Topic: 2012-06-08 financialpost.com - Euro fears boost virtual currency Bitcoin (Read 3379 times)

Euro volume is gaining traction. But thats not new. It has increased over last year about 300% (across all markets). The recent two weeks may just be noise, since the euro is not in crisis for the first time. In fact the euro crisis first was hot in midst 2010.
Right now being discussed:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/something-is-happening-in-europe-88141

I think "hoarding" is the commonly used verb :-)

Euro flow is happening. Greeks have internet connections and computers too, you know. Not to mention Spain, Italy and all the other EU countries who are beginning to see cracks in the euro as a means of trade.

Funny thing Re: Slashdot - I never take their future prognostications seriously, after all this is the same group of nerds that derided the first iPod, claiming it would never work and be popular. Oopsie!

I like the blowback that bitcoin has had, the fact that idiot blogs such as Gizmodo take a steaming dump on it whenever possible. It just means they don't understand how it works, and by the time they do - it will be too late to retract their internet archived stupidity.

we need a better expression for that, "chaining bitcoins"?

I totally agree! I just started stacking Bitcoins about 2 months ago after stacking silver and gold for a couple of years now. I predict a mass flood into Bitcoin eventually as people all over the globe ditch their failing fiat currencies and seek a safe place to park money away from the greedy hands of desperate governments.

The intensifying shenanigans in the precious metals markets lately make Bitcoin even more attractive.

IMHO it's the smartest thing you can do with any fiat currency this moment...

Because most people tend to veer towards legal methods, and not illegal ones 

ignorance and liquidity and maybe the wish to take advantage of spikes.

+ friggin 1! Many people emphasize either one of the two and neglegt the other. Both are required features of money.

Even though Bitcoin is a marginal safe haven asset, it is certainly used that way in Europe right now. Each and every one of those Bitcoin holders are if not Bitcoin users already, at least potential Bitcoin users once the Bitcoin economy becomes more diverse. News like these will only increase this which is good.

Bitcoin in my book is meant not only as a medium of exchange, it's a store of value as well. Bitcoin seems to be advancing on both fronts slowly but surely.

Disclaimer: I operate a Finnish Bitcoin exchange and I also personally know people who use Bitcoin for this purpose.

This is not about "news", this is about "notable press hits", which this clearly is.

This is also not slashdot, where you pad yourself on the back letting the world know that you already know what's been reported upon and even have a supposedly insightful comment.

Everybody I know that has woken up to what is going on with our currencies and has some fiat is looking for a place to put it, they are forced to, since saving in fiat is decreasingly an option to store wealth.

Bitcoin is certainly an option to consider to be included in a "diversified safe haven portfolio", and I think the exchange rate prooves that some actually do include it. It cannot be explained by silgroad growth and/or pure speculation alone any more.

If that is so - then why people don't use the more peer to peer exchanges like bitmarket.eu instead of the centralized ones that are forced to apply the Know Your Customer rules?

It could be as simple as asset preservation especially in these economic times.

When you talk about market demand and investment do you mean just buying up currency and speculating on price increases or do you mean investing in new businesses that actually produce something?

I think you would be surprised at just how forward thinking, creative and risk taking some people are.

Today I had lunch with two of my friends who are both estate planning attorneys for high-net worth individuals. The topic of conversation centered on political risk, expatriation, second citizenships, FACTA, tax implications and how they could use BitCoin as part of their client's asset protection and estate plan. They found the alienable nature of BitCoin extremely attractive.

The bulk of their client's, at least in the $5-10m net worth range, are first generation creative entrepreneur's who made their wealth solving some market need. If just a fraction of the 80,000 HNWIs in the United States alone moved less than 0.10% of their net worth into BitCoin then it would send the price through the roof. Keep in mind, in the US alone there is $10T+ in money market type funds yielding 0%.

I have had a few HNWIs and UHNWIs whose only reservation with moving $500k or $1m into BitCoin is the lack of liquidity and scalability of investment so they settle with puny amounts like $25k or $50k, etc.

In my opinion, there is huge pent up market demand for the type of utility BitCoin offers and the longer it stays around the more confidence it will garner resulting in more people allocating capital towards it.

FYI, one of the attorneys has extensive experience in securitization and mentioned he would like to do some BitCoin securitizations. So if anyone is looking at a way to use their portfolio of cars, houses, airplanes, etc. as collateral for BitCoin related loans or offerings then I can put you in touch with him.

You're probably right.  In any event, I'm still not convinced many people are looking to bitcoin as a safe haven currency and I doubt many people will.  If a significant number of people do end up moving to bitcoin as a safe haven currency I'm sure we'll know it, because that'll probably induce a bubble, the likes of which have never been seen.

Unfortunately the kinds of people who are looking for a safe haven currency tend to be people who aren't going to spend them on products and services.

True.  But people can't use them if they don't have them.  I still think the number of people holding bitcoins right now is too small to support robust economic activity, and in order to get to that point more people will need to buy bitcoins.

It's good that Bitcoin is getting attention but right now the currency needs businesses using it as a means of exchange more than it needs people buying up Bitcoins with their life savings.

Your wrong actually, we've had hundreds of customers do this over past couple of weeks.

In fact, Im in Europe right now!