Bitcoin is already the most stable store of value.

[Imahara]

What is a better store of value in the mind of the owners?

One that gets thrown on the market after only the smallest change in the market variables? Or one that people want to hold no matter what the market does?

The price elasticity of demand for bitcoin is very small. This means the price can move a lot without leading to extra bitcoins being released from people's coffins. The bitcoin market is very shallow, which is one reason behind the relatively high price volatility.

This is a sign of strength of bitcoin, not of weakness. Bitcoin owners have no doubt about it's future!

[gambit1]

If its price is extremely volatile its not a stable store of value. Period.

[Imahara]

I couldn't care less what the price is doing at the moment. Doesn't rock my boat at all..
So from my perspective it is as stable as a rock.

The market price is a public weighted average of the value people give to it privately. Many people value it much higher and won't sell. Others value it lower and won't buy.

The value I give to a bitcoin hasn't budged an inch in the past months. That is the only measure of stability I care about when looking at bitcoin.

[guybrushthreepwood]

The problem is with the people. As it currently stands it cant be a good store of value simply down to the volatility.

[mayne]

definitely not stable if it can drop from 600 to 540 then back to 630 now 620 on bitstamp in a matter of minutes

[Imahara]

You might as well say that it dropped to $102, because that is what btc-e shows. Still, this is one of many intra-day dips we've seen, doesnt need to change your personal view on bitcoin's future value.

Bitcoin's price volatility is caused by the simple fact that many holders are unwilling to sell at whatever price or whatever event right now. That is a sign of stability to me. It's all about it's subjective value to the market participants. If you could graph that you would see it doesnt budge much with the holders of 80% of all bitcoins.

The only reason it doesnt rise further seems to be that believers are already heavily invested in bitcoin and can't take on any more exposure to it.

[dissident]

this drop was accompanied by only an 8K sell order at around $105... that's a drop in the bucket compared to the massive quantities of coins the top couple percent of  holders have. Everybody is criticizing this seller but if I had 50,000 BTC from being an early adopter that I got for almost nothing and I wanted to get out fast for no other reason than to lock in real profits, setting a low price would be an easy way... though that's pretty low.. he could have set it at 300-400 instead.

Not trying to be an alarmist and perhaps I even believe in bitcoin long term but these top heavy holders need to sell or there will always be uncertainty and an alt coin with a more distributed coinbase (such as NEM New Economy Movement) will end up gaining ground.

Any coin with a top heavy concentration will have potential issues in an unregulated environment like this.   Dare I say dogecoin would be more stable simply because it has more users.

[kaizuki]

I got 8% earning this time,which satisfied me.

[Kazimir]

If its price is extremely volatile its not a stable store of value. Period.

So USD is not a stable store of value.

Within one or two hours, the USD price went up from 1.4 mBTC to 1.9 mBTC, and now down again. That's extremely volatile!

[dissident]

If I was an exchange and had a large sell order for 100 bucks I would have the exchange set up so that any sell orders that come in under a certain price are immediately executed and put in a pool owned by myself, the exchange operator. I could then use that pool and sell them out at 'market price' .. that would have been quite profitable, albeit greedy. The person who got them at 100 is just going to sell them back out though. An exchange wants to make a killing, what an easy way... 8000 BTC for 105 bucks.. but hey for all I know they'll be trading at 105 bucks in 12 hours (probably not)

[banaltcoin]

dropped to $102? no

[Kazimir]

dropped to $102? no

Some retard dumped 10,000+ coins in a no-limit order. This will simply scoop up ALL open buying orders, starting from the highest price, until the order is filled. This way some lucky bastards got their buy-orders at $150 filled.

The reverse would happen if somebody buys 10,000+ BTC in a no-limit order, people with $1,500+ sell orders would suddenly get hit.

But with the market volume, this immediately restores. By no means would these scenarios mean that 'the price has dropped to $150' or 'the price has risen to $1500'.

[WackyWilly]

HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA
HAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

What a bull shit.So far, Bitcoin has proved to be VERY instable. Period.
The OP needs new glasses.

WOEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[guybrushthreepwood]

If its price is extremely volatile its not a stable store of value. Period.

So USD is not a stable store of value.

Within one or two hours, the USD price went up from 1.4 mBTC to 1.9 mBTC, and now down again. That's extremely volatile!

I don't think any currencies are stable when you're playing them against each other.

HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA
HAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

What a bull shit.So far, Bitcoin has proved to be VERY instable. Period.
The OP needs new glasses.

WOEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

LOL.

[the_poet]

If its price is extremely volatile its not a stable store of value. Period.

Exactly. I fail to see why that is difficult to understand. Volatile = unstable by definition

[Kazimir]

Exactly. I fail to see why that is difficult to understand. Volatile = unstable by definition

So USD is not a stable store of value.

Within one or two hours, the USD price went up from 1.4 mBTC to 1.9 mBTC, and now down again. That's extremely volatile!

[miketonic]

What is a better store of value in the mind of the owners?

One that gets thrown on the market after only the smallest change in the market variables? Or one that people want to hold no matter what the market does?

The price elasticity of demand for bitcoin is very small. This means the price can move a lot without leading to extra bitcoins being released from people's coffins. The bitcoin market is very shallow, which is one reason behind the relatively high price volatility.

This is a sign of strength of bitcoin, not of weakness. Bitcoin owners have no doubt about it's future!

This is an interesting idea, but I still wouldn't say that Bitcoin stores value too well at the moment. Price and value are not the same thing, but when it comes to storing value, the price has to be somewhat stable aswell.

[Kazimir]

Price and value are not the same thing, but when it comes to storing value, the price has to be somewhat stable aswell.

How do we express or measure price? (or value, for that matter)

What is the price of 1 USD, for example?

[the_poet]

Exactly. I fail to see why that is difficult to understand. Volatile = unstable by definition

So USD is not a stable store of value.

Within one or two hours, the USD price went up from 1.4 mBTC to 1.9 mBTC, and now down again. That's extremely volatile!

Yes, but while you are able to buy a loaf of bread for around $1.50 and that price remained the same during those couple of hours, the same purchase in mBTC just went from 2.1 mBTC to 2.85 mBTC.

[miketonic]

Price and value are not the same thing, but when it comes to storing value, the price has to be somewhat stable aswell.

How do we express or measure price? (or value, for that matter)

What is the price of 1 USD, for example?

That is actually quite a tricky question. I think the price of USD could be measured by comparing it to what you can get with it. So I'd say the purchasing power measures the price. Currencies have no value intrinsically so they should be compared to real assets instead of other currencies.
Like I said, tricky question, but that's how I see it