Originally Posted by Fager Fan (Post 2256587)

Yes and no. One can say that putting their money in anything but the mattress means they're gambling, but they could even lose the money in the mattress if they're robbed.

I guess we're "gambling" every day with our lives as we drive a car or board a plane or cross a street or eat a cheeseburger.

So we can take it all to the extreme, but we generally know what we're talking about when we talk about investing and gambling and the differences between the two.

Originally Posted by Fager Fan (Post 2256738)

He doesn't even realize the issue with such an increase. Unless it's very stable, it won't be a currency.

As straight currency, would the used car dealer take a $14,700 valued bitcoin over $14,700 in cash? No. It's too volatile. That's in addition to now having to find an auction house to accept bitcoins to buy his next car at auction and utility companies doing the same to pay his bills.

It's playing musical chairs. I'm happy with the fact I won't be left without a chair when the music stops.

Originally Posted by newtothegame (Post 2452865)

Seems Lamborghini dealer disagrees.....https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/07/bitc...ocurrency.html

Originally Posted by Show Me the Wire (Post 2452876)

The only value bitcoin has to the car dealer is the value of the exchange rate.

“We do not really take bitcoin, we do not speculate on [the] exchange rate,” Frigerio says, a point being driven home by bitcoins’ recent plunge. “We just facilitate the owner of bitcoin by running the transaction through a payment service. Similar [to] using Apple Pay or PayPal, or running foreign currency though a foreign exchange financial institution in order to receive U.S. dollars.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/07/bitc...ocurrency.html

Originally Posted by newtothegame (Post 2452879)

Actually, if you read further, you would see that "Michael’s Auto Plaza in Albany, New York, also began accepting bitcoin payments through BitPay in December".
Either way though, the point is that cryptocurrency is definitely a possibility. Banks are looking at block chains, etc etc. The IMF is even talking about regulations....
So, I do not believe its a Ponzi scheme. Now again, this does not mean that I have went and mortgaged the house or may substantial buys. Its just an opinion.....

Originally Posted by Show Me the Wire (Post 2452894)

I don't think it is a ponzi scheme. The problem is what is its value. Currency issued by a government is backed by the credit of the government. Whose credit is backing the value of bitcoin?

The true value of currency is what goods can you exchange for the currency. Bitcoin is sort of like the coins issued by the Continental in John Wick movies.