I know very few people here really care...

[revans]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

[xenon481]

This was said about the previous 2 bubble-crash cycles as well.

[antimattercrusader]

I'm sure we're going to have a major correction at some point, but it won't destroy bitcoin.

[theonewhowaskazu]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

This has been said forever.

Its just the way Bitcoin works. It bubbles, crashes to a higher point than when it started, then everybody says its dead, and a couple of months later we're back at all time highs both in terms of price and adoption.

The speculator's aim to profit just provides further liquidity & gets us some press coverage. No harm done.

[YoYa]

Take time to enjoy the moment, this is only the third time in my life I've got to enjoy the madness. Today stands out however, US reg looks good, CNY 1000USD broken, possible CNY gold parity before the day is out.....not exactly an everyday occurance.

[Gordonium]

Even theoretically there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoin. In order it to became even relatively adopted money the price will have to go to the "ridiculous" heights.

[mgio]

You obviously weren't around in April.

In Januuary we were at about $12. In April we soared to $266, followed by a huge crash. Bitcoin had gone up over 20 times in just about 4 months, the vast majority of that in early April itself.

We have just seen Bitcoin go up about 7 times in value.

It's true, the value is increasing exponentially. Even the rate it increasing and I predict a crash within the next 3 days.

But it certainly won't destroy bitcoin.

[sgbett]

+110% in china lol.

oh aye, a correction is coming, I'm sure I'm not the only one that will just hold tight through it though.

(like i did in april)

(like i did in july '11)

[revans]

This was said about the previous 2 bubble-crash cycles as well.

Those were arguable the result of poor exchange architecture. I don't think there has been a real crash yet, but one is coming and because of this huge price run up its going to be messy. Very, very messy.

[uyo]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

I don't think so. China is celebrating Bitcoin. I think that timing with hearings today isn't accidental. After the bubble, Bitcoin is much safer investment than it was ever before.

[revans]

Even theoretically there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoin. In order it to became even relatively adopted money the price will have to go to the "ridiculous" heights.

But that isn't going to happen, get off the kool aid. Bitcoin isn't really seeing wider acceptability as a day to day currency,  but there is a lot of effort going into making it a better tool for speculation. Like I say, it will end badly.

[favelle75]

I don't think there has been a real crash yet, but one is coming and because of this huge price run up its going to be messy. Very, very messy.

And a goddamn awesome buying opportuity.

[Maged]

This was said about the previous 2 bubble-crash cycles as well.

Those were arguable the result of poor exchange architecture. I don't think there has been a real crash yet, but one is coming and because of this huge price run up its going to be messy. Very, very messy.

No, they weren't. I was here, so I should know. We crashed in the past because the bubbles popped. Then, people blamed the most recent "bad thing" as the cause. Just watch, the same will happen here.

[revans]

I don't think there has been a real crash yet, but one is coming and because of this huge price run up its going to be messy. Very, very messy.

And a goddamn awesome buying opportuity.

Which will simply start the process of building a bubble again. If any currency is to succeed it needs to be part of people's daily lives, used for paying for goods and services.

[Miz4r]

It's not going to destroy bitcoin, long term these values are still peanuts. So if you believe bitcoin will succeed it doesn't matter whether bitcoin will crash again soon or not, it has happened many times before and it's all part of the growth phase. People who bought in high will just have to be patient, just like those who bought at the $266 high back in April.

[Xer0]

You cant destroy Bitcoin. Even with 1$/BTC you can still use it as f*cking BITCOIN

[revans]

It's not going to destroy bitcoin, long term these values are still peanuts. So if you believe bitcoin will succeed it doesn't matter whether bitcoin will crash again soon or not, it has happened many times before and it's all part of the growth phase. People who bought in high will just have to be patient, just like those who bought at the $266 high back in April.

Psychologically it is rather different to ride out extreme volatility when you are an early adopter whose Bitcoin holdings maybe cost a few hundred dollars versus those who have thousands tied up. This is a fundamental truth Bitcoiners don't seem to grasp. There is now a lot of invested capital propping up Bitcoin, and if that capital is threatened it will be withdrawn.

