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Bitcoin Currency Surpasses 20 National Currencies In Total Value
Velcroman1 writes "More than $1 billion worth of bitcoins now circulate on the web – an amount that exceeds the value of the entire currency stock of small countries like Liberia, Bhutan, and 18 other countries. Bitcoin is in high demand right now — each bitcoin currently sells for more than $90 U.S. — which bitcoin insiders say is because of world events that have shaken confidence in government-issued currencies. 'Because of what's going on in Cyprus and Europe, people are trying to pull their money out of banks there,' said Tony Gallippi, the CEO BitPay.com, which enables businesses to easily accept bitcoins as payment. 'So they buy gold, they put it under the mattress, or they buy bitcoin,' Gallippi said."
Pretty much, or at least potentially. Figuring out when to profit on irrational fear is a good key for success ^_^
Borrow some bitcoin, sell it now, wait for the inevitable, buy it back when the bubble pops, return to owner.
claiming it is being widely used for every day living. I have yet to see anything to back up either extreme.
Let me know when I can pay my rent in bitcoins, pay my fuel bill in bitcoins, or buy groceries in bitcoins.
For now it is a geek-only way to exchange goods and services.
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
I have some experience with both cryptography and decentralized systems of this kind. Which doesn't make me an expert. But I know enough to ask questions. I have had grave concerns about the validity of their design since I first read about it on slashdot some years back. It seemed to me the case had not been made that bitcoin was not vulnerable to rapid destruction of value, due to attacks on fundamental flaws in its design.
The thing that really surprised me was that people decided to try to use it anyway. But I guess our desires often cloud our judgment. As much as I would love a decentralized digital currency, I do not believe it yet exists. I wouldn't invest 90 cents in bitcoin.
Many currencies can appear to be stable until they're not.
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Such things always remind me of the exploration of the Americas, or at the simplified myth. In this story the English brought back potatoes and the spanish brought back gold. The question is who brought back wealth, and who brought back merely riches.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
So could tulip bulbs, you better go get some quick.
It getting to be a little much. Have you really got so much money invested in Bitcoin that you are willing to sacrifice /. to advertise it?
Enron's stock went up too. You might want to think about the fundamentals of what you're buying.
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Bubbles are unpredictable to say the least.
Look where all this talking got us, baby.
Exactly like Wall Street. It's a speculative market and at the end of the day all speculative markets are just high stakes casinos.
Still, it will help Bitcoin itself. The currently booming Bitcoin world combined with Bitpay offering merchants a payment option with only 0.99% interest, no other fees, no credit or volume requirements, and no charge backs probably means a lot more merchants jumping to accept it.
It's only worth what people are willing to pay for it.
If confidence goes, so does the value.
No sig today...
Quote me. A year from now it will be approaching $1000 a coin. It will never be $17 a coin again.
You can keep on saying that, it doesn't make it so.
Magicking 'money' out of thin air *always* leads to a crash. No exceptions. Just wait and see.
No sig today...
Reminds me of what people told me about investing in Enron.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
$1 billion "dollars" "worth" of bitcoins now circulate
Fixed that for ya.
Well let me know when the IRS starts auditing wow players, many of whom have a lot more money worth of wow gold than I have in my bank account, never mind bitcoins.
Effectively bitcoin is the same thing as wow gold at the moment.
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
Bitcoins have less inherent value than a bag of tulip bulbs.
Try sending payments across the globe in 10 minutes using tulip bulbs.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
No that's the problem with gambling. And if you won it would bolster your confidence and you'd bet it all again. Speculative markets are nothing but high stakes gambling.