Is Bitcoin the Next Big Thing?

[Edwin]

My point was that you may in the future have a claim against the bank.

Which is why it was commercially a very sensible decision to ban the purchasing of crypto on credit cards. The money to reimburse fraud victims doesn’t magically come from thin air - the bank has to find it. And that hurts its business, and potentially impacts its customers.

BTW Lloyds aren’t alone in imposing a ban. Several US banks brought one in too.

 

[BG]

Looks like Bitcoin is heading towards its recent low again.

Correction looks set for around $7,500, however, I'd expect another drop over the coming months and to see figures of $5,000 for BTC... After that I don't see anymore dropping, only rising! and rising fast too...

I predict from June / July onwards we're going to see various coins people invested in starting to explode - And if Bitcoin nail the Lightning Network you'll see the phoenix rise from the ashes at a rate which will be unstoppable! Call me mad but I predict $25k/$40k by Christmas 2018 for BTC if everything falls into place.

 

[dee]

In that case you would put every penny you could raise in now. How long now before people are stepping out of high rise buildings in the far east.

No. Not at all. I'd only put in what I can safely afford to potentially lose or have tied up for a very long time. I have a wife and two small children so won't be doing anything that could potentially affect us as a family. I know what risk i'm taking but the risk /reward potential for me far outweighs the negatives. And I have bought some more as it happens, but currently in red. I'm happy to wait till it's in the green though. Which I think it will be.

And as a side note, I wish i'd waited a bit. I thought sentiment was turning and it was about to head up again ( which as @BG said I suspect will happen quickly and will potentially hit the marks he talked about ) But just means i'll have to hold a bit. I also actually don't think bitcoin will be the long term winner. I suspect ETH will win as a backbone long term, or something else we havent seen yet properly ( tangle etc) Until then though there are trading oppportunities. And whether you call it an investment ( I don't) or a punt , the opportunity is there to make money because you are trading on sentiment and whatever other people believe. Not any underlying value.

 

[JMI]

I predict major collapse in crypto confidence, major support withdrawn from traditional finance institution. See a global gov's clampdown due to money laundering issues. I think you will see more stories like Lloyds this morning http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42940728. I think there is a future for crypto just not in the current way it's deployed.

 

[martin-s]

Even if ( it won't ) this coin rose to new highs

A bit premature to call this dip the end of Bitcoin and crypto IMHO.

 

[ausername]

In that case you would put every penny you could raise in now. How long now before people are stepping out of high rise buildings in the far east.

Has been quite a few suicides reported in recent weeks... would have thought they'd at least hang on to see if the price recovers

Although I guess if they invested money that they actually needed in the short term to pay tuition fees / mortgage, or borrowed from family or something.... that would make more sense... "only invest what you can afford to lose" etc.

 

[ian]

Correction looks set for around $7,500, however, I'd expect another drop over the coming months and to see figures of $5,000 for BTC... After that I don't see anymore dropping, only rising! and rising fast too...

I predict from June / July onwards we're going to see various coins people invested in starting to explode - And if Bitcoin nail the Lightning Network you'll see the phoenix rise from the ashes at a rate which will be unstoppable! Call me mad but I predict $25k/$40k by Christmas 2018 for BTC if everything falls into place.

Agree completely, I suspect we'll see $5k levels again which is where massive resistance has proven before, then upwards from there.

 

[ausername]

I predict major collapse in crypto confidence, major support withdrawn from traditional finance institution. See a global gov's clampdown due to money laundering issues. I think you will see more stories like Lloyds this morning http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42940728. I think there is a future for crypto just not in the current way it's deployed.

The future cryptos will be called 'pound', 'dollar', 'euro', and 'yuan' and the blockchain will be controlled by the treasury, who will keep the transaction fees for themselves.

Any surviving independent blockchain will be taboo like the dark web, which is where it will primarily be used to make purchases.... pretty much what Bitcoin was for the first 3 years.

That's my guess.

 

[ausername]

Lloyds Banking Group has banned credit card customers from buying Bitcoin amid fears they could be left in debt as the cryptocurrency’s value deflates.

http://metro.co.uk/2018/02/05/bitco...card-customers-buying-cryptocurrency-7286878/

Isn't that, like.... the entire point of credit cards? To get people into debt?

Sounds more like they are worried that 'crypto claims' could be the new PPI, or they are seeing too many chargebacks (both legitimate scams + buyers remorse).

 

[dee]

Any surviving independent blockchain will be taboo like the dark web, which is where it will primarily be used to make purchases.... pretty much what Bitcoin was for the first 3 years.

