I did buy some silver at $42 (so did others. However the ones that bought the bulk up there have long gone.) And at $32 And at 26 And at $18 How much and when nobody knows Just bought some off maggie last week too.
Ironic, considering your metal value is governed by a pricing mechanism consisting of internet-farting digits (spot/fiat).
I fully appreciate your view, and to an extent it is still my view too. However, this BTC-digi-crapto-currency-fiat event has made me ponder things a little more. The value of BTC seems to lay in it's utility. Is this not a tangible thing? While the counterparty argument stands in most cases, I have seen a few counterparty issues recently on this forum for purchases of physical - just to add that all the sales here are made via a futures contracts, with counterparty risk in both delivery, and quality, as has been evident of late. It has made me start thinking as to whether or not physical PM's are merely a clunky, cumbersome, premium-priced, and at times illiquid (like now) form of ownership title over the spot price. This holds true unless you believe the SHTF scenario. And, furthermore, if it is true, then paper silver actually has a utility value too, in it's ease, cost, speed of transfer and liquidity. Something to ponder.
You can choose the counterparty risk you are comfortable with when buying metal. Bitcoins you cannot. As for the utility I don't see how that is its value. Bitcoins value are in its adoption and spread usage. The prices we see now are speculation on the future of both of these. I haven't seen a shop or a merchant in my travels where I live who accepts bitcoins. Why would they? And the vital flaw of bitcoin - the block chain file. Already over 8 gig and people are not even using their bitcoins as frequently as cash. Once the velocity of bitcoin spending picks up there will be a problem. There will be another layer of counterparts as the whole system will need restructuring as the public won't have the computing capacity to download the file.
IMO this is it's value. Ability to transfer large sums of cash instantly all over the world. Hidden from the authorities. Under the radar. A beautiful thing.
at some stage though you have to cash it in though dont you? unless you find someone who can give you straight up cash for it (which would be hard for "large sums of cash") then youll have to do it through a bank account which leaves a paper trail which makes it visible to the authorities
I think people get me wrong with bitcoin. Personally I think this has the elements of the perfect mania. Unlimited upside to your imagination and everyone can get involved. Throw in a financial panic and we have a ball game. I'm just a bit uneasy about the risks with exchanges etc. I will own some later but now is not the time
You can cash out by buying things if you wanted. Currently you can get anything from silver through rhodium through tickets to space, directly for btc.
Sure you can - you can deal with bitcoins in person (I've done this), trade items for bitcoins in person (have sold silver in person and been paid bitcoin on the spot), trade items for bitcoins via post (I've sold silver on this forum for bitcoin), or buy on a third party exchange. You can also choose to store them on paper, on a local wallet, or on an exchange wallet. Choose the level of risk you're happy with to acquire them, the level of risk you're happy with to store them. My "core" stack of BTC is now on paper wallets across two different SDBs. Never touched the blockchain or downloaded it, it's not required. I have paper wallets, android wallet and exchange wallets - I don't need the blockchain downloaded.
Yes read please, Just download an Electrum Bitcoin wallet now to get started. I will send you appox $5 worth of BTC (the offer lasts for one hour). Then open an account with BTC-e and start trading with it. or go and buy something. Here is one of my favourites: http://www.cryptosextoys.com
Yes - phone to phone works well. You technically could accept a bitcoin on a paper wallet, but the person who created the paper wallet could have recorded the private key, and can "repossess" the bitcoins from your paper wallet at any time. You would have to super-duper trust the individual you accepted it from that they weren't going to steal it back in future.