Is Bitcoin the Next Big Thing?

[Edwin]

BTW, if anyone is involved with Bitcoin and cloud mining, this thread is well worth keeping an eye on as it highlights just how many of those so-called operations are Ponzi schemes: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=878387.0

 

[Edwin]

And here's what looks like a fairly comprehensive group effort to keep track of major Bitcoin thefts (there are a huge number of them, so only "big" thefts get recorded)
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=576337

 

[Jamie101]

So for the first time in about a year bitcoin is starting to move again. Went from $250 to $315 within about week. Didn't want to hold any more bitcoin myself and since copying people on eToro isn't going as planned, I thought a good choice would be to place a buy order for bitcoin on eToro tonight

All this Greece news is having a big impact. http://etoro.tw/1AssYbm if you want to join eToro and get me (and you I think?!) some free credit.

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[pugdomains]

I think cryptocurrency will always have a place in this world, as a tool for money laundering, trade/purchase of illicit goods, and a means of moving wealth out of countries to tax havens (and out again).

But any notion that it is the "new gold", or will ever be used as a common means of exchange for everyday goods is pie in the sky in my opinion.

And Bitcoin being the first mover does not guarentee that it will remain the crypto of choice, perhaps the technology is in its infancy, many on here will remember using Alta Vista for internet searches, didn't stop Google from monopolising that sector.

One massive flaw in the system which will prevent it from ever replacing fiat currency is that its value will always be measured against the value of..... fiat currency.

It is a useful tool for some to avoid taxation or other regulatory burdens, and to keep illicit activity out of the watchful gaze of authorities (although the Tor network is funded by the US government, so who are they kidding?), but what real world everyday purpose does it serve to an everyday person or business?

OK so some hipster coffee shop can use it as a handy gimmick, sticking a bitcoin sign up and selling the odd coffee for digital currency, but even those merchants exchange straight back into fiat.

Another flaw is that the price is artificially inflated by those who hold on to the currency as an investment, in the hope that it will one day be worth a lot of (fiat) money.

The problem with the hoarders is that in order to survive as a currency it needs to be used as a currency, and people don't like spending their bitcoin in case they become that person who spent 10000 bitcoin on a pizza.

That's what puts me off a deflationary currency actually. When bitcoin hit $1000 that guy was thinking about his $10m pizza.

I think that having fiat in savings, growing at a slightly lower rate than inflation due to low interest rates, is infinite times more attractive as a proposition than having to spend the rest of your life remembering the time that you spent $10m on a pizza.

 

[Retired_member41]

I know Dell take Bitcoin but do any other huge companies accept it?

 

[accelerator]

I know Dell take Bitcoin but do any other huge companies accept it?

Yes, another big one is Overstock.com (O.co)

 

[accelerator]

I really want to get some Bitcoin, but what is slowing me down is that I want to "do it myself" and use a Bitcoin wallet myself etc rather than use a service like Coindesk.com. Understanding the technology properly takes a bit of time.

Bitcoin is probably rising as a direct result of the Greek crisis. Greeks will be moving into Bitcoin for safety.

 

[Jamie101]

I really want to get some Bitcoin, but what is slowing me down is that I want to "do it myself" and use a Bitcoin wallet myself etc rather than use a service like Coindesk.com. Understanding the technology properly takes a bit of time.

Bitcoin is probably rising as a direct result of the Greek crisis. Greeks will be moving into Bitcoin for safety.

It's not that hard to get your own wallet and send bitcoin to that wallet. To fully, fully understand the logic behind how bitcoin works would take a lot of time though. But then again, you use a bank without fully understanding everything behind how it works so why not do the same with bitcoin

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[pugdomains]

It's not that hard to get your own wallet and send bitcoin to that wallet. To fully, fully understand the logic behind how bitcoin works would take a lot of time though. But then again, you use a bank without fully understanding everything behind how it works so why not do the same with bitcoin

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I assumed he meant that he wants to mine the bitcoins himself, as that's the only way he's going to get them without using some sort of service to buy them?

 

[accelerator]

So far I've downloaded the Electrum Wallet, but I now want to check the signature of it. Getting my head around the public key signing stuff is taking a bit of time ... I don't have much spare time for it.

