When this thread was started, 40 days ago, Bitcoin was trading at about $5,500. Now passing $9,300 today.

The high today reached $9,484.91.

Analysts and Pinsiders agree: $10,000 by Christmas.

I remember virtual "Real Estate" selling for a million dollars 15 or so years ago. Wonder how that worked out.
At least The Sims will have something to spend and somewhere to live.

But wouldn't it fun to be the guy that sold at all of his accumulated "real estate" for $975,000 15 1/2 years ago? Seems that it would have worked out pretty well for him.

It has run up to $9,675 as I'm typing this 7:40pm Pacific. It could hit 10k before I go to sleep.

Seriously, I see $10k within 2 weeks. And I've been doing what I can to help it along.

Litecoin & Ethereum have been running strong too. They actually gained multiple percentages over Bitcoin during the last year, resulting in a better overall investment for the time period. They just don't get the publicity that Bitcoin does.

I do suspect that when Bitcoin crosses $10,000, it will get a ton of press, and then rally even further to $12k before a much needed correction. But I'm in it long term, so these early moves are but a fart in a hurricane.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I sold all of my Bitcoin to buy tulip bulbs.

I think you may have mis-timed both markets.

That's typical for me.

Yep...and the institutional investors are about to get involved with Bitcoin for the first time in less than two weeks. Should get real interesting after that. I think a big part of this runup is due to that upcoming event.

Likely to be a decent correction past the $10k mark, it will be brief so get your real money ready.

I should be getting my next mined Ether deposited in my wallet shortly.

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It's funny, I've been watching people bitch and moan about BTC since it was $1/coin. I bought a couple on a lark at $100/coin.

Hopefully it was 50 or 100.

Cha-Ching!

Edit...but I wouldn't even dream of cashing out if I were you. You don't have much to lose so let it ride (for like 5-10 years).

sorry didn't read the entire thread, but if someone created the bitcoins that can be mined, why did they do it? I mean it sounds like someone put them in a mine and you need to use a computer to solve (mine) a problem. But what is the point of the computer (is there any value to solving the problem?).

I'm just not getting this point, usually, when someone does work they get paid. For example, let's say you are stuffing envelopes and you get paid $1 for every 100 envelopes you stuff. The point being you are doing a job, and the person paying you needs the envelops stuffed and so both parties get something out of the work.

With mining bitcoins, what is the value of the calculation?

That's been my fear. I figured Coinbase would be the best one to use because so many people use it. But I've been trying for weeks to register an account with them. I can't get past the submission of the front and back of my driver's license. No matter what I do on Coinbase or GDAX, it refuses my submissions. After reading what you wrote, maybe it's a good thing I have had no luck.

DO post on here if you get your account straightened out. I hate to see you in this situation, but whatever you put on here could help some of the rest of us in knowing who to trust, etc.

Mike in Kentucky

Google.com

At first it was just a concept. A completely decentralized (peer to peer) internet currency using blockchain (an open public distributed ledger). Whoever Satoshi Nakamoto is/are it was rather genius. In the beginning solving the equations to produce a Bitcoin was relatively easy and a fair number of people "mined" them just for the fun of it. One guy traded 10,000 Bitcoins for two large pizzas early on. But...as coins are mined the solving of the equations becomes more difficult...and expensive both in the cost of computing hardware and electricity.

Today it's approximately $1000 just in electricity to mine one Bitcoin. So why do it? Because today one Bitcoin is worth over 9.5k. Why is worth that much? Because we all (currently) say it is. Why is a dollar worth a dollar....becasue we all agree it is. But with Bitcoin there can only ever be 21 million of them...no more. And the last coins won't be mined until approximately 2040. Currently there are approximately 16.6 million Bitcoins (actually less becasue some have been lost and more will get lost over time). Of course every time it splits (Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond) there can be up to 21 million of those...but they are separate coins with different features and none are currently worth anywhere near what the original Bitcoin is. That may or may not remain true.

I mean what is the purpose of the computation? Are they being used for anything? It seems like a lot of hardware and electricity to mine for them (solve an equation) is that equation useful for anything?

To process transactions for the network, and also to add difficulty to mining to raise the value of the coins.

From what I gather, the miners provide the security, transparency, and "low cost" of the transactions. Of course, those that mine without success provide free service at their own expense.

Also, from the extremely few articles I have skimmed, the low cost is now very high, and likely prohibitive to "the common man". $1000 in electricity to mine $10,000,,,,, if you are the one that solves the whatever.

Again, I've really got no clue, but that is what my searches seem to find.

Wish I had mined/bought a few coins early on, I'd be selling all but 2 by now.

Tulips.

How much?

It's interesting to me how many people declare with absolute certainty that Bitcoin is worthless and imaginary and a bubble about to pop, and haughtily threaten that they'll be there to say "i told you so" when it finally does. The thing about that is, the same people have been making that pronouncement ever since bitcoin was worth $1, and $10, and $100, and $1000. It's now closing in on $10,000. Let me be clear -- I am not citing those figures to try to show it will continue to go up. I have no idea what it will do. It could crash tomorrow for all I know. Only one thing's certain - the skeptics have been wrong so far.

