Is this price drop so bad after all?

[zemario]

I bought my first bitcoins ever a few weeks ago right before they started that insane climb. I had plents of time to cash out at 600% of the value I bought them for, but I always looked at it as an asset that I would like to keep for the future. When they started to drop again after the bear trap I ended up selling enough of them to get back my initial fiat investment. A third of my coins was enough to cover the initial investment. I still feel like that was an unnecessary pussy move.

If I would have cashed out, that would make me roughly what I earn in one and a half month of work. Quite frankly, that doesn't change my lifestyle that much, if anything. Owning bitcoins, on the other hand, feels a lot cooler and now that the bump is left behind I actually feel glad that the speculators went and do their thing somewhere else.

The markets are an easy and arguably fair way to buy bitcoins, but bitcoin economy became too market centered. More usage as a currency and less market speculation is what bitcoin needs, 1btc=1btc. If growth is slow but steady there is not so much room for day traders.

Am I the only one that feels like this bubble pop (whatever it was) was a good thing?

[1714184828]

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[Lethn]

Honestly, I don't think it's a big deal either, the thing everyone will need to realise is that speculators for some reason always like to make a lot of noise when something happens and they make even more noise when something they see as bad is happening. Have you ever seen a trading floor? It looks like Bitcointalk is becoming an internet version of that.

[jorov]

I kind of think so too.

It happened faster than 2011 and it will recover much faster !

Bitcoin momentum is much greater now.

Something else that seems interesting:

Bitcoin businesses have about 200 - 300 % growth from the beginning of this year.

If Bitcoin value was about 300 % higher in 3 months it would correspond to business.

2 000 % is crazy.

[acoindr]

Yes this bubble pop was a good thing but I have news for you: bubbly speculation will return.

[Lethn]

Yes this bubble pop was a good thing but I have news for you: bubbly speculation will return.

Just means I can sell my Bitcoins for a better price when I need to

[niko]

Yes this bubble pop was a good thing but I have news for you: bubbly speculation will return.

People learn. Mostly newcomers who were not around in 2011 got burnt this time.

I managed to profit a little bit from the panic, and some in here claim to have profited a lot. This profit comes at the expense of those who panicked and made rushed decisions - but that really is a tuition of sorts they paid for the lesson learned. So, overall, it's a good thing for all of us.

Finally, the crash will slow down or reverse the insane influx of newcomers and capital, thus allowing developers and enterpreneurs some time to work on upgraded services and infrastructure. Again, a good thing for everyone. Past few weeks have been bad, but now it's over. Time to build.

[Bitmeat]

Yes this bubble pop was a good thing but I have news for you: bubbly speculation will return.

Past few weeks have been bad, but now it's over. Time to build.

Its not over by a long shot, this is probably just the bull trap before it reverts to where it was at end of 2012 before the bubble

[niko]

Yes this bubble pop was a good thing but I have news for you: bubbly speculation will return.

Past few weeks have been bad, but now it's over. Time to build.

Its not over by a long shot, this is probably just the bull trap before it reverts to where it was at end of 2012 before the bubble

You don't know that, and I don't know either. My post was about what we know - about what happened, not about what will be happening.

[Bitmeat]

Yes this bubble pop was a good thing but I have news for you: bubbly speculation will return.

Past few weeks have been bad, but now it's over. Time to build.

Its not over by a long shot, this is probably just the bull trap before it reverts to where it was at end of 2012 before the bubble

You don't know that, and I don't know either. My post was about what we know - about what happened, not about what will be happening.

I know it's still a bubble. I know I'm not smart enough to accurately predict when it will finish popping. I know you're not either.

But hey, go nuts with your commodity speculation if you like to think that getting burnt in 2011 makes you less likely to get burnt again. The only winners there are Mt Gox and people with enough pull to influence the market. The only loser is the future of bitcoin as a currency.

[niko]

Yes this bubble pop was a good thing but I have news for you: bubbly speculation will return.

Past few weeks have been bad, but now it's over. Time to build.

Its not over by a long shot, this is probably just the bull trap before it reverts to where it was at end of 2012 before the bubble

You don't know that, and I don't know either. My post was about what we know - about what happened, not about what will be happening.

I know it's still a bubble. I know I'm not smart enough to accurately predict when it will finish popping. I know you're not either.

But hey, go nuts with your commodity speculation if you like to think that getting burnt in 2011 makes you less likely to get burnt again. The only winners there are Mt Gox and people with enough pull to influence the market. The only loser is the future of bitcoin as a currency.

I'm not going to go nuts with commodity speculation - I still have the same amount of coins I had before this bubble, and more dollars. It really does not affect me. If I happen to need cash urgently, I'll sell some of my coins at whatever the price is.  If I've got extra cash and the price is not shooting up like mad, I buy some more coins. I don't waste time multiplying numbers every day just to see how much I would get if I sell coins. I don't care about could have - should have.

You seem to think that bitcoins are currently still overvalued, and that's fine. I am sure you have thought about the fundamentals carefully, and came to that conclusion. I see it differently.

[MashRinx]

The only loser is the future of bitcoin as a currency.

Been hearing this thrown around a lot lately, but mostly from the talking heads who had probably never heard of Bitcoin 60 days ago.  I get that you don't see any value in having the ability to very quickly transfer currency to just about anywhere in the world for very small fees, relative to other options that exist today.  Others disagree with you and are enjoying being a part of this experiment.

I see you account was created less than a week ago, which says a lot.
 

[Bitmeat]

The only loser is the future of bitcoin as a currency.

Been hearing this thrown around a lot lately, but mostly from the talking heads who had probably never heard of Bitcoin 60 days ago.  I get that you don't see any value in having the ability to very quickly transfer currency to just about anywhere in the world for very small fees, relative to other options that exist today.  Others disagree with you and are enjoying being a part of this experiment.

