Bitcoin falls from $266 • Hacker News Board

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#251

Post by eurleif » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:26 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #250

quinndupont wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, the arbitrage opportunities are real. Just yesterday the Canadian exchange (cavirtex) was trading $40CAD/BTC higher than MtGox (CAD); if you had an account with both, and free money to spare, you could take a handsome profit (minus fees, usually around 3% each, so 6% roundtrip)

Doesn't that cause the currency to collapse - only limited by the transaction rate? With no transaction limit you can pump for infinite BTC. If I can do one transaction per minute for an hour at 6% return that's 10 BTC -> 370 BTC using standard compound interest formula. In 10 hours you're a quadrillionaire. Edit: of course it's limited by the trades available ...

You'll run out of people willing to sell at the lower price, or buy at the higher price, eventually.

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#252

Post by nekgrim » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:28 PM UTC

DanBC wrote: post #207

cpressey wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if the value would ever fall to precisely zero. Mightn't they still have value as a novelty or collector's item? Like, "Hey, a Bitcoin! I remember those... sure, I'll buy one, just to say I have one." It's unfortunate that you couldn't mount it in a decorative frame, though.

One guy made physical coins for bitcoin: ( https://www.casascius.com/ )

or http://www.coinedbits.com/

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#253

Post by andreash » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:29 PM UTC

All I can think about is this image, that my macroeconomics professor showed to me : http://goo.gl/zBkCr

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#254

Post by crapshoot101 » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:32 PM UTC

jessriedel wrote: post #217

crapshoot101 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

correct in a sense- the US dollar is backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government, nothing more. Would I still have that faith in the US $ if the government did not collect taxes / did not seem like a stable entity? Probably not, but your point is still valid

> the US dollar is backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government Huh? What does this mean? This phrase can be applied to government bond ("The US gov't promises to pay you back") or to FDIC insurance ("The US gov't promises to refund your money if your bank closes"). But it doesn't have any meaning for dollars, unless it were to mean that the gov't would exchange it for gold, which of course is false.

it means it is not backed by a hard asset or a promise - the dollar is not redeemable for anything.

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#255

Post by andylei » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:32 PM UTC

dia80 wrote: post #169

cs702 wrote: post #135

Evidently, many hoarders/speculators decided to cash out at once -- much like the audience in a movie theater would try to go through the exit door at the same time if someone were to yell "fire!" The naive souls who recently bought bitcoins to make a 'quick buck' are in for a rude surprise. In the short run, no one knows how Bitcoin's price will fluctuate. In the long run, however, if Bitcoin continues to work as in…

On the contrary this is just the most pronounced in a series of recent coordinated DDOS / aggressive selling attacks designed to (successfully) inspire panic. The attackers unload their bitcoin before the price gets smashed and presumably buy it all back again from frightened speculators. If anything it might be a positive sign for bitcoin that the attackers are keen to acquire it! On another note, mtgox.com the main…

> aggressive selling attacks

what's the difference between a "selling attack" and just "selling"?

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#256

Post by baddox » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:32 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #59

baddox wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Intrinsic value is derived from what you can do with something So then, the market price of any good is its intrinsic value? Under this definition, if I can sell a bitcoin for x USD, then its intrinsic value is x USD.

The ability to sell an item for x USD is not one of the "things" you can do with it that contribute to intrinsic value. Let's put it a different way; if the market value for a bitcoin was $0, what could you do with it? Compare that to an apple. If the market value for an apple was $0, you could eat it. Thus (unless someone has a clever use for bitcoins outside of currency) an apple has greater intrinsic value than a…

That's a new definition of "intrinsic," not the one I was responding to.

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#257

Post by jesuslord » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:32 PM UTC

binaryorganic wrote: post #104

motti_s wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue that HN has a built-in mechanism for determining what's interesting to its users. If a Bitcoin related story gets voted up to appear in the top page every day, then maybe it should be there.

This. There's been so much talk about curation/deletion of posts lately. Letting the algorithm do it's job is the only way to determine what's HN worthy in my view.

>This.

Proof of samefagging on HN.

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#258

Post by mathattack » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:33 PM UTC

Here is the thing I can't get around... If Bitcoin is open source, what's stopping someone from setting up a competing currency? Perhaps it could have the promise of a more optimal growth mechanism over time, or some other feature. Once it's in use, the value of Bitcoin drops quickly, no? And what if there are many Bitcoin-like currencies?

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#259

Post by dragonwriter » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:33 PM UTC

guard-of-terra wrote: post #160

If it doesn't recover today I'm buying another bitcoin tomorrow! UPD: Actually it did and now is traded >200$

Funny that the value it "recovered" to (~$200 from your post -- looks like its about $190 now) is the value that the original headline on this thread noted it crashing to from $266.

Re: Bitcoin falls from $266

#260

Post by mynameisvlad » Wed, Apr 10, 2013, 9:37 PM UTC

phreeza wrote: post #196

cpressey wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if the value would ever fall to precisely zero. Mightn't they still have value as a novelty or collector's item? Like, "Hey, a Bitcoin! I remember those... sure, I'll buy one, just to say I have one." It's unfortunate that you couldn't mount it in a decorative frame, though.

At some point it would probably be easier to mine one, if the value and interest drops low enough.

Unless we reach the mining gives you 0BTC limit.