Bitcoin

[IronMonster]

So I follow the financial markets and Bitcoin has had a lot of headlines lately. Every time I see one I get a bit irritated.

Not that long ago I read a bit on Bitcoin and decided I would buy some. At the time they were trading for $24 which considering they were trading for pennies just a year before was quite a jump. I decided I would buy $500 worth at $24 which was just kind of a number I pulled out of my posterior that was something I could completely lose and not lose any sleep.

So I started looking around and found a place to buy it, did all the crap and for some reason could not get the transaction to go through. After futzing around I gave up and the next day some other shiny thing got my attention and I never ended up with any Bitcoins.

So... Just a few moments ago I saw the latest Bitcoin price, $9750. If I would have bought that $500 worth a few years ago its current price would be $195,000.

Sigh...

So any of you guys have a Bitcoin story? Thoughts?

Read More

 

[Stomper]

AFAIK bitcoin is as tangible and backed by real assets as the almighty dollar....

 

[IronMonster]

They both are backed by nothing, and you can buy houses and guns and politicians with either

 

[moose]

Both the dollar and bitcoin are fiat currencies. They are not backed by gold and are only valuable 'cause people say they are valuable.

EDIT: the diff is one is controlled by a government, the other is controlled by a majority of the blockchain.

 

[66PonyCar]

I'd rather have gold. If SHTF and an EMP wipes out all electronics it's going to be pretty hard to buy anything with your Bitcoin.

 

[IronMonster]

I'd rather have gold. If SHTF and an EMP wipes out all electronics it's going to be pretty hard to buy anything with your Bitcoin.

Well.... That's the choice I made, Gold and silver. I bought it about 6 years ago and will currently buy about half of what it would have when I bought it. If I would have put that amount into Bitcoin at the same time I would now be a billionaire several times over.

So... there is that.

 

[66PonyCar]

You can't kick yourself over missed opportunities. We all overlook countless opportunities over a lifetime. What if you had bought Apple, Amazon, Google, etc. at their initial offering. You would be a millionaire. You would drive yourself crazy if you dwell on it.

 

[IronMonster]

Agreed, and I have 20 years at least before I need to worry about selling the gold and silver I bought. There is bound to be a good time to sell, it was intended to be retirement security.

Still.... It would be nice to have a couple billion in bitcoin gains

 

[CountryGent]

I don't know that we have a "bitcoin story" per se. I looked into it years ago and decided to not invest in it; too new, too much volatility, too much risk, the regulatory status (particularly then) was/is kind of still is up in the air, etc. Though I had the technical skills, I do kick myself for not mining when I should have. I did experiment with said with some other cryptocurrencies, with mixed results. While BTC is now more "mainstream", for want of a better term, I still wouldn't touch it for any big financial moves.

On the flipside, since Bitcoin came into existence in 2009, we've done very well with traditional investments. When everything went to the ninth circle of hell in 2008, it was good to have the capital to move to investment vehicles that were unbelievably bargains, and then rode it up to the present conditions. That said, in recent years we've moved more into the bond market with non-retirement accounts, for a variety of reasons, largely for personal reasons with respect to our goals.

Gold and silver was mentioned; we generally keep about 5-15% of our assets in said for a variety of reasons. We got in in the early 2000s and stopped buying, at least on a regular basis, towards the end of the last decade. It is not a bad hedge against inflation, it is good for (arguably) when SHTF, and it is purdy to look at too. That said, while an important part of the plan, I can't see going nuts in metals, because, frankly, they have their negatives too. The only thing I can say is buy when (almost) everyone makes fun of you for doing so and sell when everyone is losing their cookies over the market, then rinse and repeat.

But I've gone royally off-topic. Oh, yah, Bitcoin. No thanks, if for no other reason that there are other, less risky ways, to hit our investing goals. And while it is true it not ultimately backed by anything more than the US dollar, one is something an anonymous programmer created less than ten years ago, while the other is the official currency of the largest economy on the face of the planet, that is produced by a government that has existed since the 18th century. Kind of apples / oranges.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I too would be a millionaire if I'd taken some advice & bought just $250 of stock in a now Billion dollar industry back in 1980....
But I do not dwell on the past and look to the future for more opportunities.

