Topic: [2017-05-30]Bitcoin's Rapid Surge Raises Reasons to Question Latest Frenzy (Read 4928 times)
May 30, 2017, 04:45:00 PM
It's funny how every time the price has gone up considerably, there are these kind of articles popping up talking down on Bitcoin. It has been the case years ago, and it will likely continue in the coming years. Good thing is that we can counter their nonsense with how Bitcoin and everything related to it has evolved throughout the years -- really, what is there more to say?
May 30, 2017, 04:13:45 PM
And if I may add, why this so called bubble(?) recently is still being compared to 2013? I think what we see it that people, specially Japan has putting cash into the bitcoin ecosystem so I think what we have is not a bubble. But the selling has stopped not and we are seeing a somewhat bearish market. I think it is still good as store of value, personally.
Figuratively speaking, you can agree with that nemesis. I do not see a particular tendency to worry about the pricing of Bitcoin. In which moments I can not understand why a parallel is being made between today and 2013. 
May 30, 2017, 12:26:04 PM
And if I may add, why this so called bubble(?) recently is still being compared to 2013? I think what we see it that people, specially Japan has putting cash into the bitcoin ecosystem so I think what we have is not a bubble. But the selling has stopped not and we are seeing a somewhat bearish market. I think it is still good as store of value, personally.
May 30, 2017, 11:04:26 AM
The same old story.... Bitcoin will never be anything, because it is favoured by hackers and plagued by scaling problems. Ask yourself this
question... Where will Bitcoin be once this scaling problem is solved and what did hackers use before Bitcoin? What will happen when hackers
realize other Crypto currencies are more anonymous than Bitcoin and better suited for their crimes?
question... Where will Bitcoin be once this scaling problem is solved and what did hackers use before Bitcoin? What will happen when hackers
realize other Crypto currencies are more anonymous than Bitcoin and better suited for their crimes?
May 30, 2017, 04:52:08 AM
Bitcoin’s astronomical rally has cryptocurrency bulls feeling vindicated. Not so fast, skeptics say.
The digital currency’s more than 100 percent surge in the past two months looks eerily familiar, argue the bears, pointing to November 2013, when the price quintupled in short order to top $1,000 for the fist time. By Valentine’s Day it was worth around half that, and spent the better part of the next two years languishing below $500.
Then it absolutely exploded -- jumping more than $1,400 in two months. At its height last week, one bitcoin could buy about two ounces of gold. Its champions touted the arrival of blockchain into the mainstream, the coin’s underlying technology which they say can lift the poor out of poverty and make transactions more secure, inexpensive and efficient.
But signs of a top have emerged, detractors warn. On May 25, bitcoin surged more than $300 to a record only to turn tail and close little changed. The $600 round trip was the biggest daily swing in its history. It then slumped 8 percent the next day. Bitcoin was at $2,253 in Asia on Tuesday. For bears, that kind of volatility shows the asset’s unreliability as a store of value.
Here are some other reasons why they warn caution is warranted:
Safety Questions
This month’s ransomware attacks serve as a reminder that bitcoin is still beloved by hackers and criminals because of its anonymity. The cryptocurrency plunged in 2014 after Tokyo-based Mt. Gox -- then the largest bitcoin exchange -- said it had been breached and then filed for bankruptcy. Its value sank again in August 2016 after hackers stole about $69 million from Hong Kong-based Bitfinex. The exchange has since repaid its customers.
Scaling Debate
The bitcoin community has been split for more than a year on how to upgrade its blockchain. The time and fees necessary to verify transactions have climbed to record highs, making it more difficult for businesses to use the currency as a means of payment. While bitcoin executives have said that 2017 might be the year the cryptocurrency really starts to scale, others aren’t so sure.
Last week, more than 50 companies signed a pact to speed up transactions, but ideological differences have prevented similar agreements -- like the one reached last year in Hong Kong -- from actually being implemented. The much-touted SegWit upgrade was also released in October, but only a third of the community has embraced it. If the latest proposal fails to gain traction and the deadlock continues, digital currency users may dump bitcoin in favor of alt-coins that offer better blockchains.
(...)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-30/bitcoin-s-rapid-surge-raises-reasons-to-question-latest-frenzy
The digital currency’s more than 100 percent surge in the past two months looks eerily familiar, argue the bears, pointing to November 2013, when the price quintupled in short order to top $1,000 for the fist time. By Valentine’s Day it was worth around half that, and spent the better part of the next two years languishing below $500.
Then it absolutely exploded -- jumping more than $1,400 in two months. At its height last week, one bitcoin could buy about two ounces of gold. Its champions touted the arrival of blockchain into the mainstream, the coin’s underlying technology which they say can lift the poor out of poverty and make transactions more secure, inexpensive and efficient.
But signs of a top have emerged, detractors warn. On May 25, bitcoin surged more than $300 to a record only to turn tail and close little changed. The $600 round trip was the biggest daily swing in its history. It then slumped 8 percent the next day. Bitcoin was at $2,253 in Asia on Tuesday. For bears, that kind of volatility shows the asset’s unreliability as a store of value.
Here are some other reasons why they warn caution is warranted:
Safety Questions
This month’s ransomware attacks serve as a reminder that bitcoin is still beloved by hackers and criminals because of its anonymity. The cryptocurrency plunged in 2014 after Tokyo-based Mt. Gox -- then the largest bitcoin exchange -- said it had been breached and then filed for bankruptcy. Its value sank again in August 2016 after hackers stole about $69 million from Hong Kong-based Bitfinex. The exchange has since repaid its customers.
Scaling Debate
The bitcoin community has been split for more than a year on how to upgrade its blockchain. The time and fees necessary to verify transactions have climbed to record highs, making it more difficult for businesses to use the currency as a means of payment. While bitcoin executives have said that 2017 might be the year the cryptocurrency really starts to scale, others aren’t so sure.
Last week, more than 50 companies signed a pact to speed up transactions, but ideological differences have prevented similar agreements -- like the one reached last year in Hong Kong -- from actually being implemented. The much-touted SegWit upgrade was also released in October, but only a third of the community has embraced it. If the latest proposal fails to gain traction and the deadlock continues, digital currency users may dump bitcoin in favor of alt-coins that offer better blockchains.
(...)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-30/bitcoin-s-rapid-surge-raises-reasons-to-question-latest-frenzy
Jump to: