mossdog Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Never trusted them and never will, but that is actually irrelevant here. Bitcoins are the first in a wave of revolutions regarding the way we think about money, in a similar style to Napster, for those not familiar with this line of thought it goes as follows: - New exciting technology emerges - New technology gets adopted at large - New technology garners public interest due to novelty - Technology forms foundation for new protocols - Maturity issues in technology get revealed - Scammers exploit technology - Technology suffers PR-problems - Technology matures in technical and legal terms - Protocols get used to make technology fit-for-purpose - Further maturity in protocols and technology - Technology gets adopted in smart new business models - Technology becomes mainstream For those blinking at this stage: Napster introduced peer-to-peer connections to a broad public, even though Napster disappeared, this formed the foundation for many new uses, from cloud computing to iPlayer and Spotify. The same will happen with BitCoins - the theory is there, it now needs to mature (ie. get rid of scammers etc.) BitCoins themselves will likely disappear due to the impracticality of managing it, but the technology will result in a future, mature in technological and legal terms, method of using money. My bet is that services like PayPal and GooglePay will offer an alternative that can mature very rapidly - in ten years time you will pay for all your online purchases using a global currency, in 50 years time people will wonder why countries had separate currencies in the past. Bring back the gold standard!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 They're still trading for over 500 Dollars a piece on other online markets/exchanges. Down from the near $1500 a piece they hit in the bubble. Alot of people have been burnt by this and other similar mass 'loss' of coins, there's been a number of smaller exchanges setup just to take in coins and disappear with peoples money. I think it's starting to become obvious that without regulation or legal oversight the criminal element will scam and steal with impunity. Bit like the bankers then...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossdog Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 [/b] Bit like the bankers then...? Surely the FSA regulated the bankers as was their job.................didn't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 If you use them, rather than hanging on to them as an "investment" (aka blind gamble), and don't hold on to them for any longer than you need them (a few hours) then it matters not what they are "worth", providing the exchange rates are relatively well harmonised. Bitcoin has mindshare for the moment. Once people realise that they don't have to keep their bitcoin on someone else's server in order to use them (and can store them on their own device quite safely for a few hours) people might see the utility of cryptocurrency. I don't see how legal oversight or regulation can even grip the bitcoin issue, let alone "solve" it with laws and rules. The whole point is that no individual or institution has control over the transfer of value when its done with bitcoin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawny1970 Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 They're still trading for over 500 Dollars a piece on other online markets/exchanges. Down from the near $1500 a piece they hit in the bubble. Alot of people have been burnt by this and other similar mass 'loss' of coins, there's been a number of smaller exchanges setup just to take in coins and disappear with peoples money. I think it's starting to become obvious that without regulation or legal oversight the criminal element will scam and steal with impunity. it never hit $1500, it only just hit $1000, and its risen 10% today alone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Hans Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Same is true of cash. Yeah but the difference is everybody thinks cash is valuable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mafya Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 I have gold and silver bullion, at least I can touch and feel my investment rather than worry about any digital currency disappearing or worth zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddywolf Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 I lost 390 Bitcoins a couple of months ago when 50btc got hacked! They refuse to give them back as I need proof, and had since reinstalled, and only have one screenshot of my wallet, which they won't accept! Did that really happen to you? That's around £155,000,00 on today's value? That would beat me up every day! Sorry to read that fella, hopefully they cost you little to begin with and try to look at it from that point of view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghozer Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Did that really happen to you? That's around £155,000,00 on today's value? That would beat me up every day! Sorry to read that fella, hopefully they cost you little to begin with and try to look at it from that point of view Yeah... I'll dig out the screenshot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
999tigger Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Well at least you arent that fella who lost over £4m worth of bit coins when he dumped his hdd with them on. Oh and what SH said about their value applies to every currency, so what cyclone said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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