[Tirapon]

Can't decide if OP is just a troll, or genuinely incapable of waiting a few years for a new idea to become accepted.

revans, you do realise that Bitcoin is trying to grow from nothing to becoming a competing world currency. The only way for it to get there is for the market cap to go from zero to several hundred billion dollars. If we manage that within 10 years, it will involve phenomenal growth, something along the lines of what we're seeing right now.

Good things come to those who wait.

[MatTheCat]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

When I first heard of Bitcoin, I thought it was an ingenious anti-establishment venture, and I decided that I was going to put 500GBP into it just to support the venture....but I never did.

Around the time of the first Bitcoin Crash (July 2011), when some US politician very kindly publicised Silk Road, I was right on it, with hundreds of Bitcoin passing through my hands in exchange for manner of exotic mind altering substances. At this point, I seen the huge potential of a highly liquid digital asset, anonymous enough to be used for transactions in Class A substances (and also much more nefarious items no doubt). I thought at this point, (Bitcoins ~ $10 USD), that I was going to put a few grand into the coin as a wild card investment that may just pay off, but I never did.

Then the March/April 2013 came around. I was holding only 2 Btc in my wallet. I called it out as a bubble as Btc passed 50 USD, and never got involved (again, much to my personal chagrin). I witnessed the hubris on this site and other sites, full of clueless tools with their cowcrap paradigms of what was driving Bitcoins. Then April 14th came around, we know what happened. I viewed the whole phenomena as hugely destructive to Bitcoin's future as the sort of underground digital currency that I thought it might be, and for this very reason, did suspect that the bubble/crash phenomena was deliberate, and suspected that it would happen again, and again, until one day, it couldn't, or wouldn't be allowed to happen again. I swore that next time, I was going to get and hold until the parabolic stage. I got in, and sold at $330 (again, much to my chagrin), immediately sensing the error of my ways, I tried to get 5K of GBPs wired across to my Bitstamp account. In the week that has went past since (funds still not at Bitstamp), Bitcoin has doubled. Now, after the parabolic and erratic behaviour today, there is no fkn way am I putting a penny of my hard earned dosh into Btc. If history is anything to go by, the top could be 300% of profits away from me getting cold feet and turning bearish, but the crash will come and it will once again, be hard.

Next time around, after the crash and the price begins to show stability at a certain level once again, I will be diving into Bitcoin with a sizeable proportion of my personal capital, and will see how long I can ride the waves before cashing out like a little pussy some 300-400% from the top.

Point is, in my personal estimations, Bitcoin has went from an interesting anarchic innovation, to a real contender as a reliable alternative currency that can allow the little man to operate out from under the nose of corporate governance, to the ultimate speculative roller coaster device. The reality today, is that 99.9% of the Bitcoin fraternity are seeking massive profits.

I very much agree with the salted Earth analogy, but like everyone else, would also glady profit from the cannibalisation of something that could have transformed humanity for the better, in order to improve my personal lot in the current corrupt petrodollar economic hegemony.

[revans]

Can't decide if OP is just a troll, or genuinely incapable of waiting a few years for a new idea to become accepted.

revans, you do realise that Bitcoin is trying to grow from nothing to becoming a competing world currency. The only way for it to get there is for the market cap to go from zero to several hundred billion dollars. If we manage that within 10 years, it will involve phenomenal growth, something along the lines of what we're seeing right now.

Good things come to those who wait.

Wrong.

Your lexicon betrays your true motives...market cap; ffs

If Bitcoin is to be a real currency its relative value to that which it seeks to supplant is irrelevant. The way for its value to grow is by providing value by becoming a ubiquitous medium of exchange. Indeed, that was the plan initially, then somewhere along the way that idea was ditched and the speculators moved in.

[byronbb]

Can't decide if OP is just a troll, or genuinely incapable of waiting a few years for a new idea to become accepted.

revans, you do realise that Bitcoin is trying to grow from nothing to becoming a competing world currency. The only way for it to get there is for the market cap to go from zero to several hundred billion dollars. If we manage that within 10 years, it will involve phenomenal growth, something along the lines of what we're seeing right now.

Good things come to those who wait.

Wrong.

