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Why I'm Putting All My Savings into Bitcoin (2011)

15 points by monort 9y ago

eternalvision 9y ago
While this is merely an anecdote, this past week I overheard a barber discussing bitcoin and how "you have to get in on it". Such discussion can be indicative of a bubble approaching maximum capacity.
- lern_too_spel 9y ago
  This article is another indication. The author understands neither the technical details of the blockchain (he believes transfers happen instantly without any fees) nor the economics. From an economic perspective, the more ransomware there is, the more the demand curve for Bitcoin shifts right. In that respect, Bitcoin is a vehicle to bet on the growth of black markets.
  - magma17 9y ago
    by then, transfers happened instantly without any fees. maybe you have to learn before you can speak. BTW, how many btc you bought in 2011? let me guess... zero.
    - lern_too_spel 9y ago
      The article was written on May 29, 2011. The average transaction fee in that month was .02 BTC. The average block time was 10 minutes. Neither of your claims is true.
YourGrace 9y ago
Bitcoin has been doing amazingly well. I definitely regret not investing, and I justified it due to the threat of competing cryptocurriencies, specifically ones that a government or company backs. I was skeptical that if a country creates their CountryCoin (AmeriCoin/AmericaCoin, RussiaCoin, ChinaCoin), wouldn't it effectively cause bitcoin itself to go in freefall as people would convert to the coin backed/sanctioned by a government. Likewise, Apple can create iCoin. For those reasons I was skeptical. Looks like it doesn't really matter as long as you get off the ride before it starts to stop.
- wellinever 9y ago
  Andreas Antonopoulos made a good point that a "countrycoin" would always have a trusted key held by the country's monetary issuing authority which would basically then provide an enormous honeypot to tempt attackers to target it/steal it. OTOH, currencies like bitcoin with fixed monetary policy don't have a backdoor mechanism for money creation (without overwhelming consensus to fork). Also, I see Political intervention in currency as a bug rather than a feature.
- battlebot 9y ago
  You just pretty much defined Ponzi with what you said--you wish you had got in early and it doesn't matter as long as you get off the ride in time. Thus, Bitcoin is not investing, is it? It's Bernie Madoff.
Graziano_M 9y ago
He has a recent update[1]. I think it's safe to say that he has done well for himself. [1]: https://falkvinge.net/2017/06/11/right-money-bitcoin-hits-3000-1000x-entry-point-six-years-ago/ https://falkvinge.net/2017/06/11/right-money-bitcoin-hits-30...

15 points by monort 9y ago

While this is merely an anecdote, this past week I overheard a barber discussing bitcoin and how "you have to get in on it". Such discussion can be indicative of a bubble approaching maximum capacity.

lern_too_spel 9y ago
This article is another indication. The author understands neither the technical details of the blockchain (he believes transfers happen instantly without any fees) nor the economics. From an economic perspective, the more ransomware there is, the more the demand curve for Bitcoin shifts right. In that respect, Bitcoin is a vehicle to bet on the growth of black markets.
- magma17 9y ago
  by then, transfers happened instantly without any fees. maybe you have to learn before you can speak. BTW, how many btc you bought in 2011? let me guess... zero.
  - lern_too_spel 9y ago
    The article was written on May 29, 2011. The average transaction fee in that month was .02 BTC. The average block time was 10 minutes. Neither of your claims is true.

YourGrace 9y ago

Bitcoin has been doing amazingly well. I definitely regret not investing, and I justified it due to the threat of competing cryptocurriencies, specifically ones that a government or company backs. I was skeptical that if a country creates their CountryCoin (AmeriCoin/AmericaCoin, RussiaCoin, ChinaCoin), wouldn't it effectively cause bitcoin itself to go in freefall as people would convert to the coin backed/sanctioned by a government. Likewise, Apple can create iCoin. For those reasons I was skeptical. Looks like it doesn't really matter as long as you get off the ride before it starts to stop.

wellinever 9y ago
Andreas Antonopoulos made a good point that a "countrycoin" would always have a trusted key held by the country's monetary issuing authority which would basically then provide an enormous honeypot to tempt attackers to target it/steal it. OTOH, currencies like bitcoin with fixed monetary policy don't have a backdoor mechanism for money creation (without overwhelming consensus to fork). Also, I see Political intervention in currency as a bug rather than a feature.
battlebot 9y ago
You just pretty much defined Ponzi with what you said--you wish you had got in early and it doesn't matter as long as you get off the ride in time. Thus, Bitcoin is not investing, is it? It's Bernie Madoff.

Graziano_M 9y ago

He has a recent update[1]. I think it's safe to say that he has done well for himself. [1]: https://falkvinge.net/2017/06/11/right-money-bitcoin-hits-3000-1000x-entry-point-six-years-ago/ https://falkvinge.net/2017/06/11/right-money-bitcoin-hits-30...