4 ms·

The Price of Bitcoin Just Topped $1,000

19 points by btcboss 10y ago

brilliantcode 10y ago
Unlikely to sustain as Chinese gov will announce bitcoin as illegal. What's ironic is that the bitcoin pumpers have sold the myth that money is being snuck out of China through Bitcoin and some of the biggest miners and exchanges are in China. Now it has the attention of President Xi and when they come down on bitcoin, they are coming down hard, along with the prices. It's unlikely to recover after this year's drop.
- nickthemagicman 10y ago
  How will they come down on it?
  - opaque 10y ago
    A lot of the mining happens there in quite big operations e.g. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/chinas-biggest-secret-bitcoin-mine http://motherboard.vice.com/read/chinas-biggest-secret-bitco... (2015), which could conceivably be shutdown. But they could easily move on to other countries or just bribe the requisite officials.
- CyberDildonics 10y ago
  I see that you know the future. How much money do you have on a short position?
  - brilliantcode 10y ago
    I'm bitter that I got out at 744 USD resulting in net loss of $500 USD. $100 USD was the commission fee to sell around 2 bitcoins worth $1400 USD. $100 comission folks. On buy AND when I closed my positions. I don't know how to short bitcoin, poloniex didn't offer it? Curious to know more...wait no...I don't think I want to get into cryptocurrency anymore...will get into trading REAL regulated financial instruments.
- droopyEyelids 10y ago
  Do we know if this surge is because bitcoin is being used to evade currency controls (and quickly converted into another currency) or if it's being used as a store of value? It'll be interesting to see what happens if China cracks down on BTC while citizens are left with enormous wallets.
  - brilliantcode 10y ago
    I've always trouble with that logic. If somebody is buying BTC by selling Yuan than somebody is buying the Yuan on the other side which means it's a game of hot potatoes-nobody wants to hold onto a depreciating asset as USD becomes stronger. But Bitcoin is such an easy target now that the myth has been properly disseminated. Bitcoin may or may not even be used to move money out of China but that won't matter to a communist government!
CarolineW 10y ago
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13297455 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13297455
DoodleBuggy 10y ago
So basically bitcoin is now used as yet another way for the corrupt to launder money out of China?
- CyberDildonics 10y ago
  If your country restricted the way you could use your money, would it be corruption to get around it?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
tdb7893 10y ago
Unless people really start using bitcoins for a lot of things fast I'm worried that bitcoins are just this generation's "tulip mania"
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- _coldfire 10y ago
  https://blockchain.info/charts/n-transactions-total?timespan=all https://blockchain.info/charts/n-transactions-total?timespan...
  - logical42 10y ago
    Buying bitcoin counts as a transaction, so I'm not quite sure this proves what you think it proves..
  - tdb7893 10y ago
    How many of those are actual business transactions and how many are people buying/selling bitcoins or just moving coins around? While we are seeing more transactions as far as I know the only people buying with bitcoins are people buying illegal things and bitcoin hobbyists. With gold at the end of the day you have a precious metal and fiat currency you can always use to pay your taxes, but bitcoin has the potential to leave you with nothing of any value if it crashes, just like tulips. I'm not saying it definitely will crash but it's a worrying possibility and I personally would never have any large amount of net worth in bitcoins unless something changed
- joshontheweb 10y ago
  Just my recent experience but I used bitcoin to purchase an explainer video for my web app. Many freelancers / contractors like the ease and speed of bitcoin. No waiting for checks in the mail or taking a 3% haircut taking credit cards. I already have accepted them as payment and I'm hoping to add them as a payment option for my app soon as well.

19 points by btcboss 10y ago

Unlikely to sustain as Chinese gov will announce bitcoin as illegal. What's ironic is that the bitcoin pumpers have sold the myth that money is being snuck out of China through Bitcoin and some of the biggest miners and exchanges are in China. Now it has the attention of President Xi and when they come down on bitcoin, they are coming down hard, along with the prices. It's unlikely to recover after this year's drop.

nickthemagicman 10y ago
How will they come down on it?
- opaque 10y ago
  A lot of the mining happens there in quite big operations e.g. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/chinas-biggest-secret-bitcoin-mine http://motherboard.vice.com/read/chinas-biggest-secret-bitco... (2015), which could conceivably be shutdown. But they could easily move on to other countries or just bribe the requisite officials.
CyberDildonics 10y ago
I see that you know the future. How much money do you have on a short position?
- brilliantcode 10y ago
  I'm bitter that I got out at 744 USD resulting in net loss of $500 USD. $100 USD was the commission fee to sell around 2 bitcoins worth $1400 USD. $100 comission folks. On buy AND when I closed my positions. I don't know how to short bitcoin, poloniex didn't offer it? Curious to know more...wait no...I don't think I want to get into cryptocurrency anymore...will get into trading REAL regulated financial instruments.
droopyEyelids 10y ago
Do we know if this surge is because bitcoin is being used to evade currency controls (and quickly converted into another currency) or if it's being used as a store of value? It'll be interesting to see what happens if China cracks down on BTC while citizens are left with enormous wallets.
- brilliantcode 10y ago
  I've always trouble with that logic. If somebody is buying BTC by selling Yuan than somebody is buying the Yuan on the other side which means it's a game of hot potatoes-nobody wants to hold onto a depreciating asset as USD becomes stronger. But Bitcoin is such an easy target now that the myth has been properly disseminated. Bitcoin may or may not even be used to move money out of China but that won't matter to a communist government!

CarolineW 10y ago

Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13297455 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13297455

DoodleBuggy 10y ago

So basically bitcoin is now used as yet another way for the corrupt to launder money out of China?

CyberDildonics 10y ago
If your country restricted the way you could use your money, would it be corruption to get around it?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

tdb7893 10y ago

Unless people really start using bitcoins for a lot of things fast I'm worried that bitcoins are just this generation's "tulip mania"

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
_coldfire 10y ago
https://blockchain.info/charts/n-transactions-total?timespan=all https://blockchain.info/charts/n-transactions-total?timespan...
- logical42 10y ago
  Buying bitcoin counts as a transaction, so I'm not quite sure this proves what you think it proves..
- tdb7893 10y ago
  How many of those are actual business transactions and how many are people buying/selling bitcoins or just moving coins around? While we are seeing more transactions as far as I know the only people buying with bitcoins are people buying illegal things and bitcoin hobbyists. With gold at the end of the day you have a precious metal and fiat currency you can always use to pay your taxes, but bitcoin has the potential to leave you with nothing of any value if it crashes, just like tulips. I'm not saying it definitely will crash but it's a worrying possibility and I personally would never have any large amount of net worth in bitcoins unless something changed
joshontheweb 10y ago
Just my recent experience but I used bitcoin to purchase an explainer video for my web app. Many freelancers / contractors like the ease and speed of bitcoin. No waiting for checks in the mail or taking a 3% haircut taking credit cards. I already have accepted them as payment and I'm hoping to add them as a payment option for my app soon as well.