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Bitcoins?


Turbox

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It's gotten hype as a speculative investment vehicle lately, but as per usual the hype arrived after the gains and seems more like bait to naive traders given what it's done this year. Pretty risky stuff. Let's see how it copes with the negative PR of being the choice currency of small scale illicit drug trade through association with places like Silk Road. I do find the whole concept very interesting.

Edited by Ski Bum
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Since I hate the notion of a "virtual currency" with no central bank backing or reserves to lend creedence to the issue, it will probably go to the moon. I can't get behind the notion that something I can't touch or possess has an intrinsic value. There have been some pretty wild swings in valuation day to day, but if it looks like a ponzi scheme, walks like a ponzi scheme & smells like a ponzi scheme, it is a ponzi scheme. That being said those who got in early have made some stupendous returns. The fact that Bitcoin is linked to the internet drug trade hurts its legitimacy & it is used to launder money from that business. Until it is recognized and accepted by the central bank of an industrial nation, it is a complete crapshoot.

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I hesitate to label it a ponzi scheme just yet. If you view it as a simple currency, to be speculated with in exchanges in the short term, then yes. But if you see it as a public, globally dispersed asset registry (which is essentially what it is), the implications of widespread acceptance are potentially rather profound. Philosophically, it's about the exact opposite of the traditional currency system we are used to.

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but if it looks like a ponzi scheme, walks like a ponzi scheme & smells like a ponzi scheme, it is a ponzi scheme. That being said those who got in early have made some stupendous returns. The fact that Bitcoin is linked to the internet drug trade hurts its legitimacy & it is used to launder money from that business. Until it is recognized and accepted by the central bank of an industrial nation, it is a complete crapshoot.
Ponzi schemes don't require currency to be put into effect.

Cash (as legal tender) also has a decorated history being involved in unsavory activity.

I'm neither for nor against bitcoin. It's not without its faults, yet its potential as a financial tool (as Ski Bum said) is profound and has yet to be fully realized.

The fact that banks (as classically chartered) aren't involved is its biggest advantage IMO.

...The ball is just getting rolling.

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