Posted on 11/04/2015 10:34:17 AM PST by Another Post-American
Bitcoin is enjoying one of its best rallies in years.
The digital currency, which has registered a series of records over the past several days, marked a fresh high Wednesday, when it surpassed $490 for the first time since September 2014, according to data from Coindesk, a bitcoin price index.
Read: Is bitcoin a better investment than gold?
Bitcoin, which was at $491.77, according to Coindesk early in New York, has soared more than 22% so far on Wednesday and has climbed 72% over the past three months, as the chart below illustrates:
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
The price hit $499.95 on Coinbase last night, and has now pulled back to around $460. That's "only" up 13% over 24 hours!
One challenge to the conventional wisdom about Chinese evading capital controls is that while the price was slowly increasing for several months, it really began skyrocketing when the EU announced its' decision to treat bitcoin as a currency (and thus not subject to a VAT tax.) True, most of the trading volume is in China, but that's been true for a long time. (As have suspicions that the Chinese trade volumes are inflated.)
Ping!
Would anyone be interested in a simple starter guide on how to buy bitcoins (or get modest amounts for free)?
I’d like to understand what bitcoin IS, to start with. Haven’t found a single good ‘Dummie’s Guide’ yet.
-JT
If bitcoin is so good, why is it measured in dollars? Dream on crazy wonks.
Just sold at $277. Typical me.
“If bitcoin is so good, why is it measured in dollars? Dream on crazy wonks.”
If gold is so good, why is it measured in dollars?
Anything with value is translatable to other units of value. Most people are familiar with dollars, so...
“Just sold at $277. Typical me.”
At least you’d bought some. I’d been eyeing it for some time as it hovered in the mid-$200s. heh
That's got to be the silliest objection yet. Would you prefer I reported the value of bitcoin in euros or renmimbi on FreeRepublic? I can do that...
Ouch. Sorry. Well, there's a reason bitcoiners invented the term HODL. (Hold On for Dear Life)
No one I know buys and sells in gold. But, keep dreaming that your imaginary currency will stay nice and stable.
No. I’d prefer this nonsensical game of wonk money just go back to the TRS-80 world of Mario Bros. where it came from.
Glad to be of service. :)
“No one I know buys and sells in gold. “
I’ve seen transactions in gold, as well as pesos (for instance). Both are often discussed in terms of their “dollar value”.
Perhaps a more important question is what dollars will be worth in a year, or ten years...in terms of dollars today.
“But, keep dreaming that your imaginary currency will stay nice and stable.”
Someone should start charts of BTC versus a good suit, BTC versus loaves of bread, and of course BTC versus ounces of gold. Putting those next to charts of dollars versus the same commodities should be instructive. :-)
World-renowned Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman disagrees, predicting it in some detail.
Bitcoin, or some very similar variant, is here to stay - at least as long as we have a high-tech world. Loss of grid power, computers and the Internet would kill it, of course. ;-)
We can compare bitcoin to its alternative, fiat currency, which is currently valued in the trillions (compared to billions for bitcoin) of dollars. When we do, we realize how dramatically undervalued cryptocurrency is by comparison. Government-issued funny money is what is over-valued. Its only inherent value is as sub-standard wallpaper or toilet paper.
I consider bitcoin to be entrepreneur issued funny money.
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