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> 6. I think that the FBI’s recent takedown of Silk Road, a black market whose primary currency was Bitcoin, was an inflection point. That the price of Bitcoin
by ISL 13y ago
> 6. I think that the FBI’s recent takedown of Silk Road, a black market whose primary currency was Bitcoin, was an inflection point. That the price of Bitcoin bounced back so quickly means that it’s being used for more than just illicit activity.
That's one interpretation, but there are lots of other reasons that may have occurred. Speculators can do lots of curious things, as can those who might benefit from perpetuating the idea that Bitcoin is stable.
- nwatson 13y agoMaybe those with a lot of accumulated bitcoin from drug dealing are now afraid to spend it. A portion of the bitcoin inventory is offline, boosting prices for the rest.
- thomasz 13y agoPeople who want to spend bitcoins on illegal stuff are just waiting for the next marketplace to emerge. Which should happen in a few weeks; the profit margin are known to be incredibly high and it can be done by a single developer.
- baddox 13y ago> Speculators can do lots of curious things, as can those who might benefit from perpetuating the idea that Bitcoin is stable. "Speculators" are the ones determining exchange rates. There is no other "true value of Bitcoin in USD" that "speculators" are trying to conceal.
- dllthomas 13y agoThose buying bitcoins to exchange them for goods and services have some expectation about the amount of goods and services they will obtain, and the "true value of Bitcoin in USD" is the value that reflects this (aggregated) amount. Those buying bitcoin to hold in the hopes that it goes up eventually don't care what goods and services they can get for bitcoins today, just how the price will be moving tomorrow. The two types of behavior are not unrelated, but distinction is meaningful.