I see you account was created less than a week ago, which says a lot.
 

I see your username has two capital letters in it, this says a lot about your intelligence and ability to rationally debate.

However, ad homiems aside, I'm trying to acutally use bitcoin as a currency for the last 3 months, but getting frustrated by it. Most people aren't expected to mine, and therefore have to buy bitcoins at some point with another currency. They cannot do this at a stable rate because there is not enough liquidity for it to function as a stable currency. There is not enough liquidity because too many people treat their bitcoins as a commodity to hold on to, rather than a medium for exchange of goods and services.

I don't have a good solution for this, but I do know it's seriously delaying if not outright preventing the more widespread adoption of bitcoin as a method of payment. In short people are causing the problem they say they aim to solve in the hopes of getting more value for free (handouts).

[repentance]

Yes this bubble pop was a good thing but I have news for you: bubbly speculation will return.

Until the price stabilises, the bubble hasn't popped.  The speculators won't leave the market while the wild swings are still happening.

It's laughable how people are starting to regard a few days worth of trading information as some rock solid indicator for what's going to happen tomorrow, next week or next month.

[zemario]

The only loser is the future of bitcoin as a currency.

Been hearing this thrown around a lot lately, but mostly from the talking heads who had probably never heard of Bitcoin 60 days ago.  I get that you don't see any value in having the ability to very quickly transfer currency to just about anywhere in the world for very small fees, relative to other options that exist today.  Others disagree with you and are enjoying being a part of this experiment.

I see you account was created less than a week ago, which says a lot.
 

I see your username has two capital letters in it, this says a lot about your intelligence and ability to rationally debate.

However, ad homiems aside, I'm trying to acutally use bitcoin as a currency for the last 3 months, but getting frustrated by it. Most people aren't expected to mine, and therefore have to buy bitcoins at some point with another currency. They cannot do this at a stable rate because there is not enough liquidity for it to function as a stable currency. There is not enough liquidity because too many people treat their bitcoins as a commodity to hold on to, rather than a medium for exchange of goods and services.

I don't have a good solution for this, but I do know it's seriously delaying if not outright preventing the more widespread adoption of bitcoin as a method of payment. In short people are causing the problem they say they aim to solve in the hopes of getting more value for free (handouts).

Your frustration and the fact that you 'know it's still a bubble' are the proof I was right in the opening post.

Interesting how this thread developing with a live example to illustrate my point of view.

Don't take this as sarcarsm. People have different points of view and like to do different things. I have nothing against speculators ad day traders, I just think bitcoin doesn't need them, at least not in such a huge amount.

[Luckybit]

I bought my first bitcoins ever a few weeks ago right before they started that insane climb. I had plents of time to cash out at 600% of the value I bought them for, but I always looked at it as an asset that I would like to keep for the future. When they started to drop again after the bear trap I ended up selling enough of them to get back my initial fiat investment. A third of my coins was enough to cover the initial investment. I still feel like that was an unnecessary pussy move.

If I would have cashed out, that would make me roughly what I earn in one and a half month of work. Quite frankly, that doesn't change my lifestyle that much, if anything. Owning bitcoins, on the other hand, feels a lot cooler and now that the bump is left behind I actually feel glad that the speculators went and do their thing somewhere else.

The markets are an easy and arguably fair way to buy bitcoins, but bitcoin economy became too market centered. More usage as a currency and less market speculation is what bitcoin needs, 1btc=1btc. If growth is slow but steady there is not so much room for day traders.

Am I the only one that feels like this bubble pop (whatever it was) was a good thing?

Okay you want more usage, first question is does mtGox pay it's independent contractors in Bitcoin? Would you work as an independent contractor for Bitcoin? Where can we go to earn Bitcoin besides mining it?

If you don't have the jobs or the job boards then you wont have spending. So we need more craigslist type sites or perhaps integrate Bitcoin into careerbuilder or some job listing sites. Basically if you're offering jobs you should offer in Bitcoin. If you're offering services you should accept Bitcoin. When you the independent contractor start working for Bitcoin then it will be the day.

[zemario]

When you the independent contractor start working for Bitcoin then it will be the day.

This is what I think too. Craigslist, freelancers, small online stores.
The biggest problem with the bubble burst is that the value of the total sum of bitcoins in circulation got smaller if we consider the exchange with fiat currencies, which regardless of their problems are still much more stable.
Growth is needed but can't be this vulnerable to market circumstances.

[Bitmeat]

Your frustration and the fact that you 'know it's still a bubble' are the proof I was right in the opening post.

Interesting how this thread developing with a live example to illustrate my point of view.

Don't take this as sarcarsm. People have different points of view and like to do different things. I have nothing against speculators ad day traders, I just think bitcoin doesn't need them, at least not in such a huge amount.

You admitted in your opening thread that you only bought in a few weeks ago when the bubble had long since started its growth, and cashed out some of it for fiat already.

Tell me, have you even spent your BTC on anything, or are you just sitting here hoping the bitcoin market will give you a nice big fat handout for doing nothing at all?

I've only ever bought BTC to spend, would never turn them back into fiat unless I was able to run a business based on BTC alone and no one had a BTC grocery store by then. It seems most people though are just parasites hoping to make money for nothing, rather than putting in hard work or creating industry based on BTC. And this attitude is what leads to bubbles, crashes etc.

[alexh]

There are a lot of people who lost money and interest in Bitcoin and others made huge profits. The drop was for greater good.

[Frozenlock]

You all realize that the price increase AND the crash resulted in the single best week for Bitcoin awareness, right?

[Mark Oates]

Yea, the recent price decline has given me more confidence in Bitcoin's future.  A sustained surge in price would be an anomaly.  This volatility is more typical.