Digital currency Bitcoin hits new high before losing S$200 in value in one day

[financiallyfree]

I dont really agree with bitcoin being "misguided faith". The validity of a currency is based on people perception of it. Just like gold can be considered like a tulip, its just a useless metal that looks pretty. So who is to judge the validity of a currency?

from a non techie understanding, more bitcoins are generating by mining, meaning using computer to process complex maths equations. for every extra bitcoin, it gets exponentially harder to create 'new' bitcoin, so 'apparently' there can only be a finite supply of bitcoin. which is the 'attractive' aspect. and 'supposedly' it is open source, so there is no tampering 'possible'. i guess key concern now is the safety and security of it.

On the other hand, with regards to prices, I agree with GPD, it is subjected to demand and supply.

fiat money is actually a very good medium and currency as it has the additional backing by government, but to people, it does not seem to be a good store of value now as central bankers are abusing their power.

just to share my personal opinion

[BestPrice]

Which is worth more --- an ounce of gold or a bitcoin?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101235424

[weijian]

I dont really agree with bitcoin being "misguided faith". The validity of a currency is based on people perception of it. Just like gold can be considered like a tulip, its just a useless metal that looks pretty. So who is to judge the validity of a currency?

The difference between gold and tulip is that generally, gold has stood the test of time while tulip did not. Gold is NOT a useless metal as it has many industrial uses. For example, i know gold is used as the soldering metal for wire-bonding in electronic packaging.

Yes, you are right that the validity of a currency is based on people's perception of it. However, this perception translates to faith based on the printing authority's ability to collect taxes and also the amount of guns it possesses. Interesting to see what bitcoin's faith is built on and how can this last? - on the knowledge that there is a finite amount? or that some governing authority decides to acknowledge it? ...Is bitcoin actually a by-product of this era of cheap interest rates where people find solace in knowing that they can hold onto something that is finite in supply rather than fiat money which is subjected to the mercy of the central banks.

[specuvestor]

I have stated my unreserved opinion in this rational forum on bitcoin because in my experience this is too obvious a duck.

Demand has to be based on fundamental demand which many MLM lacks. Why insurance is a valid MLM is because there is a fundamental demand for the consumption of insurance. Similarly bitcoin lack a fundamental demand except it is restrictive in supply. This is not a rare art piece but one generated by generic one and zeros. You can try to sell gaming items but the day of reckoning will come when these virtual items are worthless.

Gold has certain industrial uses as electrical interconnects and also storage of value from a historical antiquity and Bretton Woods legacy perspective. Even so Buffett's view on non productive gold is very clear. And I don't think bitcoin is productive or can be used for other purposes.

IMHO bitcoin is a product of virtual goods commerce and the misguided idea about fiat currency. History will repeat itself

[BestPrice]

Bitcoin under pressure.

The system is now straining at the seams. Its computational underpinnings have collectively reached 100 times the performance of the world’s top 500 supercomputers combined: more than 50,000 petaflops. Bitcoin’s success has revealed three weaknesses in particular. It is not as secure and anonymous as it seems; the “mining” system that both increases the Bitcoin supply and ensures the integrity of the currency has led to an unsustainable computational arms-race; and the distributed-ledger system is becoming unwieldy. Will Bitcoin’s self-correcting mechanisms, and the enlightened self-interest of its users, be able to address these weaknesses and keep Bitcoin on the rails?

http://www.economist.com/news/technology...and-highly

[CityFarmer]

Personally, I doubt Bitcoin will flourish in China. Trust is lacking in China, where Bitcoin is depended on...

China’s largest Bitcoin exchange seeks recognition for currency

SHANGHAI — BTC China, the nation’s largest Bitcoin exchange, has had low-level discussions with regulators seeking recognition of the digital currency that would allow it to be used to buy goods and services in the country.

The company has sought to discuss Bitcoin regulations with officials from agencies, including the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said its Chief Executive Officer Bobby Lee.

“They’ll ask us ‘how should you be regulated,’ and I’ll say ‘Hey, here’s what we’ve done proactively, and here’s how we think you should regulate us’,” Mr Lee said of the Shanghai-based company’s talks with regulators.

Bitcoin is “not on the black list and it’s not on the white list. It’s in the grey area”, he added.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/chinas-l...n-currency

[BestPrice]

China bars banks from bitcoins transactions.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/0...7L20131205

[sgd]

anybody can be a bank for bitcoin, the ex-founder of the underground site silkroad that got caught by FBI recently. Basically he used his personal bank account in canada to make transfers when people bought or sold bitcoins in the beginning it was low volume then when it grew big authorities took notice.

anybody can be a bank or maybe we should say money changer for bitcoins. And he made a lot of money - millions getting a cut for each transaction and it's all legal or rather grey area.

[BestPrice]

Someone bought a $100,000 Tesla with Bitcoins.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/06/autos/tesla-bitcoin/

[CityFarmer]

Bitcoin tumbles on its attempt in China...

Bitcoin Prices Fall On China Concerns

Bitcoin prices tumbled almost 13% Friday on reports that Chinese Internet company Baidu Inc. stopped accepting payment in the virtual currency following a warning raised by China's central bank.

Dow Jones Newswires