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Bitcoin hits $200

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11–20 of 106 posts

Re: Bitcoin hits $200

#11
post #6
post #5

The problem with bitcoin is 1 or 2 events that give the public a 'scare' have the potential to nearly floor the usd value. All it takes is one headline on CNN like "Joe Blow selling Anthrax and Cyanide on Silkroad/Craigslist for Bitcoins" for the general public go to fucking apeshit and cause some real 3 letter organizations to shutter most bitcoin exchanges with secret subpoenas and such. Realistically, there is so…

Almost everyone new to Bitcoin already has heard every scare story about drugs, money laundering, tax evasion, viruses, hackers, conspiracy etc. The news about DDoS or stolen money will not be a huge surprise (unless ALL money is stolen at once :-)

What I am suggesting is a league above the things you mention. The US generally does not fuck around when it comes to those sorts of things and has much broader power to do crazy shit (seize domains, secret subpoenas, etc..) when it involves national security vs generic anti-drug and weapon agenda.

Re: Bitcoin hits $200

#12
post #5

The problem with bitcoin is 1 or 2 events that give the public a 'scare' have the potential to nearly floor the usd value. All it takes is one headline on CNN like "Joe Blow selling Anthrax and Cyanide on Silkroad/Craigslist for Bitcoins" for the general public go to fucking apeshit and cause some real 3 letter organizations to shutter most bitcoin exchanges with secret subpoenas and such. Realistically, there is so…

People who are that easily scared normally don't have Bitcoins to sell.

Re: Bitcoin hits $200

#13
post #2

Wasn't it like $130 a few days ago? This kind of inflation is really cool for the people invested in bitcoins but this is the point where I would panic sell, but perhaps I'm a coward. EDIT: Link's down, it was $203 at 12.06 GMT.

Yes and a few days before that it was $100. I was watching it out of curiosity yesterday and it went up about $20-$30 I believe just while I was at work. Hopefully it crashes, stables out and then gains use as a currency rather than an investment.

Re: Bitcoin hits $200

#15
post #4

Is it safe for me to express my belief that Bitcoin value is being manipulated by forces who intend to crash it? I've stayed away from it simply because of that. I fear some people are in for a very rude awakening. Don't count your money just yet -- and, for god's sake, don't try to use it as the basis for any paper money loans! None of you knew about Stuxnet. The story of Bitcoin's infiltration and manipulation is y…

> Is it safe for me to express my belief that Bitcoin value is being manipulated by forces who intend to crash it?

Right now I expect a lot of speculation rather than manipulation for crashing. It will end up crashing bitcoin when speculators start selling, but the end goal of the croad is probably to make a quick buck rather than crash it.

Re: Bitcoin hits $200

#17
post #3

It still has just $2 bln "market cap". If it was a payment processing company, you would call it a slow democratic IPO, not a bubble about to burst.

Market capitalization of a company and the bitcoin money supply are not even remotely similar.

Re: Bitcoin hits $200

#18
post #9
post #4

Is it safe for me to express my belief that Bitcoin value is being manipulated by forces who intend to crash it? I've stayed away from it simply because of that. I fear some people are in for a very rude awakening. Don't count your money just yet -- and, for god's sake, don't try to use it as the basis for any paper money loans! None of you knew about Stuxnet. The story of Bitcoin's infiltration and manipulation is y…

Who do you have in mind? I don't see anyone who wants Bitcoin to crash desperately enough to spend millions on inflating a bubble and then pop it - which is a very risky and costly plan. More likley would be a scenario in which someone who holds a lot of Bitcoins pushes MtGox prices upwards in order to be able to sell OTC at inflated prices. However, given that Bitcoin on MtGox has a volume of USD 20 million daily, t…

Fun fact of the day: in Italy, this idea of "but who's REALLY behind it" is called "dietrologia", or, very literally translated, "behindology".

My theory: it's the Mayflowers.

Re: Bitcoin hits $200

#20
What goes up...

The past couple of weeks has shown how easily the bitcoin market can be manipulated. People used to do this with shares. Buy up all the shares to push the price up. Then get out with a profit crashing the value of the share.

I don't think this is any different. I wouldn't be surprised if a handful of parties were responsible for the explosion in bitcoin value.

You could point to the Cyprus banking crisis perhaps as a reason for an increase in value but realistically Bitcoin is just one major hack away from being worthless again... Its like keeping your gold on a wooden shelf above a lava pit.. why anyone would put long term savings into Bitcoin right now is beyond me.

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