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Nasdaq Plans To Offer Bitcoin Futures In Early 2018 (engadget.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Engadget: Nasdaq is planning to launch contracts for bitcoin futures in the first half of 2018, according to The Wall Street Journal, which will enable investors to predict and put money on the future price of the currency. The Wall Street Journal also reports that broker Cantor Fitzgerald will be launching bitcoin derivatives on its own exchange in the first half of next year as well, making for yet another brokerage to help make bitcoin a more mainstream financial instrument. The relative youth and volatility of the currency still keeps many investors away, of course, but bitcoin is probably here to stay, even if this is just a bubble. New uses for regular folks to spend with the currency continue to rise, like the UK Visa card based on bitcoin and Square's testing of the currency in its payment app.

100 comments

  1. Ladbrokes offering futures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ladbrokes are also offering futures based on Bitcoin, making Bitcoin a totally legit currency. In Ladbrokes case they issue currency.... erm a slip, too.

    "but bitcoin is probably here to stay, even if this is just a bubble"

    Yeh right, bubbles that stay, got it. Can I buy a Windows phone in Second Life with my Bitcoins?

    1. Re: Ladbrokes offering futures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This solves the biggest problem with bitcoin, it just isnâ(TM)t speculative enough!

    2. Re:Ladbrokes offering futures by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Ladbrokes are also offering futures based on Bitcoin, making Bitcoin a totally legit currency. In Ladbrokes case they issue currency.... erm a slip, too.

      "but bitcoin is probably here to stay, even if this is just a bubble"

      Yeh right, bubbles that stay, got it. Can I buy a Windows phone in Second Life with my Bitcoins?

      With serious banks and stock exchanges getting involved in Bitcoin, it's future does look more likely to be long term.

      Of course, professionals getting involved probably means the days of rapid growth (and decline) may be about to come to an end. It's almost too late to get rich from bitcoin now. If you wanted to be a bitcoin millionaire the days for investing are gone.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    3. Re:Ladbrokes offering futures by Anon-Admin · · Score: 1

      Im more than happy to sell you L$ for Bitcoin. I have just over 1,000,000 L$ and would prefer to have more BitCoin.

      After which you can buy all the Windows Phones you want in Second Life. lol

    4. Re:Ladbrokes offering futures by lgw · · Score: 1

      Yeh right, bubbles that stay, got it. Can I buy a Windows phone in Second Life with my Bitcoins?

      You do realize Second Life is still around, still under active development, right? Even if BTC is worth $100 a year from now, people will still be using it as "remote cash".

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    5. Re: Ladbrokes offering futures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can help with the windows phone. I take any crypto.

    6. Re: Ladbrokes offering futures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You do know that there are exchanges that accept linden and pay you out in bitcoin if you whish? You can cash out your linden but the exchange rate ir probably poor.

  2. Basder-Meinhof by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It seems like everyone is buying into the Bitcoin hype these days.

    Even non-techies are asking me why I didn't tell them to invest in bitcoin 5 years ago. I shrug and say I didn't receive payment in them for services rendered, nor have a high end graphics card and free electricity to mine, didn't want to end up on an ASIO watchlist and probably would have had my wallet hacked or coins stolen from an exchange.

    1. Re:Basder-Meinhof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you sure you're a techie?

    2. Re:Basder-Meinhof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      There is a difference between a bubble and legit growth. Apple seizing the MP3 player, tablet, and smartphone markets is growth. BitCoin expanding is also legit growth, and it only has started to hit the marketplace. I wouldn't be surprised to see one BTC being over $100,000 soon and staying there, just because the Chinese need a currency to move their assets to, and the world is tired of the FED, QE, and fiat currencies. BitCoin only has a limited amount of currency, so it isn't like Satoshi is going to be adding 100 million more coins to the pool. The only worry is one group owning 51% of the currency, and that just isn't going to happen.

      BTC's value is still in its infancy, similar to how Apple's stock only started to climb in 2002 after the iPod gained traction.

    3. Re:Basder-Meinhof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It seems like everyone is buying into the Bitcoin hype these days.

