Good info JB...thanks. I'd read about how it works awhile back. Your explanation makes it even clearer.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.
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.
I thought the whole point of digital coins was to bypass the banksI 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 doubt anybody who got in at the early stages is still in. They likely took their profits and left the latecomers holding the bagOne has to be very wealthy to buy into Bitcoin at it's current price...and even much lower. And that ain't me. LOL 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.
You still have the US (or whatever govt) backing cash. Who's backing crypto?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.