Bitcoin-big con

clive0510

I wonder why if bitcoin is as good as the promoters make out. ie £400 profit in 1 hrs trading, £50,000 6 months for doing nothing, why are we not all doing it? I think my money for the time being is staying safe n sound thank you. (premium bonds).

Another_Saver

Because there are only so many people in the world stupid enough to believe that everyone who participates in a zero-sum game can get rich.

Edit: the US election is making me question that statement.

dunstonh

I think my money for the time being is staying safe n sound thank you. (premium bonds).

Premium bonds are not safe and sound.  You run inflation risk and shortfall risk with PBs.

fwor

clive0510 said:

I wonder why if bitcoin is as good as the promoters make out. ie £400 profit in 1 hrs trading

You need to make a distinction between Bitcoin and the scammers who promote Bitcoin trading schemes that will supposedly make you rich quickly. The two are not the same thing.

In truth, the fact that they have chosen Bitcoin as the underlying commodity is pretty much irrelevant. They would choose "hog futures" or something else if they thought it would attract more punters. Whatever the underlying commodity (Bitcoin or something else), you're still going to lose all of your money if you fall for that type of scam.

clive0510

dunstonh said:

I think my money for the time being is staying safe n sound thank you. (premium bonds).

Premium bonds are not safe and sound.  You run inflation risk and shortfall risk with PBs.

yes indeed they are not inflation proof. but they do pay me the odd winner here and there. which is not bad compared to some savings plans paying virtually nothing. on balance I would rather have inflation risk than losing it all to some scammer.

eskbanker

clive0510 said:

dunstonh said:

I think my money for the time being is staying safe n sound thank you. (premium bonds).

Premium bonds are not safe and sound.  You run inflation risk and shortfall risk with PBs.

yes indeed they are not inflation proof. but they do pay me the odd winner here and there. which is not bad compared to some savings plans paying virtually nothing. on balance I would rather have inflation risk than losing it all to some scammer.

False dichotomy, there are of course many other places to put your money, occupying other points along the risk scale!  There aren't many who'd see Bitcoin speculation as being remotely comparable to having premium bonds....

planteria

fwor said:

You need to make a distinction between Bitcoin and the scammers who promote Bitcoin trading schemes that will supposedly make you rich quickly. The two are not the same thing.

that was the point i was going to make.
clive isn't referring to bitcoin, he's mixing up bitcoin and some scheme he's read about.

clive0510

planteria said:

fwor said:

You need to make a distinction between Bitcoin and the scammers who promote Bitcoin trading schemes that will supposedly make you rich quickly. The two are not the same thing.

that was the point i was going to make.
clive isn't referring to bitcoin, he's mixing up bitcoin and some scheme he's read about.

I think which ever way the wind blows, its fairly clear I shall not be investing. it is a scam.

steampowered

clive0510 said:

yes indeed they are not inflation proof. but they do pay me the odd winner here and there. which is not bad compared to some savings plans paying virtually nothing. on balance I would rather have inflation risk than losing it all to some scammer.

There is a happy medium ground which sits somewhere in between "losing money each year to inflation" and "losing all of your money to scammers.

That happy ground is a stock market investment. Ideally through an investment fund which is diversified in different stock markets and different companies.

The major stock markets have historically returned over the long term about 7-8% per year on average. Not quite the profits that bit coin scammers promise, but still far superior to premium bonds.

NottinghamKnight

Giving your money to a scammer is never going to turn out well, whether they claim to sell you bitcoin, shares, bonds or indeed transfer cash to a safe place from your bank account because they claim to be the bank and other scammer has hacked it.
Putting some money into bitcoin could be argued a legitimate investment as only a limited number are available and given central bank prediliction to print huge amounts of their currency then a bitcoin is not susceptible to devaluation in the same way. They may also say that the block chain technology is more reliable in terms of openness and scrutiny than other government systems. A downside is that many would argue that bitcoin has no inherent value and purely relies on people's trust, but that could be said of other currencies. Governments also have assets and the ability to raise taxes, and some would claim armies to call upon where required. Bottom line is that people shouldn't invest in what they don't understand, be careful in who they transact with and be comfortable with the risk they take on.

onthebench

clive0510 said:

I wonder why if bitcoin is as good as the promoters make out. ie £400 profit in 1 hrs trading, £50,000 6 months for doing nothing, why are we not all doing it? I think my money for the time being is staying safe n sound thank you. (premium bonds).

I think you are conflating bitcoin day-trading scams with bitcoin itself. There are huge numbers of scams related to stocks, gold bullion, and good old cash, and none of those mean that stocks, gold or cash are a scam.
Numbers like the ones you quote are of course nonsense, but if you had simply bought and held bitcoin one year ago you would now be looking at a roughly 48% profit, assuming of course that the massive volatility in that period didn't spook you.

Bitcoin itself is just an asset, yes a very speculative one and certainly not one to put more money into than you are prepared to lose. But simply buying bitcoin (and ensuring that you hold the keys and seed phrase, not some shady exchange or "investment company") is not in any way a "scam". Plenty of big investors have sizeable holdings in bitcoin as part of their portfolios.

I'm happy to have a small amount in bitcoin which I add to on a cost-averaged basis. I'm fully aware that it's a gamble but I like to have a store of value in something that can't just be created out of thin air when a bank chooses to do so. (And I know many people will see irony in that!)