      There's a huge difference between "buying into" and "noticing there's a lot of idiots out there who think Bitcoin is worth something so we might be able to make lots of hefty comissions by selling bitcoin 'futures'".

      ("Bitcoin futures" being an oxymoron...)

    4. Re:Basder-Meinhof by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      It seems like everyone is buying into the Bitcoin hype these days.

      Even non-techies are asking me why I didn't tell them to invest in bitcoin 5 years ago. I shrug and say I didn't receive payment in them for services rendered, nor have a high end graphics card and free electricity to mine, didn't want to end up on an ASIO watchlist and probably would have had my wallet hacked or coins stolen from an exchange.

      As I've postulated on another thread... the odds of bitcoin taking off like this were pretty unlikely. It's not the first digital currency, probably not even the best designed digital currency (although, you have to agree it's proven itself workable). The odds of Bitcoin taking off like it has would have looked (and did look) pretty remote to most people. Without the black market in the early years, it probably wouldn't have survived.

      In hindsight, Bitcoin would have been a really smart investment (if you didn't lose you money from lost keys, theft, hacking, etc) however, rewind the clock, reroll the dice, etc... Bitcoin would probably still be a poor investment. It was more likely to fail than become the success story it has become.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    5. Re:Basder-Meinhof by networkBoy · · Score: 1

      with magic hindsight glasses the best investment would have been to buy a few thousand coins back when they were effectively worthless, print them to a cold wallet, and store said wallet in a safe deposit box. Of course the same hindsight would be to buy the winning lotto tickets for a big jackpot.

      I did not do this. :)

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    6. Re: Basder-Meinhof by reanjr · · Score: 1

      You've taken personal bias to a whole new level. Not only are you taking credit for past predictions that ultimately panned out, you're taking credit for past invalid predictions. Perhaps the people who bought years ago know something you don't? Nah, that would be too damaging to the ego...

    7. Re:Basder-Meinhof by BabyAndTheButterfly · · Score: 1

      Sorry but it's Bitcoin, no camel case.

    8. Re:Basder-Meinhof by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      with magic hindsight glasses the best investment would have been to buy a few thousand coins back when they were effectively worthless

      Even if you had made the fortunate decision to buy them for pennies, what's the chance you would have sold them for $5 or $10 or even $100 ?

    9. Re:Basder-Meinhof by networkBoy · · Score: 1

      considering I liquidated about 18 months ago? high :) but since we're talking about magic glasses I would have a programmed sell limit order set for yesterday's peak.

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    10. Re:Basder-Meinhof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One of my co-workers was a Richie Rich kid who only worked a job so his parents would give him his trust fund. I told him he should put a small amount of money in Bitcoin towards the end of 2013. He wanted no part of it.

      Since then, the $8,000 of Bitcoin I purchased is now worth more than $160,000 on paper. I sort of feel bad for the guy, but he was already worth millions. I only invested what I could afford to lose at the time, and am kind of wishing I had kept putting money it, but it's kind of cool to know I could now buy a supercar, or almost pay my mortgage off, if I liquidated my holdings.

      I almost sold some when it reached $11,000, but I don't need the money at the moment. I'm not sure what it would take for me to move my money out of Bitcoin. I might move it to an index fund when it reaches the point that I could live off of the returns.

    11. Re:Basder-Meinhof by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      It seems like everyone is buying into the Bitcoin hype these days.

      I can't find it to link it, but a couple of days ago, I was reading an article (on BBC?) that was saying that more than half of the new money flowing into bitcoin was from Europe. The US was only spending about one third as much as Europe on bitcoin recently.

  3. Futures are a way to 'control' price by ealbers · · Score: 2

    Futures are used to manipulate the prices of commodities....
    By not having to actually own the underlying commodity, the 'futures' contracts bought and sold create a artificial system which allows control over a resource. Unless the futures sellers are required to actually OWN the bitcoins they are selling 'in the future'...which gets real fuzzy, real fast.

    1. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 0

      Futures are not a way to "manipulate" the price. Futures are basically a gamble. Participant A agrees to sell the commodity to participant B at the current price, but the actual exchange of the commodity will happen in the future at time X.

