
Ask HN: Is Bitcoin in a bubble? - emilepetrone
The value of a bitcoin in real money:<p>30 days ago - $10.36.78 // 
7 days ago - $17.1156  //
24 hours - $24.0685
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DanWaterworth
Or to put it another way, "do you use bitcoin?". People who use bitcoin are
trying to convince themselves and others that it's not a bubble so that the
value of their bitcoins continues to increase. It is a bubble though. It
surprises me that people still fall for quasi-pyramid schemes and the promise
of ever increasing value. How long do you honestly expect this to last?

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ahi
At the moment it's mostly pyramid scheme. While useful, it's clear Bitcoin's
value has become disconnected from it's utility as a currency.

Perhaps a more interesting question, can a new global/digital currency gain
widespread adoption without massive deflation? Bitcoin has deflationary
features, but the recent increase in values is mostly just a lot of people
pouring into the currency. How can a distributed cryptographic currency be
designed to get around this problem?

~~~
fexl
It is definitely not a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme is a program which
promises investment returns which are only sustainable by capital infusions
from new investors. The creators of Bitcoin never promised investment returns,
therefore it is not a pyramid scheme.

You might argue that it is analogous to a tulip mania, but that's different.
If two people agree voluntarily on a price for a tulip bulb or a bitcoin, that
is all that matters.

If you wish to hold some bitcoin, I suggest that you not get carried away.
Perhaps allocate at most 5% of your net worth to it, and whenever that
allocation rises to 8% or so, sell enough to bring it back down to 5%. That
way if bitcoin drops to zero, you can lose 5% of your net worth and not lose
any sleep over it.

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joezydeco
It crossed $31 earlier today.

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kacy
yes.

