Quote from: Sigmoid on December 18, 2013, 04:39:08 PM

Look deep into yourselves, and ask the following question:
"Why am I in Bitcoin?"

HONESTLY.

If the response is "I read this awesome cypherpunk article in 2009 about a new libertarian, totally free currency, and I've been an advocate since", my hat's off to you Sir, even though I personally think you're full of it. Wink

If the response is, however, "I read about it in the news, and realized that if I were an early adopter, I could be a focken millionaire by now, so I'm here because it's better late then never", then realize the following:
99% of all the people here, of all the people you're trading with, are here for the SAME REASON.

Be honest with yourself. You want to be part of the next big thing that will make you wealthy. That's your SOLE reason for being here.

There's only one problem with that. Bitcoin is not the next big thing, it's the latest big thing. It's already happened. You can't duplicate the success of early adopters. It's mined dry. The price has been to heaven and back. Once everyone has realized that, and the inherent flaws of the system become apparent, things will just wind down.
All these people will take their money and buy penny stocks or real estate in the asteroid belt or whatever. The miners will take their rigs offline because they won't even pay for their own upkeep anymore.

I'm not saying the idea of cryptocurrency is dead, but I'm certain that if a crypto will in fact make it to widespread adoption, it will not be Bitcoin. Bitcoin has several horrible flaws.

Sigmoid, according to several questionnaires, most Europeans and Americans even haven't heard of Bitcoin yet. For a global bubble that you suggest BTC is now, its market cap of $10Bn magnitude seems way to small. BTC hasn't yet really happened. No major institutions got involved, not enough money has been made, from a global perspective... My view is that cryptos is more like a religious/social movement, and can still reappear from weakness to new strength in the coming years. True, even if BTC is not the one to succeed, for now it remains the biggest and most important, so will be in use even for those looking to diversify into different crypto projects, which will likely cure the horrible flaws...