Your lexicon betrays your true motives...market cap; ffs

If Bitcoin is to be a real currency its relative value to that which it seeks to supplant is irrelevant. The way for its value to grow is by providing value by becoming a ubiquitous medium of exchange. Indeed, that was the plan initially, then somewhere along the way that idea was ditched and the speculators moved in.

Wow you need to re-charge your brain. Evil speculators are the only reason you made your post, because without them bitcoin would still be IRRELEVANT and nerds would still be buying pizzas for 10,000btc. I agree with you that bitcoin is more important than getting rich, and this process of eclipsing the USD by an utter magnitude is proof positive that the philosophical position is the correct one. If bitcoin can't survive this terrible run-up then it's DOOMED anyways.

[Le Happy Merchant]

For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

My my, how pretentious. How could you possibly imagine that you know why we are here.

[Tirapon]

Can't decide if OP is just a troll, or genuinely incapable of waiting a few years for a new idea to become accepted.

revans, you do realise that Bitcoin is trying to grow from nothing to becoming a competing world currency. The only way for it to get there is for the market cap to go from zero to several hundred billion dollars. If we manage that within 10 years, it will involve phenomenal growth, something along the lines of what we're seeing right now.

Good things come to those who wait.

Wrong.

Your lexicon betrays your true motives...market cap; ffs

If Bitcoin is to be a real currency its relative value to that which it seeks to supplant is irrelevant. The way for its value to grow is by providing value by becoming a ubiquitous medium of exchange. Indeed, that was the plan initially, then somewhere along the way that idea was ditched and the speculators moved in.

Wow you need to re-charge your brain. Evil speculators are the only reason you made your post, because without them bitcoin would still be IRRELEVANT and nerds would still be buying pizzas for 10,000btc. I agree with you that bitcoin is more important than getting rich, and this process of eclipsing the USD by an utter magnitude is proof positive that the philosophical position is the correct one. If bitcoin can't survive this terrible run-up then it's DOOMED anyways.

Yep, that's exactly right.

Revans, I suggest you read this post: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1mb27q/bitcoins_vast_overvaluation_appears_caused_by/cc7i6y8

It lays it out quite nicely.

[revans]

Can't decide if OP is just a troll, or genuinely incapable of waiting a few years for a new idea to become accepted.

revans, you do realise that Bitcoin is trying to grow from nothing to becoming a competing world currency. The only way for it to get there is for the market cap to go from zero to several hundred billion dollars. If we manage that within 10 years, it will involve phenomenal growth, something along the lines of what we're seeing right now.

Good things come to those who wait.

Wrong.

Your lexicon betrays your true motives...market cap; ffs

If Bitcoin is to be a real currency its relative value to that which it seeks to supplant is irrelevant. The way for its value to grow is by providing value by becoming a ubiquitous medium of exchange. Indeed, that was the plan initially, then somewhere along the way that idea was ditched and the speculators moved in.

Wow you need to re-charge your brain. Evil speculators are the only reason you made your post, because without them bitcoin would still be IRRELEVANT and nerds would still be buying pizzas for 10,000btc. I agree with you that bitcoin is more important than getting rich, and this process of eclipsing the USD by an utter magnitude is proof positive that the philosophical position is the correct one. If bitcoin can't survive this terrible run-up then it's DOOMED anyways.

It seems impatience is the curse of the age.

The value would rise slowly and steadily as ubuquity and retailer acceptance grew. The problem is people want their revolution to happen overnight, and this ultimately curses their ambitions.

[MatTheCat]

My my, how pretentious. How could you possibly imagine that you know why we are here.

Had he said 99.99% of the capital in Bitcoin is purely chasing speculative profit, he would probably be not far of it.

[halfawake]

There's nothing quite as depressing as watching the whole explosive bitcoin price increase the last several days and having all my bitcoins tied up in Coinlenders.  Hope you all bought a while ago when it wasn't nearly this expensive, and didn't invest badly as I did.

[favelle75]

You cant destroy Bitcoin. Even with 1$/BTC you can still use it as f*cking BITCOIN

Truer words seldom spoken.

[jasonjm]

but if bitcoin was $1 how would I buy my new yacht?

its $16 million, and there are only 11 million something BTC?

