Crypto currency bubble?

[Zukat]

There is too much hype created around the cryptocurrencies and currently the price is driven by greed and we know how that goes from history lessons and I know the cryptofans will jump on it and say its different, revolutionary etc. and maybe it is, but fundamental economic concept is still the same, in what shiny wrapping its presented does not matter.

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

Only issue I have with crypto is it's ballsing up the GFX card market spectacularly, the 470's and 570's are long gone, now the 1070's are evaporating.

 

[Sinbad]

Only issue I have with crypto is it's ballsing up the GFX card market spectacularly, the 470's and 570's are long gone, now the 1070's are evaporating.

When the bubble bursts you'll be able to pick them up for a song

 

[Thor]

While South African exchanges require proper verification for example, one can have a local copy of the blockchain, create BTC addresses and transact without linking your personal information at all. Sure, dodgy activity may be uncovered when converting to/from fiat or the FBI may have seized BTC in the past After watching suspects (physical activity as opposed to BTC activity) but a lot can happen, such as wanted terrorists staying under the radar. I am however definitely for the 'freedom' model of BTC, it's just not cool if the underground activity is too prominent. zcash and others take it even further, with untraceable transactions...

The anc doesn't use bitcoin

 

[etienne_marais]

The anc doesn't use bitcoin

Good point, something wrong with the authorities then

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

When the bubble bursts you'll be able to pick them up for a song

Cross fingers, would love a 1070

 

[MrGray]

The bubble will likely burst at some point. I don't really care as I didn't buy BTC/ETH to make a quick buck, I bought it as a long term strategic hold with money that I was fully prepared to never see again, with the long shot possibility it might one day be a bit of "nest egg" in which I could transact more and more as it goes more mainstream (i.e. I have no intention to ever move it back to Rands). In fact, I would welcome a crash since it is overheated and might be a further buying opportunity. The pattern of the BTC price history is large fast increases in price to new all time highs followed by big crashes to slightly higher levels than before, followed by 6-12 months of not much movement, then rinse repeat. If you've been in BTC for any significant period you'd be accustomed to this.

 

[Fulcrum29]

This is the heart of Ethereum and why people are valuing it more with every single passing day. I have absolutely no idea why BitCoin is also rising at the same time, I suspect its because of joe soap who just want to hold a crypto coin and buys at whatever price it's being advertised.

The newly published BTC technology roadmap targeting blockchain optimisations has much potential applying it to the market. The idea is in an improving coin, to increase its capacity to ensure scalability. The Joe Soap,

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-hits-2087-trading-in-japan-south-korea-for-2350

Bitcoin Price Hits $2,087, Trading in Japan, South Korea for $2,350

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is being traded in Japan and South Korea, the second and third largest Bitcoin exchange markets in the world, at around $2,350, at an 11 percent premium relative to the global average Bitcoin price and the price listed by US-based Bitcoin exchanges.

Analysts including Charles Hayter, the CEO of CryptoCompare, explained that the Japanese and South Korean Bitcoin exchange markets played a key role as the driving factor of Bitcoin’s recent price surge. In an interview with CNBC, Hayter stated:

"Arbitrage between the fiat pairs drags markets up or down in line with leading markets. At present, volumes on the KRW and JPY pairs dominate trading with a combined 48 percent market share.”

Cointelegraph previously emphasized the importance of the Japanese and South Korean exchange markets on the global Bitcoin market. The two markets hold over 48.6 percent of the global bBtcoin exchange market share and represent the vast majority of institutional investors within Asia.

Japan, in particular, has experienced an explosive growth in demand for Bitcoin as some of the country’s most influential conglomerates announced the launch of their independent digital currency exchanges, with the vision of facilitating fiat-to-digital currency trading securely and transparently, with low fees.

...

In the next few months, as Bitcoin maintains its momentum and upward trend, it is likely that the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange market will demonstrate some stability and see a decline in interest over alternative cryptocurrencies or altcoins. If so, the demand for Bitcoin will likely increase over time.

Currently, analysts and researchers at mainstream media outlets such as CNBC and Bloomberg are attributing Bitcoin’s recent upward momentum to the economic uncertainty and instability of the US. This is a rational conclusion considering that the US replaced the Japanese Bitcoin exchange market for the first time in the past 12 months to become the largest Bitcoin exchange market.

and

https://bitconnect.co/bitcoin-news/308/south-korea-begins-investing-in-a-digital-currency-future

South Korea Begins Investing in a Digital Currency Future

The fintech industry has been a hot topic of discussion in most Western civilizations, Japan and China for several years now. As these global leaders continue to expand fintech investment and regulation, others are looking to join in the future opportunities like Bitcoin and its blockchain technology. South Korea is an up-and-coming technological market that has recently signed a partnership with Singapore to invest in a future that includes a digital currency friendly national environment, according to Korea’s Yonhap News.

Many politicians talk the talk, but South Korea knows it is a little late to the party, so they will invest significantly into the fintech industry. According to the chairman of Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Korean government has pledged to invest 3 trillion Korean won, or approximately $2.65 Billion USD, into integrating digital currency into their business culture over the next three years.

He added the government and the local financial industry will launch a consortium on blockchain within this year for joint research and fintech pilot projects. This “second stage” he mentioned is a part of a larger fintech economic roadmap for South Korea that will be released early next year.

This announcement will pair South Korea with international commerce and financial powerhouse Singapore. They will work together on related fintech projects, sharing everything from information on how to regulate fintech, to information on new technologies that will help them reach economic goals.

 

[Fulcrum29]

When the bubble bursts you'll be able to pick them up for a song

Those buying 5/470's and 5/480's must make sure that the straps are corrected or that the proper BIOS is installed, otherwise…

 

[R13...]

