"I read a lot of the negative aspects of bitcoin and I'm not understanding why you're crazy over it, it keeps appreciating because nobody is cashing out.
This is not true. Many people are exchanging bitcoin for their local currency every day. As a matter of fact, there are EXACTLY the same number of exchanges of local currency for bitcoin as there are of bitcoin for local currency. Since EVERY exchange of bitcoin for local currency involves BOTH currencies being exchanged, if you think about it for a moment perhaps you'll see why this MUST be true.
The exchange rate keeps going up because there is a very limited supply and an increasing demand. Read about the "law of supply and demand" and you'll better understand how this works.
Note that there is a limit on the total amount of bitcoins that will ever exist. There will never be more than 21 million bitcoins. Imagine if the 22 million RICHEST people in the whole world all wanted to own just 1 bitcoin... There wouldn't be enough bitcoin for them to do that. The price would keep increasing until one of them decided that it was too expensive and they no longer wanted one. Imagine just how expensive 1 bitcoin would be under that circumstance. Or, imagine that the 220 million richest people in the whole world all wanted to own just 0.1 bitcoin... There wouldn't be enough bitcoin for them to do that. The price would keep increasing until 10 million of them decided that it was too expensive and they no longer wanted one.
Since it's not a government regulated currency to exchange, people are getting robbed left right and center going on these black market sites trying to cash out.
Intelligent people don't use black market sites. I'm not sure what country you are in, but in the U.S.A. bitcoin exchanges are all regulated by the U.S. government. Some of them (such as Coinbase.com) are even insured by a major global insurance company.
Criminals will always take advantage of foolish people. People using their local currency are "robbed left right and center" every day. Does that mean you are going to stop using your local currency? Or does it just mean that you are careful?
I don't doubt you can sell the coins, but now people are afraid to try because there's no legitimate way to tell if you loose your money.
Absolute nonsense. As I said, there are insured regulated exchanges in the U.S. It is also possible to exchange local currency for bitcoins in person where you can know immediately if you have been paid or not. People who are careful and take a few moments to make sure they know what they are doing are not "afraid to try" any more than they are "afraid to try" to purchase something from Amazon.com.
People are running ponzi schemes because when you trade in the coins there's waiting periods before you get the "cash" and thats when these website wrap shit up and leave you high and dry.
Ponzi schemes exist.
They exist with local currencies. Do you still use your local currency? They exist with stocks. Are you still planning on investing for your retirement? They exist with real estate. Are you still planning on living in a building? They exist with postage stamps (Are you familiar with where the term Ponzi scheme actually comes from?). Do you still send or receive snail mail?
They also exist with Bitcoins. Use a little common sense, understand how they work, and avoid them. You can still use Bitcoin, just like you still use all those other things of value that people run Ponzi schemes on top of.
I remember you telling me that you can spend the coins in many natural places. That's isn't here in Canada.
You are wrong:
https://coinmap.org/#/map/43.66091757/-79.41055298/9There are more than 50 places in the Toronto area that all accept bitcoin.
Additionally... Are you able to use any of the following websites in Canada? They all accept bitcoins:
- Overstock.com
- Expedia.com
- NewEgg.com
- Dell.com
- Dish.com
- Wordpress.com
- Microsoft (Xbox content and Windows store)
- Namecheap.com
- CheapAir.com
- Steam Gaming Platform
- HumbleBundle.com
- BigFishGames.com
There is way too much negativity to support the investment for me.
There is a lot of negativity in the world. That doesn't stop me from living. Perhaps learn a bit more about bitcoin instead of just repeating things that you heard but didn't understand? It's amazing how education can overcome negativity in just about all areas of life.
The positives are what's making the coin valuable,
Correct.
but in order for something to go up in value dramatically like this we have to think that it's not being sold anywhere
It is being sold in a LOT of places. If it was not, then the exchange rate could not go up. The exchange rate can ONLY change if it is actually EXCHANGED. That's why it is called an EXCHANGE RATE.
and being the rare commodity that is it will naturally go up due to scarcity.
Yes. There is a limit on the total number of bitcoins that will ever be created. Additionally, there are less of them being created now than there were 4 years ago, and there were less of them being created then than there were 4 years before that. A limited supply does not automatically make something valuable. I drew a picture on a piece of paper today, and it is a one-of-a-kind. There is no other picture exactly like it created by me anywhere in the world. Yet, somehow it isn't very valuable to anybody else? Why? Because for something to have a high value there also needs to be a high demand for it. People need to want to have it. This is why my picture is essentially worthless, and the Mona Lisa is essentially priceless. Bitcoin is both limited in supply AND desired by many. Like ALL things of value in this world, the fact that people want to have and use it COMBINED with it's scarcity is why the exchange rate continues to increase. Eventually it will reach such a high exchange rate that less people will want to own as much of it (just too expensive for them to afford). At that point it will finally reach an equilibrium and the price will stabilize. With only 21 million bitcoins, and more than 7.5 billion people in the world, would you like to take a guess at just how high that equilibrium price will be? Are you going to wait until it gets to that extremely high price before you own any? Or would you prefer to acquire some now before most people have decided they are comfortable owning any and the exchange rate is still very low?
I really think you're making a big mistake with this stuff like everyone else."
You are welcome to your opinion. One of us will be right, and one of us will be wrong.
If I choose to own $100 of bitcoin today, and I'm wrong... I will lose $100.
If you choose NOT to own $100 of bitcoin today, and you are wrong (lets imagine for a moment that the exchange rate increased to $700,000 per BTC over the next 10 years)... You just might lose out on the opportunity to be holding $10,000 worth of bitcoin 10 years from now.
If I'm making a mistake, it is a small mistake ($100).
If you are making a mistake, it is a BIG mistake ($10,000).
Are you sure you want to take that risk?
