I have a lot of friends investing in crypto-currencies recently, and here's the fun thing: most of them are well aware this is a speculative bubble, but it didn't stop them investing. Quite the opposite actually, they believe this is the beginning of the bubble, and they can make a several hundred percent investment in a short timespan. And they are quite right, in every speculative bubble, no value is ever destroyed, it's merely a transfered from some speculators to others, all they need to do is sell at the right time.
> in every speculative bubble, no value is ever destroyed
Public trust is destroyed by bubbles. That takes time to rebuild. In the meantime, it leaks into the political system.
I was in an Uber the day Bitcoin hit $19,000. My driver was proud he'd just taken out a second line on his house to buy. There is a non-negligible chance he, and people like him, will end up on the public balance sheet as a result of these wealth transfers.
> in every speculative bubble, no value is ever destroyed
2008 was a speculative bubble in real estate. When it burst, it came frighteningly close to taking down the entire US financial system. "No value destroyed" doesn't begin to describe what nearly happened.
The Great Depression did far more than wipe out the gains made in the stock market.
A lot of my friends lost money when Tron fell from 20+ cents to 10 cents. Beware of speculation. There will always be winners and losers and reading the bots on Reddit is not helping this bubble either.
Well, a metric shit-ton of nonrenewable fuel took a one-time conversion into global-warming causing greenhouse gas. But let's all just paper over that little fact, eh?
What I don't get is this: what makes them think that they're early? When it's on TV day and night and Paul Krugman's barber asks him about it, is that the right time to build up a long position?
You just described how every intelligent person gets scammed everywhere--"I'm too smart to fall for their tricks, I'll know when to sell just at the right time!"
No, you won't. Because you don't know the scam, you just think you know. It's not a coincidence that hundreds of Wall Street con men jumped into the crypto space in the past couple of years. You aren't going to outwit them. They know exactly how to operate their scams in a completely unregulated environment.
The best part of the article was where Buffett said he'd buy put options on cryptocurrencies if he could, but wouldn't short them. I bet most investors in cryptocurrencies don't understand his reasoning there, and that's frightening.
Note: I'm not saying they have to agree with it, but if you don't understand his point and are invested in cryptocurrencies you should really be asking yourself how much you really know.
>If I could buy a five-year put on every one of the cryptocurrencies, I’d be glad to do it but I would never short a dime’s worth.”
Hmm, in that way you could see it as the market around cryptocurrencies lacking the financial complexity that could bring their volatility back down to more normal levels.
He's right about the shorting: to short it using futures is, in a way, to side yourself with potential ruin. Only through put options can you safely do this.
It's always good to see the same hot takes rehashed over and over on HN. I'm sure Bloomberg appreciates the ad revenue.
Buffett (with all due respect, and I have a lot of respect for him) doesn't understand Bitcoin, and doesn't add anything of value to the discussion. He's never been much of a technology investor, so this should surprise no one.
Understanding how Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies work in general doesn't make them suddenly have more value. I really wish supporters would stop parroting the "if you only understood you would see how good of an investment this is" argument.
Just because you read the white paper and spend 20 hours a day refreshing news alerts for bitcoin doesn't make your investment a good one.
I agree this article doesn't add anything to the discussion. If anything, Bloomberg is making out by selling the proverbial shovels around here by fueling the hype machine.
Crypto currency is an asset. He has bought and sold a lot of assets over time and has done pretty well. Google Tulip mania. The whole point of bitcoin was a form a digital currency. However due to the high transaction fees and volatility you can't really use it for that. I have no idea where it is going, but to dismiss a guy who has experience buying and selling things for a long time seems foolish.
Buffett said he didn't want to invest in IT because he didn't understand it enough, but it also lead him to never say it was going to fail. Here it's different, he specifically points out that he thinks it will fail.
You may disagree with his point of view, but to dismiss his input as absolutely irrelevant is out of touch, so is claiming he "doesn't add anything of value to the discussion": his opinion, by value of who he is and his experience, is value to the discussion in a field that is still about speculation and high risk investment.
I find it interesting how many people on here like to eat up the words of most mogul and take it as semi gospel, then balks when one of them goes against one of their pet love thing. This is not specific of cryptocurrencies, although due to their "get rich quick" attributes these tend to make it even stronger. Just goes to show how people are the same everywhere, even (hell, especially) the "more informed".
I don't personally believe in his point of view, I think while all current cryptocurrencies are going to fail or at least become a small sideshow especially the big names ones, the next wave will be smarter in what they try to be. Still, I value his input as much if not more as those of "self proclaimed cryptocurrency experts" who merely happened to have made one good bet. He made a ton more of those.
The post is remarkably devoid of any content and just a series of assertions. So, as you said, its the same take rehashed.
But apart from that, bitcoin and the concept of cryptocurrency are conceptually not that difficult. And even if they were, their value is not due to their technical novelty but due to their fundamental nature as financial instruments.
If Warren Buffet is warning against them, we do need to look at them and try to understand what is the problem he sees. As he knows more than most here about financial instruments.
The risks need not be technