Bitcoin on the rise again

[woody1]

• After hitting a cycle low of $16k in Nov 2022, it's back up over $60k
• At $60k, it has a market cap of $1.2tn, which puts it up there with the largest stocks in the world https://companiesmarketcap.com
• Staggering to think it was just a few dollars a little over a decade ago. Not many things go up a million%
• A lot of "bullish" predictions out there of it hitting $500k, even $1m, and exceeding the market cap of Gold ($13tn)

Apart from consuming a shed load of energy...

1. Does the $tn tied up in Bitcoin do anything useful?
2. I wonder if it could ever one day pose a threat to financial stability?

[DoctorStrangelove]

https://www.pitzlfinancial.com/blog/...20the%20market.

[ladymuck]

I did consider buying a couple of quids worth back in the day when I thought it was a flash in the pan at best or a scam at worst. I could have been minted by now.

There are some retail opportunities for bitcoin but it seems mainly used for dodgy dealings, isn't it?

[willendure]

• Does the $tn tied up in Bitcoin do anything useful?

Does the $tn tied up in physical gold do anything useful?

The next bitcoin halving is estimated to occur on 20th April 2024 when the reward per block mined will fall to 3.125.

The stock-to-flow (amount produced each year versus supply already in existance) of bitcoin is a little higher than gold, but below that of silver. At the next halving it will drop below that of gold. In theory at least, this makes it the hardest asset widely traded in the world. With US (and UK) debts at war time levels, and deglobalization threatening supply shocks and inflation, the advantages of bitcoin as a store of value are apparent.

I have been averaging in every month for that last 6 months.

I think it will probably fall a bit after the halving, as that event is anticipated and overly priced in ahead of it happening. The true effects of the halving will take time to be felt, somewhere over the next 6 to 18 months.

Also these new ETF funds are causing a massive inflow of capital, with not so many coins available to buy.

[Fraidycat]

• I wonder if it could ever one day pose a threat to financial stability?

When funds calculate the risk, they assume it could go to zero so that tends to limit how much companies and funds own.

It is assets that funds assume will never lose much value that pose the most hidden risk. eg AAA mortgages and government bonds. These get leveraged up 100x because they appear so safe.

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. “

[ChimpMaster]

I'll never get the need for crypto, much less blockchain even. But then I'm a veritable dinosaur, given the age of crypto "experts" I see on TikTok or Instagram or wherever.

I just lost a small sum of USDT while attempting a transfer from Binance to Coinbase. I entered all details correct but apparently 'chose' the wrong network on which to transfer the funds across. So it appears that the opBNB network was not supported by Coinbase - but then why the hell did Binance give me the option!

But worse than that is the fact that the funds are now forever lost in the 'network', whatever that means. Neither Binance nor Coinbase can retrieve the funds or tell me where they are. So the money is simply attributed to no one, I mean what, does it even exist now then?

And this is the future of money?

What a load of b0llocks.

[Snooky]

I'll never get the need for crypto, much less blockchain even.

I can see a use for both.

In Financial Services, if all players agreed to use blockchain then many transaction-related processes such as settlement would become instantaneous, with no need for confirmations or T+2 settlement etc. But despite the many advantages it offers, progress has been pitifully slow.

Crypto currency also offers exactly the same benefits - instant payments with no quarrel about whether funds were sent and received. Like cash but without a lot of the inherent cost and risk. Also virtually invisible, if you're worried about that kind of thing. The big problem it seems to have is that its value is massively unstable (due to the ever increasing difficulty of generating more, because of the way it's "mined", I think) and, while that's the case, I don't see how it can become a part of the mainstream financial system. It remains a form of risky investment/gambling (as various threads on these boards show).

[northernladuk]

• After hitting a cycle low of $16k in Nov 2022, it's back up over $60k
• At $60k, it has a market cap of $1.2tn, which puts it up there with the largest stocks in the world https://companiesmarketcap.com
• Staggering to think it was just a few dollars a little over a decade ago. Not many things go up a million%
• A lot of "bullish" predictions out there of it hitting $500k, even $1m, and exceeding the market cap of Gold ($13tn)

Apart from consuming a shed load of energy...

1. Does the $tn tied up in Bitcoin do anything useful?
2. I wonder if it could ever one day pose a threat to financial stability?

History tells us that its too late to buy. Everyone jumps on the news as it heads skywards, tongues start wagging and people reach for their wallets. Crash incoming.

[WTFH]

Well, I think it's fairly obvious. Scooter will be back any day.

[northernladuk]

Well, I think it's fairly obvious. Scooter will be back any day.

Just need a fear greed graph and it will be like the old days when he was here.