[zubelutte]

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

No even this bubble and big crash will help adoption of Bitcoin. People will spend more coins when they know price can crash big anytime...

Just holding is speculation

[Miz4r]

When I first heard of Bitcoin, I thought it was an ingenious anti-establishment venture, and I decided that I was going to put 500GBP into it just to support the venture....but I never did.

Around the time of the first Bitcoin Crash (July 2011), when some US politician very kindly publicised Silk Road, I was right on it, with hundreds of Bitcoin passing through my hands in exchange for manner of exotic mind altering substances. At this point, I seen the huge potential of a highly liquid digital asset, anonymous enough to be used for transactions in Class A substances (and also much more nefarious items no doubt). I thought at this point, (Bitcoins ~ $10 USD), that I was going to put a few grand into the coin as a wild card investment that may just pay off, but I never did.

Then the March/April 2013 came around. I was holding only 2 Btc in my wallet. I called it out as a bubble as Btc passed 50 USD, and never got involved (again, much to my personal chagrin). I witnessed the hubris on this site and other sites, full of clueless tools with their cowcrap paradigms of what was driving Bitcoins. Then April 14th came around, we know what happened. I viewed the whole phenomena as hugely destructive to Bitcoin's future as the sort of underground digital currency that I thought it might be, and for this very reason, did suspect that the bubble/crash phenomena was deliberate, and suspected that it would happen again, and again, until one day, it couldn't, or wouldn't be allowed to happen again. I swore that next time, I was going to get and hold until the parabolic stage. I got in, and sold at $330 (again, much to my chagrin), immediately sensing the error of my ways, I tried to get 5K of GBPs wired across to my Bitstamp account. In the week that has went past since (funds still not at Bitstamp), Bitcoin has doubled. Now, after the parabolic and erratic behaviour today, there is no fkn way am I putting a penny of my hard earned dosh into Btc. If history is anything to go by, the top could be 300% of profits away from me getting cold feet and turning bearish, but the crash will come and it will once again, be hard.

Next time around, after the crash and the price begins to show stability at a certain level once again, I will be diving into Bitcoin with a sizeable proportion of my personal capital, and will see how long I can ride the waves before cashing out like a little pussy some 300-400% from the top.

Point is, in my personal estimations, Bitcoin has went from an interesting anarchic innovation, to a real contender as a reliable alternative currency that can allow the little man to operate out from under the nose of corporate governance, to the ultimate speculative roller coaster device. The reality today, is that 99.9% of the Bitcoin fraternity are seeking massive profits.

I very much agree with the salted Earth analogy, but like everyone else, would also glady profit from the cannibalisation of something that could have transformed humanity for the better, in order to improve my personal lot in the current corrupt petrodollar economic hegemony.

Point is, in my personal estimations, Bitcoin has went from an interesting anarchic innovation, to a real contender as a reliable alternative currency that can allow the little man to operate out from under the nose of corporate governance, to the ultimate speculative roller coaster device. The reality today, is that 99.9% of the Bitcoin fraternity are seeking massive profits.

I very much agree with the salted Earth analogy, but like everyone else, would also glady profit from the cannibalisation of something that could have transformed humanity for the better, in order to improve my personal lot in the current corrupt petrodollar economic hegemony.

I find it ironic how you complain about the profit seekers when you yourself are trying desperately to buy low and sell high. I would think that someone who is truly interested in bitcoin as a potential revolutionary technology would at least buy and HOLD a decent amount of bitcoins no matter what.

[MatTheCat]

I find it ironic how you complain about the profit seekers when you yourself are trying desperately to buy low and sell high. I would think that someone who is truly interested in bitcoin as a potential revolutionary technology would at least buy and HOLD a decent amount of bitcoins no matter what.

As my post states, Bitcoin lost any such potential quite some time ago.

[Bitcopia]

Yep, that's exactly right.

Revans, I suggest you read this post: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1mb27q/bitcoins_vast_overvaluation_appears_caused_by/cc7i6y8

It lays it out quite nicely.

Great post. Thanks for sharing.

[ZetaOS]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

u suck

[antimattercrusader]

Even theoretically there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoin. In order it to became even relatively adopted money the price will have to go to the "ridiculous" heights.

