What price is high enough?

[alkor]

I bought most of my bitcoin back when they were 90c. I never imagined that a few months later they would be worth 20 times more. I would have been satisfied with an appreciation of 10-20% - after all that is far more than what my bank pays.

How much higher does the price need to go for you to cash out of your bitcoins? What are the reasons why you are not selling now? Is it that you expect the currency to appreciate further? Or are there any other reasons why you are not cashing out?

[Freakin]

I bought most of my bitcoin back when they were 90c. I never imagined that a few months later they would be worth 20 times more. I would have been satisfied with an appreciation of 10-20% - after all that is far more than what my bank pays.

How much higher does the price need to go for you to cash out of your bitcoins? What are the reasons why you are not selling now? Is it that you expect the currency to appreciate further? Or are there any other reasons why you are not cashing out?

I'd probably consider recovering part of my initial investment in the $25-30 range, then holding the rest hoping it hits the sky

[Timo Y]

over 9000

[Bit_Happy]

I thought a much longer pause near $10 would be healthy for the project. It is (long past the) time to build more websites and businesses that accept BTC.

[Findeton]

The thing is, I don't want to cash out. I want to be able to pay everything in bitcoins.

1 btc > 1e6 or 1e7 $

By then, it will certainly be possible.

[bpd]

There's no one price that's universally applicable -- everyone has different risk tolerances. Here's one potential strategy though.

If you hold $X worth of bitcoin, and $X/3 is a lifestyle-changing amount of money for you, sell 1/3 of your bitcoins.  For example, if $100,000 would change your life, sell a third when you have $300,000 worth of BTC.  Continue to apply this strategy going forward. If you have $100k, another $100k won't change your life. But $500k might. So when your remaining $200k worth of bitcoins becomes $1.5M, sell $500k.  And so on, and so forth.

There's nothing magical about 1/3... you could apply the same strategy with 1/2.  Either way, you will never fully sell all your bitcoins, which is a good thing in case it rises to truly ridiculous levels.

[venom]

How much higher does the price need to go for you to cash out of your bitcoins? What are the reasons why you are not selling now? Is it that you expect the currency to appreciate further? Or are there any other reasons why you are not cashing out?

If you think we're here treating this thing as some kind of ponzi scheme so we can 'cash out', you're completely missing the point and true intent of Bitcoin.  Sure, I'm sure (unfortunately) there are plenty of pump&dumpers here.. it's to be expected.  However our dream and objective is to actually use this currency as a *replacement*, not as a way to get rich in FIAT-money denominated terms.   I want to be able to spend Bitcoin anywhere.  I'd actually be happy to see the pump&dumpers and speculators leave, so I can buy more Bitcoin at a cheaper price.

The more intelligent here are holding onto their coins and riding out the inevitable bumps because they 'get it'.  The gamblers are sitting there refreshing bitcoincharts.com all day waiting nervously to see if/when 'everyone else' will start selling.  I know which side I'm on.  Bitcoin is a much, much bigger deal than I think a lot of the college kids, newcomers & gamblers on this forum realize.  I'm what you would call one of the 'early adopters' and most people would gasp if they knew how much coin I had.  I spent most of it already and even though I'd be rich if I would've kept it, I don't mind.  It's about the dream, it's not about getting rich in federal reserve notes.

[bpd]

If you think we're here treating this thing as some kind of ponzi scheme so we can 'cash out', you're completely missing the point and true intent of Bitcoin.  Sure, I'm sure (unfortunately) there are plenty of pump&dumpers here.. it's to be expected.  However our dream and objective is to actually use this currency as a *replacement*, not as a way to get rich in FIAT-money denominated terms.   I want to be able to spend Bitcoin anywhere.  I'd actually be happy to see the pump&dumpers and speculators leave, so I can buy more Bitcoin at a cheaper price.

The more intelligent here are holding onto their coins and riding out the inevitable bumps because they 'get it'.  The gamblers are sitting there refreshing bitcoincharts.com all day waiting nervously to see if/when 'everyone else' will start selling.  I know which side I'm on.  Bitcoin is a much, much bigger deal than I think a lot of the college kids, newcomers & gamblers on this forum realize.  I'm what you would call one of the 'early adopters' and most people would gasp if they knew how much coin I had.  I spent most of it already and even though I'd be rich if I would've kept it, I don't mind.  It's about the dream, it's not about getting rich in federal reserve notes.

