Has Anyone Invested in Digital Currency (Bitcoin, etc.)

From the Wall Street Journal:


Defining bitcoin can be tricky. To some, it is a commodity. To others, it is digital cash.

However, the most concrete definition of bitcoin is this: It is software, a program designed to allow people to exchange value directly with each other. It was created by someone calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto, unveiled in 2008 and launched the following year.

What makes bitcoin unique is that this piece of software is run across a network of linked but independent computers. In this way, no one party has control over the network. No central bank and no government can dictate the currency’s value.

Every single bitcoin transaction is recorded in a ledger that is visible to anybody, known as “the blockchain.” Bitcoin’s technology is trusted due to its ability to prevent counterfeits and hacking. The currency’s database has not been pierced once since it went live in January 2009.

Because “bitcoin” is nothing more than digits in a computer program, it has absolutely no intrinsic value. What determines the price is only what another person is willing to pay for it.
 
From the Wall Street Journal:


Defining bitcoin can be tricky. To some, it is a commodity. To others, it is digital cash.

However, the most concrete definition of bitcoin is this: It is software, a program designed to allow people to exchange value directly with each other. It was created by someone calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto, unveiled in 2008 and launched the following year.

What makes bitcoin unique is that this piece of software is run across a network of linked but independent computers. In this way, no one party has control over the network. No central bank and no government can dictate the currency’s value.

Every single bitcoin transaction is recorded in a ledger that is visible to anybody, known as “the blockchain.” Bitcoin’s technology is trusted due to its ability to prevent counterfeits and hacking. The currency’s database has not been pierced once since it went live in January 2009.

Because “bitcoin” is nothing more than digits in a computer program, it has absolutely no intrinsic value. What determines the price is only what another person is willing to pay for it.
Good info JB...thanks. I'd read about how it works awhile back. Your explanation makes it even clearer.
 
My crypto stalled out a couple weeks, but it has revived .... doing great. Bitcoin hit 62,000.... but my baby was decentraland.... cashed in for the profits while it was high... but I like the program it supports... and when it dips in a couple days, I'm buying in again. Still waiting for Etherium to "moon"... been waiting patiently... and it is beginning to rise. Well, today, it was all on a rise.... the anticipation of the stimulus money! 2021 is supposed to be the year.... I'm certainly not complaining....
 
If you have HBO watch this weeks Real Time With Bill Mayer (4/30/21). He rips the concept of this valueless currency to pieces at the end of his show. It reveals things I never imagined and I am surprised the environmental people are not all over this as it uses hideous amounts of energy.
 
I've never fully understood the concept of this Crypto currency, and would be reluctant to invest in something so "iffy". Besides, I'm too old to gamble with our finances.

Yep, I'll give you real, folding money (fiat that it is) and you give me a digital readout. So, what happens when you go to that website one day and it's gone? No FDIC insurance to go to. Oh... I know, you get hold of the new Crypto insurance agency if it's not gone also... you know... the one you also gave real folding money to. :unsure:
No thanks.

Homer.jpg
 
Cryptocurrency is still a currency and it's complicated and requires one to spend a lot of time with it as one would trading currencies. Like the Yen vs the Euro etc.
 
I will give a month by month report over the next year....;)

I've been following the bank coins that Chase Morgan is developing. I am not an advocate of bank coins. Bank fees are too high, and millennials 'are choosing stablecoins over bank accounts, and the number is growing in larger cities. They don't have to pay the fees.... bankcoins will still have high fees. Japan's largest bank began using bank coins today... with an ATM on most corners of the country.
I thought the whole point of digital coins was to bypass the banks
 
One has to be very wealthy to buy into Bitcoin at it's current price...and even much lower. And that ain't me. LOL :D Plus Bitcoin is too volatile. For those who got in at 8 cents on up to $100 a share, it will probably be worth it to stay in.
I doubt anybody who got in at the early stages is still in. They likely took their profits and left the latecomers holding the bag
 
Crypto currency interests me. But not enough to invest in it. People say they don't like bitcoin and others because it's just a bunch of bits and bytes in a software program. Well, that's pretty much what all currency is today anyway. My paycheck is deposited in my bank account, I use a debit card for purchases and I never see check or cash anymore.

We went off the gold standard in the '70s. I guess I can see where crypto currency will keep gaining ground.
 
I got Bitcoin a few years ago and haven't looked at it since.
I held GBTC for a couple of years and finally sold it recently for a profit.
Coinbase is new, so I put it on my watchlist and might invest if the price looks good.
Personally I treat these like any other investment and spread around the risk with a lot of diversity.
 
Crypto currency interests me. But not enough to invest in it. People say they don't like bitcoin and others because it's just a bunch of bits and bytes in a software program. Well, that's pretty much what all currency is today anyway. My paycheck is deposited in my bank account, I use a debit card for purchases and I never see check or cash anymore.

We went off the gold standard in the '70s. I guess I can see where crypto currency will keep gaining ground.
You still have the US (or whatever govt) backing cash. Who's backing crypto?
 
IMO, guys like the late Bernie Madoff must be kicking themselves. Here they are in prison, their marriage destroyed, their families ruined, and all he had to do was invent his own crupto currancy, sell it to greedy fools, and cash in on the speculative gains. And it's all perfectly legal.
 
Could someone explain Bitcoin mining?

I saw a brief clip about large server farms that somehow collect data on Bitcoin transactions and in that process create increased value for the miners but it didn't really go into any real explanation of what was happening other than the cost of the power involved to operate the server farms.
 
Dogecoin was only 47 cents a coin a couple of days ago. I looked it up when my grandson asked me what I thought of it. Elon Musk had just made a statement that caused it to dip. If I'm allowed to buy only 100 coins, I'll spend a whopping $47!! Oooh...I might just do something wild and crazy when it's open for sale in a couple of months. LOL :ROFLMAO:
 

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