      If the price at time X has dropped, A can buy the commodity for cheap and sell it to B at the agreed (former) price and make a profit. If the price at time X has risen, A has to buy the commodity for the more expensive price to sell it to B at a loss, and B wins.

      It's a way for sellers to make money in a falling market, but always a gamble because its impossible to know the future price for sure.

    2. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by religionofpeas · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The main purpose of future markets is to allow predictable prices in the future, or for hedging other risks. For instance, an airline can get a futures contract for jet fuel for the next summer, so they can already plan their budget without risking sudden price shocks. At the same time, a refinery can sell that jet fuel for next summer with exactly the same benefits.

      Speculators that sit in the middle actually help grease the system by providing liquidity. If jet fuel is cheap now, but the future price is high, it becomes profitable to buy some right now, fill up a storage tank, and sell a contract for the summer. Because of these middle men, sharp shocks in the price of the commodity are smoothed.

    3. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by Baron_Yam · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Futures make sense (to me) when you're dealing with something that takes time to mature and requires significant capital up front.

      Most of what I see is raw gambling, though.

    4. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bitcoin was already considered a business so this is a good thing. Good as you can profit without the risk of buying Bitcoins. You can also get loans against the futures and profit from value decline.

    5. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Future markets can help smooth out the bumps in a functioning market between producers and consumers.
      A farmer can pre-sell his crop at a known price.
      A cereal company can pre-buy grain at a known price.

      But this is different than buying the option to sell or buy at a price.
      That seems more like gambling, which adds more bumps to the market.

      For Bitcoin, this producer/consumer thing seems a bit one sided.
      A mining pool could pre-sell their expected coins, but who besides a gambler would pre-buy?

      It seems like this is more likely to make bumps than cure them.
      Perhaps a sign the Bitcoin is growing up, but definitely an obstacle to this as well.

      Good for Wallstreet, but bad for Bitcoin.

    6. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The main purpose of future markets is to allow predictable prices in the future, or for hedging other risks.

      No it isn't.

      The main purpose of futures is for stockbrokers to extract comissions from impatient people who want to take very high risks.

      Stockbrokers hate all those boring people who only buy/sell stocks a couple of times a year.

    7. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      That seems more like gambling, which adds more bumps to the market.

      If you trade in futures without a corresponding hedge in the underlying market, you are gambling, yes. But that's still providing a useful service to the market. You are assuming a higher risk, but you are reducing the risk of the counterparty.

      A mining pool could pre-sell their expected coins, but who besides a gambler would pre-buy?

      Someone who wants to hedge currency swings. If you do any kind of business with bitcoin in the future, you can use a future contract to minimize the risk of price changes.

    8. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 1

      It can help stabilize an exchange to a point and limit the amount of coins they need to hold, smoothing out fluctuations some.

      The problem is futures don't work when the market is overwhelmingly one sided. If everyone and their brother thinks bitcoin is going up, monied investors can use hype cycles to game the market with significant leverage.

      The only way I see this potentially working is if the exchanges have been building up large bitcoin reserves over the past few months to underwrite the futures. If their average purchase price is $6-7k, and BTC is at >$12k when the product launches, they have a huge first round margin to work with (and have taken pressure off the underlying BTC by no longer buying). When people want to short BTC asymmetrically at launch, they can buy sufficient additional BTC to shift the currency up, and vice versa. If they aren't buying until a few weeks before launch it will be a complete bloodbath though.

    9. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by slashhax0r · · Score: 1

      Still seems like gambling to me. :( I struggle with these concepts, but your description did help.

    10. Re:Futures are a way to 'control' price by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

  4. Correct me if I am wrong... by Topwiz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So Bitcoin mining involves running a special computer whose sole purpose is to waste electricity. If you have a solar panel I suppose that isn't an issue but if you live where coal is used, you are adding to pollution/global warming.

    1. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by Baron_Yam · · Score: 4, Insightful

      >So Bitcoin mining involves running a special computer whose sole purpose is to waste electricity.

      Ridiculous amounts of it, though slightly less per unit of economic value now that Bitcoin's exchange value is so high.

      Of course, Bitcoin has a fix for that... the increase in price has made mining more economically viable, so more people will get involved with more ASIC farms, and Bitcoin will respond with an increase in difficulty. The level of waste will be maintained.

