Bitcoin Forum

I got about $25k(a large portion of my net worth) sitting in silver and I just don't see it outperforming Bitcoin in the near future. I can afford to lose it all. What would you do?

fyi

I'm young.
I have virtually no living expenses and no debts.
I understand risk and volatility and am comfortable with it. If i lose it all I won't be killing myself.

The way I see it, if Bitcoin crashes to 0 my life situation does not change. If it booms however, my life situation has to potential to change dramatically. win/win right?

You answered it yourself. You won't "kill yourself" if you a large portion of your investment, but you would enjoy the massive returns that Bitcoin has to offer. You won't gain anything like that in silver.

Sounds to me like you're 99% convinced that you want to invest in Bitcoin but just want that final nudge.

Have fun! :)

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=570993.msg6224584#msg6224584

Yes , buy. Here's why.

Do it.  Bitcoin will either go to (virtually) zero, or be worth MASSIVELY more than it is today.  There's just no other alternative.

If you don’t believe me or don’t get it, I don’t have time to try to convince you, sorry. - Satoshi Nakamoto, July 29, 2010


On a slightly more constructive note read the following blog posts by Erik Voorhees: http://evoorhees.blogspot.nl/2012/04/bitcoin-libertarian-introduction.html and http://evoorhees.blogspot.nl/2013/05/bitcoin-2013-role-of-bitcoin-as-money.html . If that doesn't convince you don't buy Bitcoin.

Why not start slow and do a 20-30% conversion. If the pundits are right, the dollar is going to crash and silver will go up for sure if that happens. We don't know if Bitcoin will be hurt or helped by the crash of the dollar, though my guess would be that Bitcoin will get a boost.

If you need convincing, then you shouldn't do it.

Bitcoin is a highly volatile, experimental new protocol currently in a perpetual "beta test" phase.

Either it's something you've looked into and decided is worth the risk (in which case you don't need any "convincing"), or you aren't ready yet (in which case you should take more time to learn, understand, and decide how you feel about the future prospects of it).

Anything else is just gambling.  If you want to do that, cash in your silver and go to Las Vegas.

You shouldn't because safe-keeping silver is what you know. Do you know how to safe-keep bitcoin? If not don't buy yet.
You shouldn't because government doesn't know about your silver. Do you know how to protect your privacy and anonymity, relating to bitcoin?
You shouldn't because you believe there is a good chance of an TEOTWAWKI event in which silver over bitcoin would be the money of choose.

Otherwise sell that shit and hop on the rocket to the moon!

my .00000002



THIS!!!

Put every penny into Bitcoin. Do it TODAY, bitcoin is going to skyrocket again VERY soon.

Immediately transfer the wealth to cold storage or, if you have supreme confidence in your long term memory, directly in your mind (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=342691.0).

Wait 3-5 years. Retire to a life of luxury. You're welcome.

Because people who sell their btc while it's hot would benefit from your tiny influx of money

You will make someone happier by a little amount :)

buy some metal money is useless ... how can you buy online with physical metal ?
and then, what is the "commercial firm" that it accept "metal money" ?

the banks.  ;D

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mepxixTEJc1rnvwt1.gif

An excellent point, I hadn't thought of that!

Once the banking industry has gone the way of the dodo, the value of gold and silver will almost certainly plummet! Of course!

Because when paper money collapses you'll want to keep precious metals for trading locally with people and when the shit hits the fan people will be much happier with metal than they will with Bitcoin so you'll have an easier time. I trade Bitcoin and precious metals ( I guess being a Jeweller you could even count the gemstones I buy as a part of that ) purely so I can preserve my wealth, not because of the speculative value of them.

If you find having that much a bit pointless then you can always sell it off and buy Bitcoin with it instead yes, just make sure you don't get rid of it all and regret it later.

if your thinking about a jump into bitcoin. do the smart thing

"dont throw all your eggs into one basket"

keep half as silver, but the other half into bitcoin.

reasons
bitcoin has atleast another 125 years of growth.. before it meets its total rarity amount. so thats more than a lifetime.
if bitcoin tanks.. then you can use the other half of silver to buy up btcoins for pennies and catch the profits on the rise that always follows a tank,

just never throw 100% of wealth into one resource, especially at the point where you still have questions about it..

basically if your still half unsure, only risk half.

