It’s a bitcoin frenzy today as the price spikes yet again, this time above $600 per bitcoin! BitCoin $BTC has more than doubled since this time last week. It’s up 50-fold since this time last year. Hope you got some lower than $600/BTC along with me at some point. 🙂
Since I’ve become a de facto leader on the topic if only because I’m just about one of the very few mainstream pundits out there who has for years been talking about competing currencies in general and about bitcoin specifically for the last year. So let’s do a full-on Revolution Investing link-fest on “Everything you need to know about bitcoin and why you might want to join the frenzy”.
First a look back at some of my commentary and bitcoin buying recommendations over the last year.
And in an article back in May called Save your portfolio from the currency wars I wrote: “That’s why you have to not just buy gold, but also silver, a little bit of BitCoin.”
In an article back in July called Expect fireworks in gold heading into expiration I wrote: “I think there’s plenty of room for both physical gold/silver and bitcoin in our portfolios.” Still do.
In a tweet on October 2nd I wrote “Nothing’s changed for Bitcoin $BTC on this news. It’s a rogue currency. I’ll hold my tiny $BITCOIN position probably 4ever.” I still do. And I’ve written a bunch about bitcoin on my Scutify feed.
In the time since we first published those articles, Marketwatch editors (the best editors I’ve ever worked with, by the way, just sayin’) have implemented a standardized “bitcoin” style, but you’ll notice back then there was not yet a standard for BitCoin/Bitcoin/$BITCOIN/etc. Which takes us to the next step we’re seeing here in the bitcoin frenzy. Can bitcoin go mainstream and become a de facto standard competing currency?
Bitcoin tops $600 on hope for Washington’s blessing and Bernanke: Virtual currencies hold promise, risk. Color me shocked and concerned about the implications and their ultimate plans for regulating bitcoin. But the flipside of my concern is that maybe bitcoin will benefit from this loose Republican/Democrat/Fed stamp of approval for bitcoin for the near- and mid-term.
For bitcoin to go truly mainstream and become a de facto standard competing currency, it’ll have to hit critical mass and see real network effects.
Critical mass. “house + mobile home on 2.8 acres in Ohio-accepting bitcoin as a form of payment. 36 BTC”
Network effects. Bitcoin is about distribution (the network effect is stronger than you …)
If you haven’t bought a single bitcoin yet, you can find two articles, including one from yours truly, literally called, “How to buy bitcoins” and “How to Buy a Bitcoin“. Or go here – Buying Bitcoins (the newbie version) – Bitcoin.
I will say that the near-term feels too parabolic to chase the $BTC just now. If you really want to buy right here asap, I’d look at maybe buying 1/10th of how much you want to own and then start a mini-tranche scale-in for the next month unless/until you get a mini-crash in the bitcoin price and then you move it up to a full 1/3 tranche approach.
How crazy is it to own a little bitcoin as an alternative currency and hedge to your dollars or euros or whatever? Well, let me put it this way – Would you rather own:
- $BTC bitcoin,
- Dinars from Iraq,
- $GLD (not gold, but paper promise of gold from corrupt TBTF banks), $SLV (see $GLD),
- Or the #Venezuelan Bolivar. Read “700% return on investment? Venezuelan currency scam pays off” before you answer this one.
I’m not buying bitcoins anymore, but I’m already holding $BTC and I wouldn’t want to own the others for the long-term, that’s for sure.
