Wow how this forum is an unbelievable echo-chamber fueling one big ponzi scheme. Bitcoin as a currency, give me a break. A currency where it takes days to clear payments unless you pay massive fees - fees that are hostage to whatever vagaries the miners have? And if you don't, you are left in limbo where you have no idea whether it takes minutes, hours or days to move your money? A currency which is heavily impacted by "civil wars" with rival crypto currencies? A "currency" even less stable than the former Zimbabwean dollar. Don't get me wrong - the other crypto "currencies" equally well fit the ponzi scheme.
It is abundantly clear from reading in here for quite a while that the vast majority of people speculating in here are simply pinning all their hopes and dreams on the notion that these tulip bulbs - sorry tokens - can only rise in value. Sorry to say, but some people are going to get hurt badly eventually....
Quite a lot of hyperbole there, have you seen Bitcoin inflate a billion times in a day like the Zimbabwean dollar? I'm new and have considered both sides of this argument quite a lot. I do agree that for the most part this forum is a bunch of crazed cheerleaders whose best argument for it going up is that it has gone up already, or that they really REALLY want it to go up!
There are a lot of problems to overcome if it's ever going to be a currency and maybe it never really will. But it is clearly in it's infancy and can go through all kinds of development between now and 'later'. I think transaction times and fees wouldn't be that hard to drop with the right changes. I also think one of the biggest problems to overcome is the INSANE amount of electricity that is used. I read somewhere that right now it is at 1/2 a % of the global carbon footprint and that one transaction uses as much electricity as driving a Tesla 300 miles. Crazy! Plus, somehow it has to be idiot-proofed so that the average joe can easily use them without losing them all.
As a safe haven against inflation it seems like it could have a lot of potential, as it already does in several countries. For the last decade the U.S. stock market has gone berzerk. Why? Among other things, with near zero interest rates there is literally no other place to put your money to invest. What will people do with all those gains when (if) the stock market has a prolonged decline or inflationary period? They could buy gold - or bitcoins.
Now I'm not insane by any means and I do realize that the idea of pouring your life savings into "invisible data coins' could easily be the worst decision of my life. My plan is to get my initial investment out asap and let whatever's left ride. And I don't plan on ever putting more than 15-20% of my savings into it. I'd encourage everyone else to have an exit plan as well. Because even though you don't want to admit it, the whole thing could collapse and you'd better make sure you have a plan B just in case. Or, it could go to the moon and we all win! (rah rah)
just my .000002 BTC