Well said. Anyone who's in this to make a couple thousand bucks deserves exactly what he gets... a couple thousand bucks and lots of regret.  But you have to realize it's unrealistic for most people to ignore a significant amount of money that would change their life.  At some point it would only be prudent to diversify one's holdings if bitcoin became the dominant component of your net worth and significant multiples of an annual salary.

[alkor]

At some point it would only be prudent to diversify one's holdings if bitcoin became the dominant component of your net worth and significant multiples of an annual salary.

This is exactly what I meant. I already recovered my initial investment into bitcoin, and I am currently holding most of what I have for the long term. However, once that becomes a significant portion of my wealth, I am planning to diversify into something else, while still retaining a fraction of my original holding of bitcoins as I too believe it is an idea which has a great potential.

[flug]

If you think we're here treating this thing as some kind of ponzi scheme so we can 'cash out', you're completely missing the point and true intent of Bitcoin.. The more intelligent here are holding onto their coins and riding out the inevitable bumps because they 'get it'.

I totally agree. I think the world order has already fundamentally changed because of Bitcoin. I'm hanging onto mine for the long term.

[triforcelink]

If you think we're here treating this thing as some kind of ponzi scheme so we can 'cash out', you're completely missing the point and true intent of Bitcoin.  Sure, I'm sure (unfortunately) there are plenty of pump&dumpers here.. it's to be expected.  However our dream and objective is to actually use this currency as a *replacement*, not as a way to get rich in FIAT-money denominated terms.   I want to be able to spend Bitcoin anywhere.  I'd actually be happy to see the pump&dumpers and speculators leave, so I can buy more Bitcoin at a cheaper price.

The more intelligent here are holding onto their coins and riding out the inevitable bumps because they 'get it'.  The gamblers are sitting there refreshing bitcoincharts.com all day waiting nervously to see if/when 'everyone else' will start selling.  I know which side I'm on.  Bitcoin is a much, much bigger deal than I think a lot of the college kids, newcomers & gamblers on this forum realize.  I'm what you would call one of the 'early adopters' and most people would gasp if they knew how much coin I had.  I spent most of it already and even though I'd be rich if I would've kept it, I don't mind.  It's about the dream, it's not about getting rich in federal reserve notes.

Bravo good sir! I'm on your boat! However I will not be spending any coins until they stabilize, yes I want to see this world get moved over to bitcoin but at these growth rates it makes no sense for me to spend them. As long as there are more and more people getting involved in bitcoin i don't see this growth slowing down. when the growth slows, we will see our stabilization, and that is when bitcoin will become the currency we are dreaming of.

[shackleford]

How much higher does the price need to go for you to cash out of your bitcoins? What are the reasons why you are not selling now? Is it that you expect the currency to appreciate further? Or are there any other reasons why you are not cashing out?

If you think we're here treating this thing as some kind of ponzi scheme so we can 'cash out', you're completely missing the point and true intent of Bitcoin.  Sure, I'm sure (unfortunately) there are plenty of pump&dumpers here.. it's to be expected.  However our dream and objective is to actually use this currency as a *replacement*, not as a way to get rich in FIAT-money denominated terms.   I want to be able to spend Bitcoin anywhere.  I'd actually be happy to see the pump&dumpers and speculators leave, so I can buy more Bitcoin at a cheaper price.

The more intelligent here are holding onto their coins and riding out the inevitable bumps because they 'get it'.  The gamblers are sitting there refreshing bitcoincharts.com all day waiting nervously to see if/when 'everyone else' will start selling.  I know which side I'm on.  Bitcoin is a much, much bigger deal than I think a lot of the college kids, newcomers & gamblers on this forum realize.  I'm what you would call one of the 'early adopters' and most people would gasp if they knew how much coin I had.  I spent most of it already and even though I'd be rich if I would've kept it, I don't mind.  It's about the dream, it's not about getting rich in federal reserve notes.

I disagree, I think people that are truly acting in the spirit of bitcoin will not horde but instead try to offer goods and services within the BTC community and use bitcoins to purchase goods and services from others.  If people do not spend or work for bitcoins how does the economy grow? Think about that person that spent 10,0000 bitcoins for a pizza. If he had been thinking about his long term value perhaps we would not be where we are today because that seemed like a milestone.

I plan on doing a fourth of July (US  independence) bitcoin giveaway on Facebook . Stating that they are worth X (some number higher than today) would surely raise curiosity for people I know that have never heard of it.

[MacFall]

Just a little bit higher. 

