Veterans- The end of 2013 compared to the end of 2012?

[BitChick]

We bought for the first time in April of this year.  It has been a wild ride so far!  I am almost giddy with excitement over what 2014 might bring though!  It is like everyday is Christmas eve.  We don't know what tomorrow will bring.  Maybe that is crazy but there is just so many new things happening in the Bitcoin world and most of it is pretty positive.

That said,  to the "veterans" that have been around a little longer, what was it like at the end of 2012?  Were people exited about what 2013 would bring?  Is the mood better now than it was even then?  Of course there have always been bulls and bears but was there some expectations that 2013 would be as epic as it was?

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[Timetwister]

I see too much optimism in this forum, so I expect lower returns in the near future.

[BitChick]

I see too much optimism in this forum, so I expect lower returns in the near future.

So the sentiment in 2012 was that everyone was too optimistic?  I have a feeling they would have jumped all over people that said that the price would be around $800 at the end of 2013!

But with the price around $13, compared the beginning of 2012 perhaps they were encouraged?  Just wanting to see what the feeling was like then.

A year is perhaps too long ago in the Bitcoin world to remember.

[Entropy-uc]

I see too much optimism in this forum, so I expect lower returns in the near future.

So the sentiment in 2012 was that everyone was too optimistic?  I have a feeling they would have jumped all over people that said that the price would be around $800 at the end of 2013!

But with the price around $13, compared the beginning of 2012 perhaps they were encouraged?  Just wanting to see what the feeling was like then.

A year is perhaps too long ago in the Bitcoin world to remember.

Many were expecting a large price jump when the block reward halved.  That happened in November 2012 but price didn't respond as expected.  So sentiment wasn't all that strong.

Most of the speculation centered on how rich everyone with pre-orders of BFL gear would get in '2 weeks' when their toys shipped.

I didn't pay much attention to the forum in that time period.  I was busy operating the FPGA farm I bought knowing that Josh and BFL were frauds.

[odolvlobo]

I see too much optimism in this forum, so I expect lower returns in the near future.

While I agree with your sentiment, the relative inconsequence of the China bubble demonstrates stability and makes me (cautiously) optimistic going forward.

[BitChick]

I see too much optimism in this forum, so I expect lower returns in the near future.

So the sentiment in 2012 was that everyone was too optimistic?  I have a feeling they would have jumped all over people that said that the price would be around $800 at the end of 2013!

But with the price around $13, compared the beginning of 2012 perhaps they were encouraged?  Just wanting to see what the feeling was like then.

A year is perhaps too long ago in the Bitcoin world to remember.

Many were expecting a large price jump when the block reward halved.  That happened in November 2012 but price didn't respond as expected.  So sentiment wasn't all that strong.

Most of the speculation centered on how rich everyone with pre-orders of BFL gear would get in '2 weeks' when their toys shipped.

I didn't pay much attention to the forum in that time period.  I was busy operating the FPGA farm I bought knowing that Josh and BFL were frauds.

So it was kind of like the "Wild West" of Bitcoin back then?

BitChicksHusband was laughing this week when a friend of his at work said that he thought Coinbase.com looked a little "Shady."

We started out putting funds using cash directly into a bank account for Bitfloor at BofA.  Now that was shady!    They were the cheapest coins we ever got though!

[Entropy-uc]

I see too much optimism in this forum, so I expect lower returns in the near future.

So the sentiment in 2012 was that everyone was too optimistic?  I have a feeling they would have jumped all over people that said that the price would be around $800 at the end of 2013!

But with the price around $13, compared the beginning of 2012 perhaps they were encouraged?  Just wanting to see what the feeling was like then.

A year is perhaps too long ago in the Bitcoin world to remember.

Many were expecting a large price jump when the block reward halved.  That happened in November 2012 but price didn't respond as expected.  So sentiment wasn't all that strong.

Most of the speculation centered on how rich everyone with pre-orders of BFL gear would get in '2 weeks' when their toys shipped.

I didn't pay much attention to the forum in that time period.  I was busy operating the FPGA farm I bought knowing that Josh and BFL were frauds.

So it was kind of like the "Wild West" of Bitcoin back then?

