after a thread drifter of topic I think there enough here to help with this. I for one would, but there are problems Volatility being the primary one. That said crypto currencies might just appeal to certain watch collectors who live in counties where banks and regulators jump on more than three irregular bank transfers a year. It's a really new and unfamiliar process for most, and fraught with ways to go wrong, and no customer service reps! I like the removal of a central control - my banking friends insist you can't have a currency without central control. Mind you my political friends for the most part believe (with a fevour only seen in flat-earthers) that decentralised currencies are so ludicrous they don't consider them a threat. Any miners on the forum? I am currently running 1ghs eth.
When I do a wire transfer with my Chase account in a foreign currency it costs me about 3% with the crap exchange rate they give you. I'm assuming Paypal's exchange rates are bad too. Bit coin I would imagine would eliminate those charges, but could move 10% in an hour so it's a tough call. I'd certainly try it
Hoping @Tony C. and @gatorcpa will chime in here, re bitcoin and central control. Always interested to read their posts.
I'm an old fart. Having Bitcoin is like having all of your pics in the cloud. One EMP from the fat lunatic in the North and you own SFA! Under my mattress is the best place for watch kitty.
While I am fully sympathetic to those who desire to preserve wealth, and avoid (intrinsically corrupt) fiat currencies, I am a Bitcoin skeptic, and strongly prefer physical gold and silver as 'insurance', or stores of value. In contrast to precious metals, which have demonstrated great utility, and especially during times of economic crisis, over thousands of years, Bitcoin is at an embryonic stage of development. It is also extremely volatile, which prevents it from being accepted on anything like a widespread basis. Most businesses, which typically operate on narrow profit margins, and require a fairly high degree of predictability, simply cannot use a transactional token than may plummet 20% in value over a very short span of time. There are, of course, fundamental concerns as well, as @Vitezi suggests. Actions on the part of the Chinese government recently triggered a sharp sell-off of Bitcoin, and, while it has rebounded, the dangers (and likelihood) of big governments acting against it should worry any "investor". Keep in mind that China has been by far the biggest driver of Bitcoin value, and largely because of capital flight demand. The degree to which big governments control the internet should also be of real concern. My understanding from some experts in Cryptology is that Bitcoin is manipulated by big players, adding to volatility, and stacking the deck against individual users. It is true that gold prices have also been manipulated by Central Banks through futures markets, but it is apples to oranges, as physical gold (and silver) will soar in value when the paper promises inevitably fail. I'm on record as arguing that the world is inexorably headed for another major economic crisis, and that it is on the near-horizon, not many years away. But whether it unfolds in earnest over the next few months or five years from now, I would far prefer to use proven stores of value such as gold to preserve wealth, to a brand new, electronic cryptocurrency. The world is well into uncharted economic territory, and I steadfastly refuse to believe that the greatest debt crisis in history can be resolved by creating mountains of additional debt. So I am betting that, once again, physical gold will prove to be a superior store of value when widespread faith in paper (or electronic) promises is lost. "Gold has worked down from Alexander's time. When something holds good for two thousand years I do not believe it can be so because of prejudice or mistaken theory." – Bernard M. Baruch “The modern mind dislikes gold because it blurts out unpleasant truths.” – Joseph Schumpeter
Yep, I'm heading down to the beach for the weekend. The poor old place will be protected by nothing more than a bugular* alarm. Oh yes, nearly forgot, and a couple of other little devices I learned about in my time as a bomb disposal tech/booby trap negator/IED Tech/EOD tech while in the military. > Care to step inside? PS: *burgular is a perfectly Aussie word.
Because of all of the paper games being played, Bob, I don't really focus on the smaller market gyrations. I'm simply waiting patiently for the denouement, at which time I expect holders of physical gold and silver to be in much better financial shape than most.
I’ve bought four watches this year, three of them Omega using that ”fake money”. I bought my first coins long time ago. Opted to “diversify” and cash out - still have some. Money is all fiat currency. Things are valued by what people say it’s worth. Right now, people think it’s worth it. I do too. Specially in cases of political instability - great way to transport value. The real boom will probably not be from bitcoin but other applications for the blockchain. Email is to the tcp/ip protocol what the blockchain is to the internet.
Like Warren Buffet claimed not long ago, I believe in Fortune Magazine, that with all the Gold available to hold tangibly, it would be a very very large cube. That you can fondle the cube, but it doesn't make more Gold. That it works for investment once in a great while, while equities may raise and fall, they are constantly growing and growing consistently over long periods of time. Bitcoin, applying the same principals, is worth on how many are mined and the demand. Plus the people that understand it are concentrated in a small percentage of the population. Also, at least on the US, taxes must be paid in legal tender, nothing else. So, the volatility involved of it becoming worthless by Hackers or Governments, the fact that it's manipulatable, and that very few accept it as currency, or that taxes can't be paid with it (or Gold) makes it a highly risky investment, or to be used to buy watches. Plus you can't handle the bitcoin code or the block chain, so what mattress can you stuff it into when nukes go flying? Of course, due to fractional reserve banking, my money is mostly digits in computer space too. And the thing with Buffet is that he does what he says he wouldn't do most of the time.
I'm not a skeptic,. Had a colleague just retire after making enough on ethereum that he doesn't have to work anymore. I love the idea of using it for buying/selling watches internationally, but I'm very concerned about volatility, even short term volatility. Thus far, I remain on the sideline.