...seriously though, I'm in this for the long haul. I might cash one in now and then when I really, really need FRNs for something, and I'll certainly spend them when I see a good deal. But I'm not ever going to get out entirely. If this ship sinks, I'm going down with it. I've diversified sufficiently that I'm not too worried about that, anyway.

[Jaime Frontero]

wrong question.

the correct question is: "what price is low enough?"

in my case... $8.00.

i invested $1,600 in mining equipment in late march, and have been at 2.1 Gh/s since - solo at the beginning, but now in pools.

i have 200 BTC set aside as a stop-loss.  if the price goes down close to $8.00 i'll sell them so my investment is covered.  the electricity i can afford to forget about.

i spend whatever bitcoin i spend.

i'll keep the rest forever, if need be.  even if only as a reminder.

anyway, that's how i think of it.  YMMV.

[triforcelink]

wrong question.

the correct question is: "what price is low enough?"

in my case... $8.00.

i invested $1,600 in mining equipment in late march, and have been at 2.1 Gh/s since - solo at the beginning, but now in pools.

i have 200 BTC set aside as a stop-loss.  if the price goes down close to $8.00 i'll sell them so my investment is covered.  the electricity i can afford to forget about.

i spend whatever bitcoin i spend.

i'll keep the rest forever, if need be.  even if only as a reminder.

anyway, that's how i think of it.  YMMV.

good to see an exist strategy. I would consider the reason for the price drop, if its a speculative bubble bursting, good riddance Ill buy more. If its the underlying bitcoin network crashing and burning im out.

[Maxxx]

The thing is, I don't want to cash out. I want to be able to pay everything in bitcoins.

1 btc > 1e6 or 1e7 $

By then, it will certainly be possible.

I second this. In the short term I am happy with buying groceries and data needed to run an online business but am hoping more innovations keep occurring that allow it to move more mainstream, possibly to brick and mortar shops.

[Grant]

Now that we have options on bitcoins the price really doesn't matter (if you're here for investment purposes), as more people start to use them it should be very easy to reduce any potential loss or even increase profit with a simple put/call pair either if it shoots to 20,000$ a BTC or as low as 0.001$ / BTC. So long as transactions continue to grow, we have growth, and we seem to do.

[MacFall]

The thing is, I don't want to cash out. I want to be able to pay everything in bitcoins.

1 btc > 1e6 or 1e7 $

By then, it will certainly be possible.

I second this. In the short term I am happy with buying groceries and data needed to run an online business but am hoping more innovations keep occurring that allow it to move more mainstream, possibly to brick and mortar shops.

I'm afraid groceries will come last of all without doing some serious legwork. I bet I can find a butcher, farmer, baker, and someone to sell me hygiene products who will accept bitcoin - but probably not close enough to my house to deal with them exclusively. And chain supermarkets are just too reliant on the state paradigm. I think that large-scale grocers will probably start using bitcoin at around the same time that soldiers and cops start doing it too - when the government's money is utterly useless to them.

[triforcelink]

The thing is, I don't want to cash out. I want to be able to pay everything in bitcoins.

1 btc > 1e6 or 1e7 $

By then, it will certainly be possible.

I second this. In the short term I am happy with buying groceries and data needed to run an online business but am hoping more innovations keep occurring that allow it to move more mainstream, possibly to brick and mortar shops.

I'm afraid groceries will come last of all without doing some serious legwork. I bet I can find a butcher, farmer, baker, and someone to sell me hygiene products who will accept bitcoin - but probably not close enough to my house to deal with them exclusively. And chain supermarkets are just too reliant on the state paradigm. I think that large-scale grocers will probably start using bitcoin at around the same time that soldiers and cops start doing it too - when the government's money is utterly useless to them.

So do you think it will take the demise of the dollar to reach this point?

[jhansen858]

honestly,

If your in it for an investment (nothing wrong with that) then its more about percentages then price.  Just look at birkshire/hathaway stock...

http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:BRK.A

today $112,120.00/share  -$932.00/share (-0.82%)


$112,000 per share... In 1991 it started out at $6,000 / share

There is nothing stopping BTC from doing similar growth.  Its backed by the greenbacks of the people buying them.  So in essence it has as much value as people think it does.  Just ask the people who threw down hard cash on the auctions to buy BTC.. The more people who purchase their shares in the 21M that are available, the higher the price will go.. Always at this point being back by mostly Dollars and Euro's / what ever currency you want to throw in there..


Fundamentally its sound.  The more governments fuck up normal currency, the faster people will run to BTC.  The best thing a government can do is play fair and not fuck people over by printing more money and making everyone's money worth less.