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Original poster

Anyone know about bitcoin?

38 replies

Chancewouldbeafinethlng · 08/05/2019 11:39

Dh is going on at me to invest the kids savings in to bitcoin but I’m very unsure.
I know it is not making much interest sat in a savings account but at least I know it is safe and not going anywhere.
Wwyd?

OP posts:
IAmTheChosenOne · 08/05/2019 11:45

no

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/bitcoin-cryptocurrencies

This means it doesn’t hold the same legal status as money.

They are generally not backed by any kind of tangible asset and are currently unregulated – meaning if something goes wrong, you won’t get any compensation.

So, if you’re looking to buy or invest in Bitcoin or other types of cryptocurrency, you’ll have limited legal protection and a high risk of losing some or all of your capital.

BarbaraofSevillle · 08/05/2019 12:05

Anyone who invested in bitcoin a couple of years ago are currently looking at losses of well over half their money. There's no guarantee that the price will rise in the future.

There's a saying that you should never invest what you can't afford to lose or invest in what you don't understand. Also any investments should be part of a balanced portfolio that includes cash, shares, premium bonds etc.

With bitcoin it's a huge gamble, I wouldn't do it.

RebootYourEngine · 08/05/2019 12:14

I wouldn't invest in bitcoin. A few years ago you might have made money but I doubt you would now.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General money Savings & investments
DGRossetti · 08/05/2019 12:21

If you start from the fact it's not an investment vehicle (and never was), you really get the answer you need.

It was actually a proof-of-concept. (With some quite large flaws which needed ironing out in subsequent cryptocurrencies).

WickedGoodDoge · 08/05/2019 13:04

I love crypto, but it’s absolutely not an investment. It is a gamble and you should only buy bitcoin if you are happy to take the risk that you could lose every last penny. It’s possibly out of its latest bear market now, but there will be people who bought at the top $20k and panicked and sold at a loss somewhere on the way back down to $3200.Daily fluctuations in either direction of up to 30% are not uncommon - it’s like the stock market on speed, but again not an investment.

Olbaa · 08/05/2019 13:24

I like playing around with bitcoin but as others have said absolutely not. It fluctuates massively, you'd be potentially gambling the kids savings away.

Original poster
Chancewouldbeafinethlng · 08/05/2019 13:25

Thanks everyone. He’s said something about something happening in China that makes it worthwhile but tbh I am not good with finance so prefer to just have it somewhere I know it’s safe.
We’ve agreed that I will take 25% out but I’m not comfortable losing any more than that.

OP posts:
DGRossetti · 08/05/2019 13:31

Make sure you've done it properly. You need your own wallet and keys - don't give it all over to a 3rd party.

You'll also need to provide full money-laundering ID to the exchange.

RezCowgirl · 08/05/2019 13:34

It was an investment 6/7 years ago not anymore.

TheViceOfReason · 08/05/2019 15:54

You'd be better buying gold bullion. At least you have something tangible that is unlikely to plummet in value. You'd be utterly bonkers to "invest" in bitcoin now. The ship for making money on that has long sailed.

DaisyDreaming · 08/05/2019 16:40

Oh god don’t invest the kids savings in crypto, it’s a gamble, only gamble what you can afford to lose and your kids savings isn’t one of them!

WickedGoodDoge · 08/05/2019 17:07

OK, if you are going to go ahead, follow DG’s advice and don’t use an exchange to hold your coins. If you follow any Twitter crypto, you’ll see the phrase “Not your key, not your coins” and you really need to listen to that . Exchanges can and do get hacked- e.g. just last night, Binance, a very large exchange lost $40 odd million in bitcoin. Exchanges may or may not compensate for stolen coins - I would not count on compensation, though.

Original poster
Chancewouldbeafinethlng · 08/05/2019 17:50

He’s mentioned a gold bullion but I’m not sure we would have enough for that, and where do you store it? Will gold always be desirable?

He’s got his own wallet. He’s pretty clued up, or he sounds pretty clued up. He’s been banging on about it for ages but tbh I zone out Blush
He’s not happy but 25% is all I’m willing to risk losing.

OP posts:
DGRossetti · 08/05/2019 17:54

OK, if you are going to go ahead, follow DG’s advice

If the OP goes ahead, they're not following my advice Grin

DGRossetti · 08/05/2019 17:55

There are also plenty of other currencies now - so at least a bit of a spread. But it's a funny way to invest in things that aren't investment vehicles ....

pink412 · 08/05/2019 17:56

I won’t too late the time was when it was new now everyone is doing it.

Alicesweewonders · 08/05/2019 19:29

Absolutely not. The currency is too volatile

RamblinRosie · 09/05/2019 01:38

Bitcoin is this century’s tulip or South Sea bubble, early investors will have made fortunes, but they aren’t based on anything concrete, you could easily lose everything.

Gold always seems to go up, long term, but still risky. Look hard at what fees you’ll be paying.

If you want security, go for Premium Bonds, you can’t lose but you could win big, my Dad always reckoned he’d made more than the basic interest rate.

Your partner clearly considers himself financially savvy, make him prove that, long term, with his own money.

RosemaryHoight · 09/05/2019 01:54

My last job in banking was in trading.

Bitcoin stinks of mlm to me. I would ever give any money to it.

DGRossetti · 09/05/2019 09:52

Bitcoin stinks of mlm to me.

Not so sure I'd characterise it as that.... As a proof of concept BitCoin is sound and one exemplar of the possibilities of blockchain. However as a PP (me) stated, it wasn't intended to be an investment vehicle but a currency. Two very different things.

A lot of BitCoin shortcomings have been ironed out in subsequent cryptocurrencies - hence the suggestion to spread risk if you insist on "investing" in them (since I wouldn't).

Of far more interest - and proportionately far less understood - is the underpinning blockchain that implements crytocurrencies. And when enough people retire who don't understand that, we'll start to see it being leveraged in the wild.

WickedGoodDoge · 09/05/2019 10:17

But if you get into alts, you need to be very careful. There’s a shitload of shit coins out there

WickedGoodDoge · 09/05/2019 10:19
BumbleNova · 09/05/2019 10:22

Why not at a stocks and shares portfolio? Something like nutmeg if you are a beginner? Better returns than a savings account but not bonkers like bitcoin. Bit of risk but you can choose your level.

You can put it in an ISA wrapper so it's tax efficient too.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 09/05/2019 10:47

I would say that you have a responsibility to be good stewards of your children's money. Therefore, I wouldn't say Bitcoin is that. Very volatile, very high risk, not regulated. Put your own/DH's money into it if that's what you want, but I don't think it's fair to risk your children's money in that way.

I did actually look at Bitcoin (on a personal level) but chose not to.

For the children's savings, we've gone from a high street savings account (virtually zero interest) to a stocks and shares ISA with Hargreaves Lansdown. You can choose your own funds and risk, move money around yourself (can do that online). Obviously it's regulated and we've got a spread of risk, so of course we might lose, but the stock market has a long history of analysis and our time frame of investment is long, so we're hoping to gain in the longer term.

MNOverinvestor · 12/05/2019 22:10

Waves at WickedDoodDoge - shakes head sorrowfully in the direction of Ripple...