Bitcoins, bubble or good defensive purchase?

[Naude]

With the recent meteoric rise of the value in bitcoins matching the timeline for the Cyprus crisis it makes me wonder. Are bitcoins going through a bubble which is about to burst, or are they some type of safe haven when all else appears to be falling apart. Take a look at this chart below. Makes me wish I had purchased some a few months back!

[Moneypenny]

Nice up tick there.

[Patrick]

I see someone used a few million dollars worth to buy a pizza!

Some call it the most famous pizza purchase in history: In May 2010, a programmer called Laszlo asked an online forum if anyone would buy him a couple of pies in exchange for 10 000 Bitcoins, an experimental online currency launched in 2009.

"No weird fish topping or anything like that," he wrote.

With each Bitcoin fetching less than a cent at the time, the order was worth about $41. Today, it would be valued at about $1.4m.

http://www.fin24.com/Companies/ICT/As-virtual-currency-soars-fears-do-too-20130407

[aspire]

There is a finite number of bitcoins available after which no more can be "produced". This could fuel a demand as it would with other commodities, however a bitcoin has no intrinsic value. I wouldn't put any of my investments into something which isn't based on anything that exists in reality.

[Patrick]

So in one day it went from $260 to $105 and the fall only stopped after the bitcoin exchange decided to close to let heads cool...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/apr/11/bitcoin-exchange-halts-trade-value

[Goliath]

Not for me, think after this weeks jumps..! 

[Moneypenny]

It reminds me of futuristic sci-fi movies where you need ‘credits’ for services or products, swiping a device or implant. Who knows, maybe paying by Smartphone with virtual money is our future but yes, it will be ridiculed at first.

[Patrick]

It reminds me of futuristic sci-fi movies where you need ‘credits’ for services or products, swiping a device or implant. Who knows, maybe paying by Smartphone with virtual money is our future but yes, it will be ridiculed at first.

I spend a good chunk of my time in central and eastern africa. Mobile money is far far bigger than credit cards already. In my view virtual money is definitely the way we're heading. Paypal is the halfway point, but something like a bitcoin is quite likely where we'll end up. I doubt it will be the bitcoin itself. Even though it's an increadibly beautiful algorithm, the fact that it's not based on anything of real value will be it's demise. My prediction is that governments will start "printing" their own virtual currencies in the medium term future.

[Moonraker]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/winklevii-say-they-own-1-percent-of-all-bitcoins/

(Not for me. I reckon government will take them down, as they can't extract taxes.)