BitCoin

fun4everyone

Alexland wrote: »

I don't think I am the one being hysterical today. So what is the value then other than what you might hope to future trade it for?

Alex

No hysteria, just ignorance.

AnotherJoe

fun4everyone wrote: »

You should try and understand where the "value" from bitcoin comes from. Comparing it to stocks and shares or companies trying to make profits is a poor comparison that is not valid. You should learn about about how it works and try and consider what that means, without taking your information from ill informed, hysterical tabloid garbage.

Thats easy, since it has close to zero inherent value*, the actual value comes from the odds its believed someone else will purchase it subsequently.



* since its trivial to spin up a competitor

Alexland

fun4everyone wrote: »

No hysteria, just ignorance.

So I am ignorant of what you are unable to explain?

Alex

ExremelyCautiousSocialist

The fact so many people get a large emotional reaction to Bitcoin when its mentioned is bullish sign not bearish. 85% discount right now on ATHs and tons of people/media saying negatives... this is when you start to accumulate.



Coinbase, kraken good places to buy.

fwor

fun4everyone wrote: »

You should try and understand where the "value" from bitcoin comes from. Comparing it to stocks and shares or companies trying to make profits is a poor comparison that is not valid. You should learn about about how it works and try and consider what that means, without taking your information from ill informed, hysterical tabloid garbage.

Bitcoin threads usually get to this point, and then someone asks what inherent, underlying value Bitcoin has. I.e. what would stop its price approaching zero if too many holders want to sell and not enough want to buy.

People will generally agree that fiat currencies are underpinned by the economic performance of the nation that issues the currency, and shares are based upon the assets, goodwill and trading performance of the company that issues the shares.

And then we come to the inherent, underlying value of Bitcoin, and it all seems to go quiet...

masonic

ExremelyCautiousSocialist wrote: »

The fact so many people get a large emotional reaction to Bitcoin when its mentioned is bullish sign not bearish. 85% discount right now on ATHs and tons of people/media saying negatives... this is when you start to accumulate.

85% discount? It's still looking about 5-fold overvalued to me.

Coming back to long term intrinsic value, of course it has none and will likely be superseded by something else and fall into obscurity. However, at present it has some (albeit limited) utility as a medium of exchange, which is the only use I have for it.

Alexland

fwor wrote: »

And then we come to the inherent, underlying value of Bitcoin, and it all seems to go quiet...

I agree people get too excited about the mechanics and possibilities of what they are doing with their money and don't step back and check the big picture makes sense.

It's a similar situation in the LC&F thread where everyone is pouring over loads of detail and it's stopped some of them realising that they have almost certainly lost their money. Even when the fundamental problem is identified their brains are going deep into denial as a coping strategy.

Sometimes it's better to just accept we all make mistakes and move on.

Alex

fun4everyone

The underlying value of bitcoin is that the ledger and transaction history cannot be altered by anybody. No one has control over it and nobody can manipulate it for there own ends (I am not talking about price manipulation I am talking about fraud or sanctions on transactions/transaction history).

It is near impossible for a true competitor to be created because even the people that originally created Bitcoin are not even here. True and complete decentralisation and removal of fraud and manipulation has been achieved which is of massive benefit to the human race.

Simply having the most verifiable transaction ledger on the planet is huge. Nobody can alter it fraudulently. All transactions are publically visible and can be traced from beginning to end easily. Does that make it a good system to move criminal money though? Of course it doesn't, but tabloid drivel feeds peoples minds.

All of these other alt coins that pop up are mostly scams, the ones that do have interesting technology and are not outright scams suffer from the problem that the creators or others are still in charge. Thus, for one, there is a point of attack where they can be shut down (Bitcoin cannot be shutdown, it is a complete waste of money and time trying).

It is incredibly difficult for anybody to get their head around all of this. However it is impossible to stop and the value it provides is incredible (and impossible to price, hence the wild fluctuations). This is a revolutionary technology that benefits every single person who is not controlling a current store of value, or benefiting from the manipulation of that control.

fwor

fun4everyone wrote: »

The underlying value of bitcoin is that the ledger and transaction history cannot be altered by anybody.

Sorry, but you are quoting the general attributes of a blockchain-based cryptocurrency and saying that only Bitcoin has those attributes.

That's not true - anyone can copy Bitcoin, and many people have. The way that Bitcoin works is not secret, nor is it unique.

You're also getting confused about the coin and the underlying technology. When you buy a Bitcoin, you're not buying any sort of stake in the technology behind it - ownership of the coin does not bestow on you any patents, or copyrights, or ownership of intellectual property. All you are getting are some very big numbers, recorded in a very specific way. That's all.

masonic

What about the energy consumption required to drive the ledger? A bit of a drawback I think, and one that will likely lead to the outlawing of BTC if it doesn't naturally die a death.

The current generation of cryptos have already overcome this issue, but have other drawbacks. There will no doubt be further evolution of the concept.