I mean, there is a Bitcoin ATM down the road from me, at a Shell station. If four years ago, any arbitrary Bitcoin skeptic, instead of typing on the internet that they'd be proven right someday, they had invested twenty dollars in Bitcoin instead, then they'd be able to walk up to that ATM today and withdraw ten thousand dollars ($200 two years ago would also be worth about $10,000 today). I mean i'm sure it's nice to have a strong, rational argument, an ironclad philosophy of what factors fundamentally imbue a currency with value, and even in the end be proven right years down the road if bitcoin crashes ... but personally, i'd rather have the ten grand.

Obviously, nobody should be putting their kids' college funds in bitcoin or whatever, and in my opinion a DIVERSE portfolio is the best defense against unforeseen future events. I'm just pointing out that between a hypothetical "TULIPS!" guy and a hypothetical guy who tossed a $20 bill at bitcoin 4 years ago ... well, who wouldn't rather be the latter?

would love to hear which part of that RonaldRayGun disagrees with.

Not sure what point you are trying to make. You hype up Bitcoin, then admit it could crash any time, just like the guys you are complaining about.

What's a hypothetical Tulip guy? The tulip mania isn't hypothetical and the many other examples listed here are real too. Tulips have value today, so there is hope for Bitcoin long term.

If you haven't yet, look up the Greater Fool Theory, it helps explain today's Bitcoin market.

I bought $500 worth some time ago because I know there would be greater fools out there and I am ready to get out (and go on a nice vacation.)

I agree with this.

Stocks are backed by the company such as Apple that sells things and you own a piece of the company if you own shares. So stocks usually go up for a reason like profits. Stocks can bubble up from time to time but they always have their future profits and assets and true value, as happened after the great recession 2008 stocks crashed but fell too low because they had intrinsic value and soon recovered.

Bitcoins are more like gold which has a rarity factor, but no real value except what people are willing to pay for it.

I didn't hype up anything. You misunderstood my post. My point was that the skeptics have lost out on a ton of money already, which is a fact. I was talking about the past, not predicting the future. I feel I've been very clear on that.

The tulips aren't hypothetical. I was comparing two hypothetical PEOPLE -- a person who years ago decided bitcoin was fundamentally worthless for philosophical reasons, vs someone who invested $20 a couple years ago. Whether or not person one's arguments have merit, the fact remains they could have made a fortune instead.

This is not new information to anyone in this thread.

I was skeptical when I first started buying bitcoin. It looked so expensive at $2,000, then $4,000, then $7,000.....you get the point. I kept thinking, how much higher could it go? But when I sat back and thought about it, I realized that I've said that to myself before and ultimately lost out. I looked at Amazon at $300 and thought, wow, that's expensive.

This time I figured, "what the hell", I'll give it a shot. Although I don't have much crypto, it's been doing well for me.

Any way you slice it, virtual currency is the next logical step in payments. It went from spices and precious metals, to backed currency, to non-backed currency, to checks and finally to EFTs. The next logical step is something completely virtual.

No one has any idea what's going to happen, but I'm not missing this wagon.

Just like the cash in my pocket, but that isn't rare and they can just print more if they feel like it.

I think that's the part the "tulip" yellers are missing. Cryptocurrency could (could... might) have real future value (usefulness / longevity). It could end up eventually being the defacto world currency (maybe...someday). Will that be Bitcoin specifically? Who knows.

It could also just end up being a new store of value (similar to gold). A hedge against the stock market.

It could also end up failing and being completely worthless.

I think just about everyone here who is investing in them is aware of these things. My eyes are open. I think it has real legs...I could be wrong. If I am wrong... oh well, I took a shot.

Again... yes the value has shot up... and that sets a lot of people's alarms off. MUST BE A BUBBLE... JUST LIKE TULIPS THAT NO ONE ELSE BUT ME KNOWS ABOUT... MUST WARN THEM.

But if Bitcoin has a future use as real currency...or even if it has a future as a store of value...then 10k is still just the early begining of its long term value.

So if it catches on and there are only 20mill "coins". Say if I go to buy something for $5, will they also say it costs something like .0000000000000041 bitcoin?

That's how it is now.

My Ether payout from yesterday was 1.00000167403602353 ($468.23) Ether with a transactional cost of 0.000021 Ether ($0.01).

Pez, you've been hyping Bitcoin as the future this whole thread and ignoring the Greater Fool Theory as an explanation for its dramatic increase in value. You are right, TGFT is not new to this thread, as there hasn't been any new information for 6 pages or so.

Astro, since you coined Tulip Yellers, I'm trademarking the phrase Tulp Deniers. Tulip Deniers believe that Bitcoin is the one mania in all of history that will avoid collapse.

I just dove in and bought some Litecoin. I'm very curious to see how this plays out over the next few years!

repeatedly saying "i have no idea if it will go up or down" and "i have no bitcoin" is hyping bitcoin?

