I'm not familiar with UK compliance laws, but GLBSE is in clear violation of US laws.  I'm surprised how many of you are involved.  Don't worry, the SEC is here to protect unaccredited investors like yourselves.  They will do so by making your investments worthless.

I use boounce.  Sux with chrome though.  You have to use firefox.

Additionally--

If you think you will somehow make a fortune in litecoin, think again.   There is no "time" for litcoin.  If something irreparably damages bitcoin, litcoin will suffer the same fate.  errr.. I mean, it will never take off.

Having a glass of vino before bed, I thought I might look at litecoin.  After doing so, it's obvious that the market tells the tale--

Amount of public bids: 

BTC ~$2.5 million; litecoin $3,600.

Kinda of makes you wonder if it's worth all this effort for something that isn't really pioneering. 

Trust me, a large marketcap does not make bicoin look ridiculous.  Every public company on this earth has someone in charge of IR, that gets the word out (pumps).  Larger marketcaps will create more investment in services that facilitate trade of BTC and less volatility.  Bitcoin is vulnerable at this valuation.

Anyway-- I've taken my position. Since, it's not profitable to momentum trade on mtgox (given their current commission structure), I'll sit an watch and hope for the best.  

Good luck all.

When I mention the marketcap to one of my friends and he audibly laughed.  "That's nothing... it's a currency?" I believe were his exact words.  Most hedge funds won't even look at a stock with a marketcap of 120MM, yet alone a currency.

There is a lot of effort from really smart and talented people that have gotten bitcoin to this point.  When/If the marketcap hits a $B, the average investor will take notice.  They will be curious, they will want to invest (in bitcoin and ancillary services), and they will want to use it. 

I mentioned bitcoin to 5 of my friends, and only one of them had even heard of it.  They are all active traders.  

Most of them spend time researching their stocks on forums like yahoo finance, investorshub, and raging bull.

If 5% of the people in on this site went out and made 3 posts on 3 different stock forums mentioning bitcoin, the price would increase by order of a magnitude very quickly.  We only have a 120MM marketcap!

Can someone (or group of someones) with more bitcoin than I make a bounty for this?  I have made my posts.

Thank you!

There would be significantly more trade on MTGox if they updated there commission schedule.  Charging a percentage (instead of a flat fee) makes it impossible to momentum trade.  It would be nice if I could trade 1000 shares at a time and make a few pennies.  If I buy BTC at 12 (assuming a .5% commission), I have to sell it at 12.10 just to break even.  Assuming risk, that really means I need to sell it at $13, and that's not a momentum trade.  This problem will get worse as the price rises.

Percentages work great for the one-time investor if the price is $3 and you buy 10 BTC, but if you want liquidity in a market, you need momentum traders.  I hope they decide to put a cap on the per trade commissions soon.

The good thing is, when they do this, BTC price will rise significantly just from the act of traders taking positions.

OP-- Haven't read all the posts... but you are simply referring to the time value of money.  Economics 101.  Bitcoin, cash, pez dispensers... it doesn't matter.  In BTCs case, if the exchange liquidity is tight, it might drive up interest rate.  The market will sort that out soon enough.

I'm up late... my mind is whirling.  I'm trying to figure out what the feds are going to to about bitcoin.  I've come to the conclusion that cryto currencies are here to stay. 

The situation is this.  Confidence in the world's reserve currency is rapidly waning.  The IMF has been calling for a dollar alternative (http://www.boounce.com/search/?g=163&s=1449&q=IMF+calls+for+dollar+alternative), gold is more expensive than platinum, and the US dept is over $16 trillion.  The dollar has big problems.

I keep thinking about a point my old economics prof made about the the government being reluctant to change the physical characteristics (color) of the dollar.  The dollar represents ultimate stability.  Changing it might affect that.  Bitcoin is such a minuscule part of the economy.  The last thing the feds want to do is highlight fear and weakness in the dollar by labeling bitcoin as a threat.  Additionally, all they would do is create iterative competitors. Their only recourse is to embrace and regulate it, or go after it covertly. 

