• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Bitcoin prices hit new record high of over $2200 (10/13 Update: peaked at $5,829)

I've been sitting on almost 120,000 dogecoin since it first came around. I'm gonna try and exchange them for cash because of this spike, then once BTC falls back down I'll put some of that money into it.
 
The value of a fiat currency doesn't often correlate with the ability of the sovereign government to assure it's value, unless you think that the British government overnight could no longer guarantee that 1 Pound is still 1 Pound the day after the Brexit vote for example. Most fiat currencies trade on the expected value and strength of the national economies, which in many cases has limited effects on the stability of the sovereign government of said nation. Then we have the Euro, which is a super-national fiat currency which is backed by up to 19 governments or none depending on your perspective.


I think you and I agree, but we're hung up on semantics. Intrinsic value bs true value
 
I think you and I agree, but we're hung up on semantics. Intrinsic value bs true value

I can't argue with this. I do wonder how world economies and commerce would change if currencies which were not tied to national governments gained widespread use. People should be supporting cryptocurrencies just for this reason alone, I want to see what happens.
 
I can't argue with this. I do wonder how world economies and commerce would change if currencies which were not tied to national governments gained widespread use. People should be supporting cryptocurrencies just for this reason alone, I want to see what happens.

I would just hope it evolves more and doesn't stick around as a speculation bubble that occasionally facilitates child trafficking. The "currency" part if what interests me though
 

FyreWulff

Member
I can't argue with this. I do wonder how world economies and commerce would change if currencies which were not tied to national governments gained widespread use. People should be supporting cryptocurrencies just for this reason alone, I want to see what happens.

not sure why you'd want this. the reason people want US dollars is because it's backed by the US government. trying to view currency and money as something with a "finite amount" walked out the door a long time ago. all deflationary currencies do is benefit the first wave of persons with it.
 
not sure why you'd want this. the reason people want US dollars is because it's backed by the US government. trying to view currency and money as something with a "finite amount" walked out the door a long time ago. all deflationary currencies do is benefit the first wave of persons with it.

Not all cryptos are deflationary. See dogecoin
 
I would just hope it evolves more and doesn't stick around as a speculation bubble that occasionally facilitates child trafficking. The "currency" part if what interests me though

Bitcoin was kind of the first one out there and so some of it's design isn't as good as the cryptocurrencies which came along afterwards. Ethereum for example is much more robust in design and it's possible that Ethereum might eventually surpass Bitcoin in value and have a place as an actual worldwide currency in wide usage for more than ransomware and such things.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Not all cryptos are deflationary. See dogecoin

and nobody will want to be on that because they want to be able to mine coins and then sit and watch it grow and never spend them.

which is why they fight against new forks so hard, it resets the 'first mover' status at their spot
 
and nobody will want to be on that because they want to be able to mine coins and then sit and watch it grow and never spend them.

which is why they fight against new forks so hard, it resets the 'first mover' status at their spot

It's definitely a catch 22. If nobody is interested in your currency, then it's not really a currency. If a speculation bubble is needed to drive interest in your currency, it becomes more like a volitile asset that an actual currency.
 
im in a little eth, litecoin and ripple. nothing serious, i've put in under a grand and its currently worth about 1500

really, it's like gambling. those 3 are all low enough that you can get a decent amount of coins without dropping too much $$
 
I bought a couple "physical" bitcoins back a while back—about $13 for the pair—just because they looked cool, and $13 for brass coins with a neat holographic sticker seemed fair.


...Sometime I should get around to figuring out how to cash them out.
 

Jofamo

Member
Say you were that guy in the OP who had bought $100 of Bitcoin in 2010 and were now sitting on $75 million.

How do you even go about turning that into real cash? Is it simple to do. Do you need to find a buyer or is it as easy as using like an online bureau de change?
 
I planned on buying around $300 worth of bitcoin around 3/26/11 (it was about 89 cents apiece back then).

I regretted it the first time it hit $1100, and I regret it now.
 

DonMigs85

Member
Say you were that guy in the OP who had bought $100 of Bitcoin in 2010 and were now sitting on $75 million.

How do you even go about turning that into real cash? Is it simple to do. Do you need to find a buyer or is it as easy as using like an online bureau de change?
There's a number of sites where you can exchange them for cash then move it to your bank account, but they have a daily encashment/withdrawal limit. So it'll take some time.
 
Bitcoin is not a safe asset Jesus Christ. It's ultra volatile asset based on thin air.

the concept of bitcoin is the same concept behind real-world currencies and other precious commodities though....

of course the value of real-world currencies are tied to more 'tangible' matters like a country stability, GDP, export, etc..........but ultimately it's still based on supply and demand.

you cannot create more bitcoin out of thin air without farming it.........similar to something like gold.
 

Zaru

Member
Whatever. I never wanted your stupid $75 million anyway.

I'm in the "I didn't take the coins when they were handing them out by the hundreds for free" boat of perpetual regret. But chances are I'd have cashed out way earlier.
 

kotodama

Member
I wonder how far this bubble will pump this time. Japan is almost at $2600 USD, which is like a $500 premium compared to the US market. $3000 doesn't seem completely crazy. If somebody could arb that, they would be making some nice profits to say the least.

That Wii U I bought back in the day with BTC would be like $2000 bucks now instead lol.
 
Cryptocurrencies are here to stay regardless of whether it's gonna be Bitcoin or not. I also think that Bitcoin has largely failed as a currency.

Until there comes a day when I can walk into a store and buy a chocolate bar from a 50 year old Asian lady with Bitcoin, it will not be a currency to me.