    2. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by olsmeister · · Score: 2

      The kicker is that, through all of this screwing around... the energy production, the bitcoin mining, the trading ... absolutely nothing of any value is produced through the use of all that effort and resources, other than a spectacular demonstration of the way that entropy always increases.

    3. Re: Correct me if I am wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, I don't think that's totally true. There's a lot of hardware being made to do the mining, a lot of people producing energy to run it, and people like me who got into this pyramid scheme early enough that we make some decent money selling satoshi to all the rubes rushing in to get rich.

    4. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by snookiex · · Score: 1

      You didn't think the US government printed (and re-printed) their dollars with printers powered by solar panels and recycled paper, did you?

      --
      Open Source Network Inventory for the masses! Kuwaiba
    5. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      Compare that to gold. It is mined. It requires energy and manpower. And then it is stored in a vault forever and traded on Wall Street.
      Fortunately, gold also has some use (electronics, jewelry). But what is the value of the gold that remained in a vault for 100 years?

      At least Bitcoin by itself doesn't steal some precious non-renewable metal from more productive use.

    6. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by amalcolm · · Score: 1

      The perceived value of gold seems to be maintained (if not improved) across global events such as war, financial crashes etc. I wonder if Bitcoin's value would also be maintained in similar circumstances.

      --
      Time for bed, said Zebedee - boing
    7. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate to be the "well, actually" guy, but US currency is indeed made with recycled materials. The paper stock (which is not really "paper" as we think of it, but rather more of a hydraulically engineered fabric) is made mostly of recycled blue jeans. The long stranded cotton fibers found in blue jeans has extremely desirable properties for making paper that will withstand 15 years of near constant handling and abuse by humans.

    8. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by BabyAndTheButterfly · · Score: 1

      No, the purpose is to secure a global payment network.

    9. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by denzacar · · Score: 1

      Depends.

      How many bitcoin can you smuggle inside your stomach into a concentration camp, then exchange them behind the camp's toilets for the lives of your children?

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    10. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      Good one.

      How many gold coins can you memorize in your head while you cross the border ?

    11. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by denzacar · · Score: 1

      It's not how many can YOU memorize.
      It's how many is the guy with a 1970's Chinese-made AK who's guarding that particular border pass in the middle of nowhere willing to accept as a matter of faith.
      I'm gonna go with... somewhere less than its value in lead and brass.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    12. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by chispito · · Score: 1

      If you have a solar panel I suppose that isn't an issue but if you live where coal is used, you are adding to pollution/global warming.

      No matter how you get it, those are resources that could be going elsewhere. The computing resources and the power.

      --
      The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
    13. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      The current world-reserve currency is the USD. This explicitly enables the USG to be the largest polluter in the world (nobody contests that).

      Are you concerned with pollution or energy consumption? Those are only loosely related.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    14. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      War & economic instability can't do that for you. It would slash the electricity budget and leave bitcoin unstable & vulnerable. Instead, the value of bitcoin is maintained and improved solely by scammers and thieves looting them from haphazardly designed & poorly secured wallets and bitcoin exchanges.

    15. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by Topwiz · · Score: 1

      It would be better if the calculations were of something useful. It would be like a massively distributed computer.

    16. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      With bitcoin, you can memorize a passphrase that will allow you to recreate your full wallet on the other side of the border.

      Each type of coin has its own strengths...

    17. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by inking · · Score: 1

      Lol, what? I mean, sure, you can wiggle around the definition of "pollution" until it fits your narrative, but China is producing almost twice the amount of CO2 that U.S. does. Regardless, both China and the U.S. produce CO2 making things that are actually useful as opposed to calculating nonsense for the sole sake of having a very secure and very slow ledger.

    18. Re:Correct me if I am wrong... by denzacar · · Score: 1

      With an AK you never have to say you're sorry...

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  5. A poll suggestion by nyri · · Score: 1

    When do you think bitcoin bubble will burst and why it is before Nasdaq bitcoin futures market open?

