should i trust bitcoin with my life blood?

[ardouronerous]

I'm a little skeptical of Bitcoin, it's probably because I'm a little hesitant of change, I mean, we've been using physical currency such as dollars, euros, pesos, yens, etc, since the dawn of time, and here comes a digital currency, so I'm a little resistant of accepting this.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where money is our life blood, I personally wish we lived in the Star Trek universe where money doesn't exist and every man, woman and child would get his or her fair share of the world's resources, but since we don't live in a world like that yet, money is no laughing matter, can I actually trust Bitcoin with my life blood?

[TheFu]

No, but what do you mean by "life blood?"

Should you avoid bitcoin? I wouldn't. But I wouldn't have more than I could happily lose either.

And when I say bitcoin, I mean all crypto currencies combined. They are all prone to being hacked and just because you have a coin, doesn't mean anyone will accept it. Some coins are banned forever, which makes them worthless.

OTOH, if you look at the price history for many of these currencies, it is hard not to speculate a small amount. Saw a presentation that claimed $1000 in BC from 2009 is worth over $1M now. Hard to argue with that, but some people have been burned. The current pricing seems 80% too high to me (only looked at a price chart for about 20 seconds). I'm not an expert in BC pricing charts.

I wouldn't bet my life savings or even 1% of them. I'm fairly diversified in US and international stocks, real estate, and other commodities - like gold-pressed latinum.

Reasonable, steady, growth, with a long history of management producing those results is how I invest. I don't pick stocks with a dart-board or based on the personality of the CEO or President.

Hope some others will respond too. Just be aware of some overzealous people trying to say that history leads to future results. That is NOT true.

[ardouronerous]

No, but what do you mean by "life blood?"

What I mean by that is since we cannot really live without money, so money is our life blood. Thanks for all the info, a lot of seep in. Waiting for others replies.

[TheFu]

BC definitely is not "life blood" level here. I use cash for anything under $30 and credit cards for things over that in-person. Still use checks for bill payment to companies, if they don't accept electronic payments directly from the bank. All Govt payments are by check too. I hate, hate, hate, convenience fees as required to pay govts with a credit card.

I don't have a debit card - due to the long period of time where they didn't offer the same legal protections as ATM cards. That has changed in my jurisdiction. I don't like to use debit cards at retail PoS - they get direct access to your bank account and TAKE your money. If there is any issue, they have your money already and you have to beg to get it returned. With a credit card, they do not have your money and they have to negotiate with a huge credit company, not little-ole-me. I treat credit cards as sub-30 day loans. Last time I didn't pay off any credit card monthly was in 1989 and it took 2 months to pay in full.

Your location might have different laws with greater or lesser protections. Most places in the world have less credit card protections than where I live. Any payment made while overseas usually means the money is gone with zero legal protections.

When I want to spend money anonymously, I take the 8+% hit and buy a pre-paid gift card with cash being cautious about my OpSec for the purchase and all use of the card. I think this is more anonymous than using cash, actually.

Bitcoin exchanges have been hacked or "lost" millions of coins. The currency itself is well-designed, but spending it brings added risks that might not be desirable.
South Korea $5.5M
Hong Kong $66M
and I've seen 10+ others.
Japan - $465M!

[Bucky Ball]

Should you avoid bitcoin? I wouldn't. But I wouldn't have more than I could happily lose either.

^^^
Exactly this. Have a dabble with some spare cash, if you have it, but don't invest your life savings. Are you a gambler? You will be if you start buying Bitcoin as it is a gamble. The value of a bitcoin can rise and fall rapidly and drastically. Unless you are willing to keep an eye on things and buy and sell your BCs when appropriate, then there is the potential to lose the lot, or close.

DO NOT INVEST YOUR LIFE SAVINGS IN BITCOIN! At least, not at this point in its development. Sure, one day analogue money will be a thing of the past, but that day has not yet arrived.

(PS: I'm looking to put some savings somewhere so did a fair bit of research on Bitcoin as I thought it might have potential for savings. Definitely not an option at this point unless I don't mind the possibility of losing my 'life blood'. I do mind!)

[lisati]

Haven't had a need to invest in BC here. For most things I do, cash or POS using my regular ATM card. For online stuff, I have a debit card. I haven't written out a cheque since the 1980s, or used a credit card for at least five years.

[ian-weisser]

[C]an I actually trust Bitcoin with my life blood?

I think you should not.
You seem to be considering investing.

Real investing means a clear, thorough understanding of the investment, and controls to minimize risk.
Without that understanding and those controls, it's not 'investing'. It is merely 'speculating' (or 'guessing' or 'hoping')

[LastDino]

BC investing in 2012-13 would've made sense with spare cash, it was the new thing back then and wasn't attracting ill views, more like no one was taking it too seriously. It was then governments started to discover its real threat/potential like that of underground transactions. Alas, you can be sure that it will attract more restrictions in future, so the million dollar question, is it good investment?

When making an investment, we always check "Risk to reward ratio", if you check BC chart (See attachments)


from 2013 it has came a long way, even since Jan 2017 it has more than doubled, a strong uptrend, a strong over-valuation and possible strong correction around the corner. Pay attention to words strong over-valuation and correction, as valuation is mostly "perceived" as there is no real physical equal measure like gold or bonds is used for its production, you run a risk of losing quite a lot of your money in case of adverse news, as it is now open for speculation and worse, no guarantees as no government backs it.

Then there is problem of its actual use, limited acceptance and its digital nature making it open for cyber robberies. Clearly not yet something for everyone. And this is explained better here already.

Personally, I wouldn't even bother with it using my spare money, as I've no use of it nor find risk to reward feasible. It is however good chart to trade on intra-days, no investments, you have simply missed the bus.

[Bucky Ball]

Then there is problem of its actual use, limited acceptance and its digital nature making it open for cyber robberies.

Blockchains have been called the 'silver bullet' for security. They are extremely secure. I don't know of anyone hacking a blockchain or Bitcoin, but I haven't managed to read everything ever published on everything everywhere.

I have read about the security of blockchains and bitcoins though and am in the process of trying to find that link to post here ...

Put it this way, it's not like having a bank account at an institution that can be hacked. A transaction is a totally private thing between two individuals, the details of which are ONLY available for view to those two individuals. There is separate encryption at each end, if you follow me. I'm no cyber security expert, so not a great explanation. Perhaps someone else can elaborate.

Understanding the nature of a blockchain and how it works will go someway towards understanding the security of blockchains (bitcoins).

[LastDino]

If it exists and connected through Internet, all silver bullets are taken by me with grain of salt. They taste little salty, but better to be safe. Though, from what you described, I admit it is far better than what your bank would do for you. Still salt, its life.