But that isn't going to happen, get off the kool aid. Bitcoin isn't really seeing wider acceptability as a day to day currency,  but there is a lot of effort going into making it a better tool for speculation. Like I say, it will end badly.

We will see about that.

[BittBurger]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

You have not been correct in any one of your predictions thus far. Why don't you give it up already, troll?

[pollsteer23]

What we are witnessing is the only way bitcoin could go from zero to hero. Each bubble crash cycle will get more people involved increasing the overall skillset. Yes, many will abandon after the next crash, just like they did after the last two. But not all, so the number of people using it as currency will grow. This pattern is now very obvious to anyone who has been watching for long enough. A better question is whether there is a term for this phenomenon and whether it has been studied before or is unique to bitcoin.

I do not mean to say there is zero chance bitcoin becomes useless sometime soon, but if it does it will not be for reasons of volatility and speculating.

[piramida]

revans You do understand that the sharp corrections are caused by people like you (well, people with your mindset but with money)? Those who don't really think bitcoin's value is in the 5-6 digits and try to sell each "peak". If it werent for your scared types, we might have just grown to where it belongs and stayed there. But herd mentality makes getting used to new high prices hard, so scared people run to the exits at the first sign of weakness. But it won't be like that once we reach 10-100k per coin, it would more or less then steadily grow at 5-10% yearly. You just need to exit the market since you're weak, for several years preferrably.

[BitchicksHusband]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

When I first heard of Bitcoin, I thought it was an ingenious anti-establishment venture, and I decided that I was going to put 500GBP into it just to support the venture....but I never did.

Around the time of the first Bitcoin Crash (July 2011), when some US politician very kindly publicised Silk Road, I was right on it, with hundreds of Bitcoin passing through my hands in exchange for manner of exotic mind altering substances. At this point, I seen the huge potential of a highly liquid digital asset, anonymous enough to be used for transactions in Class A substances (and also much more nefarious items no doubt). I thought at this point, (Bitcoins ~ $10 USD), that I was going to put a few grand into the coin as a wild card investment that may just pay off, but I never did.

Then the March/April 2013 came around. I was holding only 2 Btc in my wallet. I called it out as a bubble as Btc passed 50 USD, and never got involved (again, much to my personal chagrin). I witnessed the hubris on this site and other sites, full of clueless tools with their cowcrap paradigms of what was driving Bitcoins. Then April 14th came around, we know what happened. I viewed the whole phenomena as hugely destructive to Bitcoin's future as the sort of underground digital currency that I thought it might be, and for this very reason, did suspect that the bubble/crash phenomena was deliberate, and suspected that it would happen again, and again, until one day, it couldn't, or wouldn't be allowed to happen again. I swore that next time, I was going to get and hold until the parabolic stage. I got in, and sold at $330 (again, much to my chagrin), immediately sensing the error of my ways, I tried to get 5K of GBPs wired across to my Bitstamp account. In the week that has went past since (funds still not at Bitstamp), Bitcoin has doubled. Now, after the parabolic and erratic behaviour today, there is no fkn way am I putting a penny of my hard earned dosh into Btc. If history is anything to go by, the top could be 300% of profits away from me getting cold feet and turning bearish, but the crash will come and it will once again, be hard.

Next time around, after the crash and the price begins to show stability at a certain level once again, I will be diving into Bitcoin with a sizeable proportion of my personal capital, and will see how long I can ride the waves before cashing out like a little pussy some 300-400% from the top.

Point is, in my personal estimations, Bitcoin has went from an interesting anarchic innovation, to a real contender as a reliable alternative currency that can allow the little man to operate out from under the nose of corporate governance, to the ultimate speculative roller coaster device. The reality today, is that 99.9% of the Bitcoin fraternity are seeking massive profits.

I very much agree with the salted Earth analogy, but like everyone else, would also glady profit from the cannibalisation of something that could have transformed humanity for the better, in order to improve my personal lot in the current corrupt petrodollar economic hegemony.

This is your brain on drugs.

[windjc]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

When I first heard of Bitcoin, I thought it was an ingenious anti-establishment venture, and I decided that I was going to put 500GBP into it just to support the venture....but I never did.

