why has bitcoin been crashing?
Because the majority who buy it don't use it as currency. They are speculating with something virtual and like to believe it is more valuable than gold or paper. Thus since it is all speculation and the price is way overvalued, the price must come down. I mean at least the Germans could wallpaper their house when their money became useless. If the tiny market of goods traded via BTC crashes all you have is unneeded ones and zeros you will erase. I love bitcoin but it has not been widespread adopted, only goes up on speculation, and will probably be overpriced until some of these wonderful news stories actually become reality.
I mean the past 3 hours, not in general.
And the value of bitcoin is not just in it's use as currency. I'm not sure if bitcoin will ever be useful as a currency.
Other than the relatively small black market, there is nothing you can buy with bitcoin that you can't buy with a credit card.
What is the advantage of spending a deflationary currency like bitcoin over an inflationary one like the dollar? The answer is you will always want to spend the dollars over the bitcoins and horde the bitcoins because the bitcoins increase in value while the dollars don't.
The lack of credit card fees is not reason alone that bitcoin is worthwhile.
Bitcoins are more useful as a store of value such as gold presently. That gives it real value right now.
