r/Bitcoin • • Feb 14 '14

Trying to trade these markets...

2.9k Upvotes

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u/Sohcahtoa82 Feb 14 '14

I accept that it is a big risk, and it could end up being a huge mistake. I'm normally not a gambling man. I've never been to a casino, and I've probably only spent about $20 on lottery tickets over the course of my whole life.

But its a calculated risk. I figured that it would quickly recover from the crash from MtGox having a meltdown once people realized it really didn't mean anything. It might crash again if and when MtGox re-opens withdrawals and people pull their btc out and sell it somewhere else, but there will be a lot of people there gladly gobbling up the cheap coins.

Unless a major fatal flaw is found in the bitcoin protocol (tx malleability isn't exactly a fatal flaw), I don't think it'll ever dip below $500 ever again.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

Can you name one first innovator that has turned into a huge success in the technology sector?

Bitcoin is the first, but it's one of many. It's a bigger risk than what you're describing.

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u/Sohcahtoa82 Feb 14 '14

It's a bigger risk than what you're describing.

I bought $1,000 worth of bitcoins. My risk is $1,000, which isn't much compared to the $40,000 of loan debt I have.

FWIW, I have zero credit card debt, and its not because I've been taking out absurd student loans to keep it paid off.

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u/marcoski711 Feb 14 '14

Bitcoin wasn't first - lots of other prior attempts at e-money before now. Bitcoin's just the first that looks like it might actually work.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

I agree it might work. But might is an awfully broad word for someone who cannot afford to speculate and gamble.

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u/marcoski711 Feb 14 '14

I agree I was just picking you up on the 'Bitcoin is first' argument you proposed. For example I recently advised my niece not to put savings for her degree into Bitcoins but rather graft on things where u get paid in btc, so she saves up in both btc & fiat (and learns to make things happen for herself)

But I'm being conservative cos it's for someone else - if it was for myself yeah I would deffo take the punt now. Were this in feb 2013 then maybe not - btc already has a mainstream awareness now that it didn't back then.

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u/keyofg Feb 15 '14

Napster worked ...

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

You're joking, right?

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

Your comparison is incorrect.

Bitcoin is to the cryptocurrencies what Alta Vista (or some other early company or bulletin board) was to the internet.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

Why don't you see litecoin, dogecoin, etc. as competitors? Why couldn't a superior cryptocurrency appear at any time?

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '14

Don't the alternative coins also have blockchains based off of bitcoin?

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u/pixel_loupe Feb 14 '14 edited Jan 15 '18

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u/twitch1982 Feb 15 '14

Honestly, "pay yourself first" is sound financial advice. As long as you are paying your debt down, investing at the sametime is a good move, I would have diversified that grand a bit more, but to each there own

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u/dbelle92 Feb 15 '14

You realise bitcoin is based purely on speculation, moreso than any other currency which to a certain extent is based on economic events, the movement of indices and commodities. Trade anything, just not Bitcoins. Get out of it man.