Around the time of the first Bitcoin Crash (July 2011), when some US politician very kindly publicised Silk Road, I was right on it, with hundreds of Bitcoin passing through my hands in exchange for manner of exotic mind altering substances. At this point, I seen the huge potential of a highly liquid digital asset, anonymous enough to be used for transactions in Class A substances (and also much more nefarious items no doubt). I thought at this point, (Bitcoins ~ $10 USD), that I was going to put a few grand into the coin as a wild card investment that may just pay off, but I never did.

Then the March/April 2013 came around. I was holding only 2 Btc in my wallet. I called it out as a bubble as Btc passed 50 USD, and never got involved (again, much to my personal chagrin). I witnessed the hubris on this site and other sites, full of clueless tools with their cowcrap paradigms of what was driving Bitcoins. Then April 14th came around, we know what happened. I viewed the whole phenomena as hugely destructive to Bitcoin's future as the sort of underground digital currency that I thought it might be, and for this very reason, did suspect that the bubble/crash phenomena was deliberate, and suspected that it would happen again, and again, until one day, it couldn't, or wouldn't be allowed to happen again. I swore that next time, I was going to get and hold until the parabolic stage. I got in, and sold at $330 (again, much to my chagrin), immediately sensing the error of my ways, I tried to get 5K of GBPs wired across to my Bitstamp account. In the week that has went past since (funds still not at Bitstamp), Bitcoin has doubled. Now, after the parabolic and erratic behaviour today, there is no fkn way am I putting a penny of my hard earned dosh into Btc. If history is anything to go by, the top could be 300% of profits away from me getting cold feet and turning bearish, but the crash will come and it will once again, be hard.

Next time around, after the crash and the price begins to show stability at a certain level once again, I will be diving into Bitcoin with a sizeable proportion of my personal capital, and will see how long I can ride the waves before cashing out like a little pussy some 300-400% from the top.

Point is, in my personal estimations, Bitcoin has went from an interesting anarchic innovation, to a real contender as a reliable alternative currency that can allow the little man to operate out from under the nose of corporate governance, to the ultimate speculative roller coaster device. The reality today, is that 99.9% of the Bitcoin fraternity are seeking massive profits.

I very much agree with the salted Earth analogy, but like everyone else, would also glady profit from the cannibalisation of something that could have transformed humanity for the better, in order to improve my personal lot in the current corrupt petrodollar economic hegemony.

This is your brain on drugs.

lol.

That was some sad rambling sack.

But at least he is starting to believe.

[viboracecata]

If you see the Chinese investments in buildings, then you may see clear of Chinese madness.

[DoomDumas]

I'm sure we're going to have a major correction at some point, but it won't destroy bitcoin.

hmmm.. I dont expect a single BTC under 500 ever !

In month to comes, pricing will switch to mBTC everywhere, and the wheel will continu to climb the hill.. inevitable it is

[Vandroiy]

After seeing so many people disagree, I just wanted to say I agree with the OP. Those who were here in 2011 saw a quick bust of a bubble. That is not the time-scale it usually happens on, and it already dealt quite some damage. A long bust of a speculative mania can be quite destructive.

But if it is about ideology, there's not much reason to be distressed by this. Bitcoin is just a tool, replaceable and one of many potential solutions. If it really is superior, it will survive anyway. If not, chances are it wasn't fit for the job in the first place. Time will tell, but one way or another, it is just one of many battles against insane financial policy. And Bitcoin alone can't win that war anyway.

Also, sane policies would render Bitcoin entirely redundant. Value can be stored in gold and cheaply transferred via banking -- at a better computational order than Bitcoin offers. If the efficient combination of the two classic methods weren't suppressed, Bitcoin could hardly compete.

So don't fret; let's enjoy the show and be curious how it turns out in the end.

[DoomDumas]

If you see the Chinese investments in buildings, then you may see clear of Chinese madness.

May I add : Chineese are being told by their govt that BTC are good, and this same govt invite their citizen to pile BTC for savings.. My guess, within a year, maybe a bit more, China will own more than 25% of existing BTC and the China govt will call "We no more trade in USD for international trade, we now trade in Gold and Bitcoin"..

