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Bitcoin Nears $17,000 After Climbing About $4,000 in Less Than a Day

Posted by msmash on from the topsy-turvy-world dept.

As economists attempt to make sense of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency rocketed above $17,000 for the first time moments ago, adding about $4,000 to its price in fewer than 24 hours. Security reporter Brian Krebs tweeted on Thursday, "Closing in on $17k per bitcoin now (mind you, it was almost at $16k less than an hour ago. This is totally fine." Late Wednesday, finance author Ben Carlson wrote: Bitcoin has achieved something I've always wanted to see in the stock mkt - a reverse 1987 (20% gain in a single day)

32 of 464 comments (clear)

  1. More important quote from Krebs by Luthair · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Rational"? Really? I do not think it means what you think it means.

    1. Re:More important quote from Krebs by Freischutz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Rational"? Really? I do not think it means what you think it means.

      Every time I look at this chart I think: "Tulip bulbs"... of course there is once again no shortage of people telling me this is completely sustainable and will go on forever.

    2. Re:More important quote from Krebs by Rob+Y. · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This quote says it all:

      Bitcoin has achieved something I've always wanted to see in the stock mkt - a reverse 1987 (20% gain in a single day)

      It's all speculation - driven on by cheerleaders on the sidelines in the financial speculation media business. Kind of like the Trump campaign/presidency is all a substanceless shitshow driven on by cheerleaders in the news shitshow business.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    3. Re:More important quote from Krebs by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "As economists attempt to make sense of Bitcoin"

      I can assure everybody that no true economist is trying to make sense of Bitcoin.

      Bitcoin con only go up for as long as people can manage to max out their credit cards, steal granny's savings, etc., to buy some.

      This is not infinite.

      After that it comes down. Hard. A few people will get very rich, a lot of people will get poor.

      (Remember: Bitcoin only redistributes money, it doesn't ever create anything of tangible value)

      --
      No sig today...
    4. Re:More important quote from Krebs by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's perfectly possible that the rich people are offering large sums for small quantities of Bitcoin to push up the price then dumping large quantities when everybody sees it.

      (aka: "Pumping and Dumping")

      --
      No sig today...
    5. Re:More important quote from Krebs by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I pay ~$14 ($100 HKD) to wire any amount of money, anywhere, and it is guaranteed/confirmed within 1 business day. That's not frictionless? Log in on my phone, enter the amount, enter the recipient's account, and push a button. Done.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    6. Re:More important quote from Krebs by tattood · · Score: 4, Interesting

      (Remember: Bitcoin only redistributes money, it doesn't ever create anything of tangible value)

      The NYSE and NASDAQ only redistribute money also. Do they not create anything of value?

      --
      WTB [sig], PST!!!
  2. So... by Kierthos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is going to crash hard, and probably fairly soon, and people will react with "We could not have foreseen this at all!"

    And I will be over here, laughing at them.

    --
    Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    1. Re:So... by religionofpeas · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Good introduction:
      https://www.youtube.com/result...

    2. Re:So... by devman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Knowing it will crash, and knowing when it will crash are two very different feats. Saying it will crash is practically axiomatic, and in the mean time if your sitting on the sidelines you may have missed opportunities that may have led to profits even if you held through a crash.

    3. Re:So... by MikeDataLink · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Every market will crash. Event the best investment will go south if you wait long enough. There are no horse and buggy companies anymore. Eventually grows and then fades.

      The only thing that matters is getting in and out at the right time.

      --
      Mike @ The Geek Pub. Let's Make Stuff!
    4. Re:So... by religionofpeas · · Score: 3, Informative

      The problem is that most of us don't have that sort of money sitting around

      1 Bitcoin is internally represented as 100 million basic units (the "Satoshi"). You can buy any number of Satoshis, so it's possible to buy 0.001 coins for instance.

