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Bitcoin Breaks $1,000 Level, Highest in More Than 3 Years (cnbc.com)
The price of digital currency bitcoin has hit the $1,000 mark for the first time in three years. From a report on CNBC: The cryptocurrency was trading at $1,021 at the time of publication, according to CoinDesk data, at level not seen since November 2013, with its market capitalization exceeding $16 billion. Bitcoin has been on a steady march higher for the past few months, driven by a number of factors such as the devaluation of the yuan, geopolitical uncertainty and an increase in professional investors taking an interest in the asset class. "We are seeing the aftermath of zero interest rates run amok. So bitcoin is a healthy reminder that we don't have to hold on to dollars or renminbi, which is subject to capital controls and loss of purchasing power. Rather it's a new asset class," Bobby Lee, chief executive of BTC China, one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, told CNBC by phone.
So long as speculators can make money holding onto bitcoin while the value shifts, it will not be a viable means of exchange. Currencies need a stable value for people to want to use them as a currency.
Someone involved in bitcoin thinks its relevant and people are doing big things with it. Next thing you know companies will be sending out press releases saying they're releasing great products.
That doesn't make any sense. Nobody would buy US dollars if they thought things would go to sh!t.
How many Venezuelan bolívars do you own? If you were an investment adviser would you recommend investing in Venezuela?
If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
Slashdot is helping with the pump, who is out there dumping?
Seeing bitcoin and "professional investor" in the same sentence, as well as seeing real world economic situations used as an excuse for the latest bitcoin bubble.
It's very easy to look "professional" when the bubble is inflating. Let's see how professional they look when it pops again, as it will - because Bitcoin is SPECULATION not investment. I'm pretty sure that tulip salesmen were highly respected financial professionals in the 1630's, a few months before they turned gardener again.
Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a bit of speculation and money can be made. However it is a universe of risk away from the term "investment" and the buyer must beware.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
People buy US dollars because everyone else buys US dollars. It's as simple as that.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Saying that bitcoin is not subject to capital controls and loss of purchasing power is something that the guy running Silk Road would strongly disagree with. He was one of several people who have lost their bitcoin's purchasing power following government controls - in this case seizure. Here's another in Australia.
It's like anything else - if yu can own it, someone else can take it away from you. "New asset class" my arse.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
"So bitcoin is a healthy reminder that we don't have to hold on to dollars or renminbi, which is subject to capital controls and loss of purchasing power."
As if bitcoin isn't subject to a loss of purchasing power? As if that wasn't why the prices fluctuate so wildly?
Holy shit, the people getting into bitcoin are getting scammed harder than I thought if they're buying this economically-unsound statement.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Bitcoin as a currency has built-in deflation, so you can't peg it to anything.
There are real reasons why all the serious, real fiat currencies are managed for low inflation. Having guaranteed deflation makes bitcoin useless long-term, and it even makes it hard to understand price changes.
The supply is constrained. A bitcoin will always have more purchasing power in the future. So it can only ever succeed temporarily in "pyramid scheme" fashion. Success would mean demand, but demand cannot be sustained in those circumstances.
The only reason it is in use is because drug dealers don't realize that it is more traceable than dollars. Ignorance is not a good basis for an economy. See also: information theory (economics)
Because of the moronic increasingly constrained supply over time, the price will continue to trend up even as people abandon it and demand trends down.
A normal fiat currency the price would crash until you need 10 billion Zimbabwe dollars to buy a sandwich. With bitcoin, you can't even print more; people will have to abandon it. It won't get easier/cheaper to get, either, because of the speculation premium.
If you want a new fiat currency, fine. But it has to have long-term low inflation to succeed. If it has built-in deflation then speculation will dominate the market.
Why do you think demand cannot be sustained ? Bitcoin is a payment system. If you want to use it you need to purchase some bitcoin. The amount of bitcoin is largely irrelevant. You purchase for a certain value. If the value keeps going up you just get less bitcoin for the same value. But you can still use it for transactions for that value. Bitcoins are basically infinitely divisable. The current minimum amount of 1 satoshi can easily be subdivided.
When you think of bitcoin only as an investment vehicle it's true that is has no value. The value is generated by trade in the form of transactions.
I have bought things with bitcoin, but never guns. All my guns have been paid for in cash. So I do not see the connection...
Another way of writing the story is this: ... From the losers side.
People who bought bit coin in 2013 had lost money for the last three years, and at long last are now even.
Look for the same if you buy bitcoin now, you can help make the 2013 losers whole by participating in the next round of pump and dump
Not even even, they are still behind inflation.