converted a sizable percentage of my modest savings to bitcoin at the end of last month. Crypto's notoriously volatile and I know not to make too much of a sharp valuation-shift in a short time-window but the rapid appreciation of the investment was still dizzying enough for someone who has never made money on anything to lead me, effervescent, to try to talk some old friends into getting some. — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble
OK,
This thread is back! Again people who basically are into Philosophy have become interested in talking about Bitcoin/Cryptocurrencies. Last discussions were 2-3 years ago. Interesting actually, that this is the only investment that has been talked about here.
This thread is the perfect "canary in the coal mine" indicator: Just look at when people have written on this thread and what where the bitcoin price has been then.
(bit old graph, now I guess over 17 000 USD so back again where it was years ago..when this thread was active) — ssu
Thanks! I'm excited for the gains but trying my best not to too closely follow the change in valuation (reasoning that if I get too excited about the rise, I'll get too worried about the drop, trying to keep even keel.). I really like your story because you don't hear enough from those who adopted bitcoin because it's useful - because it works.Hey, congrats on your gains. Sentiment has been very bullish lately, so hopefully you got in at a good time. Personally, I've been "in" since late 2016 and I can assure you that the volatility can be absolutely face-ripping. In March we saw roughly a 50% drop in a day. If you hold onto your investment for over a year there's tax advantages to that, i.e. you'll get to keep more of your profit.
I actually didn't buy my first bitcoin with the intention of holding onto it or treating it as an investment. Bitcoin was simply the best way to move money around the poker sites given all the onerous bank restrictions on sending money to them. It's definitely the favored currency on those sites as well now: Censorship-resistant, decentralized, borderless. When you hold your own bitcoin in your own wallet that bitcoin is truly yours - it's not being held onto by a bank or a company that gives you an IOU. It's yours and no one else can access it, not even governments. What else falls into that category? You can send it anywhere you want at any time you want and no one can censor or reverse it. It's truly unique. — BitconnectCarlos
Do note the lower part of the graph showing the volume of trades. Now the transactions are over the 30bn range, however before 2018 the transactions don't even show in the graph. This tells it was then peanuts compared to now and then simply a small group people used / saved bitcoins.The other is that if you were a long term holder pre 2017 and held on, then the brutal crash following the bubble, in the long run, didn't sink your investment. — csalisbury
And hasn't the internet and tech stocks also been profitable? Yes and no. Yes if you have picked the few winners, yet many mutual funds investing in tech stocks got a real beating first at the turn of the Milennium and then during the financial crisis. Knowing to pick netflix and not pets.com is trickier than it looks at hindsight.The only good rationale for investing in bitcoin is learning and appreciating the value of the technology - trying to buy on the dips and sell on the peaks to get-rich-overnight might work occasionally, but is more likely to fuck you up. — csalisbury
And then you have gold very high also. Which isn't actually good sign for the economy. — ssu
About bonds.I don't know shit about bonds and I have a share in some property and some cash. Does that work? — Baden
Well, I'd still diversify. — Benkei
Basically your bonds give you the interest they promise (if you hold them until they mature), yet the selling price of the bond goes up if interest rates go down and down if interest rates go up. — ssu
Oh, I didn't know that, but having looked into it, I get it now. — Baden
Very interesting to know! It's actually a very interesting world for investing, and basically where a lot of the actual money lies around compared to the stock market. One medium-to-large size insurance company would influence the stock market if they would put all of their assets into the stock market.I know everything about sovereign bonds. I issued them for 5 years at the Dutch State Treasury Agency. So fire away. — Benkei
I know everything about sovereign bonds. I issued them for 5 years at the Dutch State Treasury Agency. So fire away. There are still bonds out there that will perform even if interest rates start rising again and the market value will lower but there's Ukrainian collateralised bonds offering 6% or so, which given current interest rates is a good return and relatively safe.
Another I've always found interesting but never tried is investing via crowd funding. There are platforms that allow you to evaluate the underlying business case and pick something you know something about so you can make a real assessment. — Benkei
What's their importance for the macro picture? — BitconnectCarlos
What should newer investors know about either buying them or the bond market in general? — BitconnectCarlos
And then you have gold very high also. Which isn't actually good sign for the economy. — ssu
This might be so.Bitcoin's gone up a good bit since this thread was last active, mostly because of institutional hoovering-up of what's available on exchanges. But on a macroscale that might be a bad sign. — csalisbury
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