What's your views on Bitcoin and why?
Discussion
rog007 said:
Thank you; I think! Trouble is, I'm only just getting to grips with pounds, shillings and pence! 
£1 = 20 shillings or 240 pennies or 480 half pennies, 80 threepenny bits, 10 florins, eight half crowns, four crowns, 40 sixpences or 960 farthings.What's difficult about that?
I well remember all the confusion when "new" decimal money was introduced, every shop in the country had to have new tills.....
hornet said:
I have a small amount (<£100) that I used mostly out of curiosity. Have made a few online purchases (legal!), donated to a few charities and, more recently, used them to play with other things like Nxt and assets / tokens on the Counterparty platform. I'd say my fascination is more with the concept of the blockchain than with the currency that sits on top of it. Have heard it argued, and I think I agree, that the real disruptive technology is the blockchain and the currency element is simply the first "app".
For those getting interested, I'd say the key thing now is not to view it as an investment or some sort of get rich quick scheme, rather just enjoy playing with the technology. Buy a small amount and do stuff with it rather than sit on it thinking you're going to retire on it.
For those getting interested, I'd say the key thing now is not to view it as an investment or some sort of get rich quick scheme, rather just enjoy playing with the technology. Buy a small amount and do stuff with it rather than sit on it thinking you're going to retire on it.
But why? It has no advantage whatsoever over traditional currencies and is a whole load of hassle for zero gain.
All that jazz said:
But why? It has no advantage whatsoever over traditional currencies and is a whole load of hassle for zero gain.
Probably makes more sense to think of bitcoin as a commodity or token rather than a unit of currency. It's something you can use to assign provable ownership of something (pretty much anything) and then transmit anywhere with more or less nil cost. That could be as disruptive to finance as e-commerce became to "traditional" business.
hornet said:
All that jazz said:
But why? It has no advantage whatsoever over traditional currencies and is a whole load of hassle for zero gain.
Oakey said:
I like how people keep touting 'chargeback risk' as a benefit...
Because clearly having a route to getting my money back if a retailer f
ks me over is a bad thing!
Because clearly having a route to getting my money back if a retailer f
ks me over is a bad thing!
yes, its very one sided.
If the buyer is getting a discount in return for giving up these protections then fair enough, risk it if you want.
Right now you're asking me to pay a few percent more, to make the transaction more complicated and give away all my consumer rights. Frankly, thats just idiotic.
If I'm trying to buy heroin or child porn online then the system makes a lot of sense. Buying a laptop from Dell, not so much!
Aphex said:
Nowadays you need some dedicated machinery that is chuffing loud and costs alot to run power-wise. Basically breaking even until you get into the big ol' bitcoin farms which would not be a possibility for me!
Sounds like time for a day out at Bletchley Park!https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bombe&biw=16...
I bought into the Bitcoin hype at the begging of the last boom.
I invested a small amount as I had no real idea how it all worked. I think a single coin was about 90 dollars when I decided to invest. Unfortunately by the time my account was opened and my funds cleared they were about 200 dollars.
I then rode the boom with utter excitement, even trading successfully and unsuccessfully on the dips and peaks. It seemed like free money and I then invested a bigger chunk, believing the hype of 10,000 dollar coins. I think I bought in again at about 800 dollars. Then the boom ended and the bust began. Nobody's really sure if we have seen the end of the bust and I wouldn't like to guess either way.
Finally Gox went down with some of my money (very small amount). I had luckily moved my coins to another host by then or I would have lost the lot. I pretty much forgot about Bitcoin after this.
The above story highlights my inability to read markets more than anything else, but overall after about a year involved in Bitcoin I came away feeling like the whole thing is overwhelmingly complicated and teaming with wide boys, crooks and downright criminals.
Some people however did incredibly well from the last boom and made staggering amounts. As many if not many more just held on to them until they are worth very little. Hover they're still worth more than double what they were when I first showed an interest.
I invested a small amount as I had no real idea how it all worked. I think a single coin was about 90 dollars when I decided to invest. Unfortunately by the time my account was opened and my funds cleared they were about 200 dollars.
I then rode the boom with utter excitement, even trading successfully and unsuccessfully on the dips and peaks. It seemed like free money and I then invested a bigger chunk, believing the hype of 10,000 dollar coins. I think I bought in again at about 800 dollars. Then the boom ended and the bust began. Nobody's really sure if we have seen the end of the bust and I wouldn't like to guess either way.
Finally Gox went down with some of my money (very small amount). I had luckily moved my coins to another host by then or I would have lost the lot. I pretty much forgot about Bitcoin after this.
The above story highlights my inability to read markets more than anything else, but overall after about a year involved in Bitcoin I came away feeling like the whole thing is overwhelmingly complicated and teaming with wide boys, crooks and downright criminals.
Some people however did incredibly well from the last boom and made staggering amounts. As many if not many more just held on to them until they are worth very little. Hover they're still worth more than double what they were when I first showed an interest.
I mined some quite early on and haven't sold any yet. What surprises me the most is that it has held up so well from a technological standpoint. The whole blockchain concept seems surprisingly robust and while I haven't followed the news in the past years, I don't think there were any major attacks that threatened the system. Quite surprising.