Blockchain has so many more uses than just being a coin though. I think the underlying tech is here to stay and we've only just seen the start. I agree that as a mode of currency of sort, then the chances of it surviving unregulated are slim.

 

[ausername]

Have you noticed that this looks like a coordinated assault on Bitcoin by the media... tagline says:

"Lloyds Banking Group has banned credit card customers from buying Bitcoin amid fears they could be left in debt as the cryptocurrency’s value deflates"

Actual thing that has happened:

‘Across Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA, we do not accept credit card transactions involving the purchase of cryptocurrencies.’

They've made it about Bitcoin, when its actually about Crypto.

That's another downside to being 'decentralised' / in the hands of the people isn't it? Try that funny business if Bitcoin was a $50bn publicly listed corporation and there would probably be lawsuits flying.

Perhaps this is where currencies like Ripple actually have an advantage... its an actual entity, who will have lawyers on payroll, who would ensure that media is very careful how it words stuff like this.

Bitcoin is an easy target, this is an obvious flaw. 'Bitcoin' couldn't sue anybody, but 'Ripple' could?

The flip side to this however is that we have no idea whether the positive coverage of Ripple in the Daily Express and City A.M. recently has been 'planted' by a well paid PR agency... the Express seem quite keen to hype up Ripple, makes you wonder whether the owner or editor has a horse in that race. I can remember that crazy American bloke on Russia Today talking about Quarks every day.

 

[ausername]

^^^ I was supposed to quote the Lloyds article post above, which another user posted.

 

[mat]

I always thought you could use a credit card for gambling/lottery but it was treated as a cash withdrawal and extra fees added? That has changed now I take it?

 

[RobM]

I don't see how it's 'fake news'. The Sky headline reads 'Lloyds bans credit card purchases of Bitcoin' - which they have.

 

[mat]

Fake news, so sad.

 

[ausername]

Real news then?

 

[Edwin]

Surely it’s just that Bitcoin has become a shorthand for crypto, like Google is for search, Sellotape for sticky tape, or Hoover for vacuum cleaners?

I doubt it’s malicious, put it like that...

 

[RobM]

The sub headline of the article says 'Lloyds Banking Group is banning customers from using credit cards to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.'
It's quite clear.

 

[ausername]

Surely it’s just that Bitcoin has become a shorthand, like Google is for search, Sellotape for sticky tape, or Hoover for vacuum cleaners?

Not a good thing for Bitcoin though is it.... haven't heard of any search engine ponzi schemes, or hoover ones for that matter.

There was a 'social network' scam run by Gary Lineker's brother though, "Wayne's World' was going to be the next myspace apparently

 

[BG]

I suspect ETH will win as a backbone long term, or something else we havent seen yet properly (tangle etc) Until then though there are trading opportunities.

Ethereum will soon overtake Bitcoin in terms of market cap (this was always going to happen as it's a cracking blockchain with so many great features e.g. smart contracts)... Last week alone ETH was eating into it achieving 22% whilst BTC was sitting at 32% - Due to the ETH pairings and shear demand of it during most ICO's it should remain one of the most stable coins in the market. Over the coming the months you'll start to notice more and more coins staying in the green whilst bitcoin goes through dips..

My opinion on Bitcoin moving forward is that is will become the most valuable crypto currency in the world in terms of value 'per coin' (not that of market cap). It definitely won't be the most used coin as that will be a future coin which will be deployed by banks across a separate blockchain.

Bitcoin in my eyes is much like that of the .com - As in, most people deem .com as the king of the online space and give it a greater value, whereas i see bitcoin as the king of the crypto space as everything after bitcoin is simply an altcoin - That doesn't mean I don't like the other coins as they all have a purpose and value, just like that of other domain extensions like .co.uk, .org and so on..

It's a great time to be part of the crypto / blockchain / smart contracts sector as we're right at the beginning of something pretty special and disruptive! You're always going to have skeptics out there and people who want to see things fail, just like the early days of the internet when people kept saying it would never take off or domain names had no value etc (ooh how wrong they were)...

Bitcoin is not the most elegant or efficient of cryptos / blockchains, and in all honesty it’s pretty much broken in terms of a payment network in its current form compared to that of other blockchains, however, it’s clearly something that a large number of people around the world want regardless of the crazy values people put on it.. So for that reason Bitcoin will succeed and overcome andy current issues with scaling and transaction speeds, and when it does those who sat tight and weathered the storm or invested in the dips will be rewarded I'm sure.

Btw... There are so many great projects out there using alternative coins which are truly going to shape the future of businesses and how we trade / communicate - I'd highly recommend for people not to just focus on bitcoin otherwise you'll seriously miss the boat!