Looks like the Bitcoin ponzi scheme is collapsing

[adam2]

I feel that reports of collapse are greatly exaggerated.

A short term speculative bubble has now burst, with bitcoin declining in value in the short term. It has done much better if one takes a longer term view. Better than most paper money. No sensible person could expect bitcoin to carry on greatly increasing in value.

The main merit of bitcoin is that governments cant print more of it as they are apt to with paper money.

I am MUCH MORE DOUBTFUL about some of the newer crypto "currencies" To me they sound a bit like jumping on the bandwagon.

[UndercoverElephant]

The main merit of bitcoin is that governments cant print more of it as they are apt to with paper money.

Sure, but there is also no government to protect the value of Bitcoin, or regulate its trade. It has now become clear that this is a major weakness.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... ian-dream/

And in recent days, cryptocurrency prices have fallen to 18-month low. The latest sell-off has been sparked by the crypto companies Celsius and Binance blocking users from withdrawing their bitcoin.

The blocks have provoked fury among customers. If Celsius and Binance had high street branches, there would have been hordes of crypto owners lined up outside them yesterday morning, pounding on the doors and demanding their money back.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Bitcoin was invented in the depths of the financial crisis, when billions in taxpayer money had been spent bailing out RBS and Lloyds, and public anger at banks was at a peak.

Satoshi Nakamoto, its pseudonymous inventor, characterised the cryptocurrency as a way for payments “to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution”, taking power away from big banks and back to the people.

Many of Bitcoin’s most idealistic supporters purport to carry this flame. They characterise cryptocurrency as a way for individuals to avoid the tentacles of the state, the eyes of privacy eroding technology companies and the whims of inflation-happy dictators.

In theory, Bitcoin means that an internet connection, a smartphone and a password is all you need for financial freedom, impervious to despots or hackers. It is why cryptocurrency is often characterised as a revolution on a par with the internet, doing for money what the latter did for information.

Recent events have exploded that illusion, however.

Celsius, which had raised hundreds of millions from serious backers, operated somewhat like a crypto lender, taking customer deposits in Bitcoin and lending it back out for a fee.

More than 1.7m users signed up, tempted by the promise of interest rates of up to 19pc, and it boasted of billions in assets.

But on Sunday night the company suddenly blocked customers from withdrawing their Bitcoin savings, blaming “extreme market conditions”. Two days later, deposits remain frozen.

I think it is going all the way down to zero.

[clv101]

I think it is going all the way down to zero.

I think Bitcoin will see $30,000 again before it sees zero. It's only down around a third on the year and was widely accepted to be in a bubble.

[Catweazle]

I'm wondering what recent advances in quantum computing will do to calculated coins like bitcoin. It's possible the whole supply could be calculated much faster than was predicted.

[Potemkin Villager]

The energy wasted in "bitcoin mining" is fecking insane.

[clv101]

Bitcoin, in UK Pounds, is currently up 19.1% on the month, but still down 30% on six months, down 31% on twelve months.

[clv101]

Bitcoin, in UK Pounds, is currently up 19.1% on the month, but still down 30% on six months, down 31% on twelve months.

Further big slide recently! Now £14k from all time peak of £48k Nov '21.
Bitcoin, in UK Pounds, is currently down 20% on the month, down 46% on six months, down 72% on twelve months.

Time to buy!?

[BritDownUnder]

It would be interesting to see, assuming figures could be found, which countries benefited from the flows of money and which lost out. I think when Bitcoin was quite high in value a lot of Asians got on board. An d how much money did the Bitcoin miners make out of it?

Then how much went into organised crime or terrorism or dictatorships from theft of Bitcoin or extortion or 'data locking' payments?

I think Bitcoin will be around for a while but will never again be a form of investment just a means of exchange away from prying eyes of government or law enforcement.

[clv101]

I think it is going all the way down to zero.

I think Bitcoin will see $30,000 again before it sees zero. It's only down around a third on the year and was widely accepted to be in a bubble.

Well, bitcoin had a good year! Currently up 140% on the year, at $42k / £33k.

[UndercoverElephant]

I still don't understand how bitcoin can be anything other than a variably-inflated bubble. It is literally supported by nothing real. People complain about gold "not being useful for anything", but at least it is a lump of real metal. Maybe I am missing something.

[northernmonkey]

I still don't understand how bitcoin can be anything other than a variably-inflated bubble. It is literally supported by nothing real. People complain about gold "not being useful for anything", but at least it is a lump of real metal. Maybe I am missing something.

You may as well write that you don't understand how FIAT can be anything other than a variably-inflated bubble since it, too, is literally supported by nothing real.

Except that, in both cases, they are supported by something. Persuasion and/or coercion.

Of course,in the end, all FIAT currencies collapse and so, too, will bitcoin currencies and for the same reason. Persuasion and coercion can only hold sway for so long.

While the FIAT system, at least here in the West, looks like it is facing imminent collapse, bitcoin currencies may or may not go down with it. But, sooner or later they too will collapse. They may have a while yet before that happens though.

[Default0ptions]

Bitcoin, or any digital currency, needs a whole load of electricity. I’m unconvinced that we’re heading to a future that can keep the lights on at all. Digital currencies are a big fat nothing in any future involving energy scarcity.

While the electricity to run them lasts, though, opportunities to gain or lose by speculating will continue.

[northernmonkey]

Bitcoin, or any digital currency, needs a whole load of electricity. I’m unconvinced that we’re heading to a future that can keep the lights on at all. Digital currencies are a big fat nothing in any future involving energy scarcity.

While the electricity to run them lasts, though, opportunities to gain or lose by speculating will continue.

I agree with this. But, would add that FIAT, in its current form in much of the world, relies on electricity just as much as bitcoin currencies and, in doing so, would be in little better shape if the electrical grid went down.

[adam2]

Reports of the collapse of bitcoin seem premature, to say the least.
Bitcoin has recently increased significantly in price relative to paper money.

[Mark]

As banks buy up bitcoins, who else are the 'Bitcoin whales'?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68434579