In my opinion - I would sell all silver I have and buy as much BTC as I can.

That is what I would do.

If you're feeling froggy, take the leap!

Who needs $25k, when you can get 5 to ten times that or more. :D

...

I always recommend diversification, even if young.  Since this is money that could be lost without too much heartache, I would go something like:

1/3 in gold
1/3 in silver
1/3 in BTC.

Bulletproof!

I'd buy bitcoin with $20,000 and leave the rest in silver. Then as btc prices go up, I'd take some profits and put it in silver.

I was looking for a response like this. Although, I would say he puts more into BTC especially since it's now finding relative stability.

[However, maybe the idea of diversification isn't considered because this person is willing to lose it all.]

You can sell 5k of that silver and invest in bitcoin. I dont see silver going x10 in a decade.

you ask what would you do on bitcoin forums, what do you think? -_-
try bitcoin, looose it all or double it or triple it

That is a good argument for putting half of it into BTC.  If it is worth massively more then the OP will be set anyhow.  If not, they have not lost everything. 

Never put all your eggs in one basket. Never do it, you may look at it now and say it wouldn't be terrible if you lose everything but when it actually happens you'll be very pissed. Unless of course $25k is nothing for you ( in which case I envy you).

I'll give some advice which should never steer you wrong:

1. Don't put more in crypto than you can afford to lose.
2. Always diversify.
3. Don't invest in anything you don't understand.

You've already addressed #1, so I'd definitely hold some crytpo. With respect to #2 I'd hold onto some silver (I think others have wisely said similar). That leaves #3 which is how I'd determine how much to put into each. I personally understand cryptocurrency a whole lot better than the silver market (which I think I have some clue about too), so I personally would load up on crytpocurrency.

The fact you already hold a significant part of your wealth in something tangible other than fiat puts you far ahead of most of the world's population. The fact you also have the opportunity to get into crypto while it's even more obscure on the world stage than gold/silver which have been around thousands of years advances you further. In other words you're doing pretty well either way. The only thing I'd have on my wishlist in addition, if at all possible, is some way to hold property/land. Having precious metals, cryptocurrency and land is the best possible asset portfolio going forward IMO.

Invest in a business, for Pete's sake!

Instead of sitting on that money, put it to good use.

If I had extra money, I would've hire artists for my game. Or open a little shop. Or sponsor someone talented.

Not simply lie in wait and hope for the better.

Congrats on having a good spot to start at.
I would sell only 60 to 70% of the silver at first (to buy BTC soon), then you have some money left in case BTC goes back close to $300 (or lower)

THIS! If you want more BTC, dump the gold part but don't ditch all your silver!

obviously, the flip side of that is the risk that it never does go lower, and the opportunity is lost to buy coins at the current price.

A good investment portfolio is not 100% of one thing or another.

You should not even have 100% silver right now. You should not exchange it for 100% bitcoin.

I suggest you find someone to assist you with creating a diversified portfolio, you'll probably thank yourself in 10, 20, 50 years time (or your children will might).

Because in the next decade, at least one major government will re-do their constitution along with their financial system.

Go for it better to try something with more volatility when young then when your older and need more safer investments.

Thanks for all the perspectives guys really appreciate it. Sometimes ones mind can blind itself. Thanks for the clarity.

As for now I believe staying diversified is the best option. I'll probably transition maybe 20% of my current holdings into my BTC holdings.

If you know the risks and understand that you could lose it all then I would (if I were you) get into Bitcoin and out of silver.

Silver is better than Gold, suggest 50% silver+25% bitcoin+25% other alternate coins.(potential ones)

I have about $6000 in bitcoin and directly bitcoin related investments
And about $300 in silver right now
Gold will follow in a couple of months

I think it would be wise to have at least a percentage in gold and silver, but in the short term bitcoin will likely hugely outperform both gold and silver, and silver will likely outperform gold on the short-medium run. What will happen in the case of economic collapse however remains a question. Gold and silver have a history of doing exceptionally well during a currency collapse, but bitcoin obviously has no history on that.

