People are going to die (rant)

[shamntalk]

That's right, I speculate we're going to see some bitcoin-related suicides, and the mass media will lap it up, ruining a perfectly good crypto-currency with tons of potential.

In fact, I reckon it will be promptly countered by the holier-than-thou reddit crew explaining that it wasn't a 'bitcoin suicide' but a 'finance-related' suicide, trolling their heart contents that this and that person shouldn't 'have invested more than they could afford to lose', and that the MSM is out to get the cute, innocent little bitcoin. Oh and by the way if it falls back at 50, then it's all OK, because it was at 2 one day, so it actually didn't crash at all, it multiplied its value by 25x. What? You bought at 150? What an idiot, loser, they'll say. They mined theirs you see? It was all a big laugh for everyone, didn't you know?

That's the same people currently haranguing the newbies into investing blindly, posting 'spartans, hold' meme pictures as the price fluctuates wildly, and berating everyone who might dare to have 'sold early'. You can't even post on reddit any opinion that vaguely deviates from the group-think 'BTC AT 1,000,000 LULZ' party line, without being downvoted to nothingness.

At this point bitcoin is a hoarding game. No one seems to care about the potential of the technology, or even the technology itself. It's all 'ra-ra it's passed 160, ra-ra told you so 180'.

Yes guys, it might even hit 500. The questions is why do you care so much if it does? The 3 btc you mined making you feel like a big shot hedge fund investor? Because that's what it is - a vocal minority with no real skin in the game going into full 'revenge of the geek' mode while the mass market consists of people too greedy or too dumb to realize that a currency with nothing to buy is not a currency, but an e-metal.

Everyone seems to forget what an exchange really is. More and more of the people holding BTC have bought it at 100+. I'd be curious to know what proportion the 150-200 buyers represent in the total market cap. 1%? 10%? 50%? The only thing that's sure is that it's increasing everyday, and these aren't the same people buying porshe caymans with their 300 coins.

So, back to the point, why suicides?  Once the panic sets in:
- companies that have regularly converted their BTC balances to FIAT will become insolvent, unable to disburse balances (bitzino I'm looking at you)
- because of the decentralised nature of bitcoin, trading curbs are impossible to implement
- the exchanges have proven to be unreliable. It's not even about not being able to place a sell order without lag, it's about not being able to login the website, period

There's going to be one hell of a moment, in my view (again, here, speculation) when people realize the enormity of that 2B market cap, maybe it might even reach australian-dollar level market cap. The guys who are talking about putting 1M+ in the game will pull when they get bored of the low retailer adoption (they don't have time for spartan memes I'm afraid), it will freefall 50%, and all of a sudden here goes the mortgage, here goes the dream, and the newbs won't even get to press the sell button when it's all said and done.

Anyway, rant over, have a nice evening and keep cheering to that woop woop 200 bucks 'new floor'

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[myrkul]

"In the long run, we are all dead." - John Maynard Keynes
Probably the smartest thing he ever said.

[Elwar]

At this point bitcoin is a hoarding game. No one seems to care about the potential of the technology, or even the technology itself. It's all 'ra-ra it's passed 160, ra-ra told you so 180'. In the speculation forum.

Fixed it for you.

[Matthew N. Wright]

This is an interesting thread because I too am predicting many deaths related to bitcoin, but not so much on the sui-side, rather on the assassination side. Libertarians here who crave a free market will soon realize exactly what that means.


"BFL hasn't delivered on time. You know what to do."

[BIGMERVE]

At this point bitcoin is a hoarding game. No one seems to care about the potential of the technology, or even the technology itself. It's all 'ra-ra it's passed 160, ra-ra told you so 180'. In the speculation forum.

Fixed it for you.

Yeah head on over to the marketplace, or project development section. Tons of new businesses and ideas who aren't worried about speculation.

[Bitobsessed]

What you fail to realize is that we are still in the early adoption phase and Bitcoin is still in its infancy.  It is only 4 years old and could be the currency of the internet...

[Kazu]

What you fail to realize is that we are still in the early adoption phase and Bitcoin is still in its infancy.  It is only 4 years old and could be the currency of the internet...

It could be the currency of everything, not just the currency of the internet.

[Krabby]

I've already pulled many figurative hernias and an increased blood pressure.

[herzmeister]

The 4000 year old bubble.

...which I think caused a lot of tragedy along the way as well.

[shamntalk]

Yeah head on over to the marketplace, or project development section. Tons of new businesses and ideas who aren't worried about speculation.

Thanks for reminding me of that Actually I'm working on a project myself and I find it very interesting and educational! Cheers!

[nobbynobbynoob]

Suicide is not a concern of ours, only the person committing the deed. It's your life, and you are (should be) free to end it should you so wish, as long as you don't take anyone else with you or harm them physically against their will.

People need to be free to make their own decisions concerning their own lives, and take responsibility for their actions, and that includes financial risks. Suicide is a sad occurrence, but morally I think it is always OK. Murder, of course, is evil.

[Crypt_Current]

What you fail to realize is that we are still in the early adoption phase and Bitcoin is still in its infancy.  It is only 4 years old and could be the currency of the internet...

It could be the currency of everything, not just the currency of the internet.

but but the Internet IS everything

[conspirosphere.tk]

This is an interesting thread because I too am predicting many deaths related to bitcoin, but not so much on the sui-side, rather on the assassination side. Libertarians here who crave a free market will soon realize exactly what that means.

"BFL hasn't delivered on time. You know what to do."

In that case many large-scale scams will stop happening here, and the world could be better maybe.
But I don't expect that it will happen, unless the Russian mafia starts dealing in cryptocoins, and get scammed too.

[nobbynobbynoob]

In that case many large-scale scams will stop happening here, and the world could be better maybe.
But I don't expect that it will happen, unless the Russian mafia starts dealing in cryptocoins, and get scammed too.

Well, there is BTC-e...

(Just kidding, I've found it to be a pretty well-run exchange. In my experience.)

[Gordonium]

Of course there is also the risk that bears that sold their Bitcoins early will attend suicides if the price will hit 100K$/BTC.

[ElectricMucus]

Of course there is also the risk that bears that sold their Bitcoins early will attend suicides if the price will hit 100K$/BTC.

Well played Atlas, well played. 

[Gordonium]

Of course there is also the risk that bears that sold their Bitcoins early will attend suicides if the price will hit 100K$/BTC.

Well played Atlas, well played.  

Seriously, I am not Atlas. Althought I love Atlas Shrugged.  

[ElectricMucus]

Of course there is also the risk that bears that sold their Bitcoins early will attend suicides if the price will hit 100K$/BTC.

Well played Atlas, well played. 

Seriously, I am not Atlas, althought I love Atlas Shrugged. 

Sure.

[donjoe]

That's right, I speculate we're going to see some bitcoin-related suicides, and the mass media will lap it up, ruining a perfectly good crypto-currency with tons of potential.

Yeah, that's why I hope this thing crashes for good sooner rather than later. It's already served its purpose of piquing people's interest in the notion of digital currency and providing a cryptographic proof of concept, it can be phased out now in favor of a properly thought out digital currency system that takes more seriously the need for a stable price and tight correspondence between the amount of currency and the amount of real values (products & services) existing on the market at any given time (two crucial aspects that the Bitcoin system clearly does not address seriously).

[Amitabh S]

When I tell about bitcoin, I always mention "invest wisely, or be ready to commit suicide"