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Bitcoin Bonanza
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Five years ago it was worth $0. Then, a month and a half ago it went to $150 a piece. On Monday it shot to over $600. On Tuesday, the value rose to over $900, meaning a 6, 445%-increase in value since the start of the year. It plummeted to $531 at midday today and then recovered reaching $793 while being traded on the Asian markets. Bitcoin: it’s the bonanza of the century.
Volatility and hikes are based on nothing except speculation and the desire to make a mint, thinking that you can predict what the markets are going to do. But, will that Bitcoin volatility lead to a bubble? Or is it bringing in a new era of a new type of currency that people are willing to use and that merchants are now being forced to accept? It might never become a legitimate currency in the future, but that’s hardly important when you can make a profit from it. Of course central banks are at risk from the use of virtual currencies as it would mean that they would have little control over what we spend and how transactions are carried out. Is Bitcoin the death of our central banks?
Some might say that Bitcoin is associated with crime and is an easy way for illicit transactions to take place. Tell me one currency in the world that isn’t laundered these days? Tell me one place in the world where there is a currency that is clean? Pure snow-white virgin money doesn’t and never has existed. Just because it’s associated with crime doesn’t mean it’s not good for the rest of the world. All of the currencies of the world are associated with crime somehow. Perhaps after all the fall of the Dollar, the death of the greenback will not be because the Chinese have taken the world over and imposed the Renminbi as the reserve currency on the world. Perhaps it will be the Bitcoin that takes over the world economically today.
- When Bitcoin started out in 2009 after being founded by Satoshi Nakamoto (or under his real name of Gavin Andresen) one Bitcoin was worth $0.30.
- It rose to $32, but then fell to $2. There are some 12 million Bitcoins in circulation today and the number of Bitcoins issued every four years is reduced by 50% (and will be until that number reaches a circulation level of 21 million Bitcoins).
- The currency is already accepted on some of the world’s most highly-ranked internet sites today:
- WordPress.com ranked 22 in the world, offering custom-designed software and templates. They have accepted Bitcoins since November 2012.
- The Pirate Bay, ranked 108 in the world which started accepting Bitcoins in April 2013 for their music and move-software directory.
- Reddit, which ranks 117 in the world and accepted Bitcoins for the first time in February 2013 for the social and entertainment network site.
There are plenty more and they will be increasing in the future, simply because it’s the people that have decided that they are willing and ready to use Bitcoins as a means of exchange. Have the people started the demise of the Dollar and all other currencies? Are we living a moment in history that we shall look back upon in years to come as we wave goodbye to the hegemonic control of the politically-aided and biased reserve currency that is the greenback and that all other currencies are vying to overtake? Will they all lose out, because we have decided for it to happen? That will certainly wipe the smile off the faces of some at the top of the hill.
Gaining legitimacy is essential for the Bitcoin to be a valued and a valuable means of exchange. The difference between Bitcoin and any other currency that is controlled by a government is that Bitcoins have become accepted because the market has decided that they are. People want them and merchants accept them. It is not a political currency but quasi-commodity money. The number of transactions has suddenly increased since the start of November and it has now reached dizzy heights around the world. Even governments are starting to recognize the existence and the validity of Bitcoins today. Germany in August 2013 decided to recognize the virtual money as a real currency, legally and fiscally approving it is valid.
When Andresen spoke of begging Julian Assange not to use Bitcoin back in 2010 as a means of getting around the normal method of financial transactions and thus finding a route to funding WikiLeaks, he said ‘it will destroy us’ adding that they were too small a company to be able to deal with it. Although, with hindsight the ‘you-will-destroy-us’- statement probably had little to do with the nascent company not being able to cope with the financial trading of the currency that had been invented, but the fact that Bitcoin would have been closed down and nipped in the bud before it had got off to a start. Now we can see why Bitcoin wanted to steer away from that can of worms. It had greater things in its sights than WikiLeaks.
It’s a rare thing to have the opportunity today to choose which currency we want to use. Maybe this time the choice will be the right one. Maybe the central banks, the ones that have done the damage in the past and are continuing to do so today will have their power taken away from them.
Climbing the greasy pole that politics has become is nothing to do with who you are and what you say. It has everything to do with where you come from and what you have in the bank account to back you up.
Originally posted: Bitcoin Bonanza
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@fonestar : question for 'ya : re: storing my btc's on any kind of flash drive...what about instead, printing out a hard-copy paper wallet ? doing it this way, wouldn't i avoid any chance of my drive getting wiped via emp, etc ? thanx 4 your opinion on this ...
13 kilobyte of binary data, just hope it scans in well. You could always burn a DVD. Those things are generally only vulnerable to fire.
Paper wallets are good too, if you can replicate on several different media and store in different geographical locations, that is the best.
let me explain, any website can be hacked, and your money poof, so you can get an offline wallet and send the money from an exchange there, to retrieve in the future, kind like your own bank. but be aware of losing the keys or getting hacked! So the point of "cold storage" is than even if all the exchanges (think banks) are robbed, you still got your coins. btc cannot die, but obviusly the price can crash 70% in hours, i will grant you that! getbitcoins...
