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To be honest, I got burned in bubbles, too.
There's an old saying in financial circles that you have to lose a lot of money before you can become a really prudent investor.
If you take that experience and remember it the next time you are feeling euphoric about an investment, it's gonna be very helpful for you.
 
You didn't so much lose money as pay for a valuable lesson.
 


I'm not sure I've learned my lesson yet though

If I had been smart enough to sell, the truth is I would just be spending half my profits buying at $59 again ( I know, I know, ... -
Especially as the exchange opens in a few hours and loads will probably dump there too.)

(I would spend the other half of my profits on silver though so at least I have some sense.)

Edit: & look the guys who invented facebook own 1% and are still buying, how could anything go wrong?



Edit 2: My view is that you guys were right in that it was speculative bubble, lot of weak hands who are just in for a quick profit and bail at the first sign of trouble.

At the same time, for me I still think the trigger was the main exchange being overwhelmed by so many new people wanting to join.
So many things going on in financial world right now that still make Bitcoin appealing if they can just make the infrastructure around it more stable. Could take a long time to recover from this though.
 
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well my feeling is, there was some heavy hitter(s) involved, who just have played the herd, like a pro - for his (theirs) own gain - not necessarily some kind of a dark cabal. Heck, if I had several tens of millions $ to play around with, and knew how to trade, I would probably gave it a go, just for kicks. I supposed it was as easy to cash in for a pro trader, as take a candy from a child. Even to a total idiot investor like myself (let's be honest here, I am a complete noob), even with me being rather overall positive towards BC$, as a concept, and philosophy & execution - there was just too much, too fast going into it, and too much super positive attention around it - IMHO.


EDIT: that's not to be said, that I wouldn't buy few for a bit of trading or just to keep them, when the dust settles, shortly... Like I said, I like the concept, and I still believe, if left alone, they have a bright future - big question mark is, if they'll be left alone?
 
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It's $155 on the main Exchange MTGOX atm

I haven't sold any yet, but will sell some in the next few days.
Ideally I would have liked to have sold in the 200's and bought back at $59 as I mentioned above, that would have been sweet.

There are some positive rumours flying about though.

1.Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324493704578431000719258048.html

Western Union Co. and MoneyGram International Inc. are studying ways their customers could use their services to send and receive money transfers denominated in bitcoins, the companies' executives say.
Click to expand...

Probably not in the near future but still, if anything like that was ever announced, super massive, overnight.

2. They are making a new more reliable exchange with better market making technology and a float to help stabilize prices using the input of Max Keiser among others.

3. The most recent bubble was caused by new speculators chasing a few coins and dumping them at the first sign of trouble. I think something like 70% of the coins didn't actually move at all.
Well now they are aware that hurt Bitcoin because if some of those '70%' sold their coins into the price rise it would have stabilized the rise. They then could of taken their profits and put in a buy order at a lower amount. This would mean there would be a huge wall of buyers if weak hands sell thereby stabilising the fall too.

As for how long it is before the powers that be try to properly shut it down, who knows. Looks like they are engaged in campaign of internet attacks against themselves (US) like the AP hack yesterday. So that they will be able to pass laws soon that protect Americans by limiting what Internetz you can view, Chinese style.
 
hmmm

a $15 spread on two exchanges ..........

all I need is a high speed connection and a line of credit (-;

Good that you held in there Unbeatable.
Now, how will you make yourself sell when they are obviously going to the moon ?

Holding PM's is a very good way of acclimatising for crazy buy and hold strategys :rotflmbo:
 
Hmmm... Starts @ ~2:53

[ame="http://www.bloomberg.com/video/paypal-sees-20-billion-in-mobile-transactions-WlokACTBRterdjHAJGNB6w.html"]PayPal Sees $20 Billion in Mobile Transactions: Video - Bloomberg@@AMEPARAM@@tframe.html?ec=V1bHQ1Yjq1j5sqIefow6JFZpDXyWCXHk&pbid=8a7a9c84ac2f4e8398ebe50c07eb2f9d"@@AMEPARAM@@V1bHQ1Yjq1j5sqIefow6JFZpDXyWCXHk@@AMEPARAM@@8a7a9c84ac2f4e8398ebe50c07eb2f9d[/ame]

PayPal "kind of thinking about it"
 
Interesting, yeah a lot of big players seem to be looking at it & are aware of it.

I guess they are all watching & waiting to see how it pans out a bit more.
 

More: http://gigaom.com/2013/05/14/homeland-security-seizes-funds-at-main-bitcoin-exchange-report/
 
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100838553?__...r=yahoo&doc=100838553|BitcoinFoundationReceiv

"Not-for-profit organization the Bitcoin Foundation has been sent a "cease and desist" letter from California's financial regulator for allegedly engaging in money transmission without a license, according to one of the foundation's senior members."

"The letter also states that a breach of this law could result in imprisonment or a fine of between $1,000 to $2,500 per violation or per day. It adds that it's also a felony to engage in money transmission without a state license, or to fail to register with the U.S. Treasury Department. This activity, it says, can result in a $250,000 fine or up to five years in prison."
 
