Bitcoin discussion and news

[free spirit]

seems like a bubble in my very novice opinion.

The thing with bubbles is that some people make a hell of a lot of money from them, and sometimes they turn out to either not really be bubbles at all, or to be bubbles that certain forces such as governments or a combination of powerful economic interests contrive to keep propped up for a long time - eg UK house prices.

However, you can also be virtually guaranteed that if / when the bubble does burst spectacularly, that it will mainly be the smaller players who lose out, as it turns out that the big players were all cashing out on the sly at the top of the market and selling to all the small fry who'd been attracted by the huge returns that had been happening in the recent past in the market.

 

[spacemonkey]

I just found an old (2011) invoice for a bitcoin miner I bought for 29btc. It was basically just a couple of high-end graphics card and a mother board screwed to a piece of wood. Almost £10k at today's exchange rate.

It was all profit so I thought I had a bargain. Gave up mining when the price dropped to £3/btc as it wasn't worth the leccy.

 

[spacemonkey]

However, you can also be virtually guaranteed that if / when the bubble does burst spectacularly, that it will mainly be the smaller players who lose out, as it turns out that the big players were all cashing out on the sly at the top of the market and selling to all the small fry who'd been attracted by the huge returns that had been happening in the recent past in the market.

A lot of 'big players' did that in previous bubbles and obviously all regret it now. There aren't huge numbers of people with large wallets any more (about 100 with between 1000-5000btc in there). Obviously a lot could have their stash across multiple wallets.

Almost everyone who has been involved since the early days as cashed a big % out at some stage (whether it was the £10 bubble, £30 bubble or £150 bubble).

 

[free spirit]

A lot of 'big players' did that in previous bubbles and obviously all regret it now. There aren't huge numbers of people with large wallets any more (about 100 with between 1000-5000btc in there). Obviously a lot could have their stash across multiple wallets.

Almost everyone who has been involved since the early days as cashed a big % out at some stage (whether it was the £10 bubble, £30 bubble or £150 bubble).

maybe, but then you've got the real speculators and traders who've moved in instead, who're the ones who really know how to play these sorts of investment bubbles for all they're worth.

It's effectively an unregulated market where all the banned tricks of the trade can be put into play to create artificial profits by those with deep enough pockets rigging the market... and oh look, a price that's trippled inside 2 months. A lot of people must have been buying in those 2 months for the price to go up that fast, I doubt they were buying as a long term investment, so at some point they're going to be cashing out - probably around now as trippling their money is likely to be viewed as the sort of return it's worth banking before it crashes again.

Those who bought at 150 and sell at 5-600 will effectively be making their money out of those unfortunate enough to buy from them at 5-600 and sell at whatever rate it crashes down to.

Of course it could continue to rise a lot further before crashing, it all really depends on how many get lured into buying now to continue stoking up the bubble vs those deciding to cash in their winnings.

 

[camouflage]

A lot of 'big players' did that in previous bubbles and obviously all regret it now. There aren't huge numbers of people with large wallets any more (about 100 with between 1000-5000btc in there). Obviously a lot could have their stash across multiple wallets.

Almost everyone who has been involved since the early days as cashed a big % out at some stage (whether it was the £10 bubble, £30 bubble or £150 bubble).

free spirit is looking at it from a dollar-centric point of view. Look at it the other way and the bubbles and gaming have left many people holding bags of dollars and wondering where all their bitcoins went, marauding speculators having cashed out (to bitcoin) during the panics and dips.

 

[ExtraRefined]

"Dollar crashes to 0.2 cents against the Bitcoin."

 

[spacemonkey]

Crikey - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-18/u-s-agencies-to-say-bitcoins-offer-legitimate-benefits.html

This week should be interesting. Up to $600 already. Should I bother going to work?

 

[fredfelt]

That's weird. The Mt Gox price is £365 but when I goto LocalBitCoins they are on sale for £440.

Out of curiosity does anyone know anyone who trades on them? I wonder if the people listing on Local Bit Coins are making a mint - or if there are people taking advantage of different exchanges rates and creaming off the spread.

