So what’s everyone’s take on the Bit Coin phenomenon? Is the worlds first crypto currency going to continue to gain strength? Or are we witnessing a real time tulip bubble before our very eyes?
My take is, there are enough “big bank” skeptics and gold bugs out there to keep this thing running for a little while longer. 200-300$ seems likely, maybe 500$ if it gets truly insane. But it’s all going to end in tears for anybody caught holding them.
For anybody who wants to follow it daily, here is a nice chart:
Oh man, it’s another speculative gamble just like all the others. It will also be put under the thumb of US to prevent money laundering and tax evasion.
I agree, it’s going to get interesting when the government starts getting involved, and of course they will have to because there are already several ways to use Bit Coins to avoid transaction records, and as you said, launder money or avoid taxes. There are also several places to buy drugs anonymously or hide purchases of stolen items, some as valuable as cars. Also some Bit Coin related sites have been shut down due to hacking.
Once people start freaking out about the safety of Bit Coins, and the government wants to regulate or restrict it, the house of cards is going to collapse.
Well it did gain traction after a crash once before when it went from 30 back down to 2, and then back up to 260, so it’s certainly possible it’s just taking a short breather before gaining again.
One thing is for sure, people who own Bit Coin have a much stronger stomach for risk than I do. I wouldn’t get one second of sleep if I owned a significant amount of Bit Coins
Bitcoin is a fascinating phenomenon. You could spend a week reading all the really dense, insightful articles out there and still not get a sense of how it’ll all turn out… all I know for sure is that the market will remain volatile for a long time to come.
Incidentally, I would be up for exchanging some BTC for NTD sometime after I arrive in May. I looked around and it doesn’t seem like there is a Taiwanese exchange as of yet so this may be helpful for anyone interested. There’s also LBTC: localbitcoins.com/country/TW
To answer the OP’s question, this is just tulip-craze/South Sea Bubble-type fucknuttery that will ruin some lives and then fade into history. It’s sad how many people are willing to throw away their money, even their life savings into scams like this.
Lots of movers and shakers are betting big on Bitcoin. Don’t trust anyone predicting its long-term viability and success… but don’t count it out as another tulip bulb craze either. Like any risky investment the safest thing to do is not invest more than you are willing to lose.
BTW I am in Taipei now and will part with a small amount of BTC in person.
Bitcoins aren’t a proper currency because they’re limited in absolute quantity to a total of 21 million and you can’t hold them in your hand. If they were a proper currency they would be backed by the full faith and credit of a bunch of politicians and limited in quantity only by the amount of paper and ink available.
No, Bitcoins aren’t a “proper currency”; they’re something new. That they aren’t backed by politicians or any sort of central regulatory body is either a bug or a feature depending on your point of view… but it is by design.
In case anybody still cares about Bitcoin an interesting new development is occurring. The Winklevoss twins ( yup, same guys that sued Zuckerberg claiming they actually invented Facebook ) have started a Bitcoin ETF that is designed to track the daily price movements of the crypto currency. Two ways to look at this:
Maybe it’s good news for pro Bitcoin people because an ETF would allow easier flow of money into the currency. Larger institutional players will now have an easy method to buy in. It may provide more price stability and further legitimize Bitcoin.
The Winklevoss twins apparently own over 1% of all Bitcoins in existence. Starting an ETF would provide them either a nice legitimate method to unwind their position without anyone being the wiser, or a good method to give Bitcoins a short term price bump before the dump happens.
I’ve always felt since day one it is 100% speculation to get involved either way in Bitcoin, but there it is. New news for the crypto currency crowd to argue over…
Yeah madness. However it’s fulfilling a need for quick and painless cash transactions on the internet. It depends on how big government regulates it and whether some dude comes along with a quantum computer to generate trillions for himself.
