Bitcoin, as a holding.

[amarowsky]

Now that I am seeing more and more places accept BitCoin, and hearing more and more research about it. I think I am going to consider buying a small amount of Bitcoin on a monthly basis (maybe 0.5-1.5%).

I have been doing a lot more international travel now, and if I were to get somehow screwed out of access to my money (mugged) or lost all of my accounts, it would be a nice fall back to have a little something. Also, incase something happens to the US economy, it would be nice to have a fallback on some money that is not directly tied to the USD (although still affected).

I also like the idea that with Bitcoin, no one earns any money off of the transaction, and really want to believe in that system, instead of Visa/MasterCard/Paypal/Amex/or another middle man broker always effecting what I buy by a few %.

Anyone have any small scale bitcoin purchase plan that they are following? Large scale? Total distrust in the Bitcoin system?

I think now that the mining craze it over, and the currency still exists, that we could all benefit from some constructive discussion.

[Nutria]

Also, incase something happens to the US economy

Like what?

it would be nice to have a fallback on some money that is not directly tied to the USD (although still affected).

That's what gold is for, no? Hedge against inflation, and so forth...

[MakeAStash]

Cryptocurrency, being relatively new technology, makes for a speculative, high risk investment. Since it earns no profit your gain will have to come entirely from capital appreciation. The same is true for gold, which has a much longer track record than cryptocurrency. You'll likely get more return by instead investing in payment tech than is earning a profit, such as Visa and MasterCard.

[Spiffster]

Yes Cryptocurrency has been and will probably continue to be a volatile investment. But with the likely Winklevoss ETF approval in March we should see a big spike. Still very speculative, so invest accordingly.

[amarowsky]

Like what?

"what" is unknown and un-predictable. I think gold would have less immediately utility than a crypto currency would, in case of some immediate, and majorly disruptive event.

That's what gold is for, no? Hedge against inflation, and so forth...

Gold has a lot more steady history, but not the same utility that Bitcoin or a widely used crytocurrency has. That primary utility I would guess is having value without having to physically bring gold with you. It can be kept safely when encrypted either on a phone or in a bitcoin wallet device. Also it can be remotely accessed by remembering a multi word phrase.

As for volatility as an investment, yes it is very volatile. I am not really thinking of it exclusively as an investment, more like a hedge against currency. And instantly more liquid as currency than gold/silver/etc...

[amarowsky]

Cryptocurrency, being relatively new technology, makes for a speculative, high risk investment. Since it earns no profit your gain will have to come entirely from capital appreciation. The same is true for gold, which has a much longer track record than cryptocurrency. You'll likely get more return by instead investing in payment tech than is earning a profit, such as Visa and MasterCard.

Indeed, very high risk. When I first heard about it I think it was around $100 per Bitcoin.

Last time I heard the research articles (a several months ago) it was $762/1 Bitcoin.

When I checked last night it was in the low $900/Bitcoin.

Over the whole existence of Bitcoin it has fluctuated wildly, but does seem to be trending in a higher/more stable direction. Not to lead people in to thinking the waters will be calm in the near future, but I think they will start settling more and becoming less volatile towards future global economic events.

[feh]

They are nothing more than tulip bulbs, IMO. Pure speculation.

[Spiffster]

They are nothing more than tulip bulbs, IMO. Pure speculation.

Not even close. Try reading up on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology before you disregard bitcoin as "tulip bulbs".

[feh]

Not even close. Try reading up on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology before you disregard bitcoin as "tulip bulbs".

I'm aware of the technology behind them. That doesn't make them more than speculative, as an investment holding (which is the title of the thread).

[Spiffster]

I'm aware of the technology behind them. That doesn't make them more than speculative, as an investment holding (which is the title of the thread).

I suppose I just see little connection with bitcoin and tulip bulbs as an investment holding. Bitcoin is certainly not a passing fad as what appears to be implied. I have made a small fortune on bitcoin so perhaps I am biased.

[feh]

I suppose I just see little connection with bitcoin and tulip bulbs as an investment holding. Bitcoin is certainly not a passing fad as what appears to be implied. I have made a small fortune on bitcoin so perhaps I am biased.

Time will tell. People made fortunes in tulips also, until it all came crashing down.

[james.hendrickson]

Just to add a bit to the conversation here - bitcoin has little to no government risk. So, there is no chance a central bank can print more bitcoin. There has be an economic need for more bitcoin. Also, bitcoin is anonymous, which means you can move transactions which have a legitimate need for privacy.

Good money always drives out bad. So when you look at Bitcoin versus the dollar, you see that there is less transaction privacy and more political risk in dollars than there was 20 years ago - hence the rise of bitcoin.

I don't own bitcoin, but I see the possibility that there will be more and more demand for it in the future.

[feh]

Just to add a bit to the conversation here - bitcoin has little to no government risk.

I feel the other side of the argument is much more compelling - there isn't any government standing behind bitcoin. The US Dollar is the world's reserve currency, and I don't see that changing.

[amarowsky]

I don't think I would personally approach it as an investment. Despite the fact that many have lost or gained significant amounts of value from Bitcoin.

I would say the fact that it is not tied to a government and has a finite amount of BitCoins, makes it a stronger system. I guess 15.2 million /21 million are currently in circulation.

It seems like it would be a usable system incase of some large scale emergency. Similar to the civil wars in the middle east. A refuge who had all his money in a bank or in cash could be screwed when fleeing to another country. If they had a small % in Bitcoin reserves, they could access their money with out having to keep any physical device (phone/computer/other) that would likely be destroyed or lost in the havoc of fleeing. By remembering a 12 word phrase (seed recovery password), you can access your money anywhere.

Also the fact that you can just cash it out at any time in the form or gold from JMbullion or at any (growing) number of retailers is a pretty strong attribute of Bitcoins liquidity.

It seems the strongest argument against it are the following:
-Keeping your Bitcoins in under-secured bitcoin storage banks or sites, does expose you to some hacking risk.
-High barrier to entry in the form of understanding blockchaining and how Bitcoins/crypto currency operates in general.
-Current volatility because of maturing process. (this is subjective, because some people want to hold bitcoin with potential to make money off of holding it).

[clatoden99]

One of my friends is in a dying industry and is having a hard time making ends meet. He also is an lotto addict and gave back most if not all of his winnings back over the years. I believed he gave back 80,000 to 100,000 dollars back to the lotto industry. I been telling him he has no edge over the house and he just got lucky on a big winner. I told him to buy BTC but now his cash is all gone. I joke around with him to have a Plan "B." B for bitcoin.