Posted on 05/29/2016 5:04:47 PM PDT by oblomov
Last September (when bitcoin was trading at $230) we said that "As China Scrambles To Enforce Capital Controls, This Is Great News For Bitcoin" and that it is only a matter of time before Chinese buyers figure out that in a world in which the freeflow of capital out of China is increasingly more suppressed and where physical gold is actively being stored in China but is next to impossible to get it out of the country, it is only a matter of time before bitcoin explodes as China's bubble berserk population scrambles to buy.
One month ago, we showed a chart according to which it was almost time for the bitcoin breakout, in "Is Bitcoin About To Soar?" At the time bitcoin was trading in the low $400s.
Then, just yesterday, something snapped, and as we reported "Bitcoin Surges To 2016 Highs On Rising Chinese Demand."
It is unclear if that something is fears about an imminent round of Chinese devaluation following Friday's dramatic move higher in the US Dollar, something we also hinted at on Friday afternoon...
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
The advantage of a blockchain currency is that no government can control it.
Maybe all the American short sellers are on vacation and their automatic stop loss orders kicked in.
I never quite understand the attraction of Bitcoin.
But, also never understand, isn’t the trading in Bitcoin similar to how traders trade in any foreign currency? And depending on their trades, they hope that the Euro, Chinese Yuan(sp?), Japanese Yen, American dollar, or any other, go up or down depending on their trading?
Is trading in Bitcoin just like trading in any other currency or is there more to it?
Hurry folks, it’s the perfect time to buy bitcoin while prices are high,high, high! And then when it soon collapses again like it always does, you can panic-sell at low, low prices!
Just keep “investing” your hard-earned dollars until they’re all gone, gone gone!
Catnipman Investment Advisory Services
Exactly. If one values individual liberty and Constitutional principles, one should own some cryptocurrency.
In my view, the two most viable cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Yes, the trading of BTC on an exchange is pretty much like the trading of any other currency, or a stock.
I’m referring to the most widely used and liquid exchanges, such as Bitfinex, Kraken, BTC-E, and Coinbase Exchange. Because of arbitrage, these exchanges converge on a market price with typically small divergences.
The problem with exchanges is that the BTC held in one’s account is not really owned. Several exchanges have simply folded or collapsed, leaving depositors high and dry.
Wallets/buying platforms like Coinbase (not the exchange) and Xapo are a bit different. The account holder has a valid claim of ownership. Also, Coinbase and Xapo use offline cold storage of the BTC to ensure security.
The advantage of BTC is that you can “be your own bank”, as Satoshi Nakamoto famously advocated. One can store BTC in an offline hardware wallet or paper wallet, and this storage is at least as secure as keeping BTC assets in a Coinbase vault.
What if the Central Banks try to crack down on BTC? They could shut down Coinbase, but couldn’t prevent assets from being moved between paper wallets. Or, what if Coinbase is hacked? Assets could be stolen. It would be nearly impossible to hack a paper wallet for which the private key has been kept secure.
Hmmm decred
Be very careful with this post. Bit coin is a total scam.
As I said, all national currencies are controlled by governments, who can inflate them. Plus, if you have your currency in a bank account, a government can decide to give you a haircut and take 10% of your money to keep the too-big-to-fail crowd from failing, like Greece. Plus, if the IRS decides to, they can empty bank account because they say you owe them money. Or the FBI can empty your bank account because they say you were “structuring” your deposits to avoid the paperwork involved with deposits over $10,000.
None of that can happen with a chainblock currency. They have no control over it. They can look at the hashed chainblocks, but they can have no idea who owns it, and they have no way of stealing it.
Does that give you an idea of their utility?
Do you have any evidence for that claim, or do you just “feel” that bitcoin is a “total scam?”
Do you know what a blockchain is?
If you don’t, then you are acting like a Democrat and demagoging something you know absolutely nothing about.
There will be a maximum of 21 million bitcoins.
It’s a novelty.
Its “value” can only be measured in easily traded - and highly regulated - sovereign currencies.
Bitcoin’s greatest strength - total secrecy - is also its greatest weakness.
If there is no verifiable transaction history, how do you legally “prove” ownership, or pay an employee, or discharge a debt?
If I buy your house for 1,000 Bitcoins, and you claim the money never arrived in your account, how do either one of us prove the transaction did - or did not - take place?
I could be lying about sending the money. Or, you could be lying about not receiving the money. Or, the payment may have been incorrectly routed. Or, the transaction may have been hacked.
Who knows? And how do you prove it? And how do you get an enforceable judgment?
Just like every other currency. The main difference between bitcoin and seashells or FRNs is the inflation of the currency was precisely defined in advance. There is no committee of political hacks deciding how much to print. Nor is there a potential undiscovered source like there would be with seashells.
But even if there were no miners, the fact that you signed a transaction with your private key is proof of the transfer of any value associated with that private key.
The disadvantage is that EVERY SINGLE TRANSACTION is completely traceable. You cannot keep transactions anonymous - ever. And that's by design. Using a few $20 is untraceable; using a Bitcoin is totally traceable.
Government controls the internet, which is the means of exchange.
So I take it you’ve never heard of decimals?
And that you prefer a currency that the government can print until it’s worthless?
My money is tied up in Unobtanium and Impossibilium. The only source of these precious elements is the wild mountains of Trashcanistan.
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