Crypto currencies will eventually settle out and have a real important economic function soon enough. Cash will slowly disappear. I have already been to restaurants that do not accept cash. However, most of the crypto currencies will turn out to be the "losers" and will ultimately turn out to be unintentional ponzi schemes. It's a global mania now, and no real way to know when to get in or when to get out. Long term gold will be the biggest loser as crypto will replace its function as a store of wealth. Millennials will buy crypto over gold. Even the Doomsday prepper types are now moving to bitcoin. Gold has dropped 7% in the the last 3 months.
Bitcoin is an interesting currency. I first heard of it about 5 or so years ago and thought it was full of crap. Well... I guess my Fortune Telling days are over. I think that it's a bit overinflated right now but I don't think it's going anywhere. That said, I may have it in the portfolio one day, but never at the expense of good ol' gold or dollar. There are some other Cryptocurrencies that I would still avoid like the plague. These include: Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, etc. Like another poster said, the likelihood of another government or someone else being able to inflate the value because it is, by design, untraceable, a bit scary. We just started to accept Bitcoin at the store for watches with our online store. Buyers are few & far between. As for me, do I see selling off my own collection for a pile of electronic money that I can't even make it rain with? Nope. Could I see using the coins on some products? Only if the website doesn't take anything else or maybe just as a novelty.
The future has a need for a crypto currency. Is Bitcoin not best placed to be that currency, or does it have a fatal flaw?
The development of blockchain products by banks is one of the major threats cryptocurrencies have to face in my opinion. But if you want to talk about "flaws", then the security would be the n°1 I'd guess : private "trading platforms" for bitcoin are much more easily hacked than the actual banking system.
Thanks for the answer. So Bitcoin has a security flaw and superior Blockchain products are in development, I would say the future doesn't look all that rosey for bitcoin.
At least that's how I feel about it! I'm sure the blockchain tech will be disruptive in many fields, not just payments, but I don't think it will be under the Bitcoin format.
Honest question: What happens to Bitcoin when it gets big enough for big governments (EU, US, etc.) to want to regulate it? I am still trying to wrap my head around this. I finally understand (more or less) how Bitcoin works. But why would I want to use it instead of the dollar when the value (e.g. purchasing power) of Bitcoin is fluctuating so rapidly? Instead of a government-issued fiat currency, Bitcoin seems to have become a market driven fiat currency. The latter is far more volatile, especially when it's not based on the strength of the underlying company or commodity, just people's demand for it (and the projected future demand people will have for it). I applaud the concept, and I think it's here to stay. But for right now, I'm staying out of Bitcoin.
http://www.wsj.com/video/what-you-can-buy-with-bitcoin-a-10-pizza-for-76/9FE251D5-1BC4-4E6B-BA0F-E3424CDA9263.html
So here's one for ya..... I bought one Bitcoin for the hell of it back in Oct '15 for ~$215 while I was deployed. So....do I sell today for $17,700 and buy another Speedy and a Rolex Explorer and have something "hard" to show for the cryptocurrency. Or do I let it ride for the supposed $50k peak in the summer of '18. Bottomline: As long as Bitcoin doesn't drop below $215 I'm still at a profit. Thoughts?
Too volatile and too bullish now for my tastes. Whatever you paid, I guess you'd almost certainly like it back now. Of course yes, it could (and eventually will) also go the other way. Eventually. Right?
