If we wanted to give every person on earth some Bitcoin, you would end up with 0.00217700 which is roughly $2 dollars.
If you purchase a full BTC and it becomes huge, you could make your money back easily, but even if you purchase a 1/10th at $70, you would be well off.
I personally set up a weekly buy of like $10 and just move it from an exchange to a wallet I own. You do not need 1000 BTC, 1-2 would be a worthwhile investment if you're up for it.
Warning to anyone doing this: Bitcoin can be addictive, you buy your first half, then you want one, then you want two, then you want five and then you get ten... and then you sell your house.
The problem with this logic is that it assumes that Bitcoin mining security is still sufficient once we're close to the 21 mil limit- This is starting to become a tenuous assumption and likely some sort of currency demurrage will need to be instituted within the next decade.
I did not say Bitcoin would take off or be worth millions. I merely said the only bad time to buy Bitcoin is after every person on Earth has some, at that point, it may be too late.
Your investment philosophy is based on the hope that Bitcoin soars in value, possibly driven by some type of global uptake. Neither of those is going to happen.
Why would everyone on earth have Bitcoin? The vast majority of people don't have any non-cash assets, and many don't have any cash assets either.
Yes, because a digital method of making payments will never take off. Paypal would like a word with you as well.
> vast majority of people don't have any non-cash assets, and many don't have any cash assets
Think about it, it's a currency that behaves like cash virtually. You can transfer it anywhere that internet exists. Western Union would like a word here too. There's thousands of people around the world that are unbanked because of many reasons.
> Why would everyone on earth have Bitcoin?
They wouldn't.
Bitcoin settlement is 10 minutes. Try transferring money to another country and having it "ready to go" in 10 minutes with lower fees than Bitcoin. The business-to-business remittance market is worth Billions and that's not even counting customers.
> CXO at Fortune 500
I never subscribed to the whole 'It's going to take over the world', because it won't. However, the technology's upside cannot be denied and you should have the tools to analyze them as a CEO, CFO or CTO. The reason for "my logic" was to point out that there is no "bad time" to throw $5 into Bitcoin.
> Yes, because a digital method of making payments will never take off. Paypal would like a word with you as well.
I didn't say there wouldn't be a future digital method of payment. I'm talking specifically about Bitcoin.
Slightly off topic, Paypal is due for a challenger as well. It's aging gorilla in that space.
> Think about it, it's a currency that behaves like cash virtually. You can transfer it anywhere that internet exists. Western Union would like a word here too. There's thousands of people around the world that are unbanked because of many reasons.
There's no reason that has to be Bitcoin. In fact, Bitcoin has a number of problems that make it unworkable as a "world currency".
> They wouldn't.
You specifically said, "Before everyone has one."
> Bitcoin settlement is 10 minutes. Try transferring money to another country and having it "ready to go" in 10 minutes with lower fees than Bitcoin. The business-to-business remittance market is worth Billions and that's not even counting customers.
There's no reason a better platform won't arrive that works both within the borders of a country and across it's borders. Ten minutes per confirmation is a long time. For anything more than a pack of gum you probably want more than one confirmation as well (say at least 5 or 6 for an international wire transfer). That combined with the block size issue, global DDOS vulnerability, and history of Bitcoin companies either fleecing customers or getting fleeced by hackers means it's going to be a long road.
> I never subscribed to the whole 'It's going to take over the world', because it won't. However, the technology's upside cannot be denied and you should have the tools to analyze them as a CEO, CFO or CTO.
Being blind to the downsides and limitations is arguably much worse.
> The reason for "my logic" was to point out that there is no "bad time" to throw $5 into Bitcoin.
Throwing money in a bucket because "Something good might happen" is generally a bad idea. Larger amounts of money make it a bad idea at a larger scale. Being "Only $5/week" doesn't make it a better idea, it just limits the damage. If you're writing off the $5/week as a total loss and consider this pure speculation, then sure go nuts. But I wouldn't preach this as a long term investment recommendation to anybody.
Also, early December 2013 would qualify as a particularly bad time to buy Bitcoin though dollar cost averaging would handle part of that.
> For anything more than a pack of gum you probably want more than one confirmation as well
Actually, if it's a trusted partner, 1 confirmation is enough. Hell, if it's someone you do regular business with, 0 confirmations may even do it. Businesses that regularly transfer thousands across borders could do use this to settle transactions every night.
> There's no reason that has to be Bitcoin.
There's no reason it doesn't have to be Bitcoin.
> global DDOS vulnerability,
You can't DDOS the network since it's so far spread out.
> history of Bitcoin companies either fleecing customers or getting fleeced by hackers means it's going to be a long road.
There is an incentive to scam your users and for your company to be attacked. You get money immediately by just packing up and running or attacking a company that holds customer funds.
> You specifically said, "Before everyone has one."
Yes, the best time to purchase Bitcoin if it's in your "list" would be before everyone has one.
> early December 2013
There was only one Bitcoin sold at the high price of 1024. Current price is 700ish. Once we pass that 1024, there will be no time where it was a bad time to buy bitcoin.
> wouldn't preach this as a long term investment recommendation to anybody.
Depends on your definition of long term. I consider mine to be 5-10 years but I'm less risk averse than that the average investor.
You are comparing an investment with an expected value of -30% to another which could go either way. I'm struggling with the logic of how minus thirty is the better choice here.
If we wanted to give every person on earth some Bitcoin, you would end up with 0.00217700 which is roughly $2 dollars.
If you purchase a full BTC and it becomes huge, you could make your money back easily, but even if you purchase a 1/10th at $70, you would be well off.
I personally set up a weekly buy of like $10 and just move it from an exchange to a wallet I own. You do not need 1000 BTC, 1-2 would be a worthwhile investment if you're up for it.
Source: http://bitcoinsperperson.com/
Warning to anyone doing this: Bitcoin can be addictive, you buy your first half, then you want one, then you want two, then you want five and then you get ten... and then you sell your house.