Its more like a store of value like gold. Currencies are meant to be spent, moved, loaned out, borrowed, repaid etc. Bitcoin has not achieved that yet. People buy them and horde. Why would anyone here want to spend $1 Bitcoin on a new computer at Newegg when you can just spend $2200 instead? That one Bitcoin in a few years could be worth $4000. The opportunity costs of Bitcoin is too great right now to be throwing it away on consumer goods.

I do think there are many Cryptocurrencies that can step in and actually be currencies however, just not Bitcoin.

Also, I think they promise of Bitcoin being a decentralized currency has failed as well. The early adopters have horded the majority of bitcoins and the new ones are coming out of large centralized mining operations in China and Iceland.
 

gogogow

Member
Cryptocurrencies are here to stay regardless of whether it's gonna be Bitcoin or not. I also think that Bitcoin has largely failed as a currency.

Until there comes a day when I can walk into a store and buy a chocolate bar from a 50 year old Asian lady with Bitcoin, it will not be a currency to me.

Its more like a store of value like gold. Currencies are meant to be spent, moved, loaned out, borrowed, repaid etc. Bitcoin has not achieved that yet. People buy them and horde. Why would anyone here want to spend $1 Bitcoin on a new computer at Newegg when you can just spend $2200 instead? That one Bitcoin in a few years could be worth $4000. The opportunity costs of Bitcoin is too great right now to be throwing it away on consumer goods.

Have you heard of Bitpay? It's a Visa branded card which you can top up with cryptocurrency. So yeah, you can buy stuff in physical stores with bitcoins etc.
 
Yeah you can but why would you? The price of 1 Bitcoin in January of this year was $900 or something in that range.

The price of one Bitcoin now four months later, is double that. Everytime you spend Bitcoin, you throw away future potential value. That'd be like buying a car with Apple stock. In exchange for an appreciating asset, you get a depreciating one.

I actually hold quite a bit of Cryptocurrency as well. I have no desire to spend a single one of them. These things are more assets than currency to me.
 
the concept of bitcoin is the same concept behind real-world currencies and other precious commodities though....

of course the value of real-world currencies are tied to more 'tangible' matters like a country stability, GDP, export, etc..........but ultimately it's still based on supply and demand.

you cannot create more bitcoin out of thin air without farming it.........similar to something like gold.

There's a multi-pronged approach here in play. Gold, FX etc.has several aspects of "value" that add up. Gold can be used as a material, as a transaction facilitator and as store of value. FX can be used as a store of value and for transactions. Gold is, in addition to what BTC does, backed by its value as material. FX is backed by sovereign countries. BTC is backed by... blockchain.
 

Raonak

Banned
Its weird that people shit on bitcoin for being fake money, when currency doesnt hold intrinisc value. The world revolves around precieved value. If people are willing to pay X for a bitcoin, thats how much its worth.

Cryptocurrencies arent going to go away. Theres a few countries with official digital currencies.
 
D

Deleted member 231381

Unconfirmed Member
the concept of bitcoin is the same concept behind real-world currencies and other precious commodities though....

of course the value of real-world currencies are tied to more 'tangible' matters like a country stability, GDP, export, etc..........but ultimately it's still based on supply and demand.

you cannot create more bitcoin out of thin air without farming it.........similar to something like gold.

No, bitcoin is not based on the same concept as real-world currencies. At the moment, the demand for bitcoin is rocketing. The supply is only increasing very slowly. Accordingly, the price of bitcoin is rising. The point of a currency is to facilitate expenditure, but right now, if you give me bitcoins, I have no incentive to spend them. It's far more profitable for me to save them, and wait for their price to appreciate earlier, before selling them for an actual, real-life currency. That means them a speculative asset. If you're buying them, you're either gullible, or are taking a bet you can ride the asset just long enough before the gullible catch on.

Fiat currencies are carefully controlled by central banks to ensure that they are a neutral asset - $2 now can buy you the same amount of stuff as it could in 1980, or 2020. In practice, we tolerate small amounts of inflation for technical reasons, but that's what a functioning currency looks like. Bitcoin is wildly deflationary, at -85.5% a year average since 2010.
 

Nugg

Member
How do i go about actually selling the bitcoins I have?

I would like to know this also. Hypothetically, if you bought those 100$ worth of coins in 2010, where would one go to cash in their 75 millions today? Is it even possible?
 

NewGame

Banned
Bitcoin is not a safe asset Jesus Christ. It's ultra volatile asset based on thin air.


I still remember when the price crashed hard in 2015, the sticky'd topic on the Bitcoin reddit was the suicide hotline.

I'm still waiting for someone to iron out the usability issues and the fact that no one accepts bitcoin within 100kms of me.
 

Ron Mexico

Member
I would like to know this also. Hypothetically, if you bought those 100$ worth of coins in 2010, where would one go to cash in their 75 millions today? Is it even possible?

Trying to cash out that much would be impossible as it could (would?) crash the price, just like any other commodity.

It's the same bubble creating the same fallacy as the '08 housing mess and countless others. It's human nature to assume that prices on the rise will continue to rise and prices falling will continue to fall.

For simplicity's sake-- by that logic, cashing out a substantial number of BTC will send the value down, which in turn will induce panic, which in turn will induce further sell-offs and now you have a bursting bubble.
 
This is very fascinating, to bad I didn't buy back then but oh well. Anyway I have a question, is crypto currency treated like the stock market income? Do you get taxed on it? I'm looking into some etherium but what is the safest way to purchase and keep crypto?
 
Top Bottom