Bitcoin Currency Surpasses 20 National Currencies In Total Value

Velcroman1 writes "More than $1 billion worth of bitcoins now circulate on the web – an amount that exceeds the value of the entire currency stock of small countries like Liberia, Bhutan, and 18 other countries. Bitcoin is in high demand right now — each bitcoin currently sells for more than $90 U.S. — which bitcoin insiders say is because of world events that have shaken confidence in government-issued currencies. 'Because of what's going on in Cyprus and Europe, people are trying to pull their money out of banks there,' said Tony Gallippi, the CEO BitPay.com, which enables businesses to easily accept bitcoins as payment. 'So they buy gold, they put it under the mattress, or they buy bitcoin,' Gallippi said."

Re:SELL!!!

[jythie]

Pretty much, or at least potentially. Figuring out when to profit on irrational fear is a good key for success ^_^

Re:How to take a short position in Bitcoin?

[wed128]

Borrow some bitcoin, sell it now, wait for the inevitable, buy it back when the bubble pops, return to owner.

Re:Is it really circulating?

[Frobnicator]

claiming it is being widely used for every day living. I have yet to see anything to back up either extreme.

Let me know when I can pay my rent in bitcoins, pay my fuel bill in bitcoins, or buy groceries in bitcoins.

For now it is a geek-only way to exchange goods and services.

You're not kidding

[Concern]

I have some experience with both cryptography and decentralized systems of this kind. Which doesn't make me an expert. But I know enough to ask questions. I have had grave concerns about the validity of their design since I first read about it on slashdot some years back. It seemed to me the case had not been made that bitcoin was not vulnerable to rapid destruction of value, due to attacks on fundamental flaws in its design.

The thing that really surprised me was that people decided to try to use it anyway. But I guess our desires often cloud our judgment. As much as I would love a decentralized digital currency, I do not believe it yet exists. I wouldn't invest 90 cents in bitcoin.

Many currencies can appear to be stable until they're not.

Re:That's completely arbitrary

[fermion]

Most things are arbitrary. The value of gold, for instance. Crazy people tend to think there is some innate value, that the price is going to be always be high, but for how many cans of food will you trade it for if the end actually does become nigh? OTOH at leas gold, for some, is a physical object they possess.

Such things always remind me of the exploration of the Americas, or at the simplified myth. In this story the English brought back potatoes and the spanish brought back gold. The question is who brought back wealth, and who brought back merely riches.

Re:Bitcoin could reach 1 million per coin in value

[h4rr4r]

So could tulip bulbs, you better go get some quick.

Time to rename /. to BitcoinPushers.com?

[Anonymous Coward]

It getting to be a little much. Have you really got so much money invested in Bitcoin that you are willing to sacrifice /. to advertise it?

So you buy every bubble then?

[Concern]

Enron's stock went up too. You might want to think about the fundamentals of what you're buying.

Re:How to take a short position in Bitcoin?

[pitchpipe]

I would advise against taking a short position in Bitcoins. What amazes me when watching a bubble is just how high it will go: it always goes much higher than anyone thinks it will go. Then, when the bubble pops, it goes much lower than anyone thought it could go.

Bubbles are unpredictable to say the least.

Re:SELL!!!

[shaitand]

Exactly like Wall Street. It's a speculative market and at the end of the day all speculative markets are just high stakes casinos.

Still, it will help Bitcoin itself. The currently booming Bitcoin world combined with Bitpay offering merchants a payment option with only 0.99% interest, no other fees, no credit or volume requirements, and no charge backs probably means a lot more merchants jumping to accept it.

Re:It can't pop.

[Joce640k]

It's only worth what people are willing to pay for it.

If confidence goes, so does the value.

Re:It will never be that cheap again

[Joce640k]

Quote me. A year from now it will be approaching $1000 a coin. It will never be $17 a coin again.

You can keep on saying that, it doesn't make it so.

Magicking 'money' out of thin air *always* leads to a crash. No exceptions. Just wait and see.

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[account_deleted]

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Scare quotes

[goodmanj]

$1 billion "dollars" "worth" of bitcoins now circulate

Fixed that for ya.

Re:SELL!!!

[AlphaWolf_HK]

Well let me know when the IRS starts auditing wow players, many of whom have a lot more money worth of wow gold than I have in my bank account, never mind bitcoins.

Effectively bitcoin is the same thing as wow gold at the moment.

Re:SELL!!!

[TeknoHog]

Bitcoins have less inherent value than a bag of tulip bulbs.

Try sending payments across the globe in 10 minutes using tulip bulbs.

Re:SELL!!!

[shaitand]

No that's the problem with gambling. And if you won it would bolster your confidence and you'd bet it all again. Speculative markets are nothing but high stakes gambling.