You run the risk of losing your money from any financial company that is not FDIC issued.  It wouldn't help if they were in the US, what keeps them honest is the amount of money they are making. 

I just opened a small account and they were very responsive to questions I had-- chat and email.

Thanks for the bit penny. 

Silly or not, I'm just trying to be honest.  When the real media trial begins, they will look at the actions of the biggest players.  When they see Gareth and his vampire pack, the Romney incident will be easy pickings.  I really wish they would change their profiles.

I will do my best


First I'd have to say, that I'm naturally skeptical.  I love the idea of bitcoin being an example for tight monetary policy. But in all honesty, my primary drive for obtaining them was for appreciation.  When they shot up to $30 I lost interest.  Additionally, I was concerned about the FBI probe and the Chuck Shumler comments.


BitInstant and Coinbase actually recaptured my attention in Bitcoin.  If they can pull of the credit card, it will be a big step for liquidity.  More so, the bitcoin ecosystem needs legitimate players.  When I see incubators out of California funding bitcoin startups and those startups doing press releases and executing a plan... I get excited.  When I see publicity stunts that are juvenile at best and illegal at worst, I get turned off.


Sure, but that line is drawn much closer to my family and personal freedoms.  I've seen the government confiscate private property for other commercial interests. I've seen authorities abuse power and literally break up families.  I saw the government shut down napster and convince people that downloading a file is evil (when copyrights are generally regarded as the responsibility of the holder to secure).   Defending a crypto-currency that the public believes promotes terrorism, child porn, drugs, and money laundering is a losing battle friend.  

Having said that, I believe bitcoin has a chance. But that path involves public perception that bitcoin doesn't promote illegal activities foremost, and that it can coexist with governments ability to control fiscal policy. Most interesting, is that the blockchain provides more transparency than cash transactions.  I didn't even figure that out until recently.  I think the bitcoin community should be touting that fact as loudly as it can.

I'm ann-

I actually discovered bitcoin last year before the bubble. I'm in the process of rediscovering bitcoin now. 
My plan is to stash some BTC away for a rainy day.  I found the process of buying and storing BTC intially to have a steep learning curve.  I feel like there should be a service where I enter a credit card and receive a paper wallet in mail. Simple.

My biggest long-term concern is the "dark side" of bitcoin.  If the government(s) comes after Bitcoin, they will vilify bitcoin (and all crypto-currencies) as a means of money laundering and buying drugs/porn/weapons.  Bitcoin is still developing liquidity and I think Bitinstant is on the right track; however, I was very disappointed to see them trying to broker the Romney extortion.  I almost called it quits when I saw that.  Just my opinion.


1PMLWKh1Uxkj6cAT59XxLxH77wxoi7XsRN

Thanks!

The best way to get newbs involved is to get them a little BTC.  This gives them something to practice moving around, etc.  Since mining is becoming an advanced undertaking, I'm starting this thread. 

Newbs-- Tell us who you, how you discovered bitcoin, and your initial thoughts/concerns.  How can bitcoin be made more accessible?

Heroes/Sr.-- Please support newbs that give good feedback with tips.  Please don't flame them.

Newb here.

1PMLWKh1Uxkj6cAT59XxLxH77wxoi7XsRN

A competitor to bitcoin needs to be fundamentally different... like instead of dedicating computer power to a block chain, dedicating it to gene folding (or something altruistic).

1PMLWKh1Uxkj6cAT59XxLxH77wxoi7XsRN

newbie here.

Sorry... I know this has been answered, but I'm tired of searching all this technical stuff.  I simply want to buy $200 worth of bitcoin and sock it away on a disc for a few years.  I don't want it to be on my hard drive in case I get hacked or my comp crashes.

I am very non technical, what is the easiest way to do this? Thank you, Ann.