 

[panpete]

That's weird. The Mt Gox price is £365 but when I goto LocalBitCoins they are on sale for £440.

Out of curiosity does anyone know anyone who trades on them? I wonder if the people listing on Local Bit Coins are making a mint - or if there are people taking advantage of different exchanges rates and creaming off the spread.

Dunno that's what I was thinking.
Mtgox - £383.51
Localbitcoin - £359.31
Bitbargain - well, some of them are asking £500

Having bought my two at the height of the last bubble at £140+ I had 'lost these ones in my head' and was hoping a crash would let me buy some more for about £30-ish, but it's not looking hopeful atm.
Still bubbles can get really big before they burst.

 

[spacemonkey]

That's weird. The Mt Gox price is £365 but when I goto LocalBitCoins they are on sale for £440.

Out of curiosity does anyone know anyone who trades on them? I wonder if the people listing on Local Bit Coins are making a mint - or if there are people taking advantage of different exchanges rates and creaming off the spread.

If you want to buy bitcoins on places like bitstamp/MT Gox you have to take a hit on SEPA/international bank transfers, plus people want a margin for putting in the effort.

Bitbargain has always had a premium, but just like every other exchange you stick up a price and if people buy, they buy. I could stick a bunch up for £800 and it doesn't mean anyone will take them.

During the boom times, the lack of availability means there's a higher premium over the spot price. During the last few months when it was a lot quieter, the premium was a lot smaller.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Now £500 for a single bitcoin in Mtgox

 

[lt35]

Shit, I bottled it (with my half bitcoin) at £300

 

[Idaho]

I had money and the desire to buy a stack at 140 but the bitstamp AML paperwork fucked up and I missed the boat. Gutted.

 

[King Biscuit Time]

Hey Mista - I got a tip for ya. You wanna get yourself some of those Bitcoins.

 

[DrRingDing]

Now £500 for a single bitcoin in Mtgox

What the giddy fuck.

 

[Idaho]

The fact that it's a bubble is doubtless, but it still could blow up a lot more before it pops. It's not nearly at the shoe shine /barbers level of saturation.

 

[bi0boy]

I had money and the desire to buy a stack at 140 but the bitstamp AML paperwork fucked up and I missed the boat. Gutted.

I did buy at 140 but sold at 200 a few days ago think that would be near the peak. Now I just bought at 650 because wtf.

I'm good at this so watch it crash now

 

[camouflage]

Hey Mista - I got a tip for ya. You wanna get yourself some of those Bitcoins.

Fuck that elitist inflationary-universe credit bubble bullshit.

The peoples money, brash and energetic, volatile and disrspecting of the old guard.

(Not really so seriously naive as btc is coming to represent increasingly serious stacks of entrenched capital... but to an extent... yes).

I reckon this latest charge is down to congress and Bernanke pronouncing on the things as 'having potential' and 'legitimate uses'. Which is like a possy of deputies shooting wildly into the energy-sucking all devouring Blob as it continues to expand and consume the town.

 

[Idaho]

Buy high, sell low? if you hang on long term it may make no difference... Although the whole thing can crash to nothing. I decided not to buy. But that might have been a mistake.

 

[unrepentant85]

Down to £374 now.....

 

[pinkychukkles]

If not BitCoin then maybe LiteCoin?

 

[Idaho]

With any of these speculative investments/wagers it's a question of what you can afford to gamble, what your targets are, and how you can exit if needed.

 

[panpete]

How do you buy litecoin pls?

 

[panpete]

the crash has commenced. btc going down.

 

[King Biscuit Time]

'Ere Mister - you know what you wanna do - you wanna short some of them Bitcoins.

 

[unrepentant85]

I have been keeping an eye on btc for ages but have never gotten around to investing. Anybody have any good tips or links on how to go about buying them?

 

[King Biscuit Time]

Bitstamp has crashed.

 

[unrepentant85]

Value is up and down like a whores drawers today.

 

[sim667]

Someone was telling me about a new virtual currency that was setup and endorsed by the US government. Anyone know what it was?

I was thinking about buying a bit whilst its dirt cheap..... just incase like

 

[camouflage]

Value is up and down like a whores drawers today.