even bitstamp joined the $600 crew just now. it will be interesting to see where we are heading in the coming days. i just hope it isn't a trick where the price will dive sub $600 to $570-$580 prices again.

there is nothing in the news that you can relate to the current price spike. but i don't think it's manipulation. it's probably due to a few large players is securing themselves a decent position in bitcoin before the price start to go up again. whatever the reason really is, it's a more than welcome bit of market action that we have been waiting for.

those that are waiting for $800 prices are wasting their time. we first need to get to smash through the $600 price level. after that a whole new challange will come towards us. and that's maintaining a price of above $600 levels. it's not as easy as it may seem to some people. then we have to come close to $700 which also is a very difficult thing. too many obstacles.

don't underestimate the media effect on people. these people think bitcoin is a heaven for criminals and terrorists. it's ignorance from the highest possible levels, but it's reality. that's how they see bitcoin.

i am also trading on a daily basis considering there is enough volatility and volume, but everything i make is more like a bonus for me. in the current calm days i am not trading at all as i prefer to take some distance when the market isn't moving. on average with a decent level of volatility, i can make around 10-20% in a month. last month was quite calm and it resulted in a profit of 6%. still good.

a lot people say that the price has gone down, and is now considered boring by these people. they however don't look at long term charts where it's clearly visible that we are going up nicely. they don't see that since they only focus on the short term. it's a nice gradual increase that took us years to build. it's better to have a slower but much more sustainable growth, than peaks where you can count the days till it vaninishes into hot air.

it's as following.

currency aspect: when you buy and sell stuff, send and receive transactions from any level.

investment aspect: when you use it for trading purposes, buying it to hold it for a certain period to sell them later on.

store of value: keeping a good portion of your money in bitcoin for a long period of time. of course this can also be seen as some sort of investment, but a lot people don't treat it as such as their only intention is to keep money out the banking system etc.

these are 3 aspect of bitcoin that i am using.

so you earn more with bitcoin than with your regular salary? that's great of course, but it would be nice to hear how and what you are doing to get to such level.

we nearly touched the $800 price level just before the block halving, but that was just related to the hype. i think the price was due for a correction after the block halving. the bitfinex hack dump resulted in a low of $465. if you take that into consideration, then current price isn't that bad at all.

it's a bit wishful thinking to assume that the price will only go up. nothing in the world goes only up in value. the market needs sell-offs from time to time to give the market some time to let a bubble lose its power. also, dumps give people incentive to start buying. it attracts traders. it's a very important aspect of the market.

that's not a problem related to bitcoin. you have no funds left in your wallet because you have spent them all, or lost them with gambling. these are the most likely reasons.

it's no coincidence anymore. it happened too often for people not to notice it. it's pure manipulation where a few people make loads of money from. it's not the first time that it happened, and definitely not the last time.

fresh money coming in. (most important aspect of course).
good sentiment.

yes, of course people have the right to talk about till what level the price might go up, but they think that it can happen just like that. they don't realize that in order to see the price go up, we must have money coming in to fight against the massive selling pressure. that just to keep the price at the level where it is right now. in order to get the price to increase, there must be even more money being put to work.

getting rich times are not part of the current times anymore, unless you have a large enough balance that you manage to grow. the far majority of the people here hold less than 1btc. these people will never become rich. even not when the price goes to $10,000 (which might even never happen).

bitcoin will move more underground than it has ever been. peer 2 peer will be the desired method for buying and selling. and in that aspect, new kind of exchanges will pop up where people will still be able to buy and sell their coins. governments will only force such rules on bitcoin if it is seriously threatening their economy. that's why i like bitcoin how it is right now. an alternative currency/tool.

mass adoption will surely help towards a much higher price, but i would prefer more wealthy people with the intention of using bitcoin as store of wealth, instead of faucet hungry people adding next to nothing to the bitcoin eco system. these people mostly convert every bit of earned satoshis to fiat. they don't spend anything at all, etc.

the first priority of saving money is to have money aside for when you need it. if you have that, and even more alongside that, then you can use that "more" part for investment purposes. it shouldn't be that when you are using your saved money for investment purposes, that you don't have anything left for emergencies and stuff.

it's funny how people are talking about the price to reach higher levels without knowing what is needed to realize such growth. even keeping the price at current levels requires effort. it's far from east to keep the price around the current levels for weeks, maybe months. that's something people don't realize.

strong minded people don't look back and think that "if" they bought their coins back then, they would be happy people right now. they focus on the here and now. i also had the possibility of buying at very low prices (around $100 levels), which i also did, but accordingly to the amount i had for investment purposes, and what i thought to be safe. it's called get over it, and move on.

you're a good example of a sig spammer. read my post before coming up with nonsense. you didn't understand a single thing of what i said.