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RandiFan1290

(6,454 posts)
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 06:10 AM Dec 5

Bitcoin Hits a Milestone: $100,000

Source: The New York Times

In May 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz, an early cryptocurrency enthusiast, used Bitcoin to buy two pizzas from Papa John’s. He spent 10,000 Bitcoins, or roughly $40 at the time, in one of the first purchases ever made with the digital currency.

It has turned out to be the most expensive dinner in history.

On Wednesday, the price of a single Bitcoin rose to more than $100,000, a remarkable milestone for an experimental financial asset that had once been mocked as a sideshow and a fad. The total cost of those pizzas today: $1 billion.

Bitcoin now stands as arguably the most successful investment product of the last 20 years. The value of all the coins in circulation is $2 trillion, more than the combined worth of Mastercard, Walmart and JPMorgan Chase. The motley assortment of hackers and political radicals who embraced Bitcoin when it was created by an anonymous coder in 2008 have become millionaires many times over. And the invention has spawned an entire industry anchored by publicly traded companies like Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, and promoted by celebrities, athletes and Elon Musk.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/technology/bitcoin-price-record.html

29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Bitcoin Hits a Milestone: $100,000 (Original Post) RandiFan1290 Dec 5 OP
And it will wreck our environment faster than we're already wrecking it. Woohoo. Scrivener7 Dec 5 #1
LLM (AI) says: "Hold my beer..." nt EarthFirst Dec 5 #2
Tulip bulbs reach a new high. multigraincracker Dec 5 #3
Monopoly money at it's best.... Bengus81 Dec 5 #4
the good news is MAGATs will continue accumulating these worthless tulips... cadoman Dec 5 #7
Socialism buyout yankee87 Dec 5 #12
Except Trump is talking about using your tax dollars to buy a bitcoin "strategic reserve". LudwigPastorius Dec 5 #16
That Trump would want to buy bitcoins should be the biggest red flag..... Bengus81 Dec 6 #22
Depends hueymahl Dec 5 #13
Probably Bitcoin womanofthehills Dec 5 #20
So what...certain Trump watches are "worth" $100,000. Bengus81 Dec 5 #5
So a made up thing backed by nothing is moniss Dec 5 #6
This is why it's absurd to use it as a "currency" William Seger Dec 5 #8
Borrowing a term from the collapsing economy of the PRC, it's a "greater idiot" product. BobTheSubgenius Dec 5 #11
Pin meet bubble melm00se Dec 5 #9
And tomorrow it could drop to $1. Jacson6 Dec 5 #10
Bitcoin is digital gold hueymahl Dec 5 #14
Here's the thread from 2013 when it hit $200 RandiFan1290 Dec 5 #15
Love it! hueymahl Dec 5 #17
With any luck, you'll never find out why bitcoin is not gold William Seger Dec 6 #23
The chairman of the fed, Blackrock, Fidelity and multiple nation states disagree with you hueymahl Dec 7 #24
Gold is in demand for electronics manufacturing and for jewelry William Seger Dec 7 #28
Don't understand this whole bitcoin business. Fla Dem Dec 5 #18
You can start by signing up with a popular company like Coinbase womanofthehills Dec 5 #21
The genius of bitcoin is it is not owned or controlled by anyone hueymahl Dec 7 #25
Fake money LiberalFighter Dec 5 #19
further proof that it is more ponzi like scam than currency lapfog_1 Dec 7 #26
The pump phase is about to turn into the dump phase. comradebillyboy Dec 7 #27
Both BTC & the Dollar are fiat money in that... snot Dec 7 #29

Bengus81

(7,496 posts)
4. Monopoly money at it's best....
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 08:25 AM
Dec 5

If you sold a car you owned for $30,000 would you rather have bitcoin payment or a certified check from the bank? How about it your sold your home?

cadoman

(968 posts)
7. the good news is MAGATs will continue accumulating these worthless tulips...
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 09:38 AM
Dec 5

...and be left with nothing, while liberals have real USD and investment value from the Biden economy.

There are definitely some trends that are in our favor.

yankee87

(2,384 posts)
12. Socialism buyout
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 02:38 PM
Dec 5

Willing to bet when they lose everything, they'll want a socialist buyout.

LudwigPastorius

(11,076 posts)
16. Except Trump is talking about using your tax dollars to buy a bitcoin "strategic reserve".
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 04:30 PM
Dec 5

...which will do nothing but erode the value of the US dollar. Ironic, because most of his supporters cited inflation as a reason to vote for that shithead.

Bengus81

(7,496 posts)
22. That Trump would want to buy bitcoins should be the biggest red flag.....
Fri Dec 6, 2024, 07:43 AM
Dec 6

Of course as usual using other peoples money but he's the only clown I've heard of going BK owning Casino's.

hueymahl

(2,655 posts)
13. Depends
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 03:06 PM
Dec 5

Do I need the cash now or in the near future? Then I will take the cash. Do I want to hold for several years? I'll take BTC.

Everyone on here loves to bash bitcoin. But it is a real investment. Even Jerome Powell calls it digital gold.

womanofthehills

(9,326 posts)
20. Probably Bitcoin
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 10:20 PM
Dec 5

Just trying to figure out how Bitcoin worked, I started buying small amts to figure out how to buy it and how to get a wallet. . I only bought about $600 -($20 to $40 deposits here and there) when that $600 became $1200, I spent $300 of it and today it’s almost $1400.

moniss

(6,151 posts)
6. So a made up thing backed by nothing is
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 09:31 AM
Dec 5

now worth incredible sums. Sure we can survive people who think like this. Sure we can.

William Seger

(11,113 posts)
8. This is why it's absurd to use it as a "currency"
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 10:24 AM
Dec 5

With the price fluctuating so much and so fast, if it's used as currency, either the buyer or the seller gets screwed in virtually every transaction. The only rational reason to use it as a currency is to hide a transaction that could otherwise be tracked. People buy bitcoin with the hope of getting rich when other people buy bitcoin hoping to get rich -- almost like tulips and Beanie Babies, except that those actually have some intrinsic value.

I would never buy bitcoin because it's entirely based on software. After 35 years as a software developer, I've developed a healthy distrust of it. What I would worry about is that someday, some smart person will find a way to hack it, which would immediately make your "investment" worthless. (And if I ever did buy bitcoin, I wouldn't be dumb enough to leave it in a "wallet" on someone else's computer.)

BobTheSubgenius

(11,812 posts)
11. Borrowing a term from the collapsing economy of the PRC, it's a "greater idiot" product.
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 02:23 PM
Dec 5

You buy it in the hope that in increases in "value" and, one day, a "greater idiot" will come along and buy them from you.

Jacson6

(842 posts)
10. And tomorrow it could drop to $1.
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 01:20 PM
Dec 5

Nothing is backing bitcoin and this is all speculation on the part of the buyers. IMHO.

hueymahl

(2,655 posts)
14. Bitcoin is digital gold
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 03:08 PM
Dec 5

It is a legitimate part of a balanced investment portfolio. For some reason, DU hates bitcoin to the point you can't even have a rational discussion about it.

William Seger

(11,113 posts)
23. With any luck, you'll never find out why bitcoin is not gold
Fri Dec 6, 2024, 10:18 AM
Dec 6

Since you're gambling, not investing, luck is exactly what it takes.

hueymahl

(2,655 posts)
24. The chairman of the fed, Blackrock, Fidelity and multiple nation states disagree with you
Sat Dec 7, 2024, 01:02 PM
Dec 7

But that's fine. Everyone has a different comfort with risk.

William Seger

(11,113 posts)
28. Gold is in demand for electronics manufacturing and for jewelry
Sat Dec 7, 2024, 01:34 PM
Dec 7

... OR you can hoard bricks of it in hopes of the price going up. While the price might go down due to reduced demand, demand is not going to disappear. Despite those recommendations, I'll continue to believe that anyone who thinks bitcoin is just like gold is incorrect.

Fla Dem

(25,870 posts)
18. Don't understand this whole bitcoin business.
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 08:43 PM
Dec 5

Where do you invest in bit coin? on the internet?

Where / who does your money go? Who owns the Bit Coin businesses. Can I just say "Hey I'm selling bit coins, called "Lucky BitCoins" for $50,000 each. Invests now while they are cheap. Eventually as bitcoin investors flock to buy "Lucky BitCoins" I raise the price to $75,000 each. So I get rich selling nothing and when I become a billionaire, I just say whoops, the bottom fell out and your "Lucky BitCoins" are now worthless.

Is that how it works? Sounds like a scam to me.

Sorry if this is a stupid description of Bit Coins, it's just how it sounds to me.

womanofthehills

(9,326 posts)
21. You can start by signing up with a popular company like Coinbase
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 10:23 PM
Dec 5

Or super easy - just buy it on PayPal.

hueymahl

(2,655 posts)
25. The genius of bitcoin is it is not owned or controlled by anyone
Sat Dec 7, 2024, 01:08 PM
Dec 7

It is decentralized. No company or nation state can control it. You control your own money.

To be fair, when I first hear about it 12 years ago, I thought exactly the same thing. It was a fad/scam/ponzi scheme, etc.

It is a different paradigm. I had to really educate myself about the fundamental nature of money and its history to really understand it. We went from trading shells, pretty beads, salt etc to silver and gold. Paper money was more convenient to carry around than gold. Checks even easier than paper money. But both required a central bank or monarch to get paid back. Bitcoin is an evolution of that system and eliminates the trusted middle person (banks, governments). In most of the developed world, our institutions are trusted. But in a billion people live under regimes without consistent rule of law. It is a revolutionary technology in those areas.

lapfog_1

(30,232 posts)
26. further proof that it is more ponzi like scam than currency
Sat Dec 7, 2024, 01:21 PM
Dec 7

a) people relate the value of the currency ( bitcoin ) to the USD ( so which is the real currency? )
b) the value has increased due to speculation rather than decrease over time due to inflation.

So, like many other speculative "bubbles" we are probably getting into another bitcoin bubble.

comradebillyboy

(10,535 posts)
27. The pump phase is about to turn into the dump phase.
Sat Dec 7, 2024, 01:25 PM
Dec 7

The biggest scammers will be dumping soon and the novice crypto investors will be left holding the bag.

snot

(10,798 posts)
29. Both BTC & the Dollar are fiat money in that...
Sat Dec 7, 2024, 01:55 PM
Dec 7

Last edited Sat Dec 7, 2024, 02:35 PM - Edit history (3)

neither are backed* by gold or other thing of material value. The have whatever value users explicitly or implicitly agree to give or accept for them.

That said, the Dollar can be inflated; BTC cannot.

So long as Trump or his successors continue to view BTC favorably (and I'm not sure how long that will or won't last), i expect BTC to continue to do well.

One downside of BTC, however, is that it takes a lot of research to really understand it and how to use it, at least at this point in the game. I think that's a big part of why it's encountered so much resistance (i.e., a great deal of the resistance has come from people who haven't done that research).

Apart from that, pretty much every criticism ever levelled against BTC is equally true about the Dollar.

(NOTE: Few if any other kinds of crypto share BTC's most important virtues, because unlike BTC, they nearly always ARE centralized and CAN be inflated.)
________________
* I.e., as a matter of law, convertible into.

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