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>There are at least several clear use cases now, unlike several years ago [...] What would you say are these use cases? From where I stand the use cases of bit

by simias 9y ago

>There are at least several clear use cases now, unlike several years ago [...] What would you say are these use cases? From where I stand the use cases of bitcoins are pretty much the same they were a few years ago, only the volume increased. It's a lot of speculation, some black market purchases and some donations. A few shops accept bitcoin but it's still pretty niche, and most of them convert into fiat immediately anyway. Arguably there are even fewer use cases than a few years ago because of the prohibitive cost of the transactions, you can't move money around for cheap like you used to (that might change in the near future with segwit, we'll see). It's simply not cost-effective to use bitcoin for small transactions anymore, at least if you want to be reasonably sure it'll be confirmed in a short amount of time during the busy time of the week.

charlesdm 9y ago
The only use case of Bitcoin (I think) will be store of value. Digital gold essentially. Ethereum seems more interesting and versatile. I'm not big on gold either, but like Bitcoin it has limited use cases aside from embedding tiny amounts into electronics and jewellery. Speculation, probably. Alternatively, the returns could be due to the uncertainty: will it or will it not become a store of value. You're essentially getting compensated for not knowing and for the risk you're taking. If you look at Microsoft, when it IPOed, it was worth $750M. Now it's worth $550bn. Companies IPO a lot later now, so unless you're seed investing, you can't get those returns by investing in the public markets. With Bitcoin, it essentially started from zero, hence the crazy returns. Having something that is safe “outside of the system" is also pretty good. I know for a fact, if the Bitcoin price would be relatively stable (or comparable to normal gold) and it would serve as a store of value, I would rather own Bitcoin because it is 1) more convenient to move around (in comparison to gold bars, or no fees in comparison to an ETF), and 2) more safe from confiscation. And I say that without trying to sound like a conspiracy nut.

by simias 9y ago

charlesdm 9y ago

The only use case of Bitcoin (I think) will be store of value. Digital gold essentially. Ethereum seems more interesting and versatile. I'm not big on gold either, but like Bitcoin it has limited use cases aside from embedding tiny amounts into electronics and jewellery. Speculation, probably. Alternatively, the returns could be due to the uncertainty: will it or will it not become a store of value. You're essentially getting compensated for not knowing and for the risk you're taking. If you look at Microsoft, when it IPOed, it was worth $750M. Now it's worth $550bn. Companies IPO a lot later now, so unless you're seed investing, you can't get those returns by investing in the public markets. With Bitcoin, it essentially started from zero, hence the crazy returns. Having something that is safe “outside of the system" is also pretty good. I know for a fact, if the Bitcoin price would be relatively stable (or comparable to normal gold) and it would serve as a store of value, I would rather own Bitcoin because it is 1) more convenient to move around (in comparison to gold bars, or no fees in comparison to an ETF), and 2) more safe from confiscation. And I say that without trying to sound like a conspiracy nut.