Bitcoin up, gold and silver down - something is horribly wrong here.
it's a swing. Nothing is wrong. Swings must proceed for the market to continue.
Just don't be a sucker - bitcoin is a tulip-mania, gold is a solid real money now available at swing-discount prices. That sale won't last. By the time btc slams down to 50 it will keep heading down so it won't be a bargain at that price either.
Wait, aren't you the guy who predicted BTC would have already dumped to $140 a week ago? Instead it tripled. You seem to totally know what you are talking about, thanks for sharing with the rest of the class!
Once the BTC mining, transactions and futures markets are consolidated, it will move in line with silver and gold. Rest my words.
yeah, your investment choice
Someone is putting a floor under BTC right now, at $550. Big buy order @ https://btc-e.com/exchange/btc_usd
Right now it is trending at about $500.
From the Comment Section to the Right...
"Ruuen: The future is grim, ive lost so much fucking money, who is up for a collective suicide?"
I wonder how many he bought and at what price?
Exponential Blow Off Tops end badly. I will let this collapse and find a Bottom before I buy in, if I buy in, at any price. I need a Double Bottom before I buy in.
This is sad. How could anyone not see that Exponential Price Growth Curve?
I saw it in Gold when the Double Top formed at the $1920 levels in September, 2011.
Exponential Growth leads to Exponential Collapse. It is a Natural Law.
smoke & mirrors . careful.
Tulip bulb.
Pet rock.
Beanie Baby.
Cryptographic super currency.
Wait till it crashes, then you'll know.
Blopper are you referring to USD, BTC, GLD, S&P, or all of them? Not really sure from your comment
Or it could be ... Wait till it skyrockets, then you'll regret. Who really knows?
New Paradigm!
Things have changed!
This time it's different!
r-right guys?
The Bitcoin system, and it is a system, not a thing, is an invention combining the properties of Internet communicaitons, cryptography, mathematics and financial and trade settlements systems. It is global in scope. It is validatable and very immune to "control" by authorities. Hence, it has great potential as a local and global medium of exchange. This is not an existing thing that is morphed and sold as a new thing, this is indeed a new thing.
It's "value" is entirely determined by the market place. It's transactions are entirely peer to peer, even if the peer is a BTC exchange. The current volatility is due to the spreading of the meme and the rush of pioneers, and their followers the farmers and ranchers. Yes, it is becoming popular. If you wish to compare it to something then compare it to the development of the "internet" and the number of nodes and their information content as the internet developed. IMO we are, comparatively, at about year 1982 on that chart.
I am not missing this boat. I am in, at least as much as my means allows. I expect to be very well rewarded for my willingness to overcome my typical negativity toward innovation. I am in at 105 and 205. I agree with the assessments that BTC will go to 10,000's to 100,000's per BTC.
btc can go to a trillion per : because of fiat exchanges & fiat is controlled by central banks.
You're a fool. It's completely controllable BECAUSE of those exchanges.
Then it can be dropped to 1 penny per btc. INSTANTLY. yes, it can happen that fast from a TRILLION. Just to hurt you.
So, you think you're not missing the boat?
Ask yourself who else is not missing the boat you're on: http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/torpedo-eng.jpg
Not really, technology is always changing and advancing. People's expectations are increasing.
So no, nothing is really different about that at all.
Funny how technology keeps advancing while society and freedom keep regressing.
I could try to make you understand that just because we can do a thing, does not imply that we must or should do a thing. But the concept would probably fly right over your zit-riddled head.
Riiiiiiiight.... it must be the technology's fault hey?
Anti-gun logic exemplified.
Are you seriously suggesting freedom is advancing and expanding for the individual?
Leave Bitcoin out of this too.
A MILLION!!!!
NO NO NO!!!
DON'T SELL THAN EITHER!!!!
2 MILLION!!!!
OR A BILLION!!!
FOR A BITCOIN!!!!
OR A LINDEN DOLLAR!!!
AND THAN YOU CAN JUST BUY SECOND LIFE!!! WHERE THOSE COINS WHERE INVENTED IN!!!!
YOU SO SMART, YOU SHOULD PUT A ENGINE ON A SHOPPING CART!!
Let's look upon it in the RIGHT frame of mind shall we. I totally agree that BitCoin is actually NOTHING. But what is any other FIAT currency today? With the exception of PHYSICAL Gold & Silver? You guessed it, NOTHING but Perception & CONfidence. But if one would take a closer look you will see that BitCoin is LIMITED & SCARCE as compared to other Currencies. There can only be 20,999,999 EVER Mined as compared to the other so-called FIAT Currencies that are INFINITE. And when you have 7 BILLION People on this Planet and a LIMITED supply of anything that can only be MANIPULATED to a certain extent. Yes BitCoin is being Manipulated but they can only do it so much far so long. Their first try took BitCoin from $266 US to $60 US, OUCH ! So this latest take down while the US were having Senate Hearings were so like the Gold & Silver take downs whenever the FED or FOMC would make a statement. But this time the percent % was smaller. And in time they will even get smaller, for you will have every Financial Instutition & Central Banker wanting a piece of the PIE, just in case, and when you have a "Just in Case" with only 20,999,999 and 7 Billion People / Customers, in time you will need to pay much more when that light finally turns on in that mind of yours on what is actually happening. All I can say is that EVERYONE should DIVERSIFY and BUY ONE!
