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BenVitale
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It is not clear to me why anyone would buy bitcoin. Is it a scam?
Find out what is a bitcoin: http://bitcoinme.com/
Find out what is a bitcoin: http://bitcoinme.com/
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I would agree with the people saying it's a Ponzi Scheme. Imaginary money that only exists in a computer?
It is not clear to me why anyone would buy bitcoin.
Curious3141 said:The US government is shutting down Bitcoin to protect its own narrow, selfish interest.
ModusPwnd said:Huh? I don't think so. Do you have a source?
ModusPwnd said:Meh, that's old news. Bitcoin is not "shutting down". Not by the govt or anyone.
I like bitcoin. I have been profitably mining for almost 2 years. Certainly people do have issues in converting to cash like you mentioned. I used a service that bought my coins and they stopped because of money transfer issues and a online bullion retailer I used also got dropped by their bank. These types of issues are to be expected but are not a sign of bitcoin being "shut down". They are a sign of the innovative, new and murky legal context that bitcoin is in. Banks and congress wrote the laws for mainstream and older style financing.
But there is still plenty of demand and use of bitcoin going on. Even without these online exchanges, I cannot keep up with demand selling mine locally for cash through Craigslist. Bitcoin is thriving, not being shut down. For now at least.
Check out my miners;
http://i.imgur.com/231wf.jpg
Curious3141 said:Also, where does the power for your mining rig come from? I think I've seen calculations to the effect that if you're paying for the power usage, mining is simply not profitable (or only very marginally so).
ModusPwnd said:Its a home setup. It is using 4 circuits. My wife has to blow dry her hair in the living room because the bathroom circuit is one of them.
I have some of the cheapest electricity in the country and live in a fairly cool climate. My hardware is becoming obsolete very fast, but it still manages to be profitable for now.
Greg Bernhardt said:Someone just bought a Tesla with Bitcoins
Digitalism said:Now with e-wallets and some of them being hacked etc how are people going to secure their holdings?
Pythagorean said:Yeah, it's volatile. But that's also why people make lots of money off of it. It's a good example of high-risk/high-reward.
phinds said:Yes, and drug dealers may feel that half the money is still worth the ability to be anonymous. It's a form of money laundering and that isn't always cheap.
Pythagorean said:Drug dealers among other professional criminals (the possibilities are frightening!). I was thinking more of people legally trading it like stock, though.
TylerH said:On Silk Road, transactions where hedged. As in, if you sold your drugs for $50 worth of BTC, you get $50 worth of BTC at the end of the transaction. (There was significant delay between the sell and the end of the transaction because SR had an escrow system.) I don't know how all the smaller replacements do it, but SR effectively removed that concern for the sellers.
phinds said:I don't get how you see this as "hedging". Hedging would be if you got your DOLLARS worth of bitcoins at the end of the transaction. If you did a transaction and the value of bitcoins halved, as it has done, then you end up with half your expected payment. That can hardly be considered hedging.
TylerH said:phinds, I used dollar signs didn't I? Or am I missing some meaning in the way you worded that?
ModusPwnd said:Did you read what you quoted?