So I take it that it's some form of digitized universal currency, but is it just a fad or is this going to be our currency in 20 years that hackers can steal at any given time?
I just saw an overstock.com commercial this morning that said that they are now accepting BitCoin and someone bought a new Tesla with BitCoin, so this is gaining some ground if companies are starting to accept it.
Is it a good idea? Bad idea? I really don't know.
NPRs Planet Money podcast has done several episodes on bitcoin. They do a pretty good job explaining it and some of th recent developments
"A link" is worth clicking.
Google "Bitcoin theft".
You'll see dozens of entries of problems related to the security of bitcoins.
Mt Gox on the verge of bankruptcy
$220 million stolen from Sheep Marketplace- Someone's about to get snuffed
It's a risky game with no future except for drug dealers trying to launder their money.
They can't "print" more, so deflation is automatically built in, and no one is going to spend the stuff because they think it will "grow" in value, so they will just hoard it.
It will be nothing more than a memory in 5-8 years. No way it will become a currency replacement.
In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:
Buying a Tesla with BitCoin is not indicative of it gaining ground because companies are accepting it. It is indicative of a company wanting the free press they get when they look "cool" and "trendy". It's just a trade, like any other.
If I offered you gold bullion for your Corvair, you'd take it, right? Well, it would depend on how much, and what today's value is, wouldn't it. If I offered you 1 oz, you'd turn me down. If I offered you 10 bars, you'd better take it.
It's a fad. A nice effort on the technical accomplishment (creating a digital currency that can't be reproduced), but still a fad.
I'll accept BitCoins today too, if you'd like to buy something from me. But I won't invest in them for the long term.
BitCoin is to money
what
Mystery Meat is to food
The thing is that the things that have been said about it have been said for years..
It is really no different than US currency except you have the entity of the US government behind it. If you think it has value and you are willing to trade something valuable to you ie your time or the results of your efforts for a bitcoin or multiples, then it has value. It is the perception of value that gives it value but just as quickly everyone could lose faith in that perception of value. You can accept gold, silver, us currency or dog dung if you think it has value to you.
The difference with bitcoin is the deflationary nature which encourages hoarding...it won't be a big thing in the future. In fact I think it's more likely to be forgotten. Cryptocurrencies will still be around for black market deals, maybe small online payments, and people who hate governments so much that they don't like to use their "inflationary debt notes" or whatever.
Swank Force One wrote: The thing is that the things that have been said about it have been said for years..
No, the additional issue exists that REAL companies who handle it are now declaring bankruptcy due to their inability to secure it, and REAL people are loosing REAL money.
Yes, currency values are based on perceptions. But there are a LOT of people in the world with a LOT of perceptions that the US dollar has strength and are willing to trade in it. Financial institutions are capable of assessing it's value, and protecting it and it's investors (within a reasonable range). Not so, BitCoin.
iadr wrote: I think you under estimate: 1- the desire for untraceable (or merely very difficult) payment 2- the universal hatred for Paypal (apparently Apple is looking at opening a Paypal competitor within the next 2-3 years)
Then I suggest you invest in BitCoin.
I won't.
But I will accept your BitCoin today in payment for something.
I'll take 35 BitCoin for my 1960 El Camino. Or 11 oz gold. Or 6,000 gal of gasoline. Or 22,000 6-packs of Hanes tube socks.
If you trade me in gold, I'll keep it. If you trade me in BitCoin, I'll get rid of it as fast as I can, and exchange it for dollars. If you trade me in dollars, I'll spend them casually. If you trade me in gasoline, I'll store it, and consume it. If you trade me in tube socks, I'll be looking for a buyer from WalMart or Target.
I am not under estimating at all. BitCoins have a value today, and I would trade for them.
But they won't become a replacement for currency, any more than tube socks will.