  6. Am I the only one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I read these stories, my reaction is invariably, "I guess a high end graphics card is going to be $800+ in perpetuity"

    I bought a GTX 970 just after launch for $300. Shipped and delivered the same day. I was gobsmacked at how high performing it was and truly thought that PC gaming was going to enter into some kind of affordable renaissance.

    I haven't been able to afford to upgrade it, not in any way that makes sense.

    1. Re:Am I the only one? by jonwil · · Score: 1

      I would love to update my GTX 750 to something better so I can enjoy things like the Fallout 4 HD texture pack but with anything worth upgrading to costing a fortune I just cant justify it.
      The fact that PC gear usually costs a fortune here in Australia (and there aren't many options to buy online from another country where its cheaper) doesn't help matters.

  7. tell me again how the stock market isnt gambling? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    so wall-street will now let you bet on the price of bitcoin as well as buy derivatives but isnt yet offering the actual product itself?

    please tell me how this isnt gambling, heck, even the summary says that this might be a bubble. but hos does this make bitcoin more mainstream? there are not more people trading it, they are just betting on it and its performance.

    the volatility and transaction time of the block chain is what will keep it from being a payment currency, but tip of the had to square for trying.

  8. A recipe for yet another disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A recipe for yet another disaster

    1. Re:A recipe for yet another disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lets be positive here : the more Wall Street fucks with bitcoin, the less (hopefully) they fuck with the real economy. Now if they bring down the real economy a second time, no more reprieve it's guillotine time courtesy of the 99%.

    2. Re:A recipe for yet another disaster by tsqr · · Score: 1

      Lets be positive here : the more Wall Street fucks with bitcoin, the less (hopefully) they fuck with the real economy. Now if they bring down the real economy a second time, no more reprieve it's guillotine time courtesy of the 99%.

      Don't worry; Wall Street has more than enough bandwidth to fuck with Bitcoin and the real economy simultaneously.

  9. Why not start making book on sports games, too? by MangoCats · · Score: 1

    I realize that bitcoin is traded like a stock or commodity, but with the complete lack of underlying substance, wouldn't predicting the future odds of the Jets winning the Superbowl be equally relevant to society? Maybe even moreso?

    1. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bitcoin is a giant scam. Think Bernie Madoff level of scam and multiply by a couple of millions.

    2. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      The substance is decentralized storage and transfer of wealth. Future contracts are a useful addition to that. Suppose I hire you to do a job, and I offer you to pay in bitcoin when the job is done. You don't mind getting paid in bitcoin, but you're planning to sell the bitcoin as soon as you get them, and you don't want to risk that the price drops between now and when you get paid.

      You can solve that by buying a futures contract for next month that will give you a guaranteed sale price.

    3. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can you change your name to religionofbitcoin? Because you have clearly drank the flavoraid. Either that or you're a scammer who's trying to pump the price of bitcoin at others expense, in which case, I hope nothing but the worst for you.

    4. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by lgw · · Score: 1

      The substance is decentralized storage and transfer of wealth.

      No currency stores wealth. Wealth and currency are different things. Wealth has some value in itself - it generates income or some other value over time.

      There are many things you can exchange currency for: wealth is one of them (and not a very popular choice is seems).

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    5. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      A bar of gold doesn't generate any income or other value over time, but you can use it as a store of wealth. You can also store your wealth as a pack of $100 bills in a safe deposit box.

    6. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by lgw · · Score: 1

      Well, gold is a store of value. Admittedly, people use "wealth" in a broad sense, but the useful technical sense is "an asset that generates value over time" (which effectively constrains it to "ownership of the means of production" and "loans").

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    7. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      The dictionary defines it as "an abundance of valuable possessions or money", which is also the meaning I intended.

    8. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      wouldn't predicting the future odds of the Jets winning the Superbowl be equally relevant to society? Maybe even moreso?

      I don't see how just sitting there and saying "zero" is relevant to society.

    9. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by lgw · · Score: 1

      You might find economic studies of currency interesting. I find it interesting that a currency does not have to be a store of value (you'll find that phrase "store of value" is usual). A currency, really, is just "the most easily exchanged commodity", which BTC fulfills nicely for some people and circumstances. Historically there were "marketplace currencies" that were only used to mediate barter during a market day, and had no value beyond that day.

