Bitcoins anybody?

[tommywishbone]

The Bitcoin.  Has anyone actually held this currency? It my understanding that there is now $2 Billion worth of it today. 

Discus.

[_aj_]

Real-time BTC quote: http://preev.com/

BTC has taken a major beating over the last few days. Went from a high of USD260 to it's current USD 90-ish. And now there is news of a slick CSS hack that forced some BTC account holders to slide all of their BTC to another account.

BTW, the math and the crypto is solid, but the P2P network is a target and let's not forget that Uncle Bernake does NOT like frictionless, nationless, non-debase-able, non-fiat currency.

Expect JPM to short the hell out of BTC (via FOREX currency pairing) until it is dead.

[BOW]

How liquid is it? I wanted to but some back in '09 for the hell of it when it was in single digits for something to play around with but man I could have came up on a pretty penny if I'd went through with it.

[Rami]

if you had gotten in near launch you'd be a made man if selling today

now it's no use imo, it's going to be heavily regulated soon

[syntaxmachine]

The bitcoin gets my inner libertarian's panties in a bunch -- maybe it offers a prototype for an alternative to state-managed currencies -- but doesn't seem to me to have much practical utility at present: there are already more than enough investment vehicles, one loses a fair amount of money in the form of transfer/conversion fees going from dollar to bitcoin and back, there's an unknown amount of risk since no one knows if the currency will pan out, there aren't many legal things to buy, and the logic behind its behavior is relatively opaque compared to, say, commodity futures.

[Ganuvanx]

I don’t agree with the fundamentals behind bitcoin but a huge number of people and a growing number of businesses do not to mention the criminal element that love it. I’m a precious metals stacker but I bought some bitcoin too. I can see it going to over $10000 per bitcoin and beyond now that the mainstream media is pushing it. Definitely worth the risk some despite its recent big pullback.

[arce1988]

Strength in Numbers

[tommywishbone]

Interesting feedback. Thanks boys. 

[cephissus]

why is everyone talking about the bitcoin lately?

i've read little stories here and there over the years, but it seems like just this week it's been a hot topic

[tommywishbone]

why is everyone talking about the bitcoin lately?

i've read little stories here and there over the years, but it seems like just this week it's been a hot topic

I don't know.  I heard about them a year or two ago. I just didn't think it was an actual real coin/currency.

[Tapeworm]

One of those theory/practice things.  Wasn't it started in order to break from usual channels of payment?  When Visa decided for you whether or not you could donate money to Wikileaks it was clear that the internet needed a method of 'money' transfer that wasn't at the mercy of traditional institutions.

But if I go to buy a t-shirt, which has a cost of production and shipping payed in dollars, and I want to pay with bitcoins, then there has to be an accepted equivalence of dollars/bitcoins.  That equivalence isn't going to be set exclusively by the perceived value of users since currency trading is inevitable.  I don't see how a bitcoin would be any different than a dollar or a euro if its value is established by trading.  It seems likely that its exchange and continued value is going to require the backing of a credit institution, so you've got the same problems with users of the currency being subject to limitations/rules of traditional institutions that you have with dollars.

[dave19]

Started buying BTC almost 2 years ago when they were around 2-3$ .. sold most of them a couple of weeks ago for >100$ and the last bit a couple of days ago for ~210$ .. now I'm gonna take off the next few years to enjoy my life and do what I love doing I'm set just because of some virtual currency .. ridiculous when you think of it, haven't done anything productive and yet I've earned more by selling my BTC than most people earn in their entire life working their regular 9 to 5 job. Not fair but still I'm happy

[BigCyp]

Started buying BTC almost 2 years ago when they were around 2-3$ .. sold most of them a couple of weeks ago for >100$ and the last bit a couple of days ago for ~210$ .. now I'm gonna take off the next few years to enjoy my life and do what I love doing I'm set just because of some virtual currency .. ridiculous when you think of it, haven't done anything productive and yet I've earned more by selling my BTC than most people earn in their entire life working their regular 9 to 5 job. Not fair but still I'm happy

Sounds like you love the cock Dave

[Archer77]

Sounds like you love the cock Dave

Under a towel?

[MAXX]

I don’t agree with the fundamentals behind bitcoin but a huge number of people and a growing number of businesses do not to mention the criminal element that love it. I’m a precious metals stacker but I bought some bitcoin too. I can see it going to over $10000 per bitcoin and beyond now that the mainstream media is pushing it. Definitely worth the risk some despite its recent big pullback.

this

seems like a good way for money laundry

[Emmortal]

this

seems like a good way for money laundry

Well it's not easy to buy bitcoins in large quantities so the trouble of going through the process of buying large amounts would probably hinder that aspect.  Unless of course they are willing to actually put the effort in to hack one of the distribution centers, which requires considerable effort, to obtain large amounts of bitcoins, it would seem like too much trouble, then again, I'm not a jetsetting billionaire crime lord.

[Raymondo]

why is everyone talking about the bitcoin lately?

i've read little stories here and there over the years, but it seems like just this week it's been a hot topic

It's widely used in certain transactions like buying drugs online from the silk road