Just my guest

Dont forget that Chineese are buying for saving/speculation.. Arbitrage with other currency than Yen is quite difficult, as the chineese govt enforce strong capital control and it's really hard to move Yen outside of China.  So, China is pilling tons of BTC like they are pilling gold for more than a decade..

Imo, they already are the more powerfull economically, they keep good relation with US just because US is still the more powerfull on the millitary side !

[challen]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

I see. BTW, how has ripple been working out for you?

[revans]

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

The speculators will move on when it crashes, the winners will take their winnings and the losers will lick their wounds. The people left behind who are ideologically invested and not just financially so will find they've been left salted earth.

I see. BTW, how has ripple been working out for you?

It's an interesting system, bit too early to say much more.

[CMMPro]

I think you are going to be the first one to make it to my ignore list based on pure stupidity.

Usually it takes something rude, or dramatic, or obvious trolling, lies to manipulate the market etc.

I wish you well in the future...I hope you either find your personal footing in bitcoin or go away and stop dumbing down this forum with your posts.

[Buffer Overflow]

Well, well what a surprise old 'revans' has popped his head up today.

Usually he only pops up on correction days to say 'told you so', then when it goings up again promptly disappears. 

Regular as clockwork. 

[HappyBitCoinUser]

If you were invested for the idea and not the money, then you wouldn't care so much what the value was.

Many people here reading and researching how to make a quick buck, then pretend they are all about the concept.

[revans]

Well, well what a surprise old 'revans' has popped his head up today.

Usually he only pops up on correction days to say 'told you so', then when it goings up again promptly disappears. 

Regular as clockwork. 

I've been posting fairly consistently, through rises and falls.

[phoenix1]

Well, well what a surprise old 'revans' has popped his head up today.

Usually he only pops up on correction days to say 'told you so', then when it goings up again promptly disappears. 

Regular as clockwork. 

And boring as hell ...
 'ignore' activated

[bitcoinBull]

After seeing so many people disagree, I just wanted to say I agree with the OP. Those who were here in 2011 saw a quick bust of a bubble. That is not the time-scale it usually happens on, and it already dealt quite some damage. A long bust of a speculative mania can be quite destructive.

But if it is about ideology, there's not much reason to be distressed by this. Bitcoin is just a tool, replaceable and one of many potential solutions. If it really is superior, it will survive anyway. If not, chances are it wasn't fit for the job in the first place. Time will tell, but one way or another, it is just one of many battles against insane financial policy. And Bitcoin alone can't win that war anyway.

Also, sane policies would render Bitcoin entirely redundant. Value can be stored in gold and cheaply transferred via banking -- at a better computational order than Bitcoin offers. If the efficient combination of the two classic methods weren't suppressed, Bitcoin could hardly compete.

So don't fret; let's enjoy the show and be curious how it turns out in the end.

Ya'll better listen to this man. Vandroiy is a legend, he won a 5,000 BTC bet that pirate would go bust. FYI.

...but this ridiculous price bubble will destroy Bitcoin and probably all other cryptocurrencies when it pops. For 99.99% of the Bitcoin community this is irrelevant as you are involved purely to profit, you have no ideological interest in the underlying concept, but for those who are genuinely interested in alternative currency models it's a pending disaster.

Wait, so your argument is only relevent to 0.001% of the bitcoin community, and yet its also a pending disaster? There's a contradiction in your logic..

You presume that the true "underlying concept" is a "genuine alternative currency model". I deduce that bitcoin's killer app is as a speculative investment vehicle (offshore tax-free) for gambling on price fluctuations.

If Bitcoin is to be a real currency its relative value to that which it seeks to supplant is irrelevant. The way for its value to grow is by providing value by becoming a ubiquitous medium of exchange. Indeed, that was the plan initially, then somewhere along the way that idea was ditched and the speculators moved in.

There was never a coherent plan initially. Gavin was the main guy promoting bitcoin as a payments currency and solution for merchants, pooh-poohing "buy low sell high". But the market has clearly chosen bitcoin based on a quite different value proposition.

Yep, that's exactly right.

Revans, I suggest you read this post: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1mb27q/bitcoins_vast_overvaluation_appears_caused_by/cc7i6y8

It lays it out quite nicely.

Good post, I pretty much agree.