What are your thoughts on BitCoin?

[Terxpahseyton]

Isn't it above $1000 now? What is driving the price so high? And could you actually cash them out if you wanted to?

Cutless is right. It seems pretty clear what is driving the price at this point. Pure greed. People seeing the possibility to make big bucks by doing virtually nothing but making some clicks. And it seems to be working very well. Why else would so many people want to buy them so to drive the price up (so yes, it seems you can cash out - just need to go to one of the online trading places). That is, it works until it doesn't and everyone who recently bought bitcoins will be royally screwed. The money has to come from somewhere and those loosers will be the ones providing it.
Though I just remembered that I still had some fractional bitcoins in my wallet. Not worth much, perhaps 30€, but a lot more than they were when I got them by doing some quick survey. So I guess I'll make my first experience on a financial market pretty soon.

Here's a man who though bitcoins weren't up to much.

Ouch

 

[Algeroth]

I didn't know we had a bitcoin thread on CFC, so i read this whole thread from the start to spend somehow my insomnia.

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Dunning-Krugerrand

But amid the hysteria I found something unthinkable: People are still reading SA.

 

[Crezth]

I once considered buying a coin for 26€....I didn't, of course. But it is fun to see how virtually out of nothing this new investment market materialized. Imagine, if you had tanked 1k some time ago into this you now would be able to gain enough to never work a day again. Unreal

No, because BitCoins have zero liquidity. There's no actual way to cash BitCoins out because MtGox or any other exchange website couldn't find you enough buyers for a million dollars+.

You could probably scrounge up a cool thou or so, and I gotta admit that'd be pretty sweet - but the people calling this a bubble are right on the money. So to speak.

 

[Zelig]

No, because BitCoins have zero liquidity. There's no actual way to cash BitCoins out because MtGox or any other exchange website couldn't find you enough buyers for a million dollars+.

You could probably scrounge up a cool thou or so, and I gotta admit that'd be pretty sweet - but the people calling this a bubble are right on the money. So to speak.

Shorting bitcoins is pretty easy though. If you think it's a bubble, you just need to find people to loan you bitcoins.

 

[Souron]

With every central bank trying to outprint each other, maybe people are just scared and want out of fiat money before the whole system blows up.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-...ion-new-liquidity-blew-bernankes-qe-out-water

But why buy bitcoins instead of gold or silver?
Did India outlaw importing gold coins or something?

Bitcoins are a bit more practical as a currency than precious metals.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

No, because BitCoins have zero liquidity. There's no actual way to cash BitCoins out because MtGox or any other exchange website couldn't find you enough buyers for a million dollars+.

Are you sure of that? On what do you base that on? Several websites using it + the illegal websites of the tor network to some extend exclusively using it + money laundry + several people investing in bitcoins... a million doesn't sound like much.

 

[Mise]

Well I feel like a fool for not buying last time this came up. I was *thiiiiiiiiis* close...

 

[W|M]

Bitcoins are a bit more practical as a currency than precious metals.

Precious metals are things which you can touch with your hands, which decreases the risk of your money being stolen or transactions being tracked, and the value of precious metals don't wildly swing around every day.

 

[Cutlass]

Bitcoins are a bit more practical as a currency than precious metals.

Not really. You can always sell metals.

 

[Zelig]

Precious metals are things which you can touch with your hands, which decreases the risk of your money being stolen or transactions being tracked, and the value of precious metals don't wildly swing around every day.

If my neighbor has a gold bar, it's far easier for me to steal that than if he has some bitcoins.

Not really. You can always sell metals.

You can always sell goats.

 

[downtown]

Are you sure of that? On what do you base that on? Several websites using it + the illegal websites of the tor network to some extend exclusively using it + money laundry + several people investing in bitcoins... a million doesn't sound like much.

Yeah, I'm with you. When I bought BTC, I was surprised at the number of people who were only dealing in fairly hefty bulk. If not a million, I think you could at least turn a few hundred thousand into cash without THAT much trouble. You can always easily turn that into gift cards or something too.

 

[Crezth]

Are you sure of that? On what do you base that on? Several websites using it + the illegal websites of the tor network to some extend exclusively using it + money laundry + several people investing in bitcoins... a million doesn't sound like much.

How much has the price gone up in the past few months alone? The last time BitCoin prices soared, a single short seller tanked the market but good.

"Several websites using it" ignores the precious point I'm making. If you want to turn your bitcoins into fabulous millions, you need to sell them. In order to sell millions of dollars of bitcoins, you need buyers. And there's not much evidence to show that the big exchanges can handle it, because in the past they haven't. This is what I mean when I say they aren't liquid. Even if you could get a million dollars out of sellers - and to be fair, I bet you could - the price of bitcoins would tank as a result.

The fact bitcoins are gaining legitimacy is a point in their favor, but the market is still dominated by crooks and liars (think about that recent case where the guy running a banking website froze everyone's accounts and dropped their money into his wallet), the biggest bitcoin trader has been shut down by the government (silk road) and in the past few months the price of bitcoins has now soared to over 1000 USD per.

 

[Zelig]

The market for USD is dominated by crooks and liars.

 

[Archbob]

China now accounts of 62% of dealings in Bitcoins, the vast majority of illegal activity, its only a matter of time before the government steps in.

 

[Zelig]

I buy all my coke and hookers with USD, I hope the government doesn't step in.

 

[plarq]

I think it is fool's gold.

 

[Archbob]

I buy all my coke and hookers with USD, I hope the government doesn't step in.

I can also buy anything else with USD.

 

[Zelig]

I can also buy anything else with USD.

Not in Canada.

 

[plarq]

Most of places in Canada also accept USD.

 

[Zelig]

Most of places in Canada also accept USD.

But it's mostly used for drugs, otherwise people just use credit/debit cards.