    5. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or bitcoin could go to $1,000,000. I am a financial advisor and given how technologically amazing bitcoin is and how it is the future of all money, I'm betting on it hitting $1,000,000 before the end of 2018 and selling ALL my gold bullion, penny stocks, and tulip futures to put into bitcoin and I am now advising all my clients to do the same.

    6. Re:So... by devman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People said that at 100, and at at 1000. Reality is no one knows where this is going to end up. I could just as easily see it be at 10 or 100,000 by the end of next week.

      If you have a crystal ball, feel free to short BTC right now and make a fortune. My point remains, it is easier to say it will crash than say when it will crash or what fair value is.

    7. Re:So... by syn3rg · · Score: 3, Funny

      "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."
      --Yogi Berra

      --
      The contents of this message have been doubly encrypted by ROT13
    8. Re:So... by ctilsie242 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Regardless of what it goes to, BTC is so unstable that it is less of an investment than a gamble.

      My biggest worry about this hype is that is kills cryptocurrencies completely, if BTC falls over.

      Bitcoin is a "v1.0" currency. The fact that you have to run through 150+ gigs of blockchain transactions, and it can take days to have a transaction succeed is worrisome, and these numbers are not going down. One cannot really use it for microtransactions unless one tacks on an additional percentage to get parties to put the transaction at a higher priority than normal.

    9. Re:So... by religionofpeas · · Score: 4, Insightful

      One cannot really use it for microtransactions

      No, not if you want every transaction on-chain. The blockchain is an expensive resource.

      You will be able to do microtransactions on the Lightning Network, where they will be done off-chain, and then only occasionally settled on the chain.

    10. Re: So... by devman · · Score: 4, Informative

      Incorrect.

      You can literally deposit $170 to GDAX (coinbase) right now (if it were not crashing) and buy 0.01 BTC, there is no minimum to open a trading account on coinbase.

      To trade on equity markets you could go open an account with Fidelity, Schwab, or Robinhood (if app only is your thing) right now with no minimum and go trading to your hearts content.

    11. Re:So... by Hal_Porter · · Score: 5, Funny

      People complain when I mention Tulip Mania, so instead I will tell a joke

      Jeremy Sloan asked his son Michael what he'd like for his upcoming sixth birthday. Michael said he wanted a hamster, so Jeremy visited the local pet shop and found the perfect hamster. The little guy was in the peak of health, so he bought it on the spot. He also bought a cage with a wheel, some food and a water bottle. As he was paying for the birthday present, the store owner said, "Any problems whatsoever, just come back here. I live right above the shop and I'll help you out any time you want."

      Jeremy put the hamster and cage in his car and drove home. He left them in there until his son had gone to bed so that he wouldn't see them when he brought them in. Michael's birthday was the next day, so Jeremy got up early to wrap the presents and to check on the hamster. He was horrified to see the hamster was dead at the bottom of the cage; it's legs stiff in the air. He knew his son would be distraught as the boy had talked about nothing else for weeks. Quickly, Jeremy put on his coat and drove round to the pet shop and knocked on the owner's door. He explained the problem and the owner was quite understanding and gave Jeremy a new hamster, refusing payment for it

      Jeremy asked, "What can I do with the old one? I don't want to bury it as the cat may dig it up and I don't want to throw it away in case my son sees it in the bin"

      The shop owner replied, "What I do is mix up a strong sugar solution - about 1.5 kg of sugar to a litre of water. Bring that to a boil and then add the hamster. Simmer it about two hours, stirring periodically. It makes quite a nice jam."

