bitcoin price rising - alternatives for portfolio - tips for next big price rise

[Hubble]

Hello, any of you still following the bitcoin price will have seen it hit £300 recently, and it's currently trading at around £290. This is a significant rise on the price when I first posted about this (I think it was about £230 at the time). The long term trend for months has been upward. Instability on the world's stock exchanges and currency fluctuations mean BTC is increasingly seen as a safe haven. In 2017, the hash rate to mine bitcoins will double (twice as slow to mine), making them that much more scarce as they move towards total amount that will ever be produced. I'd expect there to be a significant rise around this time.

For those of you wishing to diversify into digital currencies, I think Ethereum is the next best bet. It has the official backing of several major banks and its price has tripled in recent months. It could be the next bitcoin - which means that if you're interested, get in sooner rather than later. Don't forget, when bitcoin first starting trading it was only a few cents a coin, and even when I got on board it was only £10 a coin. At a current price of £290 a coin, that has to represent the best single investment available on the planet in recent years. Ethereum is currently relatively cheap. I just bought 0.5 btc's worth, which equals just over 18.6 ethereum - approx. £8 a coin. If it goes the way of of BTC, it could also be worth £290 a coin (or much more) in the next few years. At £8 a coin, it may be worth a punt anyway, for people with some spare cash.

[Norths]

W12_Ranger stuck up a thread about bitcoins a few years back

[Kirill]

That price hike looks to me like the last hurrah due to some inherent programming limitations that the parties are now divided on the ways to overcome. I'd sell right now and get the hell out of Dodge.

[Hubble]

That price hike looks to me like the last hurrah due to some inherent programming limitations that the parties are now divided on the ways to overcome. I'd sell right now and get the hell out of Dodge.

People have been saying exactly that for years. If I had a pound for the number of times I've seen people predict the demise of bitcoin...

[Kirill]

The limitation currently discussed is being reached for the first time. They are basically the hostages of their own success. They could still move forward if they managed to reach a consensus, which is looking unlikely.

[Hubble]

The limitation currently discussed is being reached for the first time. They are basically the hostages of their own success. They could still move forward if they managed to reach a consensus, which is looking unlikely.

Can you provide a link to this discussion and some basic background, otherwise it's not that helpful.

I'd also like you to explain what 'limitations' you're referring to.

I'd also like you to explain why on Earth this would lead to a 'last hurrah'.

[Kirill]

Can you provide a link to this discussion and some basic background, otherwise it's not that helpful.

I'd also like you to explain what 'limitations' you're referring to.

I'd also like you to explain why on Earth this would lead to a 'last hurrah'.

Do you read Russian?

[Hubble]

Do you read Russian?

In translation. So fire away.

[Hubble]

Still waiting.....

Surely you can translate it?

Give me the bones of the discussion.

Or......?

[Hove Ranger]

Got a little nest egg put away Hubs from a few years back. Made a decent bit on them back then but hoping for something big in the next few years. Keep the updates coming Hubble mate because tbf I had forgotten about it

[Hubble]

Got a little nest egg put away Hubs from a few years back. Made a decent bit on them back then but hoping for something big in the next few years. Keep the updates coming Hubble mate because tbf I had forgotten about it

Still think they're only at the early stage Hovis. It seems Kirill isn't going to provide us with any evidence to back up his opinion, so sticking to what I know, it still seems like a pretty spectacular investment, but more than that, the world's first genuine and globally viable alternative currency to the government/bank owned versions, and that's what really exciting.

What I think Mr K may have been referring to is the debate among the bitcoin community about its direction. This is well summed up in this article:
http://www.coindesk.com/making-sense...ebate-bitcoin/

My conclusion is that it is inevitable in a new currency that there will be all sorts of arguments and ideas about how it will evolve, and of course, disagreements, but the one thing that remains consistent is that the underlying tech is solid. I think it's a healthy debate and shows the currency is maturing. I really don't understand Mr K's 'last hurrah' comment - that just doesn't make sense - if people thought BTC was on the way out, why on earth would the price be on a long upward trend? This quote from the article sums that attitude up:

"Draper also pointed to the growing institutional interest in the technology as a sign it is becoming better understood. “Bitcoin has been pronounced dead 89 times, I don’t think this will be the last time people believe it is the end,” he continued."

This very recent article also extols Bitcoin's stability, especially in comparison to Ethereum - but then I would also expect ETH to be volatile, since it is in its infancy and is experiencing exactly the same peaks and troughs as BTC did in its early days. Of course, as with all investments, there's risk, but if people have spare cash and like a punt, ETH could be the next big thing.

http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-pric...therum-trader/

[Hubble]

The current bitcoin price is £451. So much for Kirill's scaremongering. It continues to go from strength to strength. Still very much worth looking at as a viable hedge in an unstable world. That's a 50% increase in value in the last three months.

[Hubble]

Good article on it published 3 days ago: https://medium.com/@Technomage/10-go...df9#.saogufek6

[Hubble]

A knowledgable friend of mine has just posted the following:

"In 27 days, they supply of 25 new bitcoins created every 10 minutes will be cut in half. There will be half as many new bitcoins to go around.
What this will do to the price no one really knows.. But with Chinese demand strong and the pound dumping on Brexit fear, right now it's on a big rise. I reckon there is a hoarding rush on for safety.

My claim has long been that other than gold/silver bitcoin (and other cryptos) are the only forms of real money because they cant be counterfeited/forged by banks. Bitcoin is potentially worth much more than its physical counterparts as it can be traded easily across the globe."


Today's bitcoin price: £486

[Hubble]

Today's bitcoin price: £600

That's another huge rise since I posted in June and that's more than DOUBLE what it was in March when I started this thread. I just hope some of you got into bitcoin when I suggested.

I hope you also took note of this, which is a standard view I've learnt amongst those who don't seem to understand bitcoin:

That price hike looks to me like the last hurrah due to some inherent programming limitations that the parties are now divided on the ways to overcome. I'd sell right now and get the hell out of Dodge.

I hope no one took his advice!!

As I've said before, in my opinion, the long-term view for bitcoin is that it can only become more valuable as fiat currencies are so vulnerable. And given that the majority of national currencies are fiat - i.e. not based on something like gold, but purely on the government's ability to back it - which in reality means its ability to raise what it owes from taxation - that's a hell of a lot of vulnerability out there.

Added to that, the financial markets are set to be even rockier as various shocks and major transitions take place, such as Brexit and the election of Donald Trump - plus the high likelihood of massive default by one or more Western economies... the amount of Western (particularly US) debt for example is eye-watering.

So even at £600 I'd say bitcoin represents a very decent hedge. Of course, I have to add the caveat that nothing is guaranteed - and the price can of course go down as well as up, but the overall trend since its inception for is amazing, if you think that in early 2009 you could get it for less than £1 a coin. And the previous year, for a few pence. From £1 to £600 in seven years - who can name a better investment than that?