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I have no desire to go bankrupt in the Bitcoin collapse.

In 2000, I was a multi-millionaire on paper from the dot-com boom. I learned a lot of lessons after that collapse, with lesson #1 being, “Don’t invest any time or money in something that doesn’t have the economics to support itself.”

I still work in technology. I’m back to where I need to be financially - better off, even, since it isn’t wealth “on paper” anymore - and I got here by investing my time in real activities that have good unit economics. The unit economics of Bitcoin mark it as an obvious boondoggle.

Step 1: Buy some computers or cloud computing power.
Step 2: Pay money to run these systems to crunch a useless algorithm that has no value except to generate a Bitcoin.
Step 3: Collect your Bitcoin and see where the market has it currently valued.
Step 4: Find someone who wants this slice of waste in exchange for a good/service with actual tangible value.

It won’t last. In a way, it reminds me of the people who used to farm platinum in online video games like Everquest and then sell it on ebay. At least the process of obtaining platinum can be considered entertainment, though, so there is actual entertainment value being generated while the platinum is collected. There is no entertainment value or anything in the computing cycles wasted to generate a Bitcoin. There is nothing.

From a unit economics standpoint, this exercise is bound to fail. It’s not a question of “if,” it’s “when.”

There is no entertainment value or anything in the computing cycles wasted to generate a Bitcoin.

I guess that depends on what somebody considers "entertainment". I think it's a blast trying to squeeze every last hash out of a mining rig. It's fun to communicate over forums with other miners to attain tips and tricks. I enjoy trying (fruitlessly) to compare the projected ROI of a scrypt ASIC to a GPU.

I'll listen to your other arguments against, but your point about "no entertainment value" is completely subjective.

I learned a lot of lessons after that collapse, with lesson #1 being, “Don’t invest any time or money in something that doesn’t have the economics to support itself.”

The #1 lesson of investing, is don't invest in anything you don't understand.

#2 would be: Don't put all of your eggs in one basket (i.e., diversify).

I'm glad you're happy with where you're at in life. There are many who can't say that. I'm VERY happy were I'm at as well, so looks like we've got that in common! ;)