      There are also formally-run "favor banks" at some retirement communities, that have the issue that people tend to die owing favors more than the reverse (people tend to be OK with that, since they're fine with doing favors for the weakest in the community), causing a continuous loss of value - a very depressing sort of inflation, I guess.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    10. Re:Why not start making book on sports games, too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The substance is decentralized storage and transfer of wealth. Future contracts are a useful addition to that. Suppose I hire you to do a job, and I offer you to pay in bitcoin when the job is done. You don't mind getting paid in bitcoin, but you're planning to sell the bitcoin as soon as you get them, and you don't want to risk that the price drops between now and when you get paid.

      You can solve that by buying a futures contract for next month that will give you a guaranteed sale price.

      Anyone who buys a futures contract rather than insist of payment in a form with an acceptable level of volatility isn't making a good decision.

  10. Irrational [Re:A poll suggestion] by XXongo · · Score: 2

    When do you think bitcoin bubble will burst and why it is before Nasdaq bitcoin futures market open?

    As John Maynard Keynes is quoted as saying, "The markets can remain irrational a lot longer than you and I can remain solvent."

    (* no evidence that he actually did say this, though. The earliest use is A. Gary Schilling.

  11. Need help by datavirtue · · Score: 1

    These guys have a serious gambling problem.

    --
    I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    1. Re:Need help by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh?

      Stockbrokers are like casino owners, not the people who play there.

      Stockbrokers don't own stocks or futures. They're not stupid.

  12. NASDAQ is late to the party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    CME rolls out their bitcoin futures in December. Whether you believe in Bitcoin or not, these two things give a lot of credibility to bitcoin.

    1. Re:NASDAQ is late to the party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      CME rolls out their bitcoin futures in December. Whether you believe in Bitcoin or not, these two things give a lot of credibility to bitcoin.

      Also: People opening mega-casinos gives a lot of "credibility" to playing slot machines and roulette, right?

      Reality check: Stock exchanges are like casino owners. They didn't build the casino so they could gamble, they built the casino so they could empty the wallets of the idiots who play at the tables.

  13. Re: Why not start making book on sports games, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some people just canâ(TM)t comprehend on how futures work. That was a good explanation.

  14. No SEC by DogDude · · Score: 1

    Like most of the other federal agencies, the Orange Asshole has managed to gut the SEC. If we had a functioning SEC, this would be illegal.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:No SEC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >If we had a functioning SEC, this would be illegal.

      You're an idiot.
      t. russia

  15. Time to get out by Xyrus · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Get out now. This is pure bubble speculation. There is nothing holding BC up other than people's irrational behavior. If this isn't a sign that BC is in a bubble then nothing else is. The whole thing is going to come tumbling down hard and fast.

    --
    ~X~
    1. Re: Time to get out by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Get out now. This is pure bubble speculation. There is nothing holding BC up other than people's irrational behavior. If this isn't a sign that BC is in a bubble then nothing else is. The whole thing is going to come tumbling down hard and fast.

      Even if it is "bubble speculation", those who got in when it was $2 could have been advised to get out when it hit $100, or $200, or $500, or $1,000, or $5,000, or $10,000. If you've "said it before" a year ago, those people are now 5 times richer if they ignored your advice. Since we avoided the psychological $10,000 barrier (which did show a big drop afterwards), the next big psychological barrier is $20k. If I had BTC myself now, I wouldn't sell until it got close to $20k now.

      The truth is, we don't know when a correction will occur. The entrance of big banks and investment firms probably means the value will stabilize. It will still swing, but less wildly. A complete "burst" will probably never happen now... but it's also likely there won't be any "invest $1000 and become rich in a few years" stories anymore either.

      It's too late to make money, and odds are, short term, if you invest now, you will lose money. The entrance of long-term players and less likely to panic players like banks means that the value will stabilize- even if there is nothing backing it up besides public perception. Public perception is all that makes any modern currency have any value.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re: Time to get out by DogDude · · Score: 1

      "Get out" how, exactly? Who will pay $10,000 US for a bitcoin?

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    3. Re: Time to get out by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      "Get out" how, exactly? Who will pay $10,000 US for a bitcoin?

