On the flip side, it's funny to watch talking heads on TV act like they've never heard of bitcoin before so they can imply it's some scammy fly-by-night thing that just showed up. It's the exact same thing those exact same people were saying after the first pump brought the "value" to $300.

I thought crypto was kind of interesting since the beginning, so I've followed it a little over the years. There is a common thread of moneyed people putting it down, which is odd because it's an unregulated speculation market without all the barriers of entry and forced middlemen (albeit without the protections) the traditional markets have. Also, even basic research would reveal that banks and hedge funds are now betting on it in a big way. There's even a group of banks that are banding together to fund a crypto project designed to replace the current antiquated and slow electronic transfer system.

Just to be clear, I'm not a true believer or anything like that. I figure there's going to be a huge crash and leveling out at some point and a bunch of people are going to lose a lot of money. One thing that does seem obvious though... it's not going away unless the government steps in and maybe not even then.

Oh yeah, and this video is despicable.

What do you consider a big crash? Because bitcoin lost over 50% of its peak value in the last couple months.

I dunno, getting back down below $1000.

One of the things that's a lot different from traditional markets is the volatility is really high. Anything else, a 50% drop in value would be a huge deal and often a signal of the end. A real stock also wouldn't have seen an almost 4000% increase in under a year only to settle back down at a "measly" 2000%.

I mean, to put it in perspective, this happened before a couple of years ago only a lot worse. In a similar time period, it dropped ~70% from $950 to $250. If you draw a linear graph of the entire history of bitcoin, the period I'm talking about is essentially a flat line.

I certainly wouldn't want to put any money into a crypto... at least not without researching closely and waiting for the rare pretty safe bet to come along (there have been a couple)... but I mean it's 7 years now and you're still saying it's a scam? Sure, it's a scam... in the sense that the stock market is a scam, or used car dealerships are a scam. It's a scam with some staying power.

At the least the used car has intrinsic base value, even as scrap.

Stocks and crypto (and silicon valley startups) are the same kind of scam at this point, the scam of hype/brand = value. With a very tiny percentage of people getting obscenely rich off it while some maybe make some money (a pittance in relation to the 1% insiders) and plenty of people losing.

There is no rationality left in any of these markets, not any that the respective majority accepts. It's all gambling on image and hype.

example; Volkswagen, the biggest car maker in the world, owner of Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini, shipping 10.5 million cars in 2016, is worth ~130 USD a share. Tesla, a company that has yet to make a profit, shipped 0.1 million cars in 2017 and is in extreme danger of being made irrelevant by the big manufacturers going electric, is worth ~340 USD a share.

There is no rational reason for this other than people think the Tesla brand (and its owner) is more valuable

You see, our plan is to steal “other” people’s “money”, not your “money”, definitely “other” people’s “money”.

Yeah, they are. I know a guy.