Bitcoin

[_V_]

Shame the fees don't crash when price does.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...s-rising-high/

I just moved some bitcoin. Took 4 hours and cost £20. And this is the future of money?

[Hobosapien]

Nope it's not the future of money. The volatility alone kills its chances of ever being anything more than a speculative 'asset'.

The tech may be the future of money, but not in its current form. Hence why some think one or more of the alt coins will conquer the world eventually. Yet if those alts are also affected by volatile pricing due to speculation and people 'hodling' for anticipated long term massive gains then they too will die off and be superseded by something fit for purpose.

Fit for purpose as a currency is one where the cost is predictable and stable, not widely affected by inflation/deflation, very low transaction fees (allowing micropayments), near instant transactions, secure from theft, accepted by every day establishments, accepted by the tax man. Not limited in availability, pricing out the poorest members of its target user base, ...

Interesting times ahead, but all we are seeing at the moment is greed induced speculation that is ironically destroying the future of the current 'coins', as it is highlighting their inability to deliver on what they originally promised. The future successor may well be born from the ashes as the current publicity and public interest is going to ensure the 'powers that be' do something about cryptocurrency, eventually. That may be to provide their own version(s) so they retain control, and attempt to block access to those naughty alternatives due to them funding 'terrorism and tax evasion'.

Just my opinion.

[FrontEnder]

Hopefully the lightning network will help things, but I think that's a few months off.

It's long been suggested that bitcoin may become a store of value rather than a day to day currency - digital gold so to speak. I think we'll start to see it being used less and less for transactions over the next few months and payment coins like DASH, stellar etc being used more.

Maybe as a result we might see bitcoin a price being more stable. However, I saw one analysis that suggested after a parabolic run ends, we see a period of increased volatility before a new pattern emerges, so expect that first.

[Hobosapien]

If people are confident enough it will be a store of value I have some bitdiamonds that will also be seen as a store of value, some day.

They're even harder to mine than the bitcoins, only 1 released per day. First 'diamond' expected to be mined 'soon'. In the meantime can bid for any future bitdiamond, highest bidder secures. Starting price, £1, no reserve. Bidding ends on the day of release for that bitdiamond. Send in your bids to secure your place. Will refund unsuccesful bids (eventually) or exchange for place against alternative bitdiamond for a 'small' transaction fee.

Piss easy this bitstuff. Virtually, anyone can do it.

[_V_]

Shifted some Litecoin, took about 1 minute and cost almost nothing.

Litecoin 1 - Bitcoin 0

[_V_]

shapeshift.io

PLEASE NOTE: Our Bitcoin miner fee is set very high due to Bitcoin network congestion, so please avoid small Bitcoin transactions on ShapeShift for now. Anything under $250 USD is unadvisable, and transactions may be delayed for hours.

Only the rich can afford to spend bitcoin now....

[Hobosapien]

shapeshift.io



Only the rich can afford to spend bitcoin now....

Don't worry, they're going to add layers to bitcoin to try to make it's more fit for purpose. Like some tulipty IT system that they can't just turn off (need to save face and cover their arses) so add botch after botch of 'improvements' and end up with a total cluster ****.

That's if they agree on what to do and don't folk off in a hissy fit like they did with Bitcoin Cash and about 20 others.


All the while Visa et al will be coming up with a plan in partnership with the multinationals and Google/Apple/... to corner the market with something the public know and trust, and more importantly can spend online and on the high street easily from wages earnt.

I can totally see how bitcoin itself has a massive future and each 'coin' will be worth a million dollars.

Nonetheless, bitcoin price still unstable so fill yer boots before 'they' wake up to reality.

[Hobosapien]

South Korea targets bitcoin, starting with proposal to ban anonymous accounts and powers to close exchanges.

The clampdown has started.

The Clash - Clampdown