By the way, Tailor, what are you doing in this forum? Are you just here to inform bitcoin investors of the perils of bitcoin, or do you have some meaningful purpose, besides spreading baloney distractions?
Is this an attempt to run off one of the unfaithful?
I'm here for the same reason any of us: talk about BTC. That doesn't mean I have to be part of the echo chamber though. Once in a while it's handy to have an unbeliever in the midst, just in case the emperor really is naked.
Like most here, I'm a BTC speculator - I do hold some, and even lost some when GOX collapsed. My investment in BTC infrastructure is limited to the few bucks I've paid in exchange fees though. I've been pleasantly surprised by the price increase since the spring of 2011, but I don't believe the price accurately represents any underlying value yet. The price thus far has been determined by limited investment of money, so the market cap is on paper only. Total investment divided by total coins available would be a much smaller number.
I have NO reason to dissuade your participation in any BTC conversation so long as you are NOT just spreading speculative hype without any backing and just stirring shit. It is easy enough to stir shit in these kinds of quasi-anonymous forums, and personally I find it a big waste of time to engage in any prolong conversations with shit-stirrers, especially in these kinds of forums.
From your description, it does sound as if you have invested more into BTC than a mere observer, and that would definitely give you a certain amount of street credibility.
Certainly, I do NOT claim to be any BTC expert b/c really, I only started looking into BTC in about November 2013, and my beginning to purchase BTC began in the same month.. IN that regard, I am fairly new to these kinds of BTC conversations - and so BTC has provided quite a few learning experiences for me.... which I expect such additional learning to continue into the future, absent some kind of BTC downfall, which based on my current knowledge of the situation, I do NOT expect any time in the near future.... As you would expect, I am fairly bullish on BTC, at least in the long term; however, I deny that my bullishness is a product of some kind of cultish behavior.... b/c I will adapt my investment strategies to the information that I have at my disposal and that I am able to understand and to credit.
At this time, I consider that it is quite likely that within the next week or two that BTC will go up into the 750-850 range.. and probably remain there for a little bit stay in the sub $1000 range for a few months before going to $1500 ish.. possibly this calendar year. Thereafter, we should get increases in prices approaching the 3-5K range by the end of 2015... However, volatility is likely to remain... and of course various negative developments could impede this trajectory. If this plausible trajectory seems materially affected by world events, then I will adjust my strategy accordingly, including pulling completely out of BTC, if that seems the most prudent course of action.