Early adopters cleaning up fiat debts?

[granolageek]

I came in at the $5 level, but looking at what a BTC is today, I think that many of those who jumped in at <$1 back in 2009-10 are now at a point where they can sell 0.25-0.33 of their holdings and pay off their mortgage and whatever other debts they have. That's enough to make the rest of their life look comfortable if not rich.

I suggest that many of the walls that actually get eaten rather than run away represent one of the early adopters deciding that at that price (s)he is rich enough to make some issue go away.

[1714112880]

1714112880

[Bit_Happy]

Yes, the guy who bought a pizza for 10,000 BTC can now buy a pizza store. 
Careful first one(s) out get the best prices.

[BTC Books]

Yes, the guy who bought a sold the pizza for 10,000 BTC can now buy a pizza store. 
Careful first one(s) out get the best prices.

FTFY

(Actually, it was two pizzas)

[No_2]

Agreed!

I'm just jealous I did not know about this in 2009 as my opinion then would not be any different to that which it is now and I would have poured a large chunk of my savings into it.

I in fact wrote a sci-fi series on a very similar topic. A part of which revolved around governments mining resources in virtual worlds - like MMORPGs - against which the main virtual currency was based, like the gold standard. But specifically the rate at which one could mine was limited to match that of a daily world inflation rate so as to create a stable economy.

So you can imagine my reaction when I read about bitcoin - the key point here being that the network adjusted the difficulty based on the gross hashrate. Absolute genius.

Mind you I feel very luck for finding out about it now.

Perhaps I'll get my series published one day.

[BitPirate]

Yes, the guy who bought a pizza for 10,000 BTC can now buy a pizza store. 
Careful first one(s) out get the best prices.

I think it's a natural market progression. People who buy in low will sell higher. People who buy in high will sell even higher.

Sure, the pace of acceleration may lessen eventually, but it doesn't have to be a bubble. If bitcoin has a future as a currency, it can simply just continue to appreciate.

[oakpacific]

Most early adopters may have already been done with their bitcoin holdings in the 2011 crash, you can have a look at the days destroyed chart, the February/March numbers are sufficiently high, but nowhere near the 2011 level yet, despite the time factor being considerably larger.

[teukon]

I have a significant student loan with an interest rate of 1.5%.  However, the fiat this debt is tied to is losing purchasing power at far greater than 1.5% per year and seems likely to continue doing so.  In short, my debt is shrinking with time in real terms.

Also, my bitcoins are appreciating (year by year) and that seems very unlikely to change anytime soon.

So why should I clear my fiat debt with Bitcoin credit?

Also, what qualifies as an early adopter these days?  Is there some date/rate cut-off or something more vague?  Given that such a definition is very much by community consensus it may make for an interesting poll (I'd say "informative poll" were this not an oxymoron).

[Cluster2k]

I think it's a good idea to pay off real world debts with bitcoin, especially if it's a mortgage.  The current euphoria about bitcoin's price is great.  I must say I'm very surprised as we're pushing $66 and beyond.  Bear in mind that last week we saw bitcoin fall almost 25% within an hour because of v0.8 bug fears.  It was temporary and we quickly saw new highs, but like in the real world there are black swans out there for bitcoin too.

[Melbustus]

Also, what qualifies as an early adopter these days?

It seems most people consider Early Adopters to be people who could meaningfully CPU mine (which means 2009 through what - mid-2010?). Personally, I'd be content calling anyone in before April 2011 an Early Adopter. There were only a few thousand users at that point, right (?), which is nothing by the standards of something that we expect to achieve some global mindshare.

The first huge wave started in May 2011, I believe, so I think it's reasonably fair to call anyone before that an early adopter. So I'd guess I'd be a "First Waver" (Spring/Summer 2011).

The current time-period (Q1 2013), probably qualifies as a Second Wave.

Hopefully the 2nd half of 2013 will be the Investor/VC Wave.

[Nesetalis]

I got in, in mid march... But didn't buy until april or may 2011. (can't remember exactly, first bitcoin was something like 5 or 6$)
I WISH I had gotten in, back in 2010 and done some mining to earn a few blocks.

