Bitcoin and Crypto Talk (Merged)(includes NFT) (3 Viewers)

Obvious answer is it's speculation. Drivers for it's value going up is uncertainty in the US, potential inflation, things like that.

It's a market I don't understand very well, so I stay away from it. I think we'll see a fair number of swings as people figure out how to appropriately price it.
Yes, it's speculation. Most of the money being put into bitcoin isn't being put in it to do anything with it, it's just going in on the grounds that people will keep putting money in so it's a good investment. In terms of intrinsic value deriving from its real and potential functionality, the problem bitcoin has there is that every functional purpose it has can be done more efficiently or effectively by alternative cryptocurrencies, or that the added features using a cryptocurrency offers aren't necessarily worth the overhead to alternative or conventional approaches in the first place.

So it's largely a perception of value, and the problem with that is that if the primary reason people are putting money in is in expectation of other people putting money in it later, that can collapse if and when the momentum shifts to taking money out rather than putting it in and the perception of value then starts to swing (as it has previously). But that doesn't necessarily mean it will, or that it can't reach a point of relative stability. As long as enough people hold the notion that bitcoin has value, then it will continue to have value. As the first and overwhelmingly largest, it has a lot of built in momentum boosting that perception of value. That can surge and ebb with coverage and investments. But having said that, in the long term, I think it's going to wind up closer to tulips than, say, gold.

So beyond a small amount of cryptocurrencies I've already got, I also stay away from it. There's certainly opportunity for making money, but I'd say it's closer to gambling than anything else. So maybe 'winning' money would be more accurate.
 
Yes, it's speculation. Most of the money being put into bitcoin isn't being put in it to do anything with it, it's just going in on the grounds that people will keep putting money in so it's a good investment. In terms of intrinsic value deriving from its real and potential functionality, the problem bitcoin has there is that every functional purpose it has can be done more efficiently or effectively by alternative cryptocurrencies, or that the added features using a cryptocurrency offers aren't necessarily worth the overhead to alternative or conventional approaches in the first place.

So it's largely a perception of value, and the problem with that is that if the primary reason people are putting money in is in expectation of other people putting money in it later, that can collapse if and when the momentum shifts to taking money out rather than putting it in and the perception of value then starts to swing (as it has previously). But that doesn't necessarily mean it will, or that it can't reach a point of relative stability. As long as enough people hold the notion that bitcoin has value, then it will continue to have value. As the first and overwhelmingly largest, it has a lot of built in momentum boosting that perception of value. That can surge and ebb with coverage and investments. But having said that, in the long term, I think it's going to wind up closer to tulips than, say, gold.

So beyond a small amount of cryptocurrencies I've already got, I also stay away from it. There's certainly opportunity for making money, but I'd say it's closer to gambling than anything else. So maybe 'winning' money would be more accurate.

nice reference to tulips there!
 
I remember when the first paper came out and there was information on how to mine it yourself, and I went through the trouble of figuring out how to mine it, but then never actually did any of the mining b/c I didn't really understand why anyone would ever use it. :rolleyes:

I have a friend who claims that he did mine about 50 bitcoins but lost the wallet for it.
I know he is mad at himself
 
I bought an extremely partial share of a Bitcoin just to mess around.

If it keeps going nuts I might play for real.

sounds like waiting for the price to go up before you buy...?

I own 1 btc and a small
Amount of some alts. I don’t know enough about any of this to have ever invested but a few years ago I put some in (before it plummeted). My friend was quite convincing. I’ve basically doubled the value of my portfolio after being down 40% for 2 years. I feel like it could crash to zero or go to $500,000 in 5 years.
 
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I have several banking apps and they all seem to have begun letting people invest in cryptocurrency. I'm guessing that mainstream influx is really having an impact.
 
Yeah. although he realizes if he had kept it, he would have sold out when it hit like $500, so it's not like he was likely to have $2 million now anyway.
Considering how it moved and how no one knew much about it, I agree that he probably would have sold it long time ago.
 
I think everyone else in this thread has nailed it....supply & demand forces are doing the moving. Bitcoin supply is limited, and demand is surging. While new coins can be "mined", it is a slow process and certainly can't react in concert to spikes in demand. So price HAS TO move to accommodate equilibrium. The huge swings you cite in such a short time frame (hours) can most likely be explained by a sudden spike in demand; i.e. LARGE institutional type acquisitions, or MANY simultaneous acquisitions.

I see Bitcoin as a type of stock, where you own shares of the whole and are speculating on future performance of the whole. But the BIG difference, IMO, is that stocks are generally valued based on an underlying asset, such as brick & mortar buildings, patents, sales force, predictable future cash flows, etc... Bitcoin has none of those underlying fundamentals. For that reason, it's closer to gambling, IMO. I don't have money to risk losing, so I'm not a fan....

Another thing that concerns me is that Bitcoin is probably the best known cryptocurrency, but certainly not the only one. History shows that probably only 1 or 2....at most 3....of those cryptos are going to emerge as de-facto "winners", with all the others being rendered essentially worthless.