      People are paying $10,000. They're actually paying $11,000 now. That's why it is exchanging at that value. People ARE paying that much.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    4. Re: Time to get out by religionofpeas · · Score: 2

      Yesterday, a total of 1 million bitcoins were traded on exchanges for a total of $10 billion. Selling one bitcoin is easy. You can open an account on an exchange, deposit your bitcoin, and as soon as your account is credited, you can sell it the next second and get your $10000 (or whatever the price is at that moment)

    5. Re: Time to get out by lgw · · Score: 1

      Soon, you'll be able to put your money where your mouth is.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    6. Re: Time to get out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ummmm...Coinbase? A ton of other exchanges? It's a 1 click operation to sell my bitcoin for USD and have it deposited into my bank account. You click the "sell" button.

    7. Re: Time to get out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And every time you said it before, you were wrong.

      I'd say the odds on you being right on this one occasion are pretty small.

  16. Re:tell me again how the stock market isnt gamblin by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 1

    Transaction time is actually a benefit of the futures-- lock in the price externally with your "insurance" futures.

    What could possibly go wrong...

  17. Now official... by Anonymous+Cashews · · Score: 0

    The Wall Street Journal made it official this morning that bitcoin is a bubble by publishing a story that grandma wants in on the action. Never mind that grandma thinks bitcoin is a bit of a large coin. This is where prudent investors run away as everyone else runs towards disaster.

    1. Re:Now official... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And prudent authors don't spam everything they have access to!

      There you are spamming amazon affiliate links with yet another fake account, you revenue stream hogging disgusting fat sexist tube of lard, Christopher Dale Reimer!

      You can be sure I will be watching this fake account too. I know this is you because you told me you were working on your freepass 11 file server and you are so dumb that you can't even masquerade yourself properly.

      Now, I told you I was out of meds last week and you didn't even care to contact me you lazy fucker.

      How many times do I have to express the emergency of the situation??????

      The python click script you wrote for my pheromone revenue stream web site suddenly stopped to work!!!!!!

      You fucking incompetent python script writer!!!

      When it works, I get 4000+ clicks a day on my pheromone revenue stream web site but only 5 or 6 without it!!!!

      Now, it seems like you dont care and that you have abandoned me you heartless fucking pig!

      Bonus:
      Here is a story that creimer told me when convincing me what a hard life he had:

      The tree was him and the tree knot was his butt hole!

      So, his uncle packed his fat ass with lard and with his cock! Not that it makes much of a difference but anyway, there it is!

      Signed:
      The girl that used to love you and now hates you, burn in hell where you belong you sexist pig!

  18. Bitcoin: The illiquid nothing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see this failing quite spectacularly.

    See "futures" are basically going "I will by X at Y price on Z date", so they never actually have to produce the bitcoin. Unlike say Oil, Gold or some other futures (Eg potatoes) where you are basically promising to pay someone for delivering something. There is no way to produce bitcoins to short the market.

    Because I assure you, the minute you let someone short Bitcoin, that's when the bottom falls out of it, because someone will be borrowing someone elses bitcoins to gamble on a price drop, but you can't simply make them out of thin air. With Gold, and Oil, you basically have to buy it on the open market if you fuckup. With Bitcoin you will never be able to do this because it's not a physical product, nor is there any liquidity in the system. If you sell short a million US dollars in bitcoin, hoping to profit to buy it back when it hits half a million, you're in for a big surprise when there isn't a million US dollars in liquidity in the system.

    Hence this will be the next big crash as some foreign entity beyond the reach of US law decides to bankrupt everyone investing in bit coin by selling all their coins at a rate that makes the price plummet.

  19. Re:tell me again how the stock market isnt gamblin by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

    so wall-street will now let you bet on the price of bitcoin as well as buy derivatives but isnt yet offering the actual product itself?

    please tell me how this isnt gambling, heck, even the summary says that this might be a bubble. but hos does this make bitcoin more mainstream? there are not more people trading it, they are just betting on it and its performance.

    the volatility and transaction time of the block chain is what will keep it from being a payment currency, but tip of the had to square for trying.