 

[66PonyCar]

When it comes to investing, diversification is the key. You shouldn't put all your money into one asset type. I didn't panic in 2008 and sell all my stocks when the market tanked. I just rode it out and made my money back and then some. And the stock market has been on a roll since Trump was elected so I can't complain much. If I don't understand an investment then I will not put any money into it. I've read about Bitcoin and just can't wrap my head around it. Bitcoin is fiat money much like U.S. currency but I have more (probably misplaced) faith in the U.S. Treasury than I do in Bitcoin.

 

[teflon6string]

I want to diversify some moderate investments a bit, and I have a little mad money ($1000) I'd like to invest in Bitcoin and see what'll happen to it over a year. Ideally, I hope to pull out that initial stake at some point and continue to roll the dice with the proceeds. While it's hot.

A well-meaning friend shared some how-to info he bought from a proprietary "investment group," but it seems extra complicated in the way they present it. It's got to be simpler than what they recommend.

Does anyone here buy it? Where should I start if I want to put maybe a grand (total) into Bitcoin and a couple other cryptocurrencies?

Thanks in advance for legit advice.
(Yeah, yeah... I know... "Send it to me and I'll invest it for you!" etc., etc.).

 

[Oregon13]

I want to diversify some moderate investments a bit, and I have a little mad money ($1000) I'd like to invest in Bitcoin and see what'll happen to it over a year. Ideally, I hope to pull out that initial stake at some point and continue to roll the dice with the proceeds. While it's hot.

A well-meaning friend shared some how-to info he bought from a proprietary "investment group," but it seems extra complicated in the way they present it. It's got to be simpler than what they recommend.

Does anyone here buy it? Where should I start if I want to put maybe a grand (total) into Bitcoin and a couple other cryptocurrencies?

Thanks in advance for legit advice.
(Yeah, yeah... I know... "Send it to me and I'll invest it for you!" etc., etc.).

For simple ease of use, coinbase is a good place to start. The transaction fees are a little higher, and they only trade in Bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin.

But it's very easy to set up your account, and then verify your identity. You can link a credit card (higher fees) or a bank account (lower fees). Beware that your bank will possibly charge you a foreign transaction fee.

Research hardware wallets, and cold storage before you buy. You need to keep your coins offline so they cannot be accessed by anyone but yourself.

Be sure to research how to transfer your Bitcoin out to a fiat currency. Have $15k in Bitcoin is great, but you need to transfer it into USD for most of the world to recognize it.

If privacy is your main concern, I would suggest looking into Monero. They have a tumbling transaction that allows you to hide your transactions, they also have a wallet compatible with the Tor browser.

 

[Fast Eddie]

I thought about investing $10K in it back in March, when it was breaking $3K. It got vetoed.

 

[IronMonster]

Like I said earlier.... It was $24 when I was going to drop $500 but I failed to follow through. That $500 would be worth close to half a million today.

 

[Alexx1401]

Like I said earlier.... It was $24 when I was going to drop $500 but I failed to follow through. That $500 would be worth close to half a million today.

I too was going to throw a few hundred at it when it was a few bucks each. I too looked and could not find any way to actually buy it back then. All I could find is one hoop after another to jump through and gave up. At the time I thought surely the money would be soon gone but why not. Had all but forgotten it until this recently started to really hit high. Looked again and now of course there is all kinds of places to buy and looks like it's easy now. There is even a place here to buy it for cash now. Oh well. I'm sure not going to buy it now.

 

[IronMonster]

There is the possibility that this is just the beginning. John McAfee is on record as saying that if it does not hit $500K by 2020 he will eat his own tube steak on National TV

 

[Alexx1401]

There is the possibility that this is just the beginning. John McAfee is on record as saying that if it does not hit $500K by 2020 he will eat his own tube steak on National TV

Well damn. Guess I could set up a wallet and toss a few bucks in it now and then. Last I looked you could buy as little as like 5 or 10 bucks worth at a time. Maybe toss a 50 spot at it now and then. See what the hell happens.

 

[Member 5605]

Bubble is going to pop, nobody knows when but it's estimated soon by some.

Anyone read where a company had 70 million swiped from their bitcoin locker?

Yeah that sucks.

 

[Kruel J]

Yup, it's gonna burst, and take a lot of people with it. Now is NOT the time to buy into bitcoin. Buy high, sell low LOL.

Years ago I had a chance to buy into a stock when it was worth $.06/share. I could have bought 200k shares easily at the time for $12,000. Today it would be worth just over a million.