What’s the collective’s thinking regarding Bitcoins – they just appear to be on the up and up at the moment with no slow of any slowing down ?

Six pages. No one any the wiser. Watching with interest.

I’ve tried to understand Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining, I’ve come to the realisation that I can’t.

this^^^

What’s never been explained to me is who underwrites the currency?

I mean, the Pound is underwritten by the Bank of England. They guarantee the value of the Pound, if necessary by a value relating to something like Gold etc. This means my five pound note has both a monitary value (£5) and a equivalent value that can be redeemed as goods or services.

Who does that for Bitcoins?

They guarantee the value of the Pound

they really don’t – see Black Wednesday.

All currency is based on a collective delusion that a nominal ‘thing’ has a value.

Bitcoins have a value because they are rare and in limited supply. You could say the same for old bottles of wine or anything else that people collect – they often have no intrinsic worth just the value people ascribe to them.

It’s a pyramid scheme in all but name. Mining the coins becomes exponentially harder as each is found, which means those who started early generated a vast proportion of the available currency

they just appear to be on the up and up at the moment with no slow of any slowing down ?

That belief is the only reason they have any value…

I looked at them in June when they hit $2k and thought I’d probably missed the boat. They’ve doubled in value since….

I’m not sure what it’s performance is tied to. It’s not any one countries economy or general uncertainty (as with gold) so to me it just looks like speculation that it will continue to rise.

I’ve tried to understand Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining, I’ve come to the realisation that I can’t.

Much like gold or diamonds they have no real world uses beyond being worth a lot because there’s not much of them and people want them because other people want them. And equally like gold or diamonds, as soon as people don’t want them their value falls.

Don’t think that could happen? It just did on the 1st august. https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/31/what-should-you-do-before-tomorrows-bitcoin-split/

Mining is based on prime numbers, of which there are an infinite number, so there are an infinite number of bitcoins out there, but finding a new one becomes difficult because the number of ‘bits’ in the number is significantly more than the number of bits a computer can process at a time.

You’d be better off investing in Tulip Bulbs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

who underwrites the currency?

It’s a Ponzi scheme. As long as new people keep joining, you can’t lose.

It’s all about Ethereum now.

https://www.ethereum.org/

Wanted to buy years ago…. but my absolute lack of any IT knowledge stop me from doing it.

I had no understanding of how to get them “off-line” and stored safety and then how to get them back into the system…. letting a third party hold them sounded far to risky.

I was drawn to the idea that is a finite currency and highly moveable (if you’ve got the IT knowledge 🙄 )

Much like gold or diamonds they have no real world uses

Audio cables.

beyond being worth a lot

Yeah just like gold plated audio cables.

It’s a pyramid scheme in all but name

So exactly the same as every other currency? 😀

I’m not sure what it’s performance is tied to. It’s not any one countries economy or general uncertainty (as with gold) so to me it just looks like speculation that it will continue to rise.

Seen as a competitor to gold, as an alternate storage of wealth, and as such is behaving in the same way to North Korea saga with an add help of a massive puff.

Im pretty sure it’ll all end in tears for many different reasons… not least the fact we are discussing it here and everybody from cabbies to hairdressers have now heard of it…. but that doesn’t mean it can’t go higher still.

have fun

Buying Bitcoin is easy, just head to https://blockchain.info/wallet and sign up.

Trust me, you should definitely buy some, only fools will pass this one by, a single Bitcoin will be worth at least a $million in a few years time 😉

Laughing at everyone saying “if I’d signed up in 2009 I’d have been a millionaire by now”. Also laughing, though not as hard as people saying it’s a Ponzi scheme. As a currency, it is accepted by several people, so it has some value. Is it worth €3500+ EUR per BTC? Who knows? Is the FTSE worth holding at its current value? Who knows.

You wouldn’t be a millionaire now because….

Maybe you’d have cashed out when it doubled in value.

Maybe you’d have cashed out when it plunged and cursed the day you “invested” in it.

Maybe like some others you’d have gotten greedy and “diversified” into a bunch of other altcoins which were basically scams.

Cryptocurrencies are very complex. I’ve done a ton of reading and am none the wiser about whether I should invest or not. If you have the cash to burn, then diversify and buy some. Or you can even hold it in a fund if you don’t want to deal with the complexities of exchanges, cold storage, forks, splits and all that shite.

Mate of mine sold some a while back, was chuffed that he’d made a couple of hundred quid. If he’d kept them, they’d be worth £58 grand today.

Buying Bitcoin is easy, just head to https://blockchain.info/wallet and sign up.

Alternatively, you can do what our IT bloke did and spread them around several hard drives then lose them.
He’s not at all bitter about the 20k bitcoins he’s been trying to find for the last 6 months or so 😆

Still, the 600 or so he has managed to find has softened the blow a bit….

beej – Member

It’s all about Ethereum now.

Indeed, it’s caused a global shortage of mid range graphics cads as miners are buying them all up to build farming machines..it’s nuts https://www.overclockers.co.uk/pc-components/graphics-cards/amd/radeon-rx-580

http://apassiveincomeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/mining-farm.jpg

Graphics card I bought just after chrismas thats discontinued, for £220, now selling second hand on ebay for £300 😯

He’s not at all bitter about the 20k bitcoins he’s been trying to find for the last 6 months or so

He should look on the bright side, at least he won’t have the hassle of declaring the capital gains to HMRC 🙂

Cougar – Moderator
Mate of mine sold some a while back, was chuffed that he’d made a couple of hundred quid. If he’d kept them, they’d be worth £58 grand today.

Likewise, I bought a load back in 2011 when they were about £7 per BTC or something. Promptly spent the lot on magic monkey dust. But do sometimes wish I’d left just one in my wallet.