SVreX wrote:Swank Force One wrote: The thing is that the things that have been said about it have been said for years..No, the additional issue exists that REAL companies who handle it are now declaring bankruptcy due to their inability to secure it, and REAL people are loosing REAL money. Yes, currency values are based on perceptions. But there are a LOT of people in the world with a LOT of perceptions that the US dollar has strength and are willing to trade in it. Financial institutions are capable of assessing it's value, and protecting it and it's investors (within a reasonable range). Not so, BitCoin.
This. Bitcoin is, like all currencies, a medium of exchange that's a figment of the imagination. All it takes is the collapse or compromising of the entity that issued it for it to lose value; see Confederate money or more recently the German mark just after WW1. But if I gotta put faith in something standing behind money, gimme a government instead of some yoyo with a computer.
Bitcoin is all fine and dandy until you start using bitcoin and realize that currency without any guarantees or protection is never going to catch on but with people who have some kind of a political agenda. You lost your bitcoin "wallet"? you lost your money, no chance of recovery. You have it on a site run by criminals (of course you don't know)? they steal it, you lost your money no chance of recovery. The site's databases go down, a tsumani comes and destroys it, there is a war there, etc? You lost your money, no chance of recovery. There is a fork in the hash generation? You lost your money. You transmit your money to the wrong wallet hash? (typo, bad copy/paste/not double checking/E36 M3 eyes/copied wrong hash/business sent wrong hash/etc.) You lost your money.
It's infinitely more susceptible to hackers than your actual money as well. Why? Because you have guarantees. There is none with bitcoin so it will never be "a thing" more than a novelty for libertarians.
Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to iadr: Paypal is a middleman for real money, not virtual money. That's a big difference. PayPal is basically like western union. They move money from point A to point B and tak a fee to do so. The real threat to PayPal is stuff like squareup.com that gives anyone the ability to process credit cards.
Slightly divergent, Gmail has recently started allowing people to send and receive money via Gmail and google wallet. My bank has also made it PayPal levels of easy to send money to people outside of the bank system via their online banking (it was always easy to send to another bank customer) So people are definitely trying to take on PayPal, and I wish them success!
In reply to Curmudgeon:
Lol you think governments are behind our money?
moparman76_69 wrote: In reply to Curmudgeon: Lol you think governments are behind our money?
Put it like this: if Wells Fargo E36 M3s the bed, what happens to the dollar? Then if the US government circles the big bowl what happens to the dollar?
That's because Wells Fargo is a business that revolves around managing currency not a currency generator. Our government gives authority to an outside entity to create the currency used in this country. It is possible for our money to outlast our government.
moparman76_69 wrote: That's because Wells Fargo is a business that revolves around managing currency not a currency generator. Our government gives authority to an outside entity to create the currency used in this country. It is possible for our money to outlast our government.
That doesn't make any sense.
It's not possible for our money to outlast our government. The money is legal tender of the United States. If there is no United States, there is no legal tender.
If you are suggesting a collapse of the United States, I find your view amusing.
But, I'd still bet on the US LONG before I'd bet on BitCoin.
Apparently DogeCoin is an alternative to BitCoin
Canoe bump.
Be wary of rugpulls when investing in crypto.
2014....man oh man I wish you guys had been more positive about bitcoin when this thread was created lol
SVreX said:I'll take 35 BitCoin for my 1960 El Camino. Or 11 oz gold. Or 6,000 gal of gasoline. Or 22,000 6-packs of Hanes tube socks.
If you trade me in gold, I'll keep it. If you trade me in BitCoin, I'll get rid of it as fast as I can, and exchange it for dollars.
10 years later those 35 bit coin are worth 3,710,000.
I remember a guy trying to buy a beer from me at the bar after hours and he was going to tip me a bitcoin for it.
I was like 'wtf is a bitcoin? go home.'
GameboyRMH said:The difference with bitcoin is the deflationary nature which encourages hoarding...it won't be a big thing in the future. In fact I think it's more likely to be forgotten. Cryptocurrencies will still be around for black market deals, maybe small online payments, and people who hate governments so much that they don't like to use their "inflationary debt notes" or whatever.
Man I had waaay too much faith in humanity...
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