The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
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The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
1–10 of 22 posts
Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#2Anyone knows if there is a way to "short" bitcoins ?
Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#3I noticed Bitcoin's most fervent supporters are far removed from reality. They think the regular person in the street cares that "the man" can track his purchases in the supermarket, or the beer he bought in a bar. They don't want to pay taxes. They think Cypriotic people will surely flock from shaky banks to an even more shakier currency and put all their live savings in Bitcoin, because it'll be safe.
It's so hard to actually get bitcoins, that any "1 percent" discounts you get for paying with bitcoin in regular shops or sites just isn't worth it to me. Either enter your CC# and be done in 10 seconds, or go to mtgox and wait 2 weeks until you're verified (hyperboled, but the point stands). I'm assuming less techy people will be of the same mind on this.
The reason any non techy person would get bitcoins is as an investment, that's it. They don't care about any of the advantages of bitcoin because cash works just fine for them, and has most of the practical advantages anyway. If they're using it as an investment, they sure as hell won't use it to buy things.
Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#4Is the taxi driver on Facebook, using Google, or tapping on an iPhone? Is he using Uber to drive passengers to their AirBnB from the airport they just flew into after booking a trip on Hipmunk? If the taxi driver is aware of it, it must be a bubble.
Over the last five years the people shorting governments/mortgages/banks, buying into gold/tech, and predicting a coming total collapse have in general made an ungodly amount of money.
Is Bitcoin's rise assured? No. But if it was then there would be no gain, no upside. There is a certain kind of person, all too common in our managed and enervated society, who does not know how to take calculated risks. Everything must be structured and approved by the New York Times, Harvard, and the Federal Government before it's safe to do. This same person often says that startup founders who make fortunes were "lucky", and will say the same thing about early Bitcoin adopters in a few years if it succeeds.
But what he never realizes is that you can't be lucky if you don't take risks.
Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#5Anyone knows if there is a way to "short" bitcoins ?
Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#6Never underestimate the power of illicit substances and activities to power adoption.
Right now I suspect the bulk of the current spike in bitcoin prices is related to currency controls or the fear thereof now that Cyprus is going down the drain.
Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#7Anyone knows if there is a way to "short" bitcoins ?
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Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#8Never underestimate the power of illicit substances and activities to power adoption. Right now I suspect the bulk of the current spike in bitcoin prices is related to currency controls or the fear thereof now that Cyprus is going down the drain.
That doesn't make sense. If the only reason is to get away from the Euro, why buy bitcoins, a very volatile, cutting-edge currency, when you can just as easily (or more easily actually) buy any other currency such as dollars, or swiss francs, and your savings will actually be safe, as opposed to bitcoin that could lose 20% of its value overnight.
Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#9I noticed Bitcoin's most fervent supporters are far removed from reality. They think the regular person in the street cares that "the man" can track his purchases in the supermarket, or the beer he bought in a bar. They don't want to pay taxes. They think Cypriotic people will surely flock from shaky banks to an even more shakier currency and put all their live savings in Bitcoin, because it'll be safe. It's so hard…
> It's so hard to actually get bitcoins
This is something that can change. The question is, would it be enough to make people use Bitcoin?
Also, if it is "only" used as an investment, that would still be a huge success.
Re: The Bitcoin and the Taxi driver
#10Taxi drivers, grandmas etc; necessary but not sufficient for a bubble.
There are sustained run ups in assets values that can seem crazy but don't reverse. Consider the bane of my life, london house prices.
If bitcoin catches on as a means of exchange, e.g. cash in and out of Iran as is happening to some extent, 1 Billion market cap will seem small.