Cult of hoarding

[wobber]

I'm assuming that newcomers that get involved into bitcoin, eventually will integrate into their beliefs some (more or less) of the community's cultsm, including hoarding.

So, even if a newcomer buys bitcoins, we could assume he hoars at least 10% for the very long term (+20 years, for nephews or for when they're old). The rest of it can be actively traded, gambled, etc. But some will almost for sure be hoarded, because most bitcoin users are young and can risk 800 bucks for a "my precious" coin.

This is a very important aspect as more and more users get into bitcoin, making less and less coins available. I expect that as price get's higher, hoarding is expressed in more decimal points and by less users.

[nobbynobbynoob]

"Hoarded" 'coins are simply off the market. The remaining ones divide into 100 million itty bitty pieces, enough to run any economy on, and after all, the earlier-adopting "whales" can only dump once.

[empoweoqwj]

The amount of purchases in BTC at overstock.com and tigerdirect.com by bitcoiners suggests bitcoiners are not as hoardy as we might have suspected.

[Erdogan]

The hoarded coins will be available some day, and the market knows it.

Why would anyone buy coins and store them forever? There is no sense in that. You would be better off not buying them at all.

[byronbb]

The hoarded coins will be available some day, and the market knows it.

Why would anyone buy coins and store them forever? There is no sense in that. You would be better off not buying them at all.

Until I can use my coins for something I want, I will hold them.

[BitChick]

Many people have regretted not holding.  We can learn from their mistakes. 

[Bill Bisco]

Bitcoin is a deflationary currency.  It encourages savings and thrift.  This is a good thing.

[empoweoqwj]

Bitcoin is a deflationary currency.  It encourages savings and thrift.  This is a good thing.

Its a balancing act. If nobody spends, its not a currency. It's a dead duck.

[keithers]

Yeah for long term growth we need a good percentage of people holding, and a good amount of people spending. We just don't need 100% doing one or the other at the same time.

[BitChick]

Yeah for long term growth we need a good percentage of people holding, and a good amount of people spending. We just don't need 100% doing one or the other at the same time.

People have had no problem spending on Tiger Direct and Overstock.  As long as more places start taking BTC this won't be an issue.

[nobbynobbynoob]

The hoarded coins will be available some day, and the market knows it.

Maybe so but that still doesn't change the fact that there will always be less than 21 billion mBTC out there. Whether the market is pricing already based on an assumed supply of 21 billion, 12 billion or whatever, is anyone's guess.

[Tzupy]

What I find most annoying about HODLers posting in these forums is that they make bitcoin look like a Ponzi,
and it's not a Ponzi, just a bubble. Fortunately, during the bear market, HODLers will decrease their posting rate.

[GratisBitcoin]

Hoarded

"Hoarded" 'coins are simply off the market. The remaining ones divide into 100 million itty bitty pieces, enough to run any economy on, and after all, the earlier-adopting "whales" can only dump once.

Hoarded coins can be concidered off the market. But what about lost coins? Coins that were on crashed hard drives for instance? Those will never be back in the market... Or coins mined in 2010 that were on computers that have been trashed and destroyed before BTC became worth something?

[Dalmar]

That is why we have such epic crashes all the damn time when new highs are hit.

Hoarders or hodlers who at first were greedy and euphoric will see their precious plummet in price and start selling en masse. It happened so many times that you could say it is a law of nature in the bitcoin economy.

[wobber]

That is why we have such epic crashes all the damn time when new highs are hit.

Hoarders or hodlers who at first were greedy and euphoric will see their precious plummet in price and start selling en masse. It happened so many times that you could say it is a law of nature in the bitcoin economy.

Unfortunately bitcoin is concentrated in just a few hands... So the panic sell only does worse

[skivrmt]

That is why we have such epic crashes all the damn time when new highs are hit.

Hoarders or hodlers who at first were greedy and euphoric will see their precious plummet in price and start selling en masse. It happened so many times that you could say it is a law of nature in the bitcoin economy.

Unfortunately bitcoin is concentrated in just a few hands... So the panic sell only does worse

Define a few though?  There's been a lot studies and research done on the top 47 holders of Bitcoin.  After guessing than Satoshi owns ~1MM (which who really knows), the next 46 drop off fairly significantly.  Yes, I agree if most of then panic dump the market would crash.  But I think we have enough of a support base right now to recover fairly quickly.

[Mikcik]

"hoarding" is called investment, and belive it or not, thats the main reason majority of the people are in bitcoin, maybe not majority here on forums, but certainly a majority of holders, get used to it. Nobody really cares about some "ideals" or "revolution" or i dont know what "crap", its all about the money, and doesnt matter if its USD, EUR or BTC :-P.

[empoweoqwj]

That is why we have such epic crashes all the damn time when new highs are hit.

Hoarders or hodlers who at first were greedy and euphoric will see their precious plummet in price and start selling en masse. It happened so many times that you could say it is a law of nature in the bitcoin economy.

Unfortunately bitcoin is concentrated in just a few hands... So the panic sell only does worse

What panic sell is that?

[billyjoeallen]

Bitcoin is a deflationary currency.  It encourages savings and thrift.  This is a good thing.

Its a balancing act. If nobody spends, its not a currency. It's a dead duck.

There is a natural equilibrium. The greater the value, the more incentive there is to spend, lock in profits, hedge. I started spending my coins when the price reached 100X my original buy in. Now I sell ~4% for every 10% rise in price after a new All Time High.

If price drops far enough, they start to look cheap and I buy them back. I buy back 75% of what I sold after every 15% drop in price. The effect is that the dollar value of my stack increases over time even though the number of coins I own eventually slowly goes down. and I make thousands of dollars per year doing this. I will eventually make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars/year doing this. Unless it all goes to shit in which case I have a good story to tell.

[guybrushthreepwood]

I'm assuming that newcomers that get involved into bitcoin, eventually will integrate into their beliefs some (more or less) of the community's cultsm, including hoarding.

So, even if a newcomer buys bitcoins, we could assume he hoars at least 10% for the very long term (+20 years, for nephews or for when they're old). The rest of it can be actively traded, gambled, etc. But some will almost for sure be hoarded, because most bitcoin users are young and can risk 800 bucks for a "my precious" coin.

Why are you assuming people will hoard? Some people will buy coins as an investment and some will buy to use. Bitcoin is a currency and you are free to save or spend. You can do both or either.