Posted on 12/12/2017 7:49:30 AM PST by C19fan
Bitcoin is in a "classic bubble" and has even gone beyond the "absurdity" of Holland's tulip bulb mania in the 1630s, widely followed investor Dennis Gartman told CNBC on Thursday.
The cryptocurrency rocketed above $19,000 for the first time on Thursday before falling sharply from its record high.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Bitcoin is just another manifestation of how much people distrust government.
Whatever its faults, Bitcoin’s primary virtue is that it is not under the control of any government or NGO.
Beware some web sites use your browser to mine Bitcoins ,even when you close the browser . It’s the only way to make money with Bitcoins , LOL
Doing some research on bubbles throughout history…
I ran across this gem.
History does repeat and does rhyme at the same time.
+++++
Mississippi Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mississippi Bubble
Louis XIV’s long reign and wars had nearly bankrupted the French monarchy. Rather than reduce spending, the Regency of Louis XV of France endorsed the monetary theories of Scottish financier John Law. In 1716, Law was given a charter for the Banque Royale under which the national debt was assigned to the bank in return for extraordinary privileges. The key to the Banque Royale agreement was that the national debt would be paid from revenues derived from opening the Mississippi Valley. The Bank was tied to other ventures of Law—the Company of the West and the Companies of the Indies. All were known as the Mississippi Company. The Mississippi Company had a monopoly on trade and mineral wealth. The Company boomed on paper. Law was given the title Duc d’Arkansas.
Prisoners were set free in Paris in September 1719 onwards, under the condition that they marry prostitutes and go with them to Louisiana. The newly married couples were chained together and taken to the port of embarkation.
Law exaggerated the wealth of Louisiana with an effective marketing scheme, which led to wild speculation on the shares of the company in 1719. The scheme promised success for the Mississippi Company by combining investor fervor and the wealth of its Louisiana prospects into a sustainable, joint-stock, trading company. The popularity of company shares were such that they sparked a need for more paper bank notes, and when shares generated profits the investors were paid out in paper bank notes. Law’s pioneering note-issuing bank thrived until the French government was forced to admit that the number of paper notes being issued by the Banque Royale exceeded the value of the amount of metal coinage it held.
The “bubble” burst at the end of 1720, when opponents of the financier attempted to convert their notes into specie en masse, forcing the bank to stop payment on its paper notes.
Not for long, there is a story I read on Drudge the other day about how the IRS is demanding and has received the blessing of the Courts to subpoena ALL Bitcoin Transaction information from bitcoin clearing houses that have any connection to the US, all for the purpose of collecting taxes.
The Users will soon see when they get their TAX bill from uncle sugar.
Still a long way to go before it gets to fiat currency levels of crazy.
And there was nothing wrong with the Tulip bulbs other than rampant speculation in futures, and no real structure to the market. It was a commodity/product no different than wheat or precious gems.
Just dont invest more than you are willing to lose.
One thing I can tell you about Gartman....if he says it, it is virtually assured to be wrong. No opinion on bitcoin. There is no reason it cannot go vastly higher now that it can be hedged on the CME.
That entire sentence made me laugh.
Who's government?
I sure hope it isn't Americans chasing this runaway kite.
When you turn control of your Bitcoin over to a clearing house you erase all the advantages of Bitcoin anyway, as you have pointed out.
The same thing happened in 1971, the Brits and the Italians figured out we were counterfeiting our own Federal Reserve Notes. When they called Nixon’s bluff on this scheme and demanded to be paid in pound sterling, Nixon closed the gold window and gave them colored coupons instead.
Just look at how Inflation(Theft of Value) has treated the average American since the coinage act of 1965 and the subsequent admission the US was bankrupt on August 15, 1971.
There won't be any tax bill unless you buy from a US bitcoin exchange, and do so in amounts in excess of the IRS threshhold (currently $20,000). You can buy bitcoin from anyone who has it and wants to sell. There are also bitcoin ATM's in some cities now which take deposits and dispense cash.
What if it is?
It's their problem, not yours.
Or are you a concern-troll?
Yep. I almost invested in a chuck a couple years ago but got cold feet when they wanted direct online access to my bank account for "verification."
A cousin of mine got in on this early and just sold a month ago. Made a bundle. Of course, even though he did make money, he moaned about not staying in a bit longer. Can’t just be happy with the money he made I guess.
My not wanting Americans to go broke chasing a foreign currency scam bothers you?
Ok, in your case, I’ll make an exception...
I wonder if perhaps bitcoin has taken hold. If the real powerful global crooks (politicians and others) are using it to avoid government scrutiny, it's here to stay.
The “greater fool” theory can be very powerful. In this case, you REALLY don’t want to end up being the “greatest fool” in the end.
Whatever its faults, Bitcoin’s primary virtue is that it is not under the control of any government or NGO.
Can someone explain how logistically bitcoin works?
I want to buy something and I want to use bitcoin. My understanding is that my bitcoin is some long chain of bytes of data identifying it as unique. Do I hand over a data file (which, as bitcoin’s are mined, grows in size)? Will a thumb drive suffice? Can I buy something via email, with my bitcoin as an attachment?
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