While I would think the best known crypto, Bitcoin, will probably be one of the winners; I temper that supposition with memories of the VCR format wars in the 1980s. The 2 competing formats were Betamax, backed by tech behemoth Sony, and VHS. A late entrant in the video format wars was the VideoDisc, which looked like a very thick audio LP, which was easily breakable and couldnt record content....it was playback only....and it disappeared shortly after its debut. Dead on the vine. With respect to VHS and Beta, I can't remember all the details, but the general take was that Beta was the superior format, had the financial backing of Sony (which was flush with cash from its Sony Walkman devices), and enjoyed the support of Sony's reputation as a tech "innovator" capable of sustaining future development. It was obvious that Beta was going to be the de facto format for VCRs. Then something happened....movie studios banded together in an agreement to distribute their movie content in VHS format. Just like that....overnight....the "watch studio movies from your home" industry was born, VHS was the de facto winner, and Beta was dead in the water.

I saw this again in the early 00s with the iPOD and the MS Zune devices. By many accounts, the Zune was the better device.....bigger storage drive, better video display, stronger "parent" company. But the Zune was an afterthought for MS, while the iPOD was a main focus for Apple. Apple built the iTunes software as a bridge to its device (even making a version that worked on its competitors dominant OS), created an iTunes store for music purchases and somehow squeezed out the Napsters, Limewires, etc... in the process. My Zune became a portable HD while the iPOD evolved into the iPhone.

These are just 2 examples that really stand out in my life experience. There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of other examples. So I'll pass on the Bitcoin until I see signs that it will be a de facto standard with universal acceptance. Of course, I'll have missed out on the HUGE upside at that point, but I'll have avoided the total loss too. With that said, that's just my life stage. If I was in my 20s or 30s, I'd probably think completely differently. Fact is, even though Beta lost to VHS, I'm sure lots of folks make a LOT of money on Beta. And I'll bet lots of folks made a lot of money on Zune before it got crushed. And some folks are gonna make a FORTUNE in Bitcoin, no matter what happens in the future. So if you're of that mindset, go for it. Just don't risk more than you can afford to "give away." Think of it as a charity....go ahead and donate what you can, with the understanding you'll never see it again. If that money ever returns to you.....BONUS!
 
sounds like waiting for the price to go up before you buy...?

I own 1 btc and a small
Amount of some alts. I don’t know enough about any of this to have ever invested but a few years ago I put some in (before it plummeted). My friend was quite convincing. I’ve basically doubled the value of my portfolio after being down 40% for 2 years. I feel like it could crash to zero or go to $500,000 in 5 years.
pretty much where I am. Begin dabbling since about 3 years ago after my good friends BIL hit it big. I first took a decent size position in ether but currently dollar cost average in 2x month and in for the long haul. Have seen it go to almost zero and now back where we are. I have seen enough recoveries to know that buying the dips frightens me less and less. My friends BIL started with Bit Coin 10 years ago (cost basis) then poured it into Ether. Currently he is sitting on 50K ether tokens. Has already cashed out $30M. Do that math and you will shake your head in disbelief. I wave at him as he crosses the skys on netjet going between his properties in the midwest and here in NC.

As usual I am likely late to the party but still giving it a go. Bulk of mine in ether. Dot is my preferred alt coin but have positions in 3 or 4 other.
 
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pretty much where I am. Begin dabbling since about 3 years ago after my good friends BIL hit it big. I first took a decent size position in ether but currently dollar cost average in 2x month and in for the long haul. Have seen it go to almost zero and now back where we are. I have seen enough recoveries to know that buying the dips frightens me less and less. My friends BIL started with Bit Coin 10 years ago (cost basis) then poured it into Ether. Currently he is sitting on 50K ether tokens. Has already cashed out $30M. Do that math and you will shake your head in disbelief. I wave at him as he crosses the skys on netjet going between his properties in the midwest and here in NC.

As usual I am likely late to the party but still giving it a go. Bulk of mine in ether. Dot is my preferred alt coin but have positions in 3 or 4 other.

I put a bit into bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin about 3 years ago and forgot it. I'm sure if I were to put the time and energy into selling the highs and buying the lows I coule make a decent amount of money. As it is my 'investment' is about triple what it originally was.
 
I got in at the worst time when it was around 18K. Watched it fall back down to 3K. But never sold and kept on buying. So now I'm up pretty big. As the Fed keeps printing money Bitcoin will keep rising. Companies have begun replacing their cash with bitcoin on their balance sheets.
 
pretty much where I am. Begin dabbling since about 3 years ago after my good friends BIL hit it big. I first took a decent size position in ether but currently dollar cost average in 2x month and in for the long haul. Have seen it go to almost zero and now back where we are. I have seen enough recoveries to know that buying the dips frightens me less and less. My friends BIL started with Bit Coin 10 years ago (cost basis) then poured it into Ether. Currently he is sitting on 50K ether tokens. Has already cashed out $30M. Do that math and you will shake your head in disbelief. I wave at him as he crosses the skys on netjet going between his properties in the midwest and here in NC.

As usual I am likely late to the party but still giving it a go. Bulk of mine in ether. Dot is my preferred alt coin but have positions in 3 or 4 other.

Kicking myself for not buying Dot. Waiting on a pullback now. What else you got?

I got BTC, ETH, Link, ADA and VET.
 
Kicking myself for not buying Dot. Waiting on a pullback now. What else you got?

I got BTC, ETH, Link, ADA and VET.
ether
dot (got in real early and have it staked to boot)
graph
nucypher
stellar
xrp (likely a total loss but time will tell)

I am fractional in bitcoin and they have spun off some bitcoin cash and sv positions.

dot isn't easy to fund as it isn't supported by coinbase (my main wallet) and my other wallet, kraken, funding is by wire only (US dollars) or crypto exchange.

My strategy, if you call it that, is kinda like being at the roulette wheel. take multiple positions and hope for the best.
 
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