Bitcoin

Groundhog

Member
I keep seeing stuff about people making loads of money from bitcoin and other crypto currencies.
Surely it can't be that simple. Or is it?
I thought this subject would have been discussed on here before but can find nothing.
 

mikem

Well-known member
As usual with investment bubbles the people who got in early mostly made the profits...
 

SamT

Moderator
Yep, very difficult now to make any money.  You had to be there 10 years ago really.
 

SamT

Moderator
Glad I'm not this bloke...

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/bitcoin-lost-newport-landfill

(this is not an urban myth either, its been well documented). 
 

Groundhog

Member
I was aware that this has been going on for years and it's the ones who got in early that have made big money.
However I keep seeing current news items about folk unexpectedly finding their tiny investments have made them rich. My instincts tell me it can't be true or else everyone would be doing it, wouldn't they?
I will hang on to my bit of hard earned cash and spend it wisely!  :)
 

Speleotron

Member
Groundhog said:
I was aware that this has been going on for years and it's the ones who got in early that have made big money.
However I keep seeing current news items about folk unexpectedly finding their tiny investments have made them rich. My instincts tell me it can't be true or else everyone would be doing it, wouldn't they?
I will hang on to my bit of hard earned cash and spend it wisely!  :)


If it sounds too good to be true then it is! It's a asset with no fundamentals, so it isn't like a share where you own a piece of a productive company, the only 'value' you can attribute to bitcoin is what you think somebody else in the future might want to pay for it, which means the price could be anything at all (hence the wild swing upwards and the 80 % drop).
 
Apparently tulip bulbs are the next big thing....

And someone was suggesting shares in the South Seas Company - or have I missed the boat on that one
 

Speleotron

Member
By the time somebody suggest shares in something its too late as the information is out there so it will be already priced in. Just buy FTSE trackers.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Even better are income funds, particularly held in an ISA. They go up and down but you take the dividends tax free every month meanwhile.

I've only ever been able to afford a tiny holding in these and only talked myself into putting some savings there (against my better judgement) because interest from banks wasn't matching inflation. But they've made a bit more money than savings accounts would have.

Such funds are probably best kept for long term investments though; if you need the cash when the market's down, you lose.

They say peer to peer can be a good investment - but I've no real experience of this.

Bitcoin? No chance of me wasting my hard earned in that department. I get more pleasure from spending in on caving gear. (A certain tall person, well known for his close association with Titan etc in the Peak, used to refer to his pay as "digging vouchers". That dig cost rather a lot, so maybe he had a good point there.)
 

JoshW

Well-known member
get some earnings in an upcoming country (like vietnam) and stick money in their savings accounts at 6-8%
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
I run a small dig investment company.  The regular payment of ?20 is rather speculative.  Occasionally there is a big pay out but often the dig market crashes with no return.  Still the fund is attractive to a keen local market even attracting some foreign investment.  This is no armchair hedging though.  You get a good day out and paid the wages of fear (time and a half after 5pm).  We are an open fund and only too happy to take your money should anyone feel like a flutter.  ;)
 

JasonC

Well-known member
The other aspect of blockchain-based schemes (like bitcoin) is that vast amounts of computer power are needed to generate and verify transactions - taken together they are already consuming a noticeable proportion of global power - not what we need to combat global heating....
 

RobinGriffiths

Well-known member
Yes, isn't it the case that there is (or was) a shortage of graphics cards because they were being used for 'industrial scale' mining of bitcoins?
 

grahams

Well-known member
JasonC said:
The other aspect of blockchain-based schemes (like bitcoin) is that vast amounts of computer power are needed to generate and verify transactions - taken together they are already consuming a noticeable proportion of global power - not what we need to combat global heating....

You can use your Bitcoin mining rig to heat your home, though not very efficiently.

When Govs around the world find that they are losing significant tax revenue to what is largely a tax avoidance/Ponzi scam, Bitcoin will either be killed off or will be taken over by the big banks. There are already signs that the latter is taking place as several banks are investigating the use of Blockchain technology.
 
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