50% Down In A Few Weeks, How Low Will It Go?

[ToraToraTora]

https://news.sky.com/story/bitcoin-faces-biggest-one-day-slump-since-last-year-as-china-announces-curbs-12311089
Will the devotees hold their nerve or bail out while it's still worth something?

[royfromaus]

They will hold their nerve.

[jno]

there was a good query on the Financial Times agony aunt pages a few days back. "I'm divorcing my husband. I know he has bitcoins, but how do I find them, and work out what they're worth?" The answer was "you might not be able to". So they could be a useful investment for erring husbands, wealth that can't easily be traced.

[ToraToraTora]

yes jno as long as they ain't worthless.

[royfromaus]

Sometimes knowing where your bitcoins are doesn't help.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/consumer-reviews/sns-nyt-bitcoin-passwords-wallets-fortunes-20210114-7cihaizahvbevmlnogp6dh3bae-story.html

[fcc]

It's just toytown money,give me cash any day.

[jno]

it's like any other investment, you need to have a nose for when to cash in.. Given its extreme volatility it was never likely to be a smooth ride, but lots of buyers will have made lots of money on bitcoins.

[Sunk]

Bitcoin is volatile, but it is misleading to look at it in a short time span.
The price may have dropped, but it is still worth 4 times what it was worth last year. You cannot say that about any of the ‘normal’ currencies.

https://ibb.co/xM5zXxM

[jno]

London stock markets are famous for taking a short-term view, with investors wanting big dividends right now. Maybe owning bitcoins will teach them a little patience, I don't know.

[Hopkirk]

If you die, your family might not be able to get hold of their inheritance - unless you leave very clear instructions.

[tomus42]

I've never really understood these crypto currencies. It's all vapourware imaginary stuff, but the same could probably be said of anything with value. It's only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

[youngmafbog]

Nothing more than a glorified Ponzi scheme, there is nothing to back them up and if someone decides to 'do a runner' you will never get your money back.

But its probably preferable to direct gambling.

If you only invest what you can afford to loose then its not really a problem, just need to remember it is not regulated so people like Musk can manipulate it.

[Sunk]

When currency was based on substantial materials it was safe. But that ceased to be centuries ago.
If you had bronze, silver or gold coins, then you had genuine valuables.
As soon as they started giving you worthless pieces of paper with ‘I promise to pay the bearer’ on it, then we were screwed.
National currencies can be devalued (ask Mr Healy) or diluted through QE (Mr Darling and Mr Osborne), or even collapse.
Cryptocurrencies have their problems but they also have some advantages too. They are not run by Governments and politicians who all too frequently mess up.

[ParsleyDumpling]

My son, invested his Child Trust Fund (he was 18 in March) in cryptocurrency (not sure which one). He doubled his fund in two months!!!! I have made sure he has withdrawn the money, it is now safely in his bank account. I have told him if he must dabble, only invest a small amount, and keep moving the profits out.

[Peter Pedant]

seem like the time to short it

[Peter Pedant]

christ jno
are you a devotee of the FT - you must be the only one
( I was really shocked after months of dealing with foo questions on AB to see that you had a comprehensive knowledge of Gillian Flett and her articles. )
They did one on Charlie Shrem a few months ago - he served time for financing the Dark Silk Rd ( = money laundering )

sortta like this
https://www.ft.com/content/a994436a-8770-11e3-9c5c-00144feab7de

there is a later time when he out the slammer, a wiser and less volublr front man

My own view is that Bitcoin was a bit ( ha! pun intended) like the old POW currency of cigarettes ( or apparently tins of tuna in the slammer) - yo didnt need the ciggies - they could all be locked away together. so long as there was an agreed record with record keepers that tallied with the ownership