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Bitcoin Exchange Coinbase Reportedly Valued At $1 Billion (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Reuters:
Bitcoin exchange Coinbase Inc. is in talks with potential investors on a new round of funding at a valuation of more than $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. It is not clear which investors are committing to the round, which was described as targeting around $100 million or more, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter... Demand for crypto-assets has soared with the creation of new tokens to raise funding for start-ups using blockchain technology. Coinbase said in January it raised $75 million from several major financial institutions including the New York Stock Exchange, USAA Bank and Spanish banking group BBVA.
Though Bitcoins were selling for $892 in January, they've nearly tripled in value over the last five months. Despite the fact that Coinbase "suffered outages" last week, the price of Bitcoin still rose 13.6% over the next nine days to $2561.
Though Bitcoins were selling for $892 in January, they've nearly tripled in value over the last five months. Despite the fact that Coinbase "suffered outages" last week, the price of Bitcoin still rose 13.6% over the next nine days to $2561.
This is a bubble built on criminal activity. Once law enforcement starts cracking down on ransomware authors and terror organizations get disrupted again, the bubble will collapse and there will be a rapid decline in Bitcoin valuation. Caveat emptor.
1849.
In other news all Bitcoin miners have a real world net worth of $0.00
If they're doing so well, they must be making good money. So why, exactly, do they need to raise another $100 million?
The valuation they're talking about is nuts. Truly, the next Internet bubble is not far from bursting...
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
has something to do with it. The value of Bitcoin's always been tied to the illicit drug trade and the current administration has signaled a shift away from legalization or even a hands off approach to let the States do their own thing. Then there's all the ransomware going around that's paid in bitcoin.
After all, a currency is only as valuable as what you can buy with it.
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I would say it's the ghost of Jordan Belfort in action, but he's not dead.
2014: It's a bubble! Stupid fake scam internet drugcoins! They'll crash soon and you'll lose all your money!
2015: It's a bubble! Stupid fake scam internet drugcoins! They'll crash soon and you'll lose all your money!
2016: It's a bubble! Stupid fake scam internet drugcoins! They'll crash soon and you'll lose all your money!
2017: It's a bubble! Stupid fake scam internet drugcoins! They'll crash soon and you'll lose all your money!
Meanwhile, the people who bought in 2014 and held are now millionaires. How's it feel to have missed out on something that, hadn't you been such a pussy at the time, would have made you rich beyond your wildest dreams. It was fucking tailor made for geeks like you to have understood the value of. how the blockchain solution to the byzantine generals problem via use of cryptography was going to be worth something. And you missed it. You blew it. And all you can do now is repeat 'it's a bubble! it's a bubble!'.
Bitcoin and related crypto-currency is bullshit and this will all end in tears. Governments are trying to clamp down on cash but haven't worked out that this is easier to manipulate and even better for criminals. Some governments are trying to tax it with goods and service taxes as if it's a product. Do they also tax money exchange at 10%-20%? This makes it undesirable for criminal and legitimate trader alike. While they're busy trying to regulated criminals will continue to laugh and use the unregulated version, and everyone else will steer clear. Distributed ledgers and the idea of a cryptographic chain between events may survive as it's a clever idea. But even that has an incredible amount of overhead.
Criminality is as old as laws, and blackmail and terrorism are certainly much older. It boggles the mind that you could think a "cracking down" will make it go away and cause the "bubble" to break. I'm no portfolio manager, but I've got to think that the smart money is on criminality going strong for as long as there are people. A less safe bet is on whether criminals will continue to favor bitcoin over other transaction methods. But consider this: if their presence adds value to bitcoin, and their absence is basically inconceivable, we have the start of a pretty convincing argument that bitcoin will do just fine.
I used to support bitcoin, but the fees have become so high that it's not viable for many of the original purposes of bitcoin. I bought a physical bitcoin when the price was just $60, but redeeming it would result in more trouble than its worth so it's just a piece of metal. Even altcoins are getting swallowed up in fees now.
After fees, that "billion" will more likely be monopoly money.
remember - they are founded and based in the U.S., and they will do _exactly_ what any U.S. court orders tell them, and they will reveal exactly _nothing_ about it.
Bitcoin speaks of control over your own money, but when you let a company in the U.S. handle that money for you, that privacy and control is severly diminshed. Look to the services in the EU instead, they will guarantee your privacy and control.