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shares crash worldwide
Comments
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If the BoE goes bust I might get 100% of my money back but only in nominal terms - it'll be worth somewhat less!
Are things so risky that it's better to pay the government to borrow money than invest elsewhere?
I could guarantee an impoverished old age by investing in current 10 year gilts. At least in yielding shares there's the chance I might be able to support myself.
Has the market really priced this correctly?
Kinda.
On one hand the price is telling us that investors are happy to lose money in real terms to secure the nominal value of their assets.
The reality is that rates are so low because of QE. It's a stated aim of the policy and is working as intended.
Now we're getting to the interesting bit. Slashing interest rates and printing money is easy. Withdrawing the stimulus is rather harder.0 -
How many drug buyers do you think buy their drugs online?
I would guess that it's in the hundreds.
Compare that number with how many use cash.
I would guess that cash buyers number 10s if not 100s of millions.
So, if it's the drug use that bothers you, you should be more concerned about cash than Bitcoin.
It's a way of transmitting money with no AML controls.
It's dodgy.
I don't give a damn if people want to take drugs. I take drugs and have done all the way through my adult life. These days all the drugs I take are legal (e.g. wine or beer) but it wasn't always thus.
If you're prepared to ascribe a value to a fiat currency that you can't use to pay taxes or settle a debt then you're either a mug or have an ulterior motive.0 -
It's a way of transmitting money with no AML controls.
If you're prepared to ascribe a value to a fiat currency that you can't use to pay taxes or settle a debt then you're either a mug or have an ulterior motive.
The AML is a fair point.
However there is always an interface between Bitcoin and local FIAT currency and the exchanges which operate at this interface are increasingly becoming subject to regulation.
I've settled many debts with Bitcoin. And both parties were happy with the trades.
The tax issue is a tricky one, but as we move towards widescale use of crypto-currency these issues will be resolved.
Bitcoin, or something like it is an idea whose time has come and there is no going back. It is money for the digital age and here to stay.
As well as being technologically brilliant it liberates and empowers people and will have as dynamic effect on our lives as the internet.0 -
The AML is a fair point.
However there is always an interface between Bitcoin and local FIAT currency and the exchanges which operate at this interface are increasingly becoming subject to regulation.
I've settled many debts with Bitcoin. And both parties were happy with the trades.
The tax issue is a tricky one, but as we move towards widescale use of crypto-currency these issues will be resolved.
Bitcoin, or something like it is an idea whose time has come and there is no going back. It is money for the digital age and here to stay.
As well as being technologically brilliant it liberates and empowers people and will have as dynamic effect on our lives as the internet.
Perhaps you can help me here.
I've read up as best I can on Bitcoin and I can see no advantages for the regular Joe in using it.
I don't know what a crypto-currency is but I understand what is and isn't money. Bitcoin is money at present but could, like any other fiat currency, become not money at the stroke of a legislators pen. After all, in the 1930s the USA made it illegal for gold to be money!
So what is brilliant about Bitcoin? What makes it different? It's out of the control of Government but so are cigarettes as money in prison as are paper notes once in circulation.0 -
Perhaps you can help me here.
I've read up as best I can on Bitcoin and I can see no advantages for the regular Joe in using it.
I don't know what a crypto-currency is but I understand what is and isn't money. Bitcoin is money at present but could, like any other fiat currency, become not money at the stroke of a legislators pen. After all, in the 1930s the USA made it illegal for gold to be money!
So what is brilliant about Bitcoin? What makes it different? It's out of the control of Government but so are cigarettes as money in prison as are paper notes once in circulation.
Crypto-currencies like Bitcoin are so-called because they rely on cryptography (or code breaking if you like) to encrypt, secure and verify transactions and to prevent double-spending.
Banks use similar techniques to allow you to log on to your internet banking or use an ATM.
Whereas banks can alter the money supply and even the entries on their balance sheets, mathematical algorythms built into the protocol prevent this from happening with Bitcoin. Mathematics is absolute and universal and cannot be argued with and the total amount of Bitcoin there will ever be is 21 million, thus preventing inflation of the money supply at the whim of some politician or banker.
Bitcoin is not a FIAT currency - nobody is forced to use it.
Bitcoin cannot be "made to be not money" if its users continue to assign it value and "shutting down the system" is not possible without taking out every other system we rely on for modern living.