The system is purely self-servicing. The calculations are used to validate the transactions in the bitcoin system - the compute power is not being applied to some external problem to solve like SETI, global warming, or general super computer needs. The compute is all focused on "itself" for a lack of a simplier definition.

It is not a distributed computing system for solving general tasks or other interests.

No, but this is ...

You've actually been pretty fair in your comments, except for your denial that this is in a mania cycle.

It is not a "currency". That's the fundamental issue here. Who here has bought something with bitcoin and wishes they just hoarded it like everybody else? That pizza you bought today, if bitcoin reacts like bitcoin investors are saying and keeps going up, that pizza cost you $500 2 years from now. Why WOULD you spend it, thinking it will be worth more tomorrow and beyond?

Yeah, but that's like a Smoker saying "If smoking kills, why am I still alive right now?". The fact the incident hasn't happened yet does not nullify it's probability or impact.

Bitcoin's value keeps going up because it seems the first rule of bitcoin is... you must hype bitcoin.

The skeptics still have valid concerns because the value or popularity of bitcoin does not alter the root issues people have with this iteration of the technology. It also doesn't address that nearly all the value is in SPECULATION - without any real backing... which is why people have a hard time believing it will weather any disruptors well.

Popularity and speculation can boost a value at a point of time - it does not make it more fundamentally sound.

i'm mining Monero, which is a totally different cryptocurrency not based on the Bitcoin protocol.

the point i've been trying to get across is that on one side of the debate you have people insisting their arguments are sound, and on the other side you have people whose investment has increased 10,000-fold. unless the latter are 100% invested and have never taken out a dime, they're the clear winners here even if bitcoin DOES crash. (which is a possibility)

But that's just it.... The future of Cryptocurency is not the same as the future of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is just one iteration... there is nothing locking it in place as 'the winner' or even a player!

So saying "block chain is the future..." or "cryptocurrencies are the future..." may all be perfectly valid... but that doesn't mean anything about Bitcoin. The only thing holding bitcoin in place is the current bitcoin holders and the miner's willingness to participate.

Think about this... let's say you are a major player in a economic loop... a person holding goods of value or a policy driver.. like a government. You've decided that blockchains are the future... you are big enough to shape the landscape. Do you think that entity is going to pick bitcoin as the foundation when someone else has already created all the value you start with zero?? Hell no.

A disruptor will start another system and lure people into buying into their model... not take an existing one completely controlled by other people... that itself is only anchored by history, not holding onto anything that intrinsically makes it hard to dislodge.

Look at how quickly something like Pokemon Go propagated... in weeks you had tens of millions of downloads. That is the new world order... with purpose something can spread to millions of installations in days. "prior footprint" means almost nothing anymore.

Based on your posting in this thread, it appears that you're just a megalomaniac who believes that he has the superhuman ability to not only identify a mania cycle, but can actually predict the future.

Thanks that’s what I was trying to figure out.

Dude, I was being funny, but it doesn't take superhuman powers to identify an economic mania.

And it doesn't take superhuman powers to identify that this is the very beginning of the Bitcoin/cryptocurrency era of currency evolution.

And it doesn't take superhuman powers to identify that as soon as Wall Street develops and sells financial products related to Bitcoin...

Well, you haven't even begun to see the "economic mania".

So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show that us Bitcoin supporters provide you.

Oh, you live in Vegas, helps explain why gambling is part of your retirement plan.

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Which is why I said "Will that be Bitcoin specifically? Who knows." I'm not just invested in Bitcoin. Of course even the other coins I've invested in could fall by the wayside. I believe cryptocurrency has a future...I've "placed some bets"...I could be wrong. I'm aware that I could be wrong.

Maybe. Maybe if Bitcoin gets a strong enough following it can't be stopped. The only way to completely shut it down is to shut off everyone's computer. Outlawing Bitcoin in and of itself, might (might) not be enough to stop it. Certainly it would be a serious blow but it could eventually crawl its way back even from that.

Governments or Corporations pushing their own crypto just might not be powerful enough to shape this new landscape. Bitcoin is popular BECAUSE it's decentralized.

Now I admit I could be very naive on just how much power governments and the central banking system might bring to bear on this. Maybe they could "shut it all down"...maybe they can't.

I have been trying since October to open an account on Coinbase and/or GDAX but can't get either of them to accept my driver's license photo.

I've written on here before about this. But since there has been a flurry of new postings, I thought I would try it again.

I need some recommendations on what exchange to use other than those two. Some of you have surely bought on a different exchange. I read a lot today about Bitshares.org. I can't find any fee schedules on their site. Can anyone vouch for them?

One last question. If I successfully buy Bitcoin or Ether from, let's say Bitshares, can I sell them someday using another exchange? Just pull 'em outta my 'wallet' and sell them?

I'm trying SO hard to get rich and I can't even GIVE my money away!

Pintucky- if you are buying it at 10k you are not getting rich, so there is no rush. :$