5 ms·

$5000 still seems like an insane number for something that I have no idea how to judge the value of.

by dopamean 8y ago

nostrademons 8y ago
I felt the same about Facebook, and it's now worth $380B.
- api 8y ago
  I felt the same about Juicero and it's now worth $0. That logic doesn't work.
- danhak 8y ago
  Companies can be valued based on expectations of future cashflows. Bitcoin can be valued based on... ???
  - nscalf 8y ago
    Based off your comment, expectations of future utility?
- rootusrootus 8y ago
  The value proposition of FB seems much easier to explain than cryptocurrency, though. We at least know what FB gets used for and where it earns money. That's 100% more than I can say about Bitcoin.
  - xenihn 8y ago
    Money laundering.
  - nostrademons 8y ago
    We didn't in 2007 when FB was worth $15B, though. At the time, it was primarily used for throwing sheep at people, getting laid, and boasting about how many friends you have. They had just barely opened up the site to adults, the news feed was a year in the future, the Like button was 2 years in the future, and they didn't have advertisement or any revenue at all until 5 years in the future. All we knew was that a lot of people were very excited about it for pretty irrational reasons. That's a lot like how a lot of people are very excited about cryptocurrency for pretty irrational reasons.
    - rootusrootus 8y ago
      In 2007, Facebook made $153M. Zuckerberg announced Facebook Ads on November 6, 2007. Then they basically doubled their revenue the next year, and for several years after. They must have had something before Facebook Ads, because they couldn't have made the entire $153M in less than two months.
  - sunshiney 8y ago
    Bitcoin core derives a good deal of value from being the entry to exchanging for coins/tokens to buy into an ICO, which is now more restrained due to last week's SEC actions. While there are stinky ICO-funded projects, there are also valid projects that are growing. I have always seen it as more of a front door, given that it's the primary pair across exchanges and given tx costs. LTC was, for long, promo'd as the coin that would be used for day-to-day purchases. Unfortunately traditional fiat users do not think in that way as this is not the usual use of something fiat.
    - drivingmenuts 8y ago
      > Bitcoin core derives a good deal of value from being the entry to exchanging for coins/tokens to buy into an ICO, which is now more restrained due to last week's SEC actions. While there are stinky ICO-funded projects, there are also valid projects that are growing. I have always seen it as more of a front door, given that it's the primary pair across exchanges and given tx costs. LTC was, for long, promo'd as the coin that would be used for day-to-day purchases. Unfortunately traditional fiat users do not think in that way as this is not the usual use of something fiat. I understood most of those words individually, but the combination was a complete bafflement. And that, in a nutshell, is a big problem for Bitcoin. I understand cash - it has value because the government says it has value and it's directly exchangeable for something that I can relate to that value (say, a huge bag of bubblegum). But how do you explain an ICO and it's value to someone, without an actual, physical object being present? On the surface, it sounds like something virtual being exchanged for something else virtual which may or may not lead to some other virtual thing, but at no time is anything physical, representing concrete value, present. In re the bubblegum example - when I was young, my grandfather handed my cousin and I a dollar to buy some gum, expecting we buy a piece or two and hand him the change. You can figure out the rest, I think. He was kinda pissed off.
    - majewsky 8y ago
      So in simple terms, it's basically a highly convertible currency, but now all the things you can convert it into are useless, which means it's not as valuable as before. Did I get that right?
- aviv 8y ago
  Facebook ads are a goldmine for both advertisers and FB. Not hard to see the value of the company, now, or years ago.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- asdff 8y ago
  We knew that facebook was a business, with growing users.

$5000 still seems like an insane number for something that I have no idea how to judge the value of.

nostrademons 8y ago

I felt the same about Facebook, and it's now worth $380B.

api 8y ago
I felt the same about Juicero and it's now worth $0. That logic doesn't work.
danhak 8y ago
Companies can be valued based on expectations of future cashflows. Bitcoin can be valued based on... ???
- nscalf 8y ago
  Based off your comment, expectations of future utility?
rootusrootus 8y ago
The value proposition of FB seems much easier to explain than cryptocurrency, though. We at least know what FB gets used for and where it earns money. That's 100% more than I can say about Bitcoin.
- xenihn 8y ago
  Money laundering.
- nostrademons 8y ago
  We didn't in 2007 when FB was worth $15B, though. At the time, it was primarily used for throwing sheep at people, getting laid, and boasting about how many friends you have. They had just barely opened up the site to adults, the news feed was a year in the future, the Like button was 2 years in the future, and they didn't have advertisement or any revenue at all until 5 years in the future. All we knew was that a lot of people were very excited about it for pretty irrational reasons. That's a lot like how a lot of people are very excited about cryptocurrency for pretty irrational reasons.
  - rootusrootus 8y ago
    In 2007, Facebook made $153M. Zuckerberg announced Facebook Ads on November 6, 2007. Then they basically doubled their revenue the next year, and for several years after. They must have had something before Facebook Ads, because they couldn't have made the entire $153M in less than two months.
- sunshiney 8y ago
  Bitcoin core derives a good deal of value from being the entry to exchanging for coins/tokens to buy into an ICO, which is now more restrained due to last week's SEC actions. While there are stinky ICO-funded projects, there are also valid projects that are growing. I have always seen it as more of a front door, given that it's the primary pair across exchanges and given tx costs. LTC was, for long, promo'd as the coin that would be used for day-to-day purchases. Unfortunately traditional fiat users do not think in that way as this is not the usual use of something fiat.
  - drivingmenuts 8y ago
    > Bitcoin core derives a good deal of value from being the entry to exchanging for coins/tokens to buy into an ICO, which is now more restrained due to last week's SEC actions. While there are stinky ICO-funded projects, there are also valid projects that are growing. I have always seen it as more of a front door, given that it's the primary pair across exchanges and given tx costs. LTC was, for long, promo'd as the coin that would be used for day-to-day purchases. Unfortunately traditional fiat users do not think in that way as this is not the usual use of something fiat. I understood most of those words individually, but the combination was a complete bafflement. And that, in a nutshell, is a big problem for Bitcoin. I understand cash - it has value because the government says it has value and it's directly exchangeable for something that I can relate to that value (say, a huge bag of bubblegum). But how do you explain an ICO and it's value to someone, without an actual, physical object being present? On the surface, it sounds like something virtual being exchanged for something else virtual which may or may not lead to some other virtual thing, but at no time is anything physical, representing concrete value, present. In re the bubblegum example - when I was young, my grandfather handed my cousin and I a dollar to buy some gum, expecting we buy a piece or two and hand him the change. You can figure out the rest, I think. He was kinda pissed off.
  - majewsky 8y ago
    So in simple terms, it's basically a highly convertible currency, but now all the things you can convert it into are useless, which means it's not as valuable as before. Did I get that right?
aviv 8y ago
Facebook ads are a goldmine for both advertisers and FB. Not hard to see the value of the company, now, or years ago.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
asdff 8y ago
We knew that facebook was a business, with growing users.