And even then, new sytems can be hastily set up (see the "arab spring" for example)
Bitcoin is brilliant because for the first time in history we are able to send payments to anyone in the world quickly, securely, cheaply and without any interference from a third party.
Merchants accepting Bitcoin pay nothing to a third party for using their card processing which could lead to lower prices in shoops.
This fantastic invention is something worth celebrating and embracing both for its economic impact and its potential for social change.0 -
Crypto-currencies like Bitcoin are so-called because they rely on cryptography (or code breaking if you like) to encrypt, secure and verify transactions and to prevent double-spending.
Banks use similar techniques to allow you to log on to your internet banking or use an ATM.
Whereas banks can alter the money supply and even the entries on their balance sheets, mathematical algorythms built into the protocol prevent this from happening with Bitcoin. Mathematics is absolute and universal and cannot be argued with and the total amount of Bitcoin there will ever be is 21 million, thus preventing inflation of the money supply at the whim of some politician or banker.
Bitcoin is not a FIAT currency - nobody is forced to use it.
Bitcoin cannot be "made to be not money" if its users continue to assign it value and "shutting down the system" is not possible without taking out every other system we rely on for modern living.
And even then, new sytems can be hastily set up (see the "arab spring" for example)
Bitcoin is brilliant because for the first time in history we are able to send payments to anyone in the world quickly, securely, cheaply and without any interference from a third party.
Merchants accepting Bitcoin pay nothing to a third party for using their card processing which could lead to lower prices in shoops.
This fantastic invention is something worth celebrating and embracing both for its economic impact and its potential for social change.
Is 21M a cryptographic parameter or a figure invented by someone? What is stopping this being increased at a key stroke.
If there are only 21M BC, not many, presumably most purchases will be less than a bitcoin, are they divisible or can you trade in decimal points?
Who pays for the trading mechanism and IP, crypto, protocol security software maintenance and upgrades?
How would you trade if you didn't have some form of intelligent hardware, even if it was only a pre load chip on card?"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
grizzly1911 wrote: »Is 21M a cryptographic parameter or a figure invented by someone? What is stopping this being increased at a key stroke.
If there are only 21M BC, not many, presumably most purchases will be less than a bitcoin, are they divisible or can you trade in decimal points?
Who pays for the trading mechanism and IP, crypto, protocol security software maintenance and upgrades?
How would you trade if you didn't have some form of intelligent hardware, even if it was only a pre load chip on card?
In the beginning (2009) 50 new Bitcoins were produced or "mined" every 10 minutes.
But every 4 years, the software auromatically adjusts and halves the amount produced so at current rates of production, 25 new Bitcoins are "mined" roughly every 10 minutes.
There are currently about 11million and the final Bitcoin is expected to be produced around 2030
These are arbitarily chosen numbers but are cleverly chosen to mimic real world gold production where it gets harder and more expensive to find gold the deeper you dig.
And like gold there is a fixed supply.
Dividibility is a fundamental property of a good currency and Bitcoin fits the bill better than any other; being divisible down to 8 decimal places (this smallest unit of 0.00000001 BTC is known as a "Satoshi" after the inventor/s(?) of the Bitcoin protocol)
Transaction fees are sometimes payable to the "miners" who maintain the system by verifying transactions and keeping the system secure. These transaction fees are negligable.
Trading without internet connection can be done using mobile devices via SMS, bluetooth or nfc technology.
Bitoin can also be passed on using physical coins and paper wallets.
I hope that answers everything.0 -
2008 all over again. Sell everything now and sit on cash waiting for the bottom later this year?0
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2008 all over again. Sell everything now and sit on cash waiting for the bottom later this year?
Depends on the makeup of your portfolio. If you have invested only in FTSE100 shares, then perhaps you should cash out. If you have a balanced portfolio of UK & international equity and property funds, bonds and gilts, with some stable dividend paying shares, then it's not so cut and dried.0 -
2008 all over again. Sell everything now and sit on cash waiting for the bottom later this year?
Without gloating, I went 75% into cash just before Dec 2007 and reinvested that, just after Easter 2009 and did rather nicely. I'm currently 90% in Equities and sticking there. I might be wrong, but on the other hand I really haven't got much to lose in the current situation.0
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