 

[bonusmedia]

Bitcoin is probably rising as a direct result of the Greek crisis. Greeks will be moving into Bitcoin for safety.

A massively volatile currency doesn't make much sense as a safe haven.

It might make sense as a way of evading capital controls and getting money out of the country.

 

[accelerator]

A massively volatile currency doesn't make much sense as a safe haven.

It makes sense when compared to a Greek bank that could go bust and you would lose ALL your money.

 

[Admin]

No.

http://www.coindesk.com/price/

Bitcoin cratered after an initial burst of enthusiasm, and has never recovered. The price has been bumping along for the last 6 months.

It's extremely unlikely that any "event" will suddenly make the price spike upwards again and stay up, though there will of course be random fluctuations.

The whole premise of Bitcoin is built on nothing at all, and now that mining is impossible for "the little guy" because of the difficulty level, any newly mined coins are going to the huge mining pools armed with data centres packed with racks of ASICS and/or FPGA, and there's not even that latent undercurrent of "buzz" when somebody uses their high-end GPU to mine a "valuable" coin and tells their friends about it.

See for example http://www.economist.com/news/busin...ome-big-ruthlessly-competitive-business-magic (which tells the tale from the mining side, but of course was written before the extended period of price stagnation that we are still in)

What about now Edwin? I bought my first bitcoins 2 days ago at 315. Look at todays price. I need to do a lot of learning, haven't worked out how you turn them back to real money yet. Going to try the xapo debit card.

 

[accelerator]

For anyone not following the Bitcoin price closely, note that since 21 September it has gained 58%. That is quite a big move so it looks like something is afoot.

For a long time the price hovered around the £150 level, and the price today is now £252.

 

[accelerator]

It's extremely unlikely that any "event" will suddenly make the price spike upwards again and stay up, though there will of course be random fluctuations.

The whole premise of Bitcoin is built on nothing at all, and now that mining is impossible for "the little guy" because of the difficulty level, any newly mined coins are going to the huge mining pools armed with data centres packed with racks of ASICS and/or FPGA, and there's not even that latent undercurrent of "buzz" when somebody uses their high-end GPU to mine a "valuable" coin and tells their friends about it.

I would disagree strongly with the statement "The whole premise of Bitcoin is built on nothing at all". I would say the premise of Bitcoin is built on:

- A desire by some very smart Libertarians to create a new form of money which is not under unfair control by privileged elite groups in power within governments that are backed by military power.

- A system of financial exchange which is direct from person to person, and does not require a third party intermediary which can profit from the transaction.

- A system of money which serves the people instead of powerful elites, and which cannot be manipulated by powerful elites.

- A system of money in which the supply is finite, and therefore retains its value and cannot be unfairly devalued by powerful financial elites deciding to create more money out of thin air, which can and has been done at the moment by quantitative easing.

- A system of money in which savings are not at risk of banking collapse.

- A system of money whereby anyone can transfer money anywhere, instantly and seemlessly, without incurring delays or high charges. This is very powerful for world trade.

- A system of money which allows easy, cheap and secure storage (provided you know about computer security). Compare this to the cost associated with storing gold for instance.

Rgds

 

[martin-s]

Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down

Why invest in something the performance of which you have so little control over?

It's just gambling.

 

[WealdDomains]

It's the blockchain concept that matters, not the specific case of Bitcoin. Work out how to exploit blockchain. Learn from Bitcoin, but don't be distracted by it.

 

[accelerator]

Documentary: The Bitcoin Gospel - YouTube Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zKuoqZLyKg&feature=youtu.be

 

[Jamie101]

In many ways I'd rather own actual bitcoin (vast majority I have is like that) but recently I've been using eToro to trade bitcoin too and over the past month or so it's been going great.

The main benefit of this is that you don't have to use an exchange (many of which are a bit dodgy) or hold the bitcoin yourself and worry about someone getting access to your computer for example.

Anyway, if you want to join etoro my link is below, both of us get $100 for free when you deposit from what I remember.
http://etoro.tw/1AssYbm

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[martin-s]

Note the bitcoin related headline