The world is in a perpetual state of chaos. If the price of Bitcoin is correlated with the amount of chaos on planet Earth, then I predict we will see some MAJOR price jumps before 2020, depending on what Mr. Trump enacts in current and future policies. Where there is fear, people run to safety.....which essentially means that Bitcoin is viewed as a safe haven for smart money investments.

This thread really underlines the power that the media has on our economic decisions. Imagine what would happen to the price if we entered World War III.

From a mathematical standpoint, the only costs involved are the miner and electricity costs. The miner is a one-time fee and as expected will take a couple to a number of months to pay for the investment. Aside from this, if you were able to generate cheap electricity (by way of solar or hydroelectric energy) then theoretically you would be able to run each miner for as long as the CPU can exist without malfunctioning.

At some point it has to be profitable, otherwise, there would be nobody mining Bitcoins and the system would experience a bottleneck. Depending on your Bitcoin mining rig setup it may take years but it is definitely possible to recoup your investment and then some.

Isn't it kind of ironic that a bank would buy BTC? Evidently, cryptocurrencies are a threat to the normal banking system. That's why banks don't want them to exist, and if they have to, they want to be the ones in control. This is precisely what I see as happening right now. All this means is that Bitcoin is doing its job at disrupting the current banking system.

If the banksters are scared of Bitcoin, then that means it is a good idea and opportunity to invest. Just my two cents 

Did you write this post and long time ago, get frozen in time, and then come back to publish it today?

I assume you must mean $5,000 otherwise, yes we are indeed over $500. What a time to be alive and investing in Bitcoins  


Maybe by "cold storage" he means putting into a cryo chamber and "freezing" in time...... 

Quite a few actually across all of my cryptocurrency. I think simplifying wallets over the long haul as a technology would be GREAT.

Currently, for Bitcoin, I use Electrum, Breadwallet and Coinbase. I also keep some BTC in my FreeBitco.in savings account to collect interest.

Supply and demand to put it simply.

Supply as we know it is finite and depending on the altcoin in question can vary in quantity. Some like Ethereum or Ripple are more lackluster in their known supply quantities.

Demand comes from lots of things including word of mouth and the Internet. But the most important driver of the Bitcoin price is the media. And I mean big media as in CNN, Huffington Post, Fox, CBS, etc....and even Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. One big news story can influence the price of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies dramatically. Case in point - just look at what happened this last week.

More accurately, the true invention is the Blockchain.

But yes, Bitcoin has to be one of the greatest inventions ever considering what utility it is disrupting - money. And ultimately money is a synonym for control. In essence, the true benefit of Bitcoin is economic freedom. And since it is opportunity for all - no matter whether you are green, yellow, blue or pink - you can participate in Bitcoin and the Blockchain. Most people in first world countries are blind to how poor and disadvantaged 3rd world countries are when it comes to the current economic system and Central Banks. With Bitcoin, most everyone can be a winner.

It would be unwise for China to ban Bitcoin completely especially considering their economic position and ties to large mining networks. More realistically they are probably restructuring and categorizing the cryptocurrencies so they can regulate it. Why else would they be closing down exchanges? It's not because they are evil and want to lose advantages...it's about control.  I doubt Bitcoin  would get banned completely as that would be a very costly ban for the economic prosperity of a country.

Feels great! It's about time the world is starting to take notice. I just wish I had a bigger position already in some of these coins, especially the Big 4!  First it was the programmers and traders, then the investors, entrepreneurs, and now celebrities and politicians are joining in. The fun is just starting to begin.

Another advantage that most people have failed to bring up is the amount of time paying with Bitcoin saves. In any given transaction, all one has to do is scan the QR code and the transaction automatically settles itself. QR technology is secure, private and gets the job done efficiently for 1 to 1 transactions. As digital commerce gets more advanced, I could see this owning many advantages for Bitcoin as a method of payment.

No one can predict the future but it is possible to look at the past to guess the future. Bitcoin is a first mover in the world of cryptocurrency. The Blockchain is the real innovation here which allows people  a hacker proof way of sending value to one another. This is extremely valuable and has merit based on hype, utility and scarcity alone, assuming the technology works.

Realistically, Bitcoin is new technology with many advantages. The industry it is trying to disrupt is the economic engine itself. It separates itself from Fiat money in the sense that it is not political but moreso technological. Bitcoin is accessible to everyone and makes harboring secure transactions for all parties a reality across the Internet.

Based on all these factors, BTC is going to be enormously valuable over the long run. Do you really want to be the last kid on the block to get Bitcoins?

Hopes and dreams. A beacon for a new civilization based on secure currency and inflation proof methods.

....so mostly investing.

I have also used Bitcoin to purchase web hosting, domains, gift cards (Gyft), pizza and to pay for bills in times of crisis. Plain and simple Bitcoin can be used for more things than Fiat money.

Nope, this drop is definitely predictable. First of all, look at who's causing the drama, the CFO of Chase Bank! Of course he is going to be wary of Bitcoin because it completely goes against the fundamentals of his beliefs. The natural ebb and flow of investments is to go up and down due to the media. A good business is still a good business despite what the media may say about it. Understand that the media has huge influence when it comes to the perception of value for things.

They are both very good investments. It is difficult to say if 10x or 100x multiples are possible at this point with either of them, so your best bet in my opinion, would be to invest in both of them equally. This way you would be able to reduce your risk portfolio and increase your exposure to growth.

You also get to participate in all the benefits of ownership. Definitely just invest in both as a fun test for us.

Haha looks like the banks are bringing in fear to all the suckers who are buying Bitcoins late. They don't want hope for the platform and are spreading negativity like wildfire. I would just ignore them and continue to invest for the long haul, especially if you just bought into it.

I could have seen this coming a marathon away.

It is a currency in the way you view gold as a currency. Depending on the circumstance it may make more sense to do transactions with Gold. I.e. During pirate trades or jungle raids

With Bitcoin, things are a lot simpler. Sure you can hold onto your Bitcoins like a treasure chest stuff with gold coins but you can also spend it on convertible goods like pirate ships and swag. Over the long run chief, you're better off holding it as an investment mate.

Don't be tooo worried if the chief officer of a major BANKing corporation has a few negative things to say about Bitcoin.  He is merely protecting his investment and assets. He knows he's in deep trouble and is probably investing into a cryptocurrency right now, say Ripple.

You can't trust these banking guys because they are experts in fudging numbers out of the thin air unlike entrepreneurs and real business owners.

Define peer to peer. Bitcoin is already capable of peer to peer exchanges across people from around the world. And the all operate within the same value and economic system of Bitcoins aka Satoshi.

ICO stands for Initial Coin Offering. And it is similar to an IPO (Initial Public Offering) in concept, and in the sense that you get to invest during the ground stage.

Essentially it is when an unknown coin comes into existence and a value must be attached to it once people fund it with enough Bitcoins, Dollars and other currencies.

It seems like overall, Bitcoin is just better technology for payments. It's secure, fast, global and anonymous. Sure cash may be convenient in person but digital transactions are just so much better with the Blockchain.

I think within a few years we'll see a large number of online retailers accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Once Amazon.com joins in the fun we'll see a major sea change in how people transact monetary value.

The shift is coming. All it takes is a major world war, financial crash or something similar.