STR wrote:
Robert Maxwell wrote:
You would be better off buying bitcoins to hold them, as it becomes harder and harder to mine them in the future, which will increase the value of any coins you buy now.
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You assume that the bottom doesn't fall out when people stop mining. Mining isn't just a way to restrict supply, it's lending the power of your PC to authenticate BitCoin transactions. If the payout drops, and people stop mining, then the network collapses. |
The payout is already a fraction of what it used to be. It takes exponentially more power to mine now than it did when Bitcoin started. It's already to the point where it is not practical for individuals to mine anymore, unless they have massive hardware on which to do it. Otherwise, people have to pool, or they completely waste all the cycles they spend mining.
Ian Keldon wrote:
It's an "alt currency" scam and sooner or later the Treasury department is gonna drop the hammer on it HARD.
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It's a pyramid scheme with a useful ability to launder money and liquidize black markets. Early users ended up with a massive chunk of all BTCs that will ever be created.
The US Treasury doesn't handle BTCs, or XBox Points, or any other currency not issued by the US Treasury. The US government does not outlaw unofficial currencies, even fatally deflationary ones. The government just won't accept them to pay off tax and legal debts.
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Certainly true. I don't think Bitcoin is all that good of an idea, personally, to either mine
or to hold. I just think holding to sell later is the better deal at this point.