Unsure if this has been posted elsewhere but if and when the bubble does burst there are a lot of big companies who may get hurt.

 

[Fulcrum29]

Unsure if this has been posted elsewhere but if and when the bubble does burst there are a lot of big companies who may get hurt.
View attachment 438622

They rely on its implementation.

 

[Sinbad]

Unsure if this has been posted elsewhere but if and when the bubble does burst there are a lot of big companies who may get hurt.
View attachment 438622

The value is not linked to the soundness of the principle.

 

[Ancalagon]

By your logic, the dollar should crash, as should almost every single currency on the market.

Why? Like most modern currencies, the dollar is a fiat currency. It is not backed by anything. It is not backed by gold. It could happen that tomorrow the entire USA is blanketed by nukes, and all of your dollars will be utterly worthless.

The same is true of any cryptocurrency - all they are, is mediums of exchange. You get bitcoin so that you can exchange it for something else. Bitcoin, like the dollar, is only worth as much as somebody is willing to pay for it.

Cryptocurrencies have several innate advantages that make them very popular currencies around the world. As long as those reasons are valid, they will still exist and still be traded.

It isn't that any cryptocurrency is "too big to fail" but rather that an ecosystem already exists to support them. You can use bitcoin on TakeAlot and on Steam. Ethereum has seen investment from some really major players. These are not small flash in the pan currencies anymore. Importantly, there is now a very real use for them.

Yes, a lot of cryptocurrencies will crash. With so many in the market, a lot of them will fail. There just won't be enough demand to support all of them. But will all of them fail? No. Some will be weeded out and those that are left, will be with us for a while.

 

[Cius]

You guys are misunderstanding a fundamental concept of fiat currency. The sum total of all dollars or rands in the world is the sum total of the country they represents GDP. This is why if a country prints money without similar growth in their economic output you have more money chasing the same goods and inflation happens. There is something backing those countries, its economic output. There is no such thing for cryptocurrencies. Its a series of one's and zero's on a computer and the value is entirely based on what people are willing to pay for it.

 

[Ancalagon]

You guys are misunderstanding a fundamental concept of fiat currency. The sum total of all dollars or rands in the world is the sum total of the country they represents GDP. This is why if a country prints money without similar growth in their economic output you have more money chasing the same goods and inflation happens. There is something backing those countries, its economic output. There is no such thing for cryptocurrencies. Its a series of one's and zero's on a computer and the value is entirely based on what people are willing to pay for it.

How then can the value of a Rand change without our GDP changing?

Our GDP can be measured in Rands, correct? Let us say our GDP is R1000, and let us suppose that R1000 could buy us $100 US.

Then Jacob Zuma opens his mouth. Our GDP is still R1000, but now that can only buy us $50.

The value of the rand has depreciated - nobody wants to buy it anymore and hence the exchange rate plummets. Yet GDP (in the short term) remains unchanged.

The value of a currency relative to other currencies is influenced by GDP, but is also influenced by a lot more things. Investor confidence, for instance. You could have a country with amazing GDP, then Jacob Zuma takes charge, investor confidence tanks, currency drops, GDP remains as is (when measured in the local currency).

The sum total of all dollars or rands in the world is the sum total of the country they represents GDP

Also pretty sure this is flat out wrong. Influenced by GDP but not equal to it. Otherwise every time JZ opens his mouth, we would have to have a bonfire and burn Rands.

 

[Fulcrum29]

Its a series of one's and zero's on a computer and the value is entirely based on what people are willing to pay for it.

Say banks adopt Ripple as a transaction medium or Ethereum becomes a conditional standard? Say Bitcoin is optimally optimised to keep historical records to a byte, how many transactions will it potentially be able to make per second? Zcash is all about privacy, what happens when the blockchain is crossed with the Ethereum blockchain? Steem incentivize social media... and so on.

Is value only in the demand?

 

[etienne_marais]

You guys are misunderstanding a fundamental concept of fiat currency. The sum total of all dollars or rands in the world is the sum total of the country they represents GDP. This is why if a country prints money without similar growth in their economic output you have more money chasing the same goods and inflation happens. There is something backing those countries, its economic output. There is no such thing for cryptocurrencies. Its a series of one's and zero's on a computer and the value is entirely based on what people are willing to pay for it.

Not sure if that is correct, as soon as the first product/service was paid for using Bitcoin, Bitcoin gained value. Though abstract, the value of the product/service is now reflecting in the worth of Bitcoin. If all products and services in a country should be paid for using Bitcoin, then Bitcoin would partially reflect GDP and partially supply/demand by speculators.

 

[Gtx Gaming]

Not sure if that is correct, as soon as the first product/service was paid for using Bitcoin, Bitcoin gained value. Though abstract, the value of the product/service is now reflecting in the worth of Bitcoin. If all products and services in a country should be paid for using Bitcoin, then Bitcoin would partially reflect GDP and partially supply/demand by speculators.

A huge percentage of Nigeria's GDP is traded in BTC as there own currency is almost worth nothing.

 

[Ancalagon]

Say banks adopt Ripple as a transaction medium or Ethereum becomes a conditional standard? Say Bitcoin is optimally optimised to keep historical records to a byte, how many transactions will it potentially be able to make per second? Zcash is all about privacy, what happens when the blockchain is crossed with the Ethereum blockchain? Steem incentivize social media... and so on.

Is value only in the demand?

I think JP Morgan recently announced that they were beginning development of an inhouse crypto currency which combined some aspects of Ethereum and ZCash.

 

[etienne_marais]

I think JP Morgan recently announced that they were beginning development of an inhouse crypto currency which combined some aspects of Ethereum and ZCash.

Correct, though the blockchain will be private and subject to regulation.