BTC was $10 in December, and I remember placing an order and then not being able to get to a bank branch in time, so I just thought "ah, screw it". Now it's about $14.20, heh. I'm hoping that it drops :/ Here is a nice price chart http://btc.kurs24.com/usd/graph/?q=365 It feels like if one bought BTC, it would be buying at the top.
I share you views somewhat, I loaded up late last year at $10 - although I stupidly bought through Spendbitcoins and paid a 10% commission so I could deposit cash at the bank and stay anonymous. I really don't think the top is even close to being in though, bitcoins are divisible down to 0.00000001, so even if the rate some day becomes $100 USD = 1 BTC, it is still a perfectly usable currency down to small amounts. Just look at total daily trading volumes to get an idea of where this could head as it becomes more and more accepted as a means of payment. Silk Road alone could cause massive price increases as the growth there is phenominal, and after 2 years is proving it may possibly be unbeatable technology when it comes to law enforcement. It will only grow massively as more and more people realise how efficent it is, the global drug industry is over $300 billion a year and you will see more and more of that money flow through Bitcoins.
LOL.. yep i want from thinking it was rubbish and all about one guy in the middle profiting.... once i worked out anyone could mine and that we could profit from there creation everything changed for me, this is the aspect people dont find out about and think its a con (well for me). Mining got even less productive recently so it makes sense the price of bitcoin increased as our costs of production effectivley doubled overnight.. I hold a moderate amount of bitcoin so am happy i kept an open mind and as usual comepletely changed my opinion, not to sure why i got scoffed at by some for doing this, isnt it a good thing i am able to be conviced, i got the feeling that some felt i should keep my opinion in stone .. sorry thats not me.. once i get more information my decisons evolve with the new information. RE: alt currencies, this is my biggest issue too, as there are no barriers to entry anyone could set up a similar system, and the copycat has something called bitcoin to model it off.. I might sell at $20 but well see.. depends on new information i get (lol..... SORRY) 1for1
Haha I don't really want to be swaying anyone as I could be 100% wrong, just expressing my opinions. These opinions are based on the fact that illegal use of Bitcoins could be a primary driver for price increases, which may cause some to dismiss my views anyway. I am looking at another large purchase soon, and will most likely open a Mt. Gox account to purchase them as the commission is low, you get actual market rates (ever noticed Spendbitcoins sell price is about 40c above actual AUD BTC price, then they add 10%) and I am not concerned about anonymity this time. If someone was concerned about anonymity however, you could still purchase through somewhere like Mt. Gox, then transfer to another unrelated wallet using BitcoinFog in between. They take a commission of between 1 - 3% to mix the coins in with a giant pool, then pay them back out to you in random increments, making it near on impossible to trace them back to you. Still works out cheaper than paying 10% commission! One other thing on the anonymity front, you better be using TOR for any websites you visit related the to bitcoin purchases!
Anonymity wasn't my concern, it was how to pay. Mt Gox was the first place I went to, but none of the payment methods looked particularly convenient. I see you're in Aus.. how do you pay?
I haven't used Mt. Gox yet but I read recently they are bringing over the counter cash deposits to Australia really soon.
MtGox is the way to go. I just do a bank transfer, last time I did it had to go to Japan but I think they are opening an Australian bank account soon. I bought a lot at $11, but I get most of mine though mining, wish I was still at school and didn't have to play for electricity.
I'd be dead keen if I had any silver left! I was seriously thinking about offering people on here Perth Mint products at cost in BTC since I live in Perth, I should give it more thought!
Digital Currency Exchange, Bitcoin-Central, has been authorized by the French government to conduct bank style operations. In an announcement last month on bitcointalk.org, Paymium, the organization behind Bitcoin-Central said this: We're announcing today that Bitcoin-Central.net is getting, through a partnership with Aqoba, allowed to operate like a bank, (or more precisely like a PSP [Payment Service Provider], which is basically the same as a bank, just without the debt-money issuing part).
I bought a few more at 15 thinking (and hoping) it would drop down so I could load up with some more. I thought it was a bit too high to put too much in, lol. Now I'm just watching it run away. Oh well, at least I got a decent amount beforehand and have made some nice money on them.
It does hurt watching it run away, I yearn for all those sub $10 BTC's I have long since spent on crap I didn't need! Wonder what's driving this sudden rush...??? - it was very stable around $10 for most of the second half of last year.
Nice. I remember back when it was just a few cents when it first came out and I was considering dropping $200 on them, but then thought it would be just throwing $200 away. Cringe. It took me way too long to take a second look at them but I think there's a lot of price growth ahead. I'm just wondering whether this is a temporary spike.
Could be...just like the spike to $30 when major news outlets first started reporting on The Silk Road - although there doesn't seem to be an obvious reason this time. I've seen some forum posts back in 2010 when people were gifting 8000 BTC's to others just for the fun of it (only worth about 1/10th of a US cent for 1 BTC then). You'd be kicking yourself now! Then theres always the 10,000 BTC pizza story.
Whats driving it.. the fact it now takes twice as long to generate the coin... ie: supply (new inventory) halved.. do that to any commodity and the price will quickly ramp up.. 1for1