Oh god.  Are we going to be subjected to the same point in an excruciatingly elongated manner over and over again once more?

In late 2013 the price was a lot higher than it is now. The premiums for Casascius coins in BTC were also higher overall. It was a uniquely feverish moment though.

Yup. I think 2020 is key. That's when I'm going to sit back and take stock. If it's still in its wee ghetto by then then I'll start to wonder.

Bit of both but primarily investment for me. I think that's how it's going to end up for most people. The currency bit comes after it's been established as a store of value cum investment.

It's an interesting idea and one I've toyed with for the hell of it too. Obviously I wouldn't do ALL of them, just the promising ish ones.

The issue would be timing for when to get in and out and staying on top of what each one is up to. That would be a full time job in itself.

I don't have any descendants and have zero plans to squirt any out. However I do like the idea of holding some back to leave to my one thousand cats or pet extreme right wing organisation.

By the time I'm properly old we should be into the true deflationary phase and I'll regret everything I ever bought with it back in the day.

I know a few people who did this and did it successfully but it did sound rather time consuming.

Is this still possible? I presumed the sites had shut out options to do this, not that I know a great deal about it.

Bit-x/Coinsbank was paying up to half a Bitcoin per month at one point but there've been issues on and off. Bitmixer works well for me. It's automated and you're not compelled to post every week. Not the vastest payout but it's very civilised all the same.

What country are you in? That's going to decide your options. Some countries have far more possibilities than others.

About 100 maybe and I choose to trust direct experience over 'studies'.

You're making the exact same point as I am. Because it's now legal it's been lifted out of being a gateway drug. If drug dealers were the only place you could obtain Broccoli then that would be a gateway drug too. It's a cultural, not chemical, issue.

Depends on how pressing the debt is. Paying a debt off with a (theoretically) deflationary currency is a bad idea if you can avoid it.

Some people spend their entire lives up to their eyebrows in debt and don't seem to care at all. I'm allergic to it myself.

I can only go on my own observations. I'm not interested in what scientists have to say on the subject. I have seen with my own beady eyes people starting off smoking weed and winding up heroin infested zombies. I believe this happened mainly because they got inadvertently mired in druggist culture.

I also know plenty of people who smoke weed and do just fine, but there are enough who are not for me to believe it is a gateway drug. If it was legal and acceptable everywhere then I believe it would largely stop being a gateway drug.

It's an appalling comparison indeed and it isn't remotely valid anyway. The more money goes in, the greater the incentive there is to stick to it.

No one other than shareholders and employees had any stake in the success of all the dead sites that have gone before. All they had to do was click elsewhere to the latest sensation.

It's the polar opposite for crypto so something tumultuous would have to happen for Bitcoin to be usurped. It's still early enough in the game to be possible but grows ever more unlikely for each day that it's above ground.

It's a gateway in introducing people to drug culture. It's nothing to do with any individual drugs or their respective merits. Being around that normalises it.

I've seen no shortage of people dabble in weed and end up fucking themselves up on heavier stuff.

No one starts off wanting to do that, but it's an unsurprising progression. No doubt a significant reason for that is hanging around drug dealers and users. If you popped into a shop to get your 'shit' instead then there's a chance you'd pass all that by.

This is something I'm rather curious about. How many people here own coins but have plenty of debt too?

I'm not talking mortgages, you get somewhere to live and a free house at the end of it so that's very handy, but rather loans and credit to service as well as owning some Bitcoin.

If so, have you locked it away with the intention of never touching it no matter what happens or have you had to dip in to pay off some debt?

If you cross the line into getting in debt with them then you are indeed fucked. A pal of mine must've turned about £100 debt into thousands after consistently failing to pay his £3 a week or something and getting fined constantly. He should've just milked them to the max and gone abroad for a few years.

If you only spend what you've got on them then they're very useful. I've never lived beyond my means but it's an easy spiral to tumble down if things are tight.

Even the head of Barclaycard himself said that he'd never use a credit card. At least they're not as bad as payday loan fuckheads.

Are we allowed to include paper profits? That would make a for a fun read from the alt dabblers. Some people must've creamed their knickers when their pet coin went through the roof only to find it did it on $50 volume.

Of course it bloody is, but mainly because in the past you'd have to hang around a drug dealer to get hold of it.

I've known quite a few dealers in my time. Not a single one sold weed only.

That's why legalising it works.

Why would they bother? It doesn't benefit them in any way and it just adds paperwork.

Considering how much of a grind exchanges can be it would be very interesting to see Bitcoin market turnover including p2p and OTC. That's not possible of course but it might open a few eyes.

The wording is quite specific. In terms of wallets it's 'custodial' which I assume means they control the private keys. Blockchain.info and friends won't be affected.