    Trading stocks IS gambling. Starting a new company IS gambling.

    It might pay off, it might flop; you never know.

    The difference between stock trading, and investing in "bitcoin" or starting a new company is; you're investing your money with some knowledge and forethought. It's not based on rolling a dice, or what card comes off the deck next- it's based upon reading society.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  20. Big bubbles make big beautiful crashes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not that bitcoin is so valuable, it's that the Federal Reserve intentionally made the dollar so worthless. Even $20K won't be enough for true equilibrium. The downside is that bitcoin is now priced out of most peoples' daily use so they're forced back to dollars. That was intentional too.

  21. DIY Cryptocurrency Mining... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you want mine your own crypto currency, you need a motherboard with 19 PCIe 1X slots to plug in 19 GPUs and a couple of 1200W PSUs.

  22. CREIMER SUPPORTS CHILD EXPLOITATION by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go away creimer
    Creimer why don't you tell us how it's ok for 50 year old men to marry 16 year old mexican girls "with village permission".

  23. Anonymous Cashews is creimer!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This user is CREIMER sockpuppet. See his normal account "cdreimer" had been modded down to terrible. Why?

    -Making a steady stream of shitposts with amazon referrer links. If he can just pique your interest enough to follow his amazon link, then he'll collect a small percentage of the money you spend for the next 24 hours. He netted a whopping $3 a day off this scam and was quite proud of it.

    -Constantly talking about child marriage. Underage Mexican girls are "about getting the most bang for your retirement dollar" and frequent use of the phrases "Underage sweet thing" and "Child brides are as American as apple pie". These are CDREIMER quotes he feels we've unfairly taken out of context so he's recently taken to his blog to explain that he means 16 year old Mexican girls marrying 50 year old american engineers, with village permission. Nothing so dirty or creepy as us trolls insinuate! He insists this is a popular romantic paring in the media there and it's every 16 year old mexican girl's dream to marry a fat old 50 year old aspie engineer!

    So please mod down Anonymous Cashews and complain about creimer to slashdot management feedback@slashdot.org
    I would suggest not replying to him like a normal person either.

  24. Usually you can't tell when a bubble will pop... by barakn · · Score: 2

    ...but this is the exception. The instant that people can bet money that bitcoin will decline, they will. And when a massive number of people short bitcoin, people that are long bitcoin will panic and sell. Look for the bubble to pop in the first half of 2018!

    --
    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  25. Re:tell me again how the stock market isnt gamblin by lgw · · Score: 1

    Owning a business is a risk, but not all risk-taking is gambling. Driving to work is a life safety risk. Owning a house is a financial risk. Lots of stuff you need to do in life are risks, but not gambling.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  26. Re:Usually you can't tell when a bubble will pop.. by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

    You can already short bitcoin, for instance on the bitfinex exchange.

    And when a massive number of people short bitcoin, people that are long bitcoin will panic and sell

    Maybe not. Maybe they'll buy some more, thanking you for the low prices. And then the shorts have to panic buy. But if you're so sure that it's going to crash, why don't you open a short position yourself ?

  27. Gamble on a Gamble by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The American dream.
    You can bet on that!

  28. Clarification by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can someone explain why the transactions per second that can be processed is or isn't a concern?

  29. Oh you ARE wrong! by denzacar · · Score: 1

    Cause Bitcoins also waste HUGE AMOUNTS of electricity with every single transaction.

    Currently it's at 271 KWh or about 9.15 "U.S. households powered for 1 day".
    PER transaction.

    So... every three transactions, one would waste as much electricity as one would need to run a home for a month.
    It's like having to set the store on fire every time you get a loaf of bread.

    Basically... using Bitcoins is the moral equivalent of dealing meth to kindergartners. Or maybe heroin.
    Mining Bitcoin is the moral equivalent of producing drugs and cutting them with rat poison.
    THEN dealing them to kindergartners. Preferably in poor, underprivileged neighborhoods.
    GREED - fucking up future generations - TODAY*

    ____
    * slogan is currently under the right of first refusal consideration by the US Republican Party

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  30. Re:Usually you can't tell when a bubble will pop.. by inking · · Score: 1

    You could short all major cryptos for ages now.