I'd say, out of your $25k sell 20k, invest in bitcoin
Sell another 1k for gold maybe
Leave the other 4k in silver.

That's just my advice.

Also, out of the 20k invested in bitcoin, maybe invest a little on bitcoin related investments instead if directly into bitcoin. Especially companies that yield dividend in bitcoin. In my signature you can find one such investment. Note that it may be a Ponzi so be careful, but if it is a legit business, 1% a day (which they often make) is a huge profit. (In roughly 70 days your investment is doubled).

Well silver ain't going anyway, the market potential for Bitcoin is way higher than silver's. Your choice

Diversify! 25K is a lot for someone young. Putting it all in Bitcoin is a mistake. Silver is at a historical low. Keep some in silver. Buy some Bitcoin (maybe 5K).

Never put all your eggs in one basket.

You could actually buy things with bitcoin you know. I doubt that you'll find any restaurant near you that accepts silver coins. It's simply impractical because the merchant accepting it must verify its purity while in bitcoin, we can simple look at the blockchain to verify. Silver is not easy to liquidate for the average person while in bitcoin you can simply buy stuff at overstock, etc. or go to an exchange and sell your coins all within your comfortable home. Bitcoin adoption rate is faster than silvers'. For an investors perspective, that is a window of opportunity.

It's not a good time to sell silver, because it already has corrected substantially. I think both silver and bitcoin will rise. But you should not focus on potential gains alone. You should also focus on potential loss. Bitcoin is by far a more risky investment, hence the greater potential return.

I would keep half the silver and invest the other half in Bitcoin. With silver you also have something physical in case of emergency.

ya.ya.yo!

Buy litecoins as well! Look at the return you would have gotten had you invested $100 a year ago!

Yes well.. Perhaps 50% BTC 50% LTC from silver it is reasonable ;)

Or maybe 70% to 30% would be better?

Which currency do you think is more stable? LTC or BTC?

Litecoin is less volatile than BTC. By design it uses weaker computers.
It has a smaller market share, less hash-power, less interest worldwide, isn't as secure, and my personal favorite...
Is probably already obsolete due to side chains.  Invest accordingly.

keep $5k in silver, rest to BTC is what i would do.

Bitcoin by a huge margin.

 i started all in with BTC, after learning how to ake money on BTC i buy silver with all my profit.

You mean by holding?

my advise to u young padawan is maintain ur precious metals stack and use new fiat reserve currency dollars to buy crypto-currency mining hardware. u don't need to gamble your stack to get more reserve currency fiat dollars. that isn't even a gamble that is just losing your stack. inflation is already hitting the us. i used to buy shaving cream at .99 a can and now that same can is 1.67 at walmarts .. they used to sell my razors in 15 packs for $24.95 .. now they don't even sell 15 packs anymore, they are 10 packs at $24.95 . that in just the last year or so. the us dollar is already buying less than it was a year ago. i wish i woulda bought a bunch more razors while they were still on sale in 15 packs a year ago! meditate on this and the rest of the answers to ur questions will come to you.

You just proved you aren't a very savvy Silver investor then... Silver is set to go up again very soon, many silver shortages lately in the technology industry(they use silver in a lot of parts)... I call troll on this or prove you have it. Anyone who bought in on silver awhile back is feeling great.

If you have virtually no living expenses and no debts, does that imply that you are currently living with your parents for free?

Is this situation going to change at some point?

I mean unless you are lucky enough to have been given a mortgage-free property to live in, at some point you're going to have to pay rent or mortgage.

If that is the case, rent is going to be one of the biggest expenditures you're ever going to have, and in that position I wouldn't be keeping $25k in silver or bitcoin but using it as a deposit on some property.

I suppose basically I struggle to imagine how $25k of net worth could be lost and still consider it as having no effect on day to day life.

If that truly is your position though, then I agree with other posters who have urged caution and diversity and pointed out that if you have to ask, you shouldn't do it.

This is a good suggestion.  If bitcoin increases in price to make $25k worth life-changing, 30% ($8k) will also be life-changing.  And50% would be life-changing.

If you have to be convinced either way though, think long and hard about changing course.

:-)