# BITCOIN Digital Currency BOOM - Are You Using It?



## SeaBreeze (Dec 10, 2013)

The Bitcoin is a fairly new digital currency that is being used in America, China, India, Australia, UK, and other countries. It makes transactions with other countries easier, regardless of differences in currencies. This system also eliminates delays, holds, extra charges, etc. usually found when using credit cards, paypal, etc. Another plus is that there's no sticky fingers, or noses of the government being poked in for control and profits. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...#axzz2n5wbrJ5G


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## That Guy (Dec 10, 2013)

Well, there was that SilkRoad drug dealer busted recently making millions by using bitcoin as the payment . . .

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/07/us-crime-silkroad-idUSBRE9A608I20131107


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## SifuPhil (Dec 10, 2013)

Bitcoin just had a huge crash, but I wish I had invested more heavily when it first came out. The prices achieved just before the crash were ludicrous - something on the order of $1,100 or so. When Bitcoin first came out I think they were selling at less than $5. 

The biggest obstacle to Bitcoin making it as a legitimate currency is its shady past, as TG said being used on Silk Road and hundreds of other "dark net" sites. No one wants to get their hands dirty with THAT mess, so until they figure out how to clean up its image its just going to be the joke of the financial world.

It has potential, but not I think for a while yet ...


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## SeaBreeze (Dec 10, 2013)

From what I hear, the value can fluctuate rather rapidly, high or low...so even though it crashed, it can go up again, right?


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## SifuPhil (Dec 10, 2013)

SeaBreeze said:


> From what I hear, the value can fluctuate rather rapidly, high or low...so even though it crashed, it can go up again, right?



I believe so. Most of the talking heads in the Bitcoin field right now are calling it an "adjustment", I guess so the investors aren't scared off too badly. They claim that this is a natural phenomenon in the financial field, but not being one of those types I couldn't say for sure.

One thing that IS a certainty is that with the ongoing digitization of the world's commerce there is going to have to be _some_ sort of digital currency to match, and I think that's what they're pinning their hopes on with the Bitcoins.


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## SeaBreeze (Dec 10, 2013)

Bitcoins accidentally thrown out, buried in dump...http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...ns-buried-on-hard-drive-at-landfill-site.html


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## SifuPhil (Dec 10, 2013)

Hard to believe that anyone smart enough and technically savvy enough to mine Bitcoins would throw out their hard drive. I also wonder at the ability of a simple Dell desktop to mine at all - nowadays it takes rigs costing tens of thousands of dollars to make any kind of profit with mining.

In the early days, yes, you could do it with a simple laptop, but that capability died several years ago.


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## That Guy (Dec 11, 2013)

All the while, the rest of us are just struggling to get a bit of coin . . .


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## Tom Young (Dec 16, 2013)

Relatively simple explanation:
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/072913/how-bitcoin-works.asp


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## SeaBreeze (Jan 5, 2014)

I just hear on a radio show, that they were worth $1,000 now.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 5, 2014)

SeaBreeze said:


> I just hear on a radio show, that they were worth $1,000 now.



Yep, they're worth $915 right now, which is a come-down from their high before the "bust" of a few weeks ago. Still a very volatile market, very risky to get into, but for someone with longevity they might do well.


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## That Guy (Jan 5, 2014)




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## SeaBreeze (Jan 15, 2014)

Ten things you should know about bitcoins...http://the10mostknown.com/10-things-need-know-bitcoins/


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## Happyflowerlady (Mar 6, 2014)

I read the other day that one of the major people with bitcoin has now supposedly also committed suicide unexpectedly, and today it has been in the mainstream media news.  
I am not sure if this fits in with all the dead bankers, but it certainly seems to at least fit all the earmarks of the others. 
No reason for taking their own life, and unclear whether they were actually killed/suicided, or if it is just a really strange string of circumstances.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/03/05/bitcoin-firm-ceo-found-dead-in-suspected-suicide/


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