ever exist isn't increasing at a…
This won't last; is a bitcoin at least as valuable as 10 USD for people who use BTC?
SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN SAYING? Who are you to make a claim as to if it will last or if it won't or how valuable bitcoins are. >This won't last We have no evidence to the contrary, and in fact, bitcoin being a deflationary currency by definition means it will likely increase in value and, what's more, if you look at the trend it has been increasing in value. If you were to use a single shred of logic th…
Why would yo want a deflationary currency? This promotes people "holding" onto the money with the hopes of getting a better deal in the future.
ie. Why buy that $50 USD item for 5 BTC, when at the current rate it might be worth 4.5 BTC by next month? This is a burden on a currency and commerce.
This won't last; is a bitcoin at least as valuable as 10 USD for people who use BTC?
As long as its crypto primitives remain secure (SHA-256, Elliptic Curve crypto, RIPEMD), if the Bitcoin economy continues to grow 5x, 10x, 20x, etc, then its value should increase 5x, 10x, 20x, etc, because there is a fixed number of coins available. Both of these assumptions are likely. So I would say, yes, this exchange rate should last (of course there will be some bumps on the road, bubbles, crashes, etc).
Not necessarily true!
There is slow growth in coins. But if it takes off then we know all of the primitives to make a second bitcoin. Establish one with a price peg to existing bitcoin. If you maintain it long and well enough, it will become accepted as equivalent. Once that happens you've done a big one-time increase in the supply.
In fact I would recommend doing this at some point. Because otherwise bitcoin has built-in deflation. That is bad economically because it discourages investment in anything else, like building businesses.
I really don't get Bitcoin. What is the point in a currency that ranges from $2 USD to $12 USD in a year ?
Kudos to first adopters!
I really don't get Bitcoin. What is the point in a currency that ranges from $2 USD to $12 USD in a year ?
The main point is that it is decentralized and (ostensibly, with enough care) anonymous. This makes it ideal for illegal transactions (drugs, gambling, weapons, contract killing, child pornography). These being incredibly inelastic goods, price fluctuations will do little to hamper continued growth of the Bitcoin.
While bitcoins can be used for illegal transactions, it does not mean (and never will) that 99% of transactions will be illegal, just like Feds won't shut down knife factory because some knifes were used to kill. At the end, paying for something illegal is not illegal on its own; its the act or good you paying for illegal. So this or another way, in order to sentence someone, Feds will need more proof of a comited crime, than just blunt bitcoins transactions (how about crime itself).
If you look at this data over the max range ( http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#tgSzm1g10zm2g25zv ) then it looks a lot like the Gartner Hype cycle ( http://bit.ly/N1XCnb ). I wonder if Bitcoin is past the trough of disillusionment and ready for a serious explosion?