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I discussed the things that happened specifically on November 14th in my Quora answer: https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-price-of-Bitcoin-plummet-down-on-Novemb

I discussed the things that happened specifically on November 14th in my Quora answer: https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-price-of-Bitcoin-plummet-down-on-November-14-2018/answer/Jason-Wen-3 https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-price-of-Bitcoin-plummet-d... It's very very likely because of the Bitcoin Cash fork. It has become a pissing contest between Roger Ver (Bitcoin ABC) and Craig Wright (Bitcoin SV). While Craig trolls and threatens the Bitcoin ABC side by "bleeding them dry" in a hash war. Jihan Wu, founder of Bitmain quoted: “I have no intention to start a hash war with Craig, because if I do, by relocating hash power from BTC mining to BCH mining - BTC price will dump below yearly support; it may even breach $5,000. But since Craig is relentless, I am all in to fight till death! The war is related to Bitcoin as the price of Bitcoin tanks because in a hashing war, both sides are likely to rent hash from the Bitcoin mining pool. This is being settled in Bitcoin, sold on the market to cover electricity, and thus suppressing the price of Bitcoin. Since Craig is trolling around, threatening a price of $1,000 per Bitcoin in a full out hash war, people are selling before it gets even more ugly. Another downside which reinforces the price suppression is for Proof-of-Work systems (where miners are rewarded based on their computing power), there's an unfortunate feedback loop in price drops. As said by Colin, founder of Nano currency, Low price -> low mining rewards -> turn off some miners to lower cost -> lower hash rate -> longer transaction confirmation -> lower price. More details can be found in my Quora answer about this.

wpietri 8y ago
I think it's fascinating that this is 100% different than what Bitcoin was sold as. The theory of Bitcoin was basically "money without people". You wouldn't have to worry about governments and politics; value would be sent and stored in pure pieces of math. Mere governments couldn't possibly do as well as the glorious algorithms wisely fixed in advance by, etc, etc. But if you're right, Bitcoin has way more politics than a third-world kleptocracy. And it clearly lacks the institutions and formal procedures used to shape those kinds of political currents into useful effects on the currency and the economy.
- latchkey 8y ago
  There is differences between the white paper and the implementation. There is also another elephant in the room... whales who have enough money (thanks to crypto currencies) to influence things.
- natmaka 8y ago
  The problem here is not Bitcoin per se, it is the current state of the real world, where anyone can "buy" and "sell" Bitcoin for legal tender. Bitcoin, in a world where it is the sole currency, has the benefits you quoted.
  - foepys 8y ago
    No. There are currently two super powerful individuals fighting and are allegedly dragging down every thing on the market just because they don't like each other. What makes you think that this would be a good state of affairs for a world currency?
    - natmaka 8y ago
      According to this explanation those super powerful individuals "sell" Bitcoins for fiat in order to pay the energy (electricity) they use in order to mine another currency. It is only possible because Bitcoin is not the sole currency. The current financial system faces such battle-ordeals and isn't immune, remember the Black Wednesday.
      - dragonwriter 8y ago
        > According to this explanation those super powerful individuals "sell" Bitcoins for fiat in order to pay the energy (electricity) they use in order to mine another currency. It is only possible because Bitcoin is not the sole currency. Doesn't it? What changes if you take out the fiat intermediary and buy energy (a fungible, near-universal production input and end-consumer product in one) directly and the competition is about a commodity that is not a currency?
nnain 8y ago
It seems to me that the price is dropping due to large players selling off their coins, not because of some hash-war. AFAIK, mining Bitcoins is barely profitable anymore and wouldn't cause such wild jumps (even if this is true).

wpietri 8y ago

I think it's fascinating that this is 100% different than what Bitcoin was sold as. The theory of Bitcoin was basically "money without people". You wouldn't have to worry about governments and politics; value would be sent and stored in pure pieces of math. Mere governments couldn't possibly do as well as the glorious algorithms wisely fixed in advance by, etc, etc. But if you're right, Bitcoin has way more politics than a third-world kleptocracy. And it clearly lacks the institutions and formal procedures used to shape those kinds of political currents into useful effects on the currency and the economy.

latchkey 8y ago
There is differences between the white paper and the implementation. There is also another elephant in the room... whales who have enough money (thanks to crypto currencies) to influence things.
natmaka 8y ago
The problem here is not Bitcoin per se, it is the current state of the real world, where anyone can "buy" and "sell" Bitcoin for legal tender. Bitcoin, in a world where it is the sole currency, has the benefits you quoted.
- foepys 8y ago
  No. There are currently two super powerful individuals fighting and are allegedly dragging down every thing on the market just because they don't like each other. What makes you think that this would be a good state of affairs for a world currency?
  - natmaka 8y ago
    According to this explanation those super powerful individuals "sell" Bitcoins for fiat in order to pay the energy (electricity) they use in order to mine another currency. It is only possible because Bitcoin is not the sole currency. The current financial system faces such battle-ordeals and isn't immune, remember the Black Wednesday.
    - dragonwriter 8y ago
      > According to this explanation those super powerful individuals "sell" Bitcoins for fiat in order to pay the energy (electricity) they use in order to mine another currency. It is only possible because Bitcoin is not the sole currency. Doesn't it? What changes if you take out the fiat intermediary and buy energy (a fungible, near-universal production input and end-consumer product in one) directly and the competition is about a commodity that is not a currency?

nnain 8y ago

It seems to me that the price is dropping due to large players selling off their coins, not because of some hash-war. AFAIK, mining Bitcoins is barely profitable anymore and wouldn't cause such wild jumps (even if this is true).