So how "easy" is it to cash out of an initial investment in the market if say you bought Bitcoin at the $5k mark and it's $11.7k right now? What's the process? How many days does it take to see USD in your bank account & who pays that out?
I'm really just wanting to educate myself on this entire thing. I've been researching heavier over the last week, trying to understand it more. Virtual currency as the way of the future makes sense. But this Bitcoin (maybe "Bitcon") doesn't really make sense in its current form. At this time it's feeling more like a pyramid scheme or ponzi scheme that's spreading like wildfire. The more people can convince others to invest, the more they make themselves. Yet the people at the top can cash out at any time. That won't happen enough to tank markets, just enough to cause it to dip so they can invest again at lower Bitcoin pricing and siphon more of the global wealth their way. It's like a casino wanting you to win just enough that you're convinced you can "hit it big" and keep coming back, while in the long-haul many people are bled dry.
There's definitely going to be incentive for hackers or scammers to go to work here, even if the blockchain & associated encryption is plenty secure. It's the exchanges, where people keep their wallets, the time in-between transactions that the virtual currency is being shifted around that become areas to attack. The idea you can lose ALL OF IT if the hardware wallet you have goes bad, or you lose a private key.. that's insane I think. Seems like you have to move quick to get any substantial amount of Bitcoin sitting in-limbo anywhere (ie. online wallets at exchanges) OFFLINE.. and I highly doubt if you can associate a bank account with an exchange that's where you want your USD to remain, so you'll need multiple bank accounts to initiate transfers through to secure things more.
I guess I have a lot more to learn, but just can't help feeling this is all bananas. It's illogical, it makes no sense.. yet here we are. And the idea Bitcoin itself is great.. changing the world.. well it will. It'll redistribute wealth to people that weren't wealthy before. I'm now feeling forced to learn about all of this to see how it might affect my future and what I need to do if this nonsense continues. It's really not about missing the boat on some hot new investment -- it's the aftermath of what happens when people thinking they're playing a game are being fed the same casino routine that makes you comfortable putting more money in. It's people that have a huge amount of wealth in this world, diversifying into Bitcoin, convincing others through interviews that it's a solid investment because it's working.. meanwhile maybe a larger game is being played by some earlier adopters with little wealth invested & a lot more to make if they can both influence the market in a major way & time the buys right, over and over.