If this is not a form of madness, then it's doing a fantastic job of impersonation.

Maybe it will be like the early days of the internet where companies could get away with a business plan that simply said "sell dog food online"?

Perhaps there will be a shakeout and the top companies will emerge -- the next set of googles, amazons, and facebooks?

Which are the top ones? Maybe look at who Sequoia and other top VCs are backing and then jump on board?

Until BitCoin becomes a product that we can't live without I won't invest in it. Although, I can live without google, amazon, and facebook. So maybe that's not the best approach. Maybe a better approach is to find the next bitcoin or blockchain company that will have a billion users?

Looks like SFOR was the wrong stock after all.


It was VPLM for patent trollers

PS All the calls for a crash seem to have been premature. Why am I not shocked?

The problem with Bitcoin is that it trades without any apparent fundamentals. I can’t figure out what drives it’s price in either direction. Maybe some of the recent run up is fear over the possibility of China restricting access and the Chinese reacting by getting money out while they still can. But that is just a WAG.

I don’t know how you determine that something is mis-priced and potentially investable without any idea how to value it.

Right now, I can’t argue with someone who thinks it’s going to $25,000. But I also can’t argue with someone who thinks it’s going to zero.

I heard this morning on ThinkorSwim's feed that in the last year over 100 hedge funds have been started up that concentrate on cryptocurrencies.

Wow. We really do live in the Matrix.

Personally, I think part of Bitcoins price action has to do with so many other things being in a bubble, like equities and bonds. Where else do you store your excess dough? It's got a unique combination of technology, mystery and the glow of "the next big thing", and therefore is not to be missed. Until it turns into a tulip bulb.

"It's got a unique combination of technology"

The word unique is misplaced.

They have no patent on the tech.

That's why there a hundreds of other coins that use the same idea and many probably do it better.

There's no explanation other than a conspiracy to manipulate the price. Unless you want to use insanity as the reason.

I've given up calling a top in the thing for the last 6,000 dollars.

Three "experts" recently predicted that in the next year it will be in a range of $10,000 to $18,000. One of the experts was Jason Calacanis. I don't remember the names of the other two. They appeared on a panel together at a recent conference.

Calanacis is pretty in tune with technology -- he was the number two or three investor in UBER. I think he was the one who said $10,000.

He also is critical of it because it is not a technology that we can't live without. It is not a "must have" technology.

That could change, but so far, I have no reason to use it. The current payment systems that are in place work well now.

The unique part is the combination. There's enough mystery to the technology, that only 3 in 100 understand it. The "gotta have it" runs strong with this one, as pointed out by underline (_________), there is no tangible asset associated with bitcoin - ergo, no fundamentals to estimate worth. At least Charles Ponzi had his stamps, and the Florida swampland sellers had, well, land/swamp.

Bitcoin was one of the first, and is certainly the most hyped/PR'ed/advertised of the cryptos - but the competition from the others, for whatever reason, is minimal for now. That is hard to explain outside of a conspiracy/racket.

As soon as bitcoin cuts into .gov affairs and their turf in any meaningful way, I'd expect a rider on some bill that chops the conversion mechanisms off at the knees, and makes it relatively worthless to any law-abiding citizen. Sort of like the rider on the ports bill that cut off funding bank transfers to offshore gambling accounts via Neteller.

1 bitcoin = 6 ounces gold

I prefer gold

Today received an email from a client in Panama. Bank refused to wire small amount to me. Client wants to know if I accept Bitcoin.

I have no idea how Bitcoin works but I better learn!

Yes. And then you need to figure out how to convert it to U.S. dollars.

I believe you can somehow store it on a thumb drive so that it can't be stolen -- unless your thumb drive is stolen. But even then you could password protect your thumb drive. You'd probably want a backup of that kept in a safe place.

We've been transacting between countries for 2000 years, all of a sudden we need crypto to get cash out of Panama?

Amazing we've lasted this long without it , might have starved to death .

Early in this thread RR warned about .gov and bitcoin, and the more I think about it, he's right. In spite of Highnote's post listing all the "private" digital currencies out there, the fact is blockchain technology provides a much more detailed trail than wire transfers or cash.

And speaking of cash, bitcoin figures to be a major undermining factor in the war on cash. If .gov is simply allowing the private sector to market digital currencies to shake out all the bugs, will it really be that big of surprise when a mandatory government (i.e., IMF) crypto-currency becomes the world standard? Then the banksters will have complete control over your assets, including the ability to easily implement the ever desperate measure of negative interest rates.

Bitcoin may not be a chip in the forehead, but it could be part of the same package.

It is all well and good that the currency is supposed to be fraud proof, but my experience in the world is that there is always a way.

Although I will participate in the cryptocurrency frenzy, I think the one big issue is that since there is no regulation, if someone does figure out a way to scam the system, then there is nobody to prosecute.