      Jeremy looked a little bewildered, but says thank you and raced back home. He gave the new hamster to Michael who was absolutely thrilled with it. He dashed off to play with it the rest of the day. Jeremy decided it was a good time to get rid of the dead hamster, so he tries the pet shop owner's recipe. He finds the sugar in the pantry and brings the water to a boil. After a couple hours, the mixture has become jam-like so Jeremy takes a spoonful, blows on it till it's cooler, and tastes it. It's absolutely disgusting. He's so revolted that he throws the rest of it out the kitchen window, into the flower bed below

      A couple days later, Jeremy noticed that daffodils were springing up under his kitchen window, right where he tossed that awful concoction. "That's odd", he thinks to himself, "I've never had daffodils before"

      Next day, his son asks him to take him to the pet shop to get some more food for his hamster. So Jeremy and Michael go to the store, and while Michael is looking at new hamster toys, the owner asks Jeremy, "Did you try that recipe I gave you?"

      "Yes, but it tasted so awful that I threw it out the window. Odd thing is, I've got daffodils springing up there now."

      "Daffodils?" asked the store owner, "Are you sure? You usually get tulips from hamster jam.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  3. Investment advice by xavdeman · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm buying popcorn stocks. Everybody's going to want to grab some when Bitcoin crashes.

  4. Re:IRS/Secret Service Crackdown by olsmeister · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They are (or maybe already have) going to allow trading of Bitcoin futures. If you strongly feel it is destined to crash, you can make a lot of money here.

  5. So I am going in now by houghi · · Score: 5, Funny

    As the increase is exponential, the moment I am going in is now. Just put all my belongings into it as well as maxed out my cards and took several loans. This is my ticked to become rich.

    With my calculations it will reach 150.000USD in two weeks. There is no way I can lose money. Right?

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    1. Re:So I am going in now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your scenario is unlikely, but possible. It would not surprise me if you were destitute in two weeks, and it would not surprise me that you are going to wish you actually did this. It would surprise me if nothing happened at all though.

  6. Steam no longer accepts them by mikeabbott420 · · Score: 3, Informative

    it seems the expense of transactions is making them useless for their actual purpose. for the hundredth time I'm declaring that the end is nigh :)

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    This program was made possible by a grant from the Ultra-Humanite, and viewers like you.
    1. Re: Steam no longer accepts them by spire3661 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Valve cited this yesterday as the reason they are no longer accepting Bitcoins as a payment option.

      "As of today, Steam will no longer support Bitcoin as a payment method on our platform due to high fees and volatility in the value of Bitcoin."

      http://steamcommunity.com/game...

      --
      Good-bye
  7. Re:IRS/Secret Service Crackdown by grnbrg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why would the IRS care, as long as you are following the rules?

    If anyone thinks they are going to make their Bitcoin millions and not pay the government their cut, they're an idiot.

  8. Re:IRS/Secret Service Crackdown by perpenso · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I believe NASDAQ plans on introducing trading on Bitcoin futures in the first half of 2018. That's assuming that Bitcoin doesn't crash and burn before then.

    The crash is not scheduled until after the put options are in place. :-)

  9. Tulips baby. by darthsilun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. -- George Santayana

    1. Re:Tulips baby. by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And those who can remember the past are condemned to watch everyone else repeat it!

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  10. Re:Idiot commentator by e4liberty · · Score: 3, Informative
    BTW, to reverse a 20% loss you need a 25% gain. That's volatility!

    (x * 0.8) * 1.25 == x

  11. Re:IRS/Secret Service Crackdown by Bert64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If it crashes before then, buy in at the crash price... Being traded on NASDAQ will add legitimacy to bitcoin and likely cause another bubble.

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  12. Assets and secondary markets by sjbe · · Score: 3, Informative

    Why ? Bitcoin is not a stock, and the Bitcoin exchanges don't function like stock markets.

    If you are buying bitcoin hoping it will appreciate in value relative to the dollar then it is a secondary market and as such it functions almost identically to a stock market as a practical matter. Bitcoin is just an asset like gold or beenie babies or pork bellies or frozen concentrated orange juice. Any discussion about the "value" of bitcoin is by definition in relation to how many dollars you can get for it which is no different than asking what the current price of a stock is in dollars. Stocks are assets and so is bitcoin.