The roof's a lot higher than a trad Ponzi, but it must have one, no?

Splitting investment between Bitcoin and Ethereum's popular at the minute, but who's to say that the collapse of one wouldn't ripple through all as a crisis of confidence...

Illegality seems to be a good foundation for now.

legaldinho wrote:

Bitcoin's a ponzi, but so is money so who knows what'll happen. Probably go to zero, but the real interesting thing is the idea underpinning it, and what other use cases (more intricate ones) might emerge.

It's definitely not a Ponzi. 

..Just seen your next comment. Nermind.

g.man wrote:

Fucking hell! Hello mate!

Hey G! You still tearing shit up on Battlefield?

g.man wrote:

Nah, mate. Didn't get on with B1 sadly. This year has been mainly about Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Ah, would love a wee game of BF. I miss the days of playing with the forumites. Nice one. How's the multiplayer? ..It's also cool that you bought your copy with Cryptocurrency.

Worth a punt buying some crypto currency while they are cheap? (not bitcoins obviously).

The way I see it, it the same as going to the bookies or casino, it's a punt. Whereas with bookies and casino you find out pretty soon if your punt has gone down the drain. A few coins of different cryptocurrency (say under £100 worth) kept in a hardware digital wallet (so you don't do a @kow and format your machine), could be a worthwhile long term punt.

It would take just a single coin of a certain cryptocurrency to hit the current bitcoins high to more than make it worth your while.

Thought? Advice?

If there's money to be made, then the regulators will be on their way.
Oh here they come!
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/04/bitcoin-uk-eu-plan-cryptocurrency-price-traders-anonymity

RamSteelwood wrote:

If there's money to be made, then the regulators will be on their way.
Oh here they come!
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/04/bitcoin-uk-eu-plan-cryptocurrency-price-traders-anonymity

Bitcoin isn't a magical land, irrespective of any duty to disclose identity, selling two bitcoins today for 11,000 apiece that you bought five years ago for 10 will go over the capital gains tax threshold, so you will have to pay CGT over the balance. If you don't, it's not because you aren't "regulated", it's because you're tax evading and if the receiving bank queries it / you get ratted out by others, you'll end up paying a fine. Or worse, for some I imagine prosecution will be pursued to make an example of them to other crypto nutters who think they are magically outside their domicile state's laws.

Exchanges already practice KYC etc, so I think anyone selling other than privately and for cash, is taking a risk. anyone here selling bitcoins should probably get an accountant or make sure they stay well clear of the CGT threshold.

In the process of giving this a go. They don't make it easy do they? Gonna go with a cheap £10 flutter on a crypto currency and probably tenner each on two more. Not decided the other two just yet.

Don't forget the only reason people are buying are buying bitcoin now is because they are going up in value, and the only reason they are going up in value is because people are buying them because they are going up in value, and the only reason they are going up in value is because people are buying them because they are going up in value.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-and-customs-brief-9-2014-bitcoin-and-other-cryptocurrencies/revenue-and-customs-brief-9-2014-bitcoin-and-other-cryptocurrencies#ct-it-and-cgt-treatment-of-bitcoin-and-similar-cryptocurrencies

That one will definitely go to zero

As a means of transfer. As a store of value it will only go up according to Ponzi rules - IE a bigger fool than you will pay 10 times what you paid, 100 and so on. Same as bitcoin but at least bitcoin has an deflationary creation model and seeks to mimic a commodity - gold. Anyway, who knows, maybe you will strike it rich buddy. Just don't get too into alternative coins eh.

I don't think money laundering is the reason for the store of value feature of bitcoin - it's part design, part necessity, and lots speculation. Design because it's supposed to cut off supply over time (and thus have a deflationary character), necessity because the security of the bitcoin blockchain is based on a crypto-economic system (proof of work + incentive to do the work). The rest is just speculation. Not least because, unlike shares etc, there is no dividend. People who get rich off their bitcoins probably have less money in the bank than the average guy... They're only rich in theory. If you divest 1000 bitcoins in one go... There are problems. The price will shoot down as soon as you put a sell order. You have to trust the exchange, who is a single point of failure and mostly is unregulated and probably leveraged. (ie it has less bitcoin than can be cashed out). So you have to spread it, take time to divest. In the meantime if satoshi decides to sell just 10% of his bitcoins the price will go down 80%.

I have a friend who has 50 btc, and even he is not sure how he'll cash them out.

It's all about the CryptoKitties lads.

cockbeard wrote:

Dinostar77 wrote:

On a sidenote why can't your friend use coinbank or similar and convert his bitcoins to pounds and transfer back into his bank account?!?

Tax implications I imagine. That's something near half a million quid at the minute, so even if he can get a decent price and doesn't get charged handling fees and whatever there's also the small matter of a 150k tax bill

Cocko, it would be a problem I would be quite happy to have.