And here it comes:
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/n...ssuing-virtual-currency-guidelines-6C10901826

"NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - New York's top banking regulator is considering issuing regulatory guidelines for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, according to a memo posted on its website on Monday.

The memo comes after federal authorities have filed claims against other digital currency businesses. Last year, the FBI reported Bitcoin was being used by criminals to move money around the world."
 
I don't think including BC$ in financial regulatory frameworks, is necessarily a bad thing, quite the opposite- if it is ever expected to go mainstream, it was inevitable. As such, I'd say it is a positive development - you don't think any one serious investor/financial institution would touch it with a barge pole, if left totally unregulated.

I can't seem to find a way these regulations can impact BC$ in any bad way. You can still do whatever you want with them, make them as private and hard to connect with your physical self, as you wish (specifically, you might create a new key for each and every single transaction you make, and dispose of it the next instant; you can still hop over the borders with them memorized/stored online as much as you like (even if they anal probe you); they still cannot print them at will out of thin air, etc.)
 

More: http://nation.time.com/2013/10/02/a...iam-ulbricht-arrested-3-6m-in-bitcoin-seized/

...
The immediate result has been a quick and brutal dump in the USD-equivalent value of the BitCoin currency itself as can be seen on the chart below:
...
Click to expand...

More: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-...owing-us-government-seizure-silk-road-website
 
I read the article, but it did not show that the individuals named in the charges had anything to do with bit-coin. There is an inference somewhere that says they may have used bit-coin instead of traditional cash to hide their drug transactions or something, but said nothing about them being involved in bit-coin or the parent organization.

So this appears to be another in a series of actions by the government to de-legitimize bit-coin. Fuck these assholes and their fascist counter organizations.
 
All attempts to discourage the use of bitcoin seem to be having the opposite effect

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-06/bitcoin-spikes-record-high-270

Hope you held in there Unbeatable -

"Personally I actually believe bitcoin does have some utility but very, very risky. I bought in @ $36 and not planning to sell any till $150, so I might still lose my initial investment/gamble."


And will you sell on this peak or wait for the next one ? (-:
 
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I'd probably be selling. A possible reason for the jump is that so many bitcoins went out of circulation, at least temporarily when they arrested that Silk Road guy. I forget whether it was 20's or 40's of millions of bucks worth (at the old price). FBI has his hard drive, but *so far* can't decode them and therefore put them back on the market as they often do with seized things - usually at not-great prices as the .gov doesn't know how to trade well. I suspect the keys will be broken, just a matter of time and NSA computer cycles - it's enough money to be worth it.

There is now a theoretical attack on the bitcoin system, involving groups of "greedy miners" that works similar to quote-stuffing or que jumping in HFT. No one seems to be saying it is happening yet, just that in theory it can be done - it takes a fair amount of computer power...we know who owns quite a lot of that and it's not just citizens. I'd at least be worried since we know that some people with a lot of computers want this dead.

Not the best explanation I've seen, just the one I could find quick.

http://arstechnica.com/information-...of-bitcoin-rally-other-greedy-selfish-miners/
 
Those greedy miners can only speed up the process of creating a finite amount of bitcoin.
Once they are all created there can be no more and we are asked to believe that the codes cannot be forged, as all mining claims have to be peer reviewed ........

I have no bitcoin, only worringly large quantities of Au and Ag that are still down 20% and cannot be used to settle a transaction .....
 
Well, yes, there's a limit to the total BC in existence, unless someone changes the rules, which isn't very likely at this point.

The trouble comes with the same things we bitch about with the fed. Who spends first, gets more for it than later, so the closer to the source you are, the less "inflation" you experience with your new-minted currency than the next guy. A bit of a fine point, but those here seem pretty up on how that sort of thing works.

I think the real issue is that it seems almost every CB/government wants this dead, and they tend to get their way. "Don't steal - the government doesn't like competition" - seen on Ron Paul's desk.
 

Hi Rblong2us & everyone else! It's a long time since I posted, hope everyone is doing well


Yes I held in there My original strategy was

sell enough... to recoup my initial investment + a 50% return and keep 60% of the coins I initially purchased in Bitcoin.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much what I did. (Sold at an average price of $160 after purchasing at $37)
 
As for selling now, no. (I may consider selling into some of the price rises but only so I can buy on dips, but otherwise I don't pay much attention to the price.)

THEN (April 2013) & NOW (Nov 2013) - just 6 months later!

My concern back then was whether Bitcoin had the ability to rapidly adapt and evolve to threats and challenges

- The big illegal site Silk Road was shut down but another version opened a month later with better security features.

- Back then MTGox was handling 80% of the volume, this was a major centralised weakness for a decentralised currency but now there are 3 main exchanges in 3 different jurisdictions http://bitcoinity.org/markets/list?currency=ALL&span=7d

(There is a big exchange opening in the UK which may well end up being the most advanced and most compliant therefore attractive to the big players and institutional money.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/29/coinfloor-launch



That no. 10 door is the UK version of the White House

Of the new exchanges China is the most exciting, it is growing very rapidly at the moment. http://www.coindesk.com/btc-china-beats-mt-gox-bitstamp-become-worlds-1-bitcoin-exchange/

“The people here are really getting it, and it is being spread by both the general media and by word of mouth,” he said.
Click to expand...

- 'Baidu', China's largest search engine has started accepting bitcoins http://rt.com/news/china-baidu-accept-bitcoin-276/

- The first Bitcoin ATMs were launched in Canada. They had a bumper first week & the shops in which they were placed have never been so busy. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-...-processes-100k-transactions-its-first-8-days

A new Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver is off to a fast start, conducting $100,000 (Canadian) worth of transactions in its first eight days of operation.
Click to expand...

- IT has been recognised as private money in Germany. http://www.cnbc.com/id/100971898


________________________________________

The rapid worldwide progress & development of the infrastructure is very positive & pretty startling even by my expectations.

(Other nice anecdotal - Though their options were limited a couple already managed to travel round the world using btc to pay for flights, shelter and and food. http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/nov/01/bitcoin-currency-for-travellers )

So as long as I continue to see this kind of progress I'll be sticking with it, regardless of price action.
 
BTCE: BTC/USD = $546,
MTGOX: BTC/USD = $605

Bloody hell!!! Sheeple is being taken for a steep ride ATM, that is for sure!!

I am thinking of buying the next big dip (judging by the speed by which things are going up here, and BTC history, the next dip shall be 30%-50% correction... Question is, when the correction will start eventually, and therefore - will the dip find itself below, or above the current price

Sure as hell, I am not buying on that rocket ride right now


DCF: IMO, BTCs are inherently deflationary, for one simple reason: finite amt of them can be ever created. Therefore, unlike fiat money, you can hardly benefit from creating & spending them all at once - if the thing is here to stay, the longer you hold on to it, the more purchasing power you gain, if the supply/demand curves apply here at all. If it is to survive long term, it would be an ultimate savings vehicle - very similar to PMs, in this regard.


EDIT:
from that link by Unbeatable:

...now, this stuff is BIG! Ze Germans, one of the economic powerhouses on that planet?! Andtheir finance committee members are pushing into Hayek's direction?!?! Like, they actually UNDERSTAND what they are saying, and that neo-Keynesians are a statist hacks?

Just WOW! I shall seriously refresh my German speaking, I guess!

EDIT 2:
Max Keiser is recently talking about Bitcoin at every chance he has, which could possibly explain part of the ride, AND, well, given his track record with timings.... A contrarian top warning?
 
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wow

BTC touched $600 today and currently back down to 503 having already had an $80 drop earlier in the day

Now that is a wild ride .......

Its become the new gold cos the old version isnt doing what it should )-:



Now $710 ....... up another $200 in 4 hours !

WTF is going on ?
 
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...

I was watching for awhile via fiatleak.com earlier this afternoon. I saw a whole bunch of BTC transactions headed for the USA (clustered together, all those little orange "B"s were overlapping), it was very impressive. So, at my next blog piece, I am going to include the screenshot I took there at fiatleak re trickling Bitcoin, and I am going to call it "A Golden Shower on the US$". Careful readers might note the use of arguably THREE puns there...

Earlier this evening, just before the Tylers posted their article re BTC (where I saw you drop by DCFusor), I saw a transaction cross the wire at $907 !!! I am still trying to get some BTCs, I may have found an inefficient way (but good enough, at least for now)...
 
...can anyone think why there are such a HUGE spreads amongst the exchanges:

MTGOX: $765
BTCE: $689

I mean, what the f., isn't BCS a "frictionless" currency, why nobody is collecting the spread and making a killing???
 
bushi said:
...can anyone think why there are such a HUGE spreads amongst the exchanges:

MTGOX: $765
BTCE: $689

I mean, what the f., isn't BCS a "frictionless" currency, why nobody is collecting the spread and making a killing???
Click to expand...

Go ahead and do it yourself?
 
bushi said:
...can anyone think why there are such a HUGE spreads amongst the exchanges:
...
Click to expand...

Yeah - competition.

Think of it like the difference between ebay and some auction site you've never heard of before. Which site do you think has more people competing to buy the product you want to auction off? Which will get you a better price?

I'm guessing there are more buyers than sellers on MtGox than the other exchange. It should balance out once the market sees that one exchange favors buyers and the other favors sellers and adjusts accordingly.
 
think the big risk is that the exchanges cant keep up and that the price differential could easily shift during the wait.

Ive seen comments regarding trying to sell at $800 and the transaction actually concluding at $850 and another regarding someone destroyed by a margin call and even though prices quickly recovered he was caught in a shortlived downdraft.
 
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Someone tried to knock bitcoin down today ffftt:

It dropped $100 more or less instantly, then very quickly recovered.

I see $ 840 - $940 today and two up movements of $100

And now litecoin is moving up just as strongly, as those who feel its too late for bitcoin jump on board.

So any takers for the btc / Gold cross ?

If the trend continues, its sometime in the next few days ........


I guess if there enough exchanges then there can be as many crypto currencies as you like.

Be interesting to see what the feds try to do to rein em in.
 
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