Bitcoin

[BitcoinPrincess]

Hi

Can anybody tell me about Bitcoin? I keep thinking about putting some money into it, about £500, as I hear/read some amazing things about it?

The problem is I know nothing about it myself and have no clue where to start. I'm worried I'll go to the wrong place to buy, do you have to go through a broker? Does it cost to sell? Is it worth it?

I'm assuming I would put the money in and forget about it for a couple of years, but I've no idea if it would be worth anything then!

Thank you

I think if you're going to invest, now is a good time. It went up massively recently but has taken another drop - it'll go back up for sure.

Me and DP bought 4 bitcoins between us at the start of 2016 (I think they were about £300) and they're currently worth £36,000. We inherited some money and decided to invest in a few bits and bobs. We just left everything - a couple of the investments have tanked, a couple have gone up, but wow, bitcoin makes up for the ones that have tanked 100 times over.

Never invest in something you do not understand. If it is worth investing in then understand it first.

@PantherPantherus description is a good one. You are basically creating a unique digital number. Think about it like a £20 note with a serial number on it. It is unique and will be used to enable transactions without human interaction. Bitcoin is one, but there are others so this potentially makes it unlimited. As crypto-currency becomes more readily accepted you can expect states to intervene and take control.

I see crypto-currency as a bit like a long lease. In the early days there is a long life and it is valuable, but eventually the curve peaks and its value will diminish as more unique numbers are created and it takes over traditional cash. If it takes over traditional cash. Many nations are run by dictators and that will have a bearing.

what happens if the person running it just does a runner...this has happened...??....i dont understand it at all so wouldnt risk my money.

And how do you get your money out of it...??...sell to some one else..??

The beauty (or horror, depending on your position on traditional finance) is that there is no one person in charge of it. It is completely independent of country borders or political allegiances.

If you store in in a digital (or better, a hardware) walletand look after it, it's yours.

You are responsible for the keys. Don't share your private key with anyone. Your public key is the address of your coin.

It's volatile of course, but therein lies the opportunity and therefore the risk. Never invest more that you can afford to lose. Don't go into it without understanding what you're getting into.

PS. I would be a bit skeptical of what "techy" people say about Bitcoin. The ones who are most vocal about it being a bubble and a scam are usually simply jealous they missed out. Nobody who bought Bitcoin years ago has any doubt that it's a scam.

Basically yeah. Techies can be strongly opinionated people but a lot of them don't live in the real world. As long as you never invest more than you can afford to lose, that's a good way of doing it. Cryptocurrency is worth as much as anyone's willing to pay for it, just like a lot of things.

I may look into this.

Bitcoin is very volatile, but if you're relaxed about losing or gaining money, it could be fun.

I'm a techy and personally won't go near crypto currencies because I have serious environmental concerns.

Crypto currencies rely on "proof of work" to keep the block chain ledger going. The bitcoin miners do so by getting their computers to solve completely pointless cryptographic puzzles. To get rewarded, they have to do this a lot, burning through a lot of electricity. People are happy to pay the steep electricity bills because Bitcoin is worth so much.

It's estimated that Bitcoin mining uses 0.5% of the world's energy. That's the same amount of energy as an entire country, on just solving pointless puzzles - not anything useful - I find it quite sickening actually.

Huh, investing 500 dollars into bitcoin is almost pointless. If you are willing to invest such a small amount of money, I recommend you look towards some other cryptocurrencies that cost much less. I mean, have you seen how much the bitcoin costs? It's 48.000 bucks! Dude, your 500 dollars won't bring you much profit here. If you want to start investing in crypto, I recommend you try trading crypto. But you'll need a good trading bot for that, like the ones reviewed on www.bitconnect.co/bitcoin-aussie-system/. It will help you gain as much money as possible.

Easiest way to lose your money ever. The whole thing is propped up by something called Tether tokens which is backed by nothing. They just print more to keep prices high. Big crash round the corner.