What Do You Think Of Bitcoin?

[gimmethesimplelife]

The other day I even saw a credit card on offer featuring 3.5% Bitcoin cash back! I don't really understand the concept to be honest but I have even started seeing Bitcoin ATM machines. I take it this concept is not going to go away any time soon - do you believe Bitcoin is an acceptable alternative to actual currency printed by a given country? Rob

[bae]

Tulips

[Teacher Terry]

9 years ago my son mined it in our basement. We invested 4K and made 50k and they made 100k. When we divorced we split the coins we had left and neither of us have cashed them out. We only made money because we got in early and my son knew what he was doing.

[iris lilies]

I do not understand it and therefore do not invest in anything I don’t understand.

I could maybe throw $1000 at bitcoin just for fun if I felt like it when we get through all of our real estate renovation. But I doubt that I will because I’m just not that interested.

[GeorgeParker]

do you believe Bitcoin is an acceptable alternative to actual currency printed by a given country?Litecoin's price jumped 33% in a few hours based on a fake press release and fell just as quickly when the fake press release was debunked. Virtual currencies are rife with possibilities for hype-and-dump fraud. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/litecoin-hoax-highlights-crypto-market-vulnerable-to-scams-walmart-has-no-relationship-with-litecoin-says-big-box-retailer-11631560795

One of the smartest guys on Wall Street says "At the end of the day, if Bitcoin is successful governments will kill it." https://www.marketwatch.com/story/at-end-of-the-day-if-bitcoin-is-successful-theyll-kill-it-says-founder-of-worlds-largest-hedge-fund-dalio-11631715223 (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/at-end-of-the-day-if-bitcoin-is-successful-theyll-kill-it-says-founder-of-worlds-largest-hedge-fund-dalio-11631715223)

And there are already rumblings that the SEC should regulate Bitcoin and similar virtual currencies in a manner similar to highly speculative bonds.

[catherine]

Where's Xmac when we need him? Wasn't he totally into bitcoin a few years back?

I'm with IL. I don't get it.

[gimmethesimplelife]

TulipsYou mean like in Holland in the 1600's? Surprised I caught that? Rob

[jp1]

Not interested. The whole thing is just based on the belief that they have value. And the electricity necessary is not something I care to be a part of. There are plenty of other things I can invest in to protect/grow my wealth.

[ToomuchStuff]

You mean like in Holland in the 1600's? Surprised I caught that? Rob
Pretty sure that is exactly what he meant.

Not interested. The whole thing is just based on the belief that they have value.

That part is not any different then the US dollar, since it was removed from the gold standard and is based on trust alone.
That said, they are now part of the tax code (check your last years tax form).
And I remember the Xmac discussions, LOL.

[Teacher Terry]

My son had to hire a cpa that specializes in crypto currency’s.

[GeorgeParker]

That part is not any different then the US dollar, since it was removed from the gold standard and is based on trust alone.That argument is and always has been baloney.

When the dollar was backed by gold or silver, the relationship between the "official" price of gold/silver in dollars had nothing to do with the market price you would have to pay if you bought that metal or something made from that metal. And as far as the paper money and coins being "backed by" gold or silver, it has never been possible to walk into a government office and demand that they give you gold or silver in exchange for your dollars. So the whole thing was a hoax.

The only reason the gold standard existed was because governments all over the world needed to have something tangible backing up the foreign currency they allowed their currency to be exchanged for. It had nothing at all to do with ordinary citizens. It didn't make the money any more secure. And it didn't prevent inflation or deflation.

[jp1]

That part is not any different then the US dollar, since it was removed from the gold standard and is based on trust alone.


That's true of every currency. The question is who to trust. Personally I'm a lot more trusting of all the billions of people around the world who are confident in the value of the dollar than I am the makers of bitcoin. My main familiarity with bitcoin is it's use as payments to ransomware criminals. Those criminals ask for payment in bitcoin, but use the dollar amount as the ransom price. (ie $500,000 payable in bitcoin.) Until the value of bitcoin is stable enough that anyone, even criminals, are willing to list prices in it, it's just a speculative gamble.

[ToomuchStuff]

That argument is and always has been baloney.

When the dollar was backed by gold or silver, the relationship between the "official" price of gold/silver in dollars had nothing to do with the market price you would have to pay if you bought that metal or something made from that metal. And as far as the paper money and coins being "backed by" gold or silver, it has never been possible to walk into a government office and demand that they give you gold or silver in exchange for your dollars. So the whole thing was a hoax.

The only reason the gold standard existed was because governments all over the world needed to have something tangible backing up the foreign currency they allowed their currency to be exchanged for. It had nothing at all to do with ordinary citizens. It didn't make the money any more secure. And it didn't prevent inflation or deflation.


You are inputting your arguments. Can the foreign governments change it in for gold, or is it still based on trust?

[GeorgeParker]

You are inputting your arguments. Can the foreign governments change it in for gold, or is it still based on trust?It was always based on trust that the foreign government would redeem it's currency and pay it's debts in an acceptable manner, whether that was with precious metals or by returning your country's currency to you in exchange for their currency. Most of the time it was just numbers in a ledger and now it's mostly bits and bytes. But knowing the foreign country had physical gold or silver made it easier to trust the value of their currency. The exception to those general observations is a country that sells a lot of stuff to other countries but buys very little from them. When that happens, the money gets out of balance and the countries that bought stuff have to make a physical settlement of some sort to get their currency back. But in all of this we're talking about government to government transactions and the international financial system.

It should also be remembered that for a long time the US dollar was the dominant global reserve currency. IOW a lot of countries had a stockpile of US dollars instead of gold or silver and they used those dollars as proof their own currency had value, just as the US uses it's gold and silver reserves.