Anyone here heard of bitcoin (http://www.weusecoins.com) and if so, do you use it much?
Bitcoin
- Thread starter ianvestor
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In the last 24 hours Bitcoin has halved in value. Nobody is sure why, but it's pretty volatile.
https://data.mtgox.com/api/0/png/24hours.png?Currency=USD
after going up over 400% id say that's still a good return...
if that's your kettle of fish....
According to TechCrunch it is due to DDoS attacks on MtGox and BitStamp to force the prices down and causing people to sell. The attackers sell their btc first at the high price, DDoS to cause the price to drop and re-buy and wait for prices to go back up.
HuffingtonPost reports hackers have also shut down sites where bitcoins are exchanged for cash, creating a panic that causes values to plummet, then buying up cheap bitcoins and profiting when the currency rebounds.
I'm more a property and shares person myself (national and international). There's such a large choice in those two classes of assets which supply good cashflow that I'll certainly never exhaust them so I wouldn't consider investing in a yellow metal which supplies no cash or a figment of people's imagination, such as currency. I regard bitcoin even lower down the scale than cash as an investment.
Having said that, I do hold a reasonable amount of cash but only for liquidity / buffer, not as an investment.
Absolutely spot on. Money is either based on the gold standard, or on the political and economic reliability of the country it's from. For it to be considered a valuable asset, it needs some kind of believable backing. Bitcoin is an amusing experiment in how some people will believe in little fairies at the bottom of the garden, if told the right way.
That said, I'm not against it as a form of buying something on the 'black market' (silk road etc) - but it's not an asset as such, just a (flawed) mechanism for exchange.
Reminds me of when the dotcoms were going through the roof - until everybody realised that in the majority of cases there was no actual value behind a lot of them, either in terms of capital or unique human input.
Will be very interesting to watch its progress over the next few months/years.
Realistically Bitcoin is not all that different from those little pieces of tin an nickel that we call coins. Our currency is certainly based on a gold standard, but do we actually hold that physical gold? Do the banks have sufficient cash in their vaults to cover all their deposits.
All currency, Bitcoin, AUD, USD, Euro, etc, is based on confidence and perceived value. If enough people think it's worth enough that value increases and the opposite is also possible.
Bitcoin is based on a digital algorithm. Apparently it's quite complex to create and takes a lot of effort, it's not easily replicated. Likewise the a lot of effort has gone into creating Australian monetary notes. It has multiple printed security layers, holograms etc. This could be considered a physical algorithm.
Bitcoin isn't widely accepted, it's new and novel. A direct result of this is that it's highly volatile. Can it be hacked? With enough effort it almost certainly can be, but the same can also be said for those folddy things we keep in our wallets and our bank accounts (which are also purely digital, just like Bitcoin).
I'm certainly not about to go buying Bitcoins, but in the end it's probably not all that different from any other currency. It really just lacks wide enough acceptance and hence has little confidence value associated with it.
All currency, Bitcoin, AUD, USD, Euro, etc, is based on confidence and perceived value. If enough people think it's worth enough that value increases and the opposite is also possible.
Bitcoin is based on a digital algorithm. Apparently it's quite complex to create and takes a lot of effort, it's not easily replicated. Likewise the a lot of effort has gone into creating Australian monetary notes. It has multiple printed security layers, holograms etc. This could be considered a physical algorithm.
Bitcoin isn't widely accepted, it's new and novel. A direct result of this is that it's highly volatile. Can it be hacked? With enough effort it almost certainly can be, but the same can also be said for those folddy things we keep in our wallets and our bank accounts (which are also purely digital, just like Bitcoin).
I'm certainly not about to go buying Bitcoins, but in the end it's probably not all that different from any other currency. It really just lacks wide enough acceptance and hence has little confidence value associated with it.
This was covered on one of the various current affair type programs the other day, can't remember which.
Basically, one of the bitcoin website operators, just vanished and took everyones money with him and no one can do anything about it. There wasn't many sides of the story presented due to it being a current affair type program of course, but still, with no government backing it's pretty dangerous.
Basically, one of the bitcoin website operators, just vanished and took everyones money with him and no one can do anything about it. There wasn't many sides of the story presented due to it being a current affair type program of course, but still, with no government backing it's pretty dangerous.
Wasn't quite clear whether you were talking metaphorically here, but our currency is not based on a Gold standard.
Probably more to the point is our currency (any every currency) has some basis in confidence and perception. If enough people perceive something to have value then that value is created. Bitcoin is no different.
arggh, didn't see you post
wanna by some of my thin air money, ill send you 3000 bit coins from my Nigerian email address if you buy them for 4000, good deal if you ask me?
My name is Danjuma Sule, one of the sons of major Gen Gumel Danjuma Sule, The late Nigeria's former minister of mines and power in the regime of the late former Nigeria's military Head of state, Gen Sanni Abacha.
When my father died he left me an inheritance of 830,422.629 bitcoins. Unfortunately bitcoin exchanges are not yet set up in Nigerian currency and I am in need of a young techno wizard with a bank account denominated in US dollars to assist me in gaining access to my inheritance.
It is on this basis I am seeking for assistance. Your percentage is negotiable. Please note; your age and profession doesn't really matter in this transaction. Waiting for your immediate response and bank account specifics.
Regards, Danjuma Sule
When my father died he left me an inheritance of 830,422.629 bitcoins. Unfortunately bitcoin exchanges are not yet set up in Nigerian currency and I am in need of a young techno wizard with a bank account denominated in US dollars to assist me in gaining access to my inheritance.
It is on this basis I am seeking for assistance. Your percentage is negotiable. Please note; your age and profession doesn't really matter in this transaction. Waiting for your immediate response and bank account specifics.
Regards, Danjuma Sule
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