A question to all speculators - What if Bitcoins' price just flatline?

[calista]

most people buying bitcoins are speculators hoarding them and not use them, so i know there is a lot of you out there.

despite what you hope, there are many reasons why bitcoins may never enter mainstream, and just limp along in the periphery of society.

so no, the bankers are not going to send in federal agents to crush bitcoins to 0, but neither is it going to replace the u.s. dollars.

so perhaps the trading price will just random walk between say, $5 and $40.

now what?

[hugolp]

Well, we are making progress. Trolls dont think Bitcoin is going to collapse, now the problem is that they will stay stable.

When it was volatile they were bad because they were volatile, and now that they are stable for some days, they are bad because they are stable... Some people are never happy.

[holgero]

...
so perhaps the trading price will just random walk between say, $5 and $40.

now what?

buy at $6 and sell at $39?

[imperi]

Well, we are making progress. Trolls dont think Bitcoin is going to collapse, now the problem is that they will stay stable.

When it was volatile they were bad because they were volatile, and now that they are stable for some days, they are bad because they are stable... Some people are never happy.

The trolls will never go away. If it climbs in price, it's a bubble. If it stays the same, it's stagnating. When it drops, it's a collapse. When it moves up and down, it's too volatile to invest in.

[BitcoinPorn]

so perhaps the trading price will just random walk between say, $5 and $40.

now what?

People buy, sale, trade, use, abuse, hoarde, just like they are doing now.  The actions with Bitcoin that are going on now will not be that much different in the future, just more refined and less focus on the coin itself and rather what real world things it produces for you.  Reality shit lol  It's why it will enter the mainstream in some form.

[Rob Lister]

...
so perhaps the trading price will just random walk between say, $5 and $40.

now what?

buy at $6 and sell at $39?

yep.  and as more speculators enter the equation, the margins get more narrow.  that's a good thing.  it means a BTC merchant can price his goods with relative confidence.  I look forward to lots and lots of speculators with lots and lots of bots operating on the thinnest margins possible.

[stic.man]

prices will stabilize then the decimal place will get moved over 3 places and then the price will skyrocket again

[tymothy]

Well if the market stagnates, many speculators will sell as they don't see this is as profitable, this drives down prices, encouraging others to buy, they purchase, driving the price up. The price will always fluctuate but until the market cap approaches anything significant there will be enormous volatility as anyone dropping more than a few k can move the price noticeably.

[Superform]

speculators are speculating

[Bazil]

most people buying bitcoins are speculators hoarding them and not use them, so i know there is a lot of you out there.

despite what you hope, there are many reasons why bitcoins may never enter mainstream, and just limp along in the periphery of society.

so no, the bankers are not going to send in federal agents to crush bitcoins to 0, but neither is it going to replace the u.s. dollars.

so perhaps the trading price will just random walk between say, $5 and $40.

now what?

Well a total flat line isn't possible, it should have at least an incline because of inflation of other currencies.  If it just wanders (especially if it does so in a predictable range) then I will get rich day trading.

[TraderTimm]

If prices 'flatline' then I imagine people will do one of two things:

1. Buy as much as they can with two hands.

2. Panic and sell at near 0.01 prices.

Since I was able to come up with an answer to your question so easily, I have to wonder why you bothered with it in the first place. I might as well have posted a thread of my own saying:

"What if everyone runs into the haberdashery, what will happen to hat prices?"

What indeed...

[netrin]

...
so perhaps the trading price will just random walk between say, $5 and $40.

now what?

buy at $6 and sell at $39?

And because I'm more cautious, I'll buy at $7 and sell at $38, and maybe someone more cautious still... until...

To answer the posters point, if I felt bitcoin were more stable, I would exchange ALL of my remaining USD to BTC and demand my grocer accept bitcoins or attempt to take my business elsewhere.

[jashan]

Well, it may flatline for a little while ... eventually, the dollar will crash - and then Bitcoin will rise. Personally, I think it will rise earlier than that. But that's just ... um ... speculation ;-)

[geek-trader]

I'm a day trader, so the volatility is what I love about bitcoin.  I'm just in it for fun, I'm not trying to make a fortune.

If bitcoin "flatlines" against the $US (I take this to mean the price stays at the same level), then day trading would be no fun, and I'd probably sit it out until the roller coaster starts up again.

It's the roller coaster that is the fun part, to me.

[FlipPro]

The point of bitcoins is to grow industry behind it. The market is just the first step to bitcoin, the next is building businesses around it, which will come with good market stabilization. There will be many private company's that will adopt bitcoin, and make it more "mainstream" so the mass public is capable of using it, so I see that point you made as irrelevant. I don't think it will ever drop down to single digits again, those days are over.

[Nagle]

Bitcoin needs to flatline to be useful.

The Bitcoin ecosystem is currently backwards. Merchants using Bitcoins for micropayments should be most of the transaction volume, and speculation should be a side business.  Right now, nobody is selling real merchandise in Bitcoins. They can't. There's far too much volatility.

If the price changed less than 1% in a week, merchandise could be priced in Bitcoins. The less volatility, the better.

[royalecraig]

They can't flatline, as more and more people see the advantage of being able to send money, anywhere, anytime, in private, where will they put significant amounts of their money, why woulod anyone use a Bank ever again.

[Gabi]

The only way they can flatline is if bitcoin stop growing and stay as it is now.

Since bitcoin now is a very small system if it stop growing then well... it's because it just died...

[kokojie]

I bought some btc, am hoping to sell for a higher price; I guess that makes me a speculator. If the price stays stable for a long period I will use my btc to buy something. Maybe a book, isn't somebody here taking btc for amazon GCs?

Why trade for gift card when you can just trade your BTC for cash. amazon GC mostly sell for same amount in cash on ebay, heck I even sold a $25 amazon GC for $25.20 in one ebay auction, and the guy paid me, go figure.

[indicasteve]

I can't see the price stabilizing anytime soon.  I like that.  I hope it ranges up and down between 10-20 USD with a gradual rise upwards.