Topic: Why do people think one Bitcoin will be worth $1000 (or more) - page 5. (Read 15384 times)

You very much remind of people saying "this time it's different" in the late 90s - when they borrowed money to by tech stocks like Cybercash or Boo.com (that went bankrupt immediately after that).

There's a good book from Reinhart/Rogoff: "This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly"

So what, exactly, is not "real life" about the fact that i can buy 43 dollar for one bitcoin right now?

Have you BEEN to Europe? Any hotel with international guests will accept USD and AmEx. Individual merchants won't neccessarily. International hotels will. Hell, my name (as a German) is so American, I regularly get asked if I want to pay in USD or EUR when I'm on a business trip anywhere in Europe, including Germany.

Also Bitcoin will likely have many boom and bust periods, that doesn't mean anything in itself. Amazon share price for example went into a bubble in 2000, then collapsed by over 90%. It took years for it to recover and obviously now they are the world leader in their field and the share price is at record highs.

In addition Amazon should be worthless by your bad arguments since in 1995 'no one' used them to buy anything...

It's in Barcelona so they won't accept the 100$ bill. And AmEx is not popular in Europe, most of merchants don't accept it (they prefer Visa and MasterCard). Of course, I don't know that particular hotel but you get the point. In most part of Europe, this would not be accepted.

I know lots of newbies that think Bitcoin is 100% anonymous and have no idea about the Blockchain, 51% attacks, etc.

Your average Joe on eBay buying "1 BTC" understands as much about cryptocurrencies as your average Joe buying one "Silver Eagle" knows about mining and metallurgy. He buys silver because it's the thing to have in times like these.

As for dividing Bitcoins:
People don't think in Cent, or mCent - they think in Dollar.
People don't think in mBTC or µBTC - they think in BTC.

The point is that Bitcoin might have a value as it enable to transfer money over the internet.

In fact, it is already used (just take the Silk Road example). So it has a value. Probably very low but it still has. It is obvious that, the more people use bitcoin, the more the real value is increased. (If it is not obvious to you, you have to start with the basis).

Speculation is thinking that more people will use bitcoins in the future, hence increasing the value.


There are two kind of scenarios. Either bitcoins is not used at all anymore for whatever reason and thus become a pure speculation tool (like the tulip bulb).

Either it is mainly used as a speculation tool but still has some value. Example : gold. Gold is used in many technologies but its main application is speculation.

Either it becomes widely used and speculation is only done by a minority (example: fiat currency).

Your reasoning is that people only see the immediate use. But if it was the case, gold would be hundred times cheaper. The reason is simple : even if gold was completely useless, people trust that gold can be accepted anywhere against real money. It's only historical but this means that there are some trust in gold. People trust its value and thus accept it.

With bitcoin, we are exactly in the same situation: we are building that history.

Now, you can believe that we will fail. Right. Then sell your bitcoins if any.

Couldn't have said it better.

The crypto-currency movement is likely one of the greatest financial innovations in history and certainly the greatest financial liquidity innovation since the Bank of England issued paper notes back in 1694.

You are comparing this historic advance to a bunch of speculators and fools bidding up some perishable, low value flowers with no long term function whatsoever... yea great analogy.

Only the Olivia Plaza Hotel will have no problem at all accepting the 100$ bill and the AmEx card, so?

price explosion imminent   thats why

i think therefore i am

Cash is King Bitcoin is God

In my wallet, at Olivia Plaza, I have a 100$ bill and a American Express credit card. I also have one pound of pure gold. None of them are accepted by the Olivia Plaza Hotel to buy a pizza. I search through my other pocket : I find a diamond ring, a pound of pure silver and a some papers telling me that I own some parts in a company called Google.

According to you, they are worthless and can be throwed away. I can't buy a pizza with them at the Olivia Plaza Hotel…

I will do the above and personally deliver the pizza and remove any rubbish after you have eaten it.

Radacoin, if you simply meant that people shouldn't be buying coins simply because there is supposed to be 21 million individual bitcoin units available, you are quite right. I don't think anyone does that though, because it would be completely retarded. The fact that they can be divided is simply a question of usability, it has no effect on the scarcity of the total monetary base.

Bitcoins are of little use if the minimum usable amount is 1 full bitcoin, which would mean that there is not much basis for their value. It's essential that they can be divided so that amounts less than 1 bitcoin can be sent once the value is higher.

So either you are simple, or you're overestimating the simplicity of Bitcoin newbies. It's a rare newbie that doesn't understand that bitcoins can be divided to smaller pieces. It also has a positive effect on the value of bitcoins (that they can be divided sufficiently), so it's a very strange thought indeed.

Well you definitely can not "indefinitely" divide them. Vast numbers of Satoshis' are lost forever. By some counts 500K in BTC is tied up somewhere in the Pirate Fiasco. And it's always possible and realistic to think that many more BTC are yet to be lost. Rich people being hit by taxis, etc....

Bitcoin is getting seriously close to being used "in real life". There is a fortune to be made in making it so.

You meet with a dude with shaggy hair in a gas station. You have your smartphones with you, initiate a trade, then stand around for 20-30 Minutes awkwardly while waiting for the transaction to confirm. You tuck your Euro into the plastic wallet thoughtfully labeled "outdated currency" in permanent marker. You go back to your hotel and inquire about the nearest pizza plaze. They refer you to the bellhops brothers restaurant on the other end of town. You take a taxi to get there which is eating a hole into your fresh stack of dirty fiat currency. You arrive at the pizza plaze, sit down, order a Pizza Quattro Stagioni and a glass of Chianti. After a satisfying meal you pay with your stack of dirty fiat cash and take a walk around the block for better digestion. You notice it has already gotten late and public transport is no longer available. You hail a taxi but as prices have risen to night fare your stack of dirty fiat currency is no longer sufficient for the ride and the driver leaves you standing in the middle of nowhere while yelling abuse at you. Trying to orient yourself via your smartphone which unfortunately has no reception right here, you notice your stomach telling you that some of  the pizzas ingredients were not as fresh as they should have been....

Send me the 12BTC, and I will make sure a pizza of your choice is delivered. I will throw in a free bottle of wine.

The essence of my posting was this here:


Line of thought: "What? There are only 21 million of them? Quick! I must get one before they are all gone! Price? I don't care!"

I am at Olivia Plaza Hotel, Barcelona, Spain at the moment.
I have 12BTC in a wallet on my smartphone.
I am hungry and want a pizza.

Question for you: What do I do now?

Funny you should mention Amazin and pizza...you're wrong in each point by the way. You can buy pizza with Bitcoin and BitPay just figured out how to provide service for sellers with goods in an amazon warehouse.

You should try reading the first page of threads in the main forum (this one). You might learn something that will help assuage your fears.