You will be HAPPY that you did.
Granted there will be more Manipulation for the Manipulators have free Monopoy currencies in which they can play the game with the intention of only distorting prices in order to scare you away. But their games will have less of an effect over time.
ALL IMHO
In Gavin Andresen We Trust
/sarc
Vires In Numeris
The worlds electric grids are magically held up by electrognomes. These gnomes run forever, supplying ever more electricity, no matter the population size!
When the world's electrical grids fall over, you're gonna be in the shit anyway. On the other hand, how will the govt tell you what to do if there is no telephones, TV or internet? When the grid gets up and running again, those bitcoins will magically come back to life, just in time for you to swap them for something useful. Remember, if you don't have enough food then you may be tempted to swap your PM stash for one more day without hunger. Like everything, don't expect miracles. Use it for what it is good for.
Disclaimer: I own no Bitcoins. I don't know enough about Bitcoin to form useful opinions. Just sick of these, "Oh if the grid goes down" arguments. All you need is a generator and a bit of hardware. Sure, leave it to the experts if it is too complicated for you. No shame in that. Just like you shouldn't bother with gold if you can't differentiate it from tungsten.
Tungsten for a store of value. Maybe a bit too bulky but at least you don't have to worry about it being laced with gold. Plus you can use it to make tools.
lol you are talking to a real engineer. We're gonna make 32-bit computers out of twigs and string if we have to man!
I plan on studying more generationally sustainable ways of harnessing electricity than, you know, burning stuff.
Make it 64 bit computers and I'm in. I worked out that I wanted a 64-bit computer just under 30 years ago. I've got one now but unfortunately I'm not using it for all the wonderful plans I had 30 years ago. Instead I just waste all day on ZH. It's a terrible addiction, mannn!
These days, I honestly think that the best energy project would be to use solar power to extract pure water from sea water, carbon dioxide from the air and convert the two back into petrol. I know the 2nd law of thermodynamics and so I know the idea sounds dumb when you first say it, but then you realize that all that solar energy is being wasted anyway, and ultimately the only true, sustainable energy sources we have are the sun, wind and tides (even nuclear decays eventually), and petrol is not an energy source, it is just an energy store, and a damn good way to store energy at that. Either you have 100 m2 of solar panels strapped to your electric car, or you have 100 m2 of solar panels sitting out in the desert making petrol for your car. I know what I prefer. Much to my surprise, there are already companies out there trying to do what I just said. (Google "turn carbon dioxide and water back into petrol".) I haven't investigated enough to see whether they are getting true results or whether they are scams. The other beauty of turning CO2 and water back into petrol is that it makes petrol carbon neutral - the same carbon is simply cycled back and forth. But I really don't yet know if the idea is feasible, and I don't know if it would scale well. Still, it's fun to think of until we get a better idea.
The other puzzle, the one that I think you are interested in, is efficiency. We burn petrol, it creates a lot of heat, a bit of sound, and a bit of motion. How can we minimize the heat and sound production and maximize the motion? Is there a more direct way of extracting kinetic energy from petrol and oxygen than setting fire to it?
Real Ganstas lauder their dirty cash with TBTF bling...
You know...
I can crap on the floor... take my crap with my hands and throw it on a piece of drywall...
Than I could call it art...
And sell it to a bunch of idiots for a million bucks...
Is it art because I sold it for a million bucks?
Some would say yes.... others would call the police if you gave it to them for free...
You could sell it to one idiot for a million bucks. You could not sell it to one-million idiots for one buck a piece.
See fungibility.
Piero Manzoni already pioneered that one. Look up Merda d'artista.
He also did an art piece that could be interperted as a representation of the S&P 500/DJIA today though that was not his intent called Fiato d'artista.
Very abstract avante garde stuff.
Moar tulips! Moar!
Question;
What is BTC backed by?
What is its 'intrinsic' value?
When you buy nothing for something - you are still left with nothing, and your something is long gone!
BitCoin = Bullshit!
You're missing the point. Bitcoin was never supposed to be "backed" - it is, perhaps the best attempt yet, at a pure MEANS of exchange. Bitcoin's value is in its functionality. How well this functionality survives the coming onslaught, however, remains to be seen.
Cue Theme to Bonanza
*sigh*
Tulips, pet rocks, and condo-flipping were SO much easier to understand!
Alrighty then, you should probably just stick with your shiny rocks.