Is Bitcoin Worth Investing In?

[winkyridg]

Ive heard a lot about Bitcoin and the money you can allegedly make on it, i dont understand it, but is it real and worth investing in or is it just a big scam?

[davebro]

I don't think it's a scam. It's a finite resource in a virtual environment.

Buying it would IMV be speculation rather than an investment. The question is, at current levels (£35k), has the boat sailed or will it go a lot higher. I too don't really understand it so I'm not going to get involved. I think there is a real possibility of losing money on it.

[djtdjt]

My financial advisor said don't touch it, does look tempting though, I think if you've plenty of money and can afford to lose it then gamble, if not stay away.

[Peter Pedant]

agreed - dont touch

1929 some american plutocrat ( gomboola van schlonk or J Randall Hearst) said
when ya hear ya boot shine give you stock market tips then it is time to sell

annd he did when others didnt blah blah and kept his moolah

boot shine = AB

ya know what? my bruvva in laws friend who was orphaned and a Libor wide boy sold in his pension and bought bit coin, lots of them, free years ago and he is now worf £35m,
I read this and fort - do you really expect me to believe this?
( Larry the wideboy exists tho)

best advicve - go ahead if you have money to lose

[Peter Pedant]

Louie the wide boy I mean

[198kHz]

//the money you can allegedly make on it, i dont understand it\\
There's your answer - don't touch.

[gingejbee]

^yes, never get involved with things you don't understand!

[davebro]

To compare - gold is a similar (though tangible) asset. Gold is dug up, refined into ingots and stashed away in a vault (a bit is used for jewellery & decoration but that's by the way).

I can buy gold from a bullion dealer & they will store it for me and sell it at some future date for a profit or a loss. I never see it / never use it, I just hope to make a profit out of it.

[royfromaus]

If you take anything from this question it should be don't ask Answerbankers for financial advice. The advice re Bitcoin has always been do not touch with a barge pole.

Here's a little graph...see what you think.

https://ibb.co/1GVDJvG

[ToraToraTora]

I do understand it and personally I'm worried about it, for one thing more electricity is spent "mining" it than is used by Argentina! It is sort of analogous with gold, in that it is "mined" but it also has a max limit that can exist, 21m coins, no max for gold. 18.5m have already been mined so more resources are spent because each allocation per mined block is far less than it was at the start so more resources are needed to mine fewer and fewer coins. Worse than that is the storage in "wallets" of coins and the block chain method that is vulnerable to all manner of attack. At some point the limit will be removed and bitcoin will in effect be replaced by another crypto currency to add to the several they are. At some point it will all collapse, like the south sea bubble or the dotcom bubble. If you want a gamble, short it.

[davebro]

"no max for gold"

I would argue that the amount of gold that can be economically extracted from the earth is finite.

[davebro]

" At some point the limit will be removed "

The creator said it won't/can't be.

[davebro]

"Here's a little graph...see what you think."

I think I should have maxed out in 2015!

[royfromaus]

https://ibb.co/D94sBjj

[ToraToraTora]

"...i dont understand it, but...."
The general advice is not to invest in something you don't understand.

[davebro]

Bitcoin was £35k when this thread started - now £43,300. Where will it stop?