I think there's a very small chance that Bitcoin may find a use if our banking/financial system collapses in its entirety, simply because it's a somewhat time tested and working infrastructure but the odds of that happening are somewhere around 0.0001% in my eyes.
I think there's a very small chance that Bitcoin may find a use if our banking/financial system collapses in its entirety, simply because it's a somewhat time tested and working infrastructure but the odds of that happening are somewhere around 0.0001% in my eyes.
KFC said:
If we end up with a genuine situation where the banking system and global financing has completely collapsed then your money would have been better invested in water sterilisation tablets and shotgun shells than bitcoin.
Also, that bloke with the underground bunker full of beans will finaly be right above something. Still be a nutter, but finally right.
Oakey said:
I like how people keep touting 'chargeback risk' as a benefit...
Because clearly having a route to getting my money back if a retailer fks me over is a bad thing!
Hi Oakey,Because clearly having a route to getting my money back if a retailer f
ks me over is a bad thing!Bitcoin is programmable money, meaning you can very easily create escrow transactions of any value at no cost to the buyer or seller. Therefore you can simulate scenarios to provide the "consumer protection" traditional chargebacks offer.
These can be done on a time lock basis, meaning the funds are inaccessible to the vendor for a set period of time. once this period has lapsed the bitcoins will be accessible to the vender. Or a mediator can be introduced into a transaction.
Bitcoin transactions can very easily simulate perks traditional payments may provide. Traditional payments including apple pay can not simulate the unique qualities of a Bitcoin transaction.
However, making these comparisons is really missing the point. A better questions is, can Bitcoin create new forms of business never before possible due to it's infrastructure, the answer is absolutely. Micro transactions, smart contracts and online tipping on the internet are now some of infinite possibilities never before possible (yes as well as online drug markets).
Here's my main issue with the argument that bitcoin is not relevant, it comes from people who are fortunate enough to be born in nations who can serve up the creme de la creme of what the banking world has to offer. It's difficult to zoom out the corridor of our own lives to stop and think how lucky we are (assuming the majority here are UK based) to inherit the GBP. It was not a choice, we where born here therefore we inherit the GBP. Along with a pretty stable gov and the ability to trade global markets from our iPhone.
The shocking reality is that roughly only 20 countries out of 190ish (depending on how you count them) can boast the same privilege. In fact it's less than 1.5b of us who can freely trade without many restrictions on a global scale. So what about the other 6 billion?
Unbanked or underbanked
Limited to cash based societies
Have no real hope of getting a bank account because they don't have ID let alone a physical address to do proper AML / KYC on.
Mobile phones are helping with localised systems such as M PESA but there are still incredible restrictions.
Example:
The internet revolutionised how we do business, refined / replaced encumbered industries and created completely new ones never before possible (which btw, back in 1995 everyone said why would you need to use the internet when you can send a fax... but I won't go into this :P ) However as amazing as the internet is, it hasn't effected the above.
Let's say your a computer wizz kid who lives in Uganda, a country's whos political history is one of instability and, despite reforms, still faces restrictive government controls. With the application of the internet, you can create a website selling eBooks on 'how to code like a pro' so you have:
1. a completely internet based business
2. a completely virtual product
You can get your idea out to the world, you can even deliver your product to the world..... how do you get paid? Paypal or any other merchant provider won't touch you because you don't have the required AML / KYC credentials, does this make you a criminal? ... course not! but it's the very real restrictions billions of people around the world must face.
Now, combine the native currency of the internet (bitcoin) into this mix and you now have a viable business where you can receive payment from any corner of the global and never have to worry about asking for permission.
Bitcoin and bitcoin based technology hold with it the ability to directly impact global poverty by empowering individuals with the tools require to effect their own bottom line instead of being reliant on aid, this will not happen overnight, these are not airy fairy libertarian ideals, it's simple evolution. The ability to innovate without permission is exactly what has made the internet what it is today, Bitcoin takes this concept and applies it to the world of finance. Unfortunately most see Bitcoin as a "FAX machine".... hell, I know i did at the start!
Shigs
Did you want an answer to the question on what WE thought of bitcoin or did you want to use this post as a marketing exercise? Hence my point about your lack of posts. You work with a bitcoin related business and now you are preaching about its ability to end world poverty.
Please stop.
Did you want an answer to the question on what WE thought of bitcoin or did you want to use this post as a marketing exercise? Hence my point about your lack of posts. You work with a bitcoin related business and now you are preaching about its ability to end world poverty.
Please stop.
R11ysf said:
Shigs
Did you want an answer to the question on what WE thought of bitcoin or did you want to use this post as a marketing exercise? Hence my point about your lack of posts. You work with a bitcoin related business and now you are preaching about its ability to end world poverty.
Please stop.
R11ysf, i've updated my profile just for you buddy Did you want an answer to the question on what WE thought of bitcoin or did you want to use this post as a marketing exercise? Hence my point about your lack of posts. You work with a bitcoin related business and now you are preaching about its ability to end world poverty.
Please stop.
I actually won't bother answering another one of your post seriously, so i'll just urge you to re read my last response
Unless things have changed since last year, those people with no ID in countries with no access to banks have no chance of adopting Bitcoin. I had to send various proofs of identity around the world just to buy my first few coins. It's much harder and more time consuming than opening a bank account.
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff