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Price Of Bitcoin Rises 27%, While Price of Bitcoin Cash Triples (bloomberg.com)

A Bloomberg columnist asks whether this week's rise in bitcoin's price is a turning point -- or just a "dead cat bounce"? After hitting a year's low of about $3,143, down about 80 percent from January highs, Bitcoin has risen 27 percent this week. Short-sellers are closing their positions, while fans smell fresh opportunity. Even more eye-watering market moves are happening elsewhere in the digital currency's ecosystem. Bitcoin Cash, a spin-off intended to be more usable as a payments mechanism, has almost tripled this week from about $80 to $225. That this is happening at the same time as a U.S. stock-market selloff will no doubt warm the hearts of crypto-evangelists, who believe their currencies offer genuine alternatives for where to put money in times of trouble....

A cursory glance at the price of Bitcoin Cash over the past year shows that it has fallen about 95 percent from its December 2017 record. So, anyone refusing to crystallize their losses this year has seen their 98-percent loss narrow over the past few days to, well, 95 percent. Celebrating now is like the Monty Python knight calling it a draw after losing all his limbs. It's not entirely clear either what kind of investor has the appetite, let alone the resources, to make meaningful bets on digital currencies today after a boom-and-bust cycle driven entirely by speculative hype rather than the adoption of Bitcoin in the real world. The long-awaited wave of money from Wall Street looks as far away as ever. So we're probably getting back to more natural territory for crypto: True believers and small-time gamblers.

Their conclusion? "One still can't rule out that these particular crypto-cats are dead."

7 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. What a great investment? by blahbooboo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Oh so the groups likely manipulating this scam are now moving it back "up in value" (value for a product that you can't do anything with).

    Yes, folks should invest their life savings in something that can move 80% in a week. I am sure it's completely legitimate and safe long term investment!

    1. Re:What a great investment? by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh so the groups likely manipulating this scam are now moving it back "up in value"

      Yep. The Chinese miners who hold most of the world's Bitcoins are trading small quantities between themselves to pump the price a bit, hoping to pull in a few more suckers before the final death.

      --
      No sig today...
  2. Oh God! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...crypto-evangelists, who believe their currencies offer genuine alternatives for where to put money in times of trouble...

    Delusional people.

    After hitting a year's low of about $3,143, down about 80 percent from January highs, Bitcoin has risen 27 percent this week.

    THAT in itself is trouble. That kind of volatility in an asset precludes it from being investment grade. To have an asset move lie that for no reason is a sign of gambling. How can one plan if the asset could lose 80% for no determinable reason? At least with real currencies, you can see what the underlying economy and political policies and get an idea of where its headed (That's all Soros does.)

    Crypt-currencies are nothing but something that gamblers are using and rationalizing their behavior as "investing" or "speculation".

  3. Why is this news? by argStyopa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I mean seriously, I get it: Bitcoin is a 'tech' thing but we don't need to have a NEWS story every time it goes up or down, do we? We're not regularly seeing postings when RAM skyrockets or falls, are we? (Please...don't.)

    It's an imaginary commodity that some people have agreed to treat like money; by its very nature it's going to be volatile.

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Why is this news? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I mean seriously, I get it: Bitcoin is a 'tech' thing but we don't need to have a NEWS story every time it goes up or down, do we?

      Bitcoin stories get posted because they generate page views and traffic. If you want to see fewer of them, then stop reading them and posting messages about them.

      We're not regularly seeing postings when RAM skyrockets or falls, are we?

      RAM prices are way more stable and uninteresting than they used to be.

      It's an imaginary commodity that some people have agreed to treat like money

      Actually, almost nobody treats it like money. Money is not something you invest in with an expectation it will appreciate in value.

      by its very nature it's going to be volatile.

      Bitcoin is not inherently volatile. It is mostly volatile because it is thinly traded. The total value of all Bitcoins is about $100B. There is about $8 trillion in gold, and about $10 trillion dollars in circulation.

  4. Sweet Zombie Bitcoin by cstacy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Analyst: 25% Recovery In Bitcoin Price Was A “Zombie Rally”
    https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/1...

    Wall Street’s Biggest Bitcoin Forecaster Gives Up Forecasting Bitcoin
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news...

    Flash Hike: Bitcoin [BTC] smashes $4,000 resistance in a single rise
    https://ambcrypto.com/flash-hi...

  5. Re:Obvious it was going back up by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Informative

    After hitting a year's low of about $3,143, down about 80 percent from January highs, Bitcoin has risen 27 percent this week.

    Lies, damned lies and percentages:

    The "80%" in that sentence is 80% of $20,000, ie. $16,000.

    The "27%" in that sentence is 27% of $3,000, ie. $810

    ie. The rebound is really only a 4% rebound, not a 27% rebound.

    And as noted, Bitcoin price is highly manipulated by the Chinese Bitcoin Mafia. They trade small quantities between themselves to keep the price up, hoping to suck people in.

    --
    No sig today...