Is it a good idea to do so, or is it a scam?

Caveat Emptor -- the established ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum are at their all-time highs, and many of the rest are outright scams. Dogecoin started as a joke, has no intrinsic value, got pushed up 700% by Reddit in two days and then fell back by half.

Do not "invest" more than you plan to lose.

What CharlieSW just said.

On a side note - I remember years back when Pizza Hut was giving away shares of bit coin with a certain $ of order. Probably a value of $3 vs. $30,000 - $40,000 today.

Lots of potential money to be made but IMO it is pure gambling. Have a couple friends that have made 40-50K over the past year on 10K investments. I know another guy that lost money over last year.

My thoughts are it is going to go one way or another.

Either crypto is here to stay and is accepted by all governments or worse, becomes the defacto world standard instead of the dollar. I think the one world order group wants this. In this case I do not believe it is likely the bottom will fall out of crypto.

The other case is world governments end up viewing crypto as a threat to their power and with the swipe of a pen eliminate the ability to use crypto. In this case the value of crypto could quickly go to near zero.

Having said all that, I am far from knowledgeable on the subject......but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night

It is a Ponzi scheme based on nothing of value. It is only worth what people are willing to pay, not based on any intrinsic value, but simply based on which direction they think the value will go in the future.

The fact that it is "crypto" and you can "mine" them on the internet has confused people into believing there is any basis to it.

I won't touch it.

Crypto is much riskier and much more volatile that stocks or other traditional investments.

So as cruiser68 pointed out, it's even more like pure gambling versus investing.

Imagine if you bought Bitcoin , hundreds or thousands of them , back when it was practically worthless. A $500 gamble back then would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars today . Seems like a no brainer to me.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
Imagine if you bought Bitcoin , hundreds or thousands of them , beck when it was practically worthless. A $500 gamble back then would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars today . Seems like a no brainer to me.

But without a crystal ball, or a time machine, there's no way to know. So without foresight or time travel, it's far from a "no-brainer".

If you throw $500 each at 10 different cryptos "just in case", and they all tank, you're out up to $5000. There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies out there, only a few of which have made big gains like Bitcoin, and most of which are down, and only worth pennies or fractions of a penny.

Even with the bigger cryptos like Bitcoin going so high, there's still the risk of their bubble bursting and the value tanking. Especially because it's backed by really nothing. There was such a crash just a few years ago for Bitcoin. So the risk is still there, even on the more established ones. Just because it's done well over the past X years doesn't mean it will continue to do well over the next X years. And just because another crypto is cheap today doesn't mean it'll be worth more in the future, or won't be worthless in the future.


Personally, if I were in that situation, I'd be much more comfortable sticking that $5000 in something more conservative, like a prominent ETF, that is more likely to gain you a modest return and much less likely to cost you everything.

It's all about your risk tolerance, and how much you can afford to lose on a gamble. As mentioned, Crypto is fairly high in the risk category.

Similarly, some folks have no qualms against tossing $500 or $5000 on a roll at the craps table or a pull at a slot machine, because it *might* get them a win and a nice return. But just because it could do that, doesn't make such a wager a "no-brainer" for everyone.

All that doesn't mean crypto's not worth the gamble for some people, especially if they already have an otherwise solid investment portfolio, and have the excess cash to afford to make riskier moves "just in case". (Just like being able to afford to go on a gambling bender in Vegas for shits and giggles, without compromising their finances.) But unless you've got more money than you know what do with, most folks would want crypto to be just a small part of their investing, to help lessen their risk.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
Imagine if you bought......

It's easy to look back 10-15 years and pick a winner at anything. For every bitcoin how many losers were there in the last 15 yeas?

If you have concerns over Fiat Currency how can you like bitcoin? Good or bad at least a fiat currency has a government behind it.

To summarize what others are saying:

You invest in things that you have some understanding of. Things that have a history and some predictability. You can still lose, but it's informed by facts and research.

You speculate in things like crypto because it is entirely unpredictable - there is no history or fundamentals to predict how a crypto currency will be accepted or adopted. Now, if you run a Reddit forum where millions of people will immediately put their money where you tell them, you have a much better chance of making money with your speculation

So, maybe not a scam but it's like taking your money to the roulette table - maybe you will hit it big, but you are likely to lose it.

A local Supermarket has a vending machine that sells Bitcoins, that should tell you something.

quote:

Originally posted by satch:
A local Supermarket has a vending machine that sells Bitcoins, that should tell you something.

Do the Bitcoins come out in the multicolored plastic capsules after you put in your quarter, like the spider rings and temporary tattoos?






I suspect you're referring to a "Bitcoin ATM", which is a terminal where people can exchange cash for Bitcoin in their digital wallet, and vice versa. Basically the automated Bitcoin equivalent of something like buying physical gold/silver with cash at a precious metals dealer, or selling gold/silver for cash at a dealer. In either case, the Bitcoin ATM or gold/silver dealer takes a small percentage as their fee. The difference is that while the value of gold and silver also fluctuates, they don't do so nearly as dramatically as Bitcoin, and unlike a cryptocurrency, gold and silver have intrinsic value.

"Investing" in Crypto is going swimming in shark infested waters for sure. Yes some people make money in it, most lose their shirt.

I have very actively traded in BTC, ETH, ADA, LINK, and XRP for 2 years. I have had some great trades. But you get on the wrong side of a trade with leverage and the whales will try to liquidate your account in a 5 minute 100% retracement.

quote:

I do not believe it is likely the bottom will fall out of crypto.

My attempts to grok Bitcoin have failed. While traditional markets have mastered the value of 'how many zeros' , cryptocurrency in my view is working on manipulating 'when the decimal point is moved'.

I am unable to get beyond the physical aspects of 'intrinsic value'. The whimsical nature of an invented asset that lives only on the computer file.

It might have appealed to me when I was 18, but I've seen enough inevitable consequences of ignoring gravity.

Do you have any vices currently? The answer is almost certainly yes.

Stop doing that, or them (let's be honest you probably have a plurality of vices) for a week or so and if you still feel like doing something with the money you saved...

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
Imagine if you bought Bitcoin , hundreds or thousands of them , back when it was practically worthless. A $500 gamble back then would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars today . Seems like a no brainer to me.

So wouldn't Amazon, Apple and many other stocks. You just need a clear and reliable crystal ball.
For that matter ammo and toilet paper just a year ago would have been much better than almost any stocks. Even if they didn't appreciate you could still shoot them and wipe your whatever too.

If you do invest, do it with the big ones.

A Crypto Exchange CEO Dies—With the Only Key to $137 Million
Customers of QuadrigaCX are out as much as $190 million after CEO Gerry Cotten died; Cotten reportedly was the only one with the key to retrieve the money.



https://www.wired.com/story/cr...es-holding-only-key/

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:



I am unable to get beyond the physical aspects of 'intrinsic value'.

But that's just it, isn't it? there is no "intrinsic value." It has no value in and of itself. People can track the provenance of each bitcoin - big deal. Some electricity and computing power were used to "mine" each bitcoin - okay and so?

It's current value is based on the demand for the currency itself with nothing to back it except for the full faith and credit of the internet.

Aren't traditional investments enough of a gamble?

quote:

Originally posted by cruiser68:
Lots of potential money to be made but IMO it is pure gambling. Have a couple friends that have made 40-50K over the past year on 10K investments. I know another guy that lost money over last year.

Did your friends that made these profits take the cash and leave that market, or did they leave it there, and are going for millions in profit from their 10K investment?