BitChicksHusband was laughing this week when a friend of his at work said that he thought Coinbase.com looked a little "Shady."

We started out putting funds using cash directly into a bank account for Bitfloor at BofA.  Now that was shady!    They were the cheapest coins we ever got though!

It's still the wild west.  But the Pinkertons and maybe even some US Marshals are starting to work up the nerve to show their faces.

The first half of 2012 was insane.  You had thieves like Pirateat40, GigaVPS, BurtW etc., treated as heroes.  What wasn't being stolen by Ponzi schemes was being robbed blind in 'mining bonds' priced like perpetual annuities.  BFL raised several million dollars for their vapor-ware solely on a reputation for delivering a handful of FPGAs months after they had promised.

Nefario was letting any shyster list a company on his 'stock exchange' for a few BTC.  I don't think he even required ID.

Bitfloor was bankrupt after losing 25000 bitcoin in a 'hack'.  Roman didn't even bother to leave the parties at the London conference to handle the outcome. And people actually continued to do business with him!


Fun times.  But you needed a firm grip on your wallet.

[LAMarcellus]

I'm not the veteran you're looking for...
But I see 2014 as being a banner year for Bitcoin.

If we had liberty world wide instead of govt atrocities enabled by central banks...
If gold was money instead of these inflationary inked toilet paper notes...
If the US economy was balanced rather than a victim of severe cronyism...

Then bitcoin would be no big deal.

But I see our situation as a perfect storm that will cause a meteoric rise in the adaption, use, and price of bitcoin.
A major part of the world population is ready to shrug off the parasitic banks and enjoy the blessings of monetary liberty.

Even if those reasons didn't exist we're essentially watching the automobile replace the horse and buggy of the financial world. Except the P2P distributed protocol underlying bitcoin has the potential to be so much more than just "the automobile".

Just my 2 satoshis.

[Carlton Banks]

Looking back to January 2012, I was kinda pleased that there'd been a big post-christmas price increase. When you look at the magnitude of the changes, 2012 doesn't seem half as eventful as it felt at the time, but maybe that's because of the tension of keeping my fingers crossed super tight that the price wouldn't crash to uncomfortable levels (like close to where I started buying in long).

I think that's why I've been less moved by the big, big growth spurts in the price in 2013. I can see a lonnnnng way down from up here, and it's a whole lot more comfortable than when buy-in price is still in your rear view mirror. The price goes from $1200 to $600 and I'm valid in saying "still doing pretty damn well"

[cr1776]

There are still the "its going to drop to X" threads where X is 1/10 or 1/50th of the price at that point.  And the ones saying "no way will the price go to Y, it is too expensive at [$1/3/20/50/100/266/500/800/1200] already" threads where Y is 10-100 times the current price. 

The truth is no one knows, but if adoption, speculation etc continues it will increase in price.

The point about people expecting a price jump after the halving in late 2012 is good to recall.  I think a combination of the halving and press (Cyprus hype etc) played an important role in 2013.  The next halving in Aug 2016-ish will be interesting to observe.

:-)

Hopefully January 2015 we'll look back at this thread and reminisce about how cheap the coins were in Dec 2013.

[empoweoqwj]

I didn't get interested in btc until March 2013, so don't know about the end of 2012. All I can say is the 9 months I have been "into" bitcoins has been amazingly interesting. So much news, interest, developments. I expect the same is 2014 if not more.

[Dafar]

Hopefully January 2015 we'll look back at this thread and reminisce about how cheap the coins were in Dec 2013.

This is all I hope for

[Hawker]

A year ago most of us knew that Bitcoin was on a long term growth pattern that would take it over $1000 in the next 10 years and that it would be a very bumpy ride as existing financial institutions tried to stop Bitcoin entering common usage.

I wasn't surprised that we reached $1000 this year because once everyone knows it will sooner or later reach $1000, then Bitcoin became a 1 way bet.  I am surprised that the existing banks and regulators haven't cracked down yet.  When they do, the real power of the Bitcoin peer to peer architecture will become clear and then we will see the niche markets where Bitcoin will be the currency of choice.  I'm guessing that online gambling and things using TOR will always be our niches but who knows what else will emerge.