On the bubble I made out like a (very poor) bandit.. Actually was selling some bitcoins to buy something real quick, the night the bubble burst... sold two for around ~30$ on virwox then a few minutes later the market crashed XD

I don't really consider myself an early adopter though... at least I didn't until I saw 65$ bitcoins..
I still have a vain hope that the price goes back down to 20$ :p

[proudhon]

I think it's a good idea to pay off real world debts with bitcoin, especially if it's a mortgage.  The current euphoria about bitcoin's price is great.  I must say I'm very surprised as we're pushing $66 and beyond.  Bear in mind that last week we saw bitcoin fall almost 25% within an hour because of v0.8 bug fears.  It was temporary and we quickly saw new highs, but like in the real world there are black swans out there for bitcoin too.

This run up is going to turn even more people off than in 2011.  I feel bad for anyone in Cyprus who bought bitcoins as protection against 10% loss to their savings account, because odds are that when this thing finally turns they'll have lost significantly more than that.

[yokosan]

I think it's a good idea to pay off real world debts with bitcoin, especially if it's a mortgage.  The current euphoria about bitcoin's price is great.  I must say I'm very surprised as we're pushing $66 and beyond.  Bear in mind that last week we saw bitcoin fall almost 25% within an hour because of v0.8 bug fears.  It was temporary and we quickly saw new highs, but like in the real world there are black swans out there for bitcoin too.

This run up is going to turn even more people off than in 2011.  I feel bad for anyone in Cyprus who bought bitcoins as protection against 10% loss to their savings account, because odds are that when this thing finally turns they'll have lost significantly more than that.

Maybe, but even if you are correct, as long as they hold for 2 years (like the 2011 survivors) it will pay out tenfold.

[opticbit]

My first Bitcoin purchase was at $0.50 with coin pal.  I made a few other transactions before that with the faucet and some others, but I deleted the wallet (tx the coins out)

I have not had the money to put in like I wanted to, an lost a fair amount in the first drop from $30.

I have been able to live more comfortably because of Bitcoin.  Some from the referral programs, and did decent with exchange arbitrage this time last year.

I feel better about loosing money to a fellow Bitcoin user than some hedge fund bankster.

[ehoffman]

Yes I know, it's crazy!  I wonder how much BTC were destroyed at the beginning when it was worth nothing...

You don't have some old drives laying around, which you could try some recovery tools? 

[chmod755]

Dear early adopters, please clean up your fiat debts (if any) - some people need to pay back their Bitcoin debt to me and it seems impossible to do that at this exchange rate 

[BitPirate]

This run up is going to turn even more people off than in 2011.  I feel bad for anyone in Cyprus who bought bitcoins as protection against 10% loss to their savings account, because odds are that when this thing finally turns they'll have lost significantly more than that.

BUY BUY BUY.... $100 tonight!

[niko]

I feel better about loosing money to a fellow Bitcoin user than some hedge fund bankster.

Same thing. Time to face the new reality.

[cbeast]

In the USA, the interest rate on credit cards is only a maximum 24.99 percent. Bitcoin is growing much faster than that. Why would anyone want to pay off their debts? I suppose VISA/MC will have to match Bitcoin now and raise their interest rates to ten thousand percent.

[chiropteran]

In the USA, the interest rate on credit cards is only a maximum 24.99 percent. Bitcoin is growing much faster than that. Why would anyone want to pay off their debts? I suppose VISA/MC will have to match Bitcoin now and raise their interest rates to ten thousand percent.

Having a clean credit report has a value you can't (easily) measure in dollars.

[cbeast]

In the USA, the interest rate on credit cards is only a maximum 24.99 percent. Bitcoin is growing much faster than that. Why would anyone want to pay off their debts? I suppose VISA/MC will have to match Bitcoin now and raise their interest rates to ten thousand percent.

Having a clean credit report has a value you can't (easily) measure in dollars.

Credit is meaningless if you have cash. I'm not saying you shouldn't pay your bills, but once you have wealth, you non't need credit. Being a well-qualified buyer just makes you a target for the fraudsters.