I’m now a believer in bitcoin, should I buy?

Uber
randorname

Go to company page Uber

randorname
Sep 8, 2020 25 Comments

While I used to think cryptocurrency was either a fad or ponzi scheme, I now see that it could likely be the future.

While it has problems like no fraud protection, being difficult to purchase and store, and inconvenient for transactions, companies like coinbase and many others are building companies around addressing these problems.

It’s obviously volatile but it’s survived numerous major downturns, and even its lower bound is steadily increasing over time...

And the most interesting thing to me is when a nation’s economy fails many people actually turn to bitcoin, it just doesn’t have the infrastructure yet to be widely used

I’m seriously considering exchanging half my net worth, $100K USD for BTC, and using it over the next few years for purchases where I can and sending remittances to family abroad. I realize it’s extremely risky but I look at it as helping to shape the future by supporting the startups via transaction fees, and I believe the potential reward also outweighs the risk by far.

Anyone have insights as to why I’d be making a terrible decision?

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TOP 25 Comments
  • Apple / Eng
    yuriy

    Go to company page Apple Eng

    PRE
    Amazon, Google
    yuriy
    BitCoin does not scale, and never will. There are at least *five* orders of magnitude between the maximum number of transactions per second it can theoretically support and the number it would need to support in order to displace existing payments infrastructure.
    Sep 8, 2020 6
    • Uber
      randorname

      Go to company page Uber

      randorname
      OP
      Yeah it has real utility for me to send money to my relatives abroad, with lower transaction costs compared to remittance services
      Sep 8, 2020
    • Cisco
      ojaytnn55

      Go to company page Cisco

      ojaytnn55
      Long time Bitcoin HODLer here. Obviously biased, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

      Uber you are far & away ahead compared to most novices in understanding the narrative of a Bitcoin standard rather than a “payments layer”. I don’t see scaling as a problem at all, due to Bitcoin being a settlement layer.

      The world economy is not actually transferring USD, Euros, Yen around. It’s transferring credits. At the end of the accounting period, banks and governments settle up via an actual settlement payment. You can look up governmental gold settlements and see how literally tons of physical gold is shipped between countries during settlement periods.
      Sep 14, 2020
  • Google
    qichen

    Go to company page Google

    qichen
    Everybody storing every transaction sounds not scalable to me.
    Sep 8, 2020 4
  • Uber
    OG 💼

    Go to company page Uber

    OG 💼
    Those saying BTC isn’t scalable are correct if they mean as a payments chain. (Almost) nobody thinks it will scale as a payments chain. But it can be wrapped and traded on other chains which are more suited for payments. BTCs use case is a store of value that is orders of magnitude better than comparable assets like dollars or precious metals.

    Not investment advice one way or the other. But most people in thread are misunderstanding the core value prop of BTC and straw-manning arguments against it.
    Sep 10, 2020 1
    • Cisco
      ojaytnn55

      Go to company page Cisco

      ojaytnn55
      Exactly. Since Bitcoin is open-source and has no CEO, there are wild amounts of narratives against it. People really need to do the research for themselves.

      I’ve been studying it for 5+ years and way down the rabbit hole.

      I have tried to educate myself on all the counter-narratives. I used to invest in Ethereum and Litecoin but eventually sold those positions because studying them deeper, I could never understand their value. And trust me, I tried.
      Sep 14, 2020
  • In 2040 a single bitcoin will be worth at least 1 million Zuck bucks
    Sep 8, 2020 0
  • not trying to sway you in either direction, but would encourage you to read up/be aware of 51 attack costs as another risk factor.
    Sep 8, 2020 2