Is the current bubble harmful to Bitcoin?

[Bit_Happy]

* Too unstable.
* People losing money they cannot afford.
* The press will have another field day.
* Inviting the Gov to take notice, regulate, tax, etc?

Is the current bubble harmful to Bitcoin?
What is your real opinion, even if you are a bit blinded by profit?


Bonus question (apply here to become a multi-millionaire)
How does anyone who was active in 2011 keep panic buying/holding now?

[Piper67]

So since your other thread is a massive facepalm https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=145315.0

You decide to try again here? 

[lettucebee]

Stop calling it a bubble! Stop it!  It's a "return to value"

[meebs]

It woudl only be a bubble if the fundamentals of the coin did not backup its price. If there literally is a huge adoption with may new people interested and more commerce taking place than it isnt a bubble.

[Mike Christ]

Current and bubble...I'm not sure those words are supposed to go together

[jubalix]

ITT

A BEAR WHO
[1] STOOD OUT OF THE MARKET WAITING FOR IT TO CRASH
[2] COULD NOT AND STILL CANNOT DRAW A STRAIGHT LINE ON A LOG GRAPH

[Melbustus]

...
Bonus question (apply here to become a multi-millionaire)
How does anyone who was active in 2011 keep panic buying/holding now?

Because the long-term outlook has not changed. In fact, the probability that bitcoin achieves massive success has risen. It's still a positive-expectation purchase, in my opinion. I bought during the 2011 bubble. I continued buying all the way down (my cheapest purchase was around $3). I continued buying all the way back up, snagging my last batch a few weeks ago.

Yup. Might crash 50% tomorrow. Why do you refuse to understand that those of us with long-term outlooks fully understand that there's tremendous variance? We are bootstrapping a new global currency from the ground up. This has never been done before. The price discovery process is going to be wild, in both directions.

We're just not arrogant enough to assume that we can time the market, so we simply buy while the current price is less than our estimation of success-case probability times the success-case price, adjusted for estimated holding time.

[chandler22]

Sorry but when I See the price of BTC rise from around $10 to $50 in a short period of time, accombied by the panic buying we've been seeing for a few weeks I get nervous, there has to be a pullback... This is sheer madness, I've practically cashed out completely.

BTC could end up $100 in a few days and I would have 'lost' a lot of money but I feel safe where I'm standing right now. Made a real nice profit either way.

Now, imagine if the Silk Road went down or was offline for a few months... What do you think would happen to the price of BTC?

[notig]

it's actually helpful I think. Bitcoin is gaining huge attention. If people see that it can fall at a moments notice they might be more cautious which means it's less likely to have a crash from 1 thousand dollars to 100 dollars in the future. Hopefully.

[kingcrimson]

It wasn't a real crash, people were just confused due to the mtgox lag

[mccorvic]

Oh bears, you try so hard to sound relevant.

[dirtycat]

its not a bubble!! its a balloon!! 

[mr chong]

If it stays here for a while and then crashes down to 20ish and the new businesses that have started excepting bitcoin take a financial hit then YES it will be harmful and may prevent other companies who are watching to see how things go before they decide to get on board by accepting bits. If it just floats around the 35-45 price for a while before it goes back up then it should not hurt bits reputation.

[nobbynobbynoob]

I buy a krugerrand for $1600. I have a piece of yellowish shiny metal.

Market price of krugerrands falls to $1400. I do nothing; I still have a piece of yellowish shiny metal.

I buy one BTC for $40. I have one BTC.

Market price of BTC falls to $20 per BTC. I do nothing; I still have one BTC.

Market price in terms of fiat bankster paper does matter to a point, but it is not the be all and end all. At last year's Bitcoin conference, investment guru Charles Vollum reminded us in the audience not to be heavily focused on fiat price, but the whole picture.

[gendal]

My view is that BitCoin, or a successor currency built along the same lines, will change the world --- and the implications for banks, regulators payments systems and their vendors are what really fascinate me.

In socialising the concept with colleagues and clients, the *appearance* of a bubble (and hysterical articles on Business Insider) is decidedly unhelpful.....   but I consider the price leaps and falls to be inevitable growing pains.

I'm sure the price will continue to vary wildly and hope those who are so unimaginative as to see this as nothing more than an esoteric speculation game are wiped out....!

[phatsphere]

which bubble? can you even define what you mean by that? there is no bubble.

[Entropy-uc]

Sorry but when I See the price of BTC rise from around $10 to $50 in a short period of time, accombied by the panic buying we've been seeing for a few weeks I get nervous, there has to be a pullback... This is sheer madness, I've practically cashed out completely.

BTC could end up $100 in a few days and I would have 'lost' a lot of money but I feel safe where I'm standing right now. Made a real nice profit either way.

Now, imagine if the Silk Road went down or was offline for a few months... What do you think would happen to the price of BTC?

Silk Road was down for almost a month late last year.  The effect on Bitcoin was non-existent

[01BTC10]

which bubble? can you even define what you mean by that? there is no bubble.

/thread

[zoinky]

Sorry but when I See the price of BTC rise from around $10 to $50 in a short period of time, accombied by the panic buying we've been seeing for a few weeks I get nervous, there has to be a pullback... This is sheer madness, I've practically cashed out completely.

BTC could end up $100 in a few days and I would have 'lost' a lot of money but I feel safe where I'm standing right now. Made a real nice profit either way.

Now, imagine if the Silk Road went down or was offline for a few months... What do you think would happen to the price of BTC?

Silk Road was down for almost a month late last year.  The effect on Bitcoin was non-existent

Also other sites would come about.  This is a non-issue, and the bitcoin economy is much bigger than SR these days.

[b!z]

ITT

A BEAR WHO
[1] STOOD OUT OF THE MARKET WAITING FOR IT TO CRASH
[2] COULD NOT AND STILL CANNOT DRAW A STRAIGHT LINE ON A LOG GRAPH

+1