Is Bitcoin the Next Big Thing?

[disruptive]

I've bought Paypal shares.

Why? Because the Paypal co-founders and CEO have been constantly praising blockchain technology for over two years now. Its pretty obvious they are R&D'ing in the background considering how glowing their assessments have been on the various possible uses of blockchain technology in their business, particularly for 'smart contracts'.

If Ripple is the leading blockchain for the financial sector, then I don't see anybody better placed to build the leading blockchain for general ecommerce / consumer goods and services than paypal, and I'm willing to bet that this plays a huge part in their roadmap.

I got a dislike on here for posting the 12 month graph for Paypal share price (doubled in 12 months), but they:

1). Have long been aware of the threats of blockchain to their current business model
2). Haven't been asleep on this issue
3). Have publicly praised blockchain technology consistently for 3 years
4). Consistently churn out the brightest minds in tech (you'll know about the record of paypal alumni, because you are an investor).
5). Have the existing userbase and capital to kill off (or buy out) any viable competitor if they aren't the first mover.

So I'm viewing this from the perspective of how blockchain technology will be adopted and then dominated by existing established behemoths, rather than the alternative which is betting on blockchain technology managing to somehow take these companies out of the loop altogether... I think the former is more realistic than the latter.

I agree! Paypal has made money transfer and payment easy - and millions around the planet have a paypal account. Paypal to the Moon!

 

[martin-s]

Is there a way to invest in crypto such that it benefits from the special tax treatment pensions get?

xbtprovider.com funds via hl.co.uk

 

[Edwin]

xbtprovider.com funds via hl.co.uk

Thanks!

 

[martin-s]

No worries. Only downsides are that you can't buy/sell outside of European trading hours (roughly 8-4 as far as I can tell) - and you have to buy whole units of course.

 

[martin-s]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42845505
Oops

 

[Edwin]

Indeed.

You don’t see that sort of thing happening to established banks, but in crypto it’s kinda sorta ok in the sense that everyone gets a bit hot and bothered then goes about their business (apart from those who had their assets pinched). Plus it seems to happen with remarkable frequency...

Plus you can never tell 100.00% whether some of these thefts are an inside job. When you’re playing with $billions in instantly movable, quasi anonymous currency the temptation must surely be there.

Declare a theft, then declare bankruptcy, take the rap for corporate mismanagement, then fence the coins and live on a beach.

(Not saying that’s the case here, talking in general...)

 

[Edwin]

Someone had their Bitcoin stolen at gunpoint - in the UK!
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5320477/amp/Bitcoin-heist-Home-Counties-village-Moulsford.htm

 

[Murray]

Someone had their Bitcoin stolen at gunpoint - in the UK!
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5320477/amp/Bitcoin-heist-Home-Counties-village-Moulsford.htm

I wonder how they knew he had them

 

[Edwin]

Social media? Loose lips down the pub? Friend of a friend of a friend?

With everyone and their cat leaping into BTC there must be loads of people up and down the country trying to rope others in by regailing them with their success stories...

 

[ian]

Don't keep your investments on the exchange kids!

 

[bonusmedia]

If anyone is taking profits, or spreading risk, or getting out, this might be worth a look https://www.sharpspixley.com/buy-gold-using-bitcoin/
0.5% commission but my guess is that's better than you'd get converting to USD and then GBP or whatever.

In my amateur opinion if BTC really crashes, gold ought to do alright as people will retreat to traditional safe havens.
'Intrinsic' value probably nowhere near the price, but there is the advantage of it being universally trusted for thousands of years.
India in particular can't get enough and they're in high growth mode.
No capital gains tax on it if you buy British coins, but there is storage to consider. Even Hatton Garden vaults come with risk

It will never go to the moon, it's not very exciting, but it is solid and the price moves much more slowly

 

[bonusmedia]

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=bitcoin

I think this is probably important

 

[martin-s]

Incredible to see how the graphs for various countries across the world mirror each other so closely.

And how closely it mirrors the Bitcoin price too.

December was certainly a big crazy spike. I can't help but feel that what comes next is still more likely to be growth than collapse though.

 

[ian]

If anyone is taking profits, or spreading risk, or getting out, this might be worth a look https://www.sharpspixley.com/buy-gold-using-bitcoin/

Certainly an option of a 'way out', though I feel that by offering BTC, it shows what traditional investment brokers feel of future currency, and that can only be 'going up'.

 

[bonusmedia]

Incredible to see how the graphs for various countries across the world mirror each other so closely.

And how closely it mirrors the Bitcoin price too.

December was certainly a big crazy spike. I can't help but feel that what comes next is still more likely to be growth than collapse though.

I respect that - in the end you have to trust your gut instinct. Good luck

 

[Edwin]

Does anyone know of a site that graphs Bitcoin trading volume over time, rather than just price history? Be interested to know if the recent lull after weeks of crazy market movements had led to lower daily volumes...

 

[martin-s]

https://www.cryptocompare.com/ if you pay I think

 

[ian]

Does anyone know of a site that graphs Bitcoin trading volume over time, rather than just price history? Be interested to know if the recent lull after weeks of crazy market movements had led to lower daily volumes...

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/

24 hour trading at the bottom of the graph

 

[Edwin]

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/

24 hour trading at the bottom of the graph

Thanks, but I was after something like the price graphs at http://bitcointicker.co but for volume, ie going back months and years.

 

[dee]

In my amateur opinion if BTC really crashes, gold ought to do alright as people will retreat to traditional safe havens.

Ironically. one of the major pushes on the last run up to 18k odd with bitcoin was exactly that. The situation in Zimbabwe with Mugabe getting ousted caused pretty much anyone with money in the country to look for a safe haven. The currency was about to tank so everyone bought bitcoin. You ended up with everyone that had cash looking for a nimble and transportable store of wealth.