# Bitcoins Drop 50% Today
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 10, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350 "2013-04-10T20:06:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/41 "2013-04-14T19:14:59Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#):
>
> Let’s just break it down to this question: can I safely ignore the Bitcoin phenomenon
Sure, I don’t think it will ever be more than a very minor player in the world of finance and it’s unlikely to have any impact on you unless you make an effort to buy some. But you can safely ignore most activities in the financial world that don’t have a direct impact on your personal budget.
---
### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/42 "2013-04-14T19:48:18Z")
How are they anonymous? It sounds like there’s inevitably an electronic trail. Indeed, it seems like there would have to be.
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> But however they work, for all intents and purposes they are “whipped up out of nothing”.
To be fair, this point is true of traditional currency as well. The Fed creates dollars out of nothing.
---
### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/43 "2013-04-14T20:57:52Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
>
> How are they anonymous? It sounds like there’s inevitably an electronic trail. Indeed, it seems like there would have to be.
>
> To be fair, this point is true of traditional currency as well. The Fed creates dollars out of nothing.
Yes, however traditional currency is backed by the government and national banks and accepted as a form of legal tender by pretty much everyone.
It just seems utterly bizarre to me that people view bitcoins as somehow more stable than a national currency like the US Dollar or the Euro.
---
### Author:  [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/44 "2013-04-15T00:51:53Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Which means the only reason they have value is because some fridge group of people believe they have value.
That’s a stone cold investment there.
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/45 "2013-04-15T05:03:00Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Yes, however traditional currency is backed by the government and national banks and accepted as a form of legal tender by pretty much everyone.
Not only that, but they’re legally required to be accepted as legal tender. The U.S. government has to take dollars as taxes, and American businesses have to accept dollars as payment. Nobody has to accept bitcoins.
---
### Author:  [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/46 "2013-04-15T05:07:02Z")
Honestly I was looking into bitcoins to make some quick cash a while back but in the end its just too volatile and risky, wish I could have done it a few years ago and made a little bit of dough and then got out, but I don’t see getting involved in them in my future.
---
### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2013, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/47 "2013-11-19T07:43:24Z")
> [@PastTense](#):
>
> The biggest market [Mt.Gov](http://Mt.Gov) is temporarily down. Elsewhere prices continue to collapse. As I write this about $69
> [https://btc-e.com/](https://btc-e.com/)
That was on April 11 of this year.
So what do I read today?
“Bitcoin surges to all-time high of $900, then drops below $650 in 30 minutes”
[http://www.geekwire.com/2013/bitcoin-surges-alltime-high-800-government-discusses-legitimacy-digital-currency/](http://www.geekwire.com/2013/bitcoin-surges-alltime-high-800-government-discusses-legitimacy-digital-currency/)
---
### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2013, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/48 "2013-11-19T09:05:02Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#):
>
> That’s a stone cold investment there.
Yeah, but their assets are frozen.
---
### Author:  [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2013, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/49 "2013-11-19T11:02:04Z")
And the returns on them are quite chilling.
---
### Author:  [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/50 "2013-11-19T13:47:40Z")
> [@PastTense](#):
>
> That was on April 11 of this year.
>
> So what do I read today?
>
> “Bitcoin surges to all-time high of $900, then drops below $650 in 30 minutes”
> [http://www.geekwire.com/2013/bitcoin-surges-alltime-high-800-government-discusses-legitimacy-digital-currency/](http://www.geekwire.com/2013/bitcoin-surges-alltime-high-800-government-discusses-legitimacy-digital-currency/)
That’s the main problem I see with bitcoin – It doesn’t look to me as being stable enough in value to be a suitable currency. The way it is behaving it looks more like some kind of “hot” stock that is being subject to speculation.
It makes me distrust bitcoins at a very deep, fundamental level. I don’t know if this will change with time, but for now I definitely want to keep as far away as possible from them.
---
### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/51 "2013-11-19T14:00:13Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Which means the only reason they have value is because some fridge group of people believe they have value.
I think you meant “French” group.
[sub]We don’t have French benefits?[/sub]
---
### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/52 "2013-11-19T14:50:53Z")
> [@JoseB](#):
>
> That’s the main problem I see with bitcoin – It doesn’t look to me as being stable enough in value to be a suitable currency. The way it is behaving it looks more like some kind of “hot” stock that is being subject to speculation.
>
> It makes me distrust bitcoins at a very deep, fundamental level. I don’t know if this will change with time, but for now I definitely want to keep as far away as possible from them.
You’ve hit the nail on the head. It’s behaving like a hot stock. But hot stocks are usually being supported by something real, like good earnings. The ones that aren’t eventually come crashing back down when the Greater-Fool Scenario finally plays out.
---
### Author:  [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350/53 "2013-11-19T16:28:44Z")
> [@JoseB](#):
>
> That’s the main problem I see with bitcoin – It doesn’t look to me as being stable enough in value to be a suitable currency. The way it is behaving it looks more like some kind of “hot” stock that is being subject to speculation.
>
> It makes me distrust bitcoins at a very deep, fundamental level. I don’t know if this will change with time, but for now I definitely want to keep as far away as possible from them.
[Here’s a realtime map showing bitcoin transactions.](http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-map-2013-11)
It seems to be a popular currency in China due to political repression there. So I suspect it will continue to be popular in places where people need to make wholly anonymous online transactions. I guess people will just continue to fractionate the currency. If it becomes extremely volatile, you’ll just buy what you need from an exchange fairly close to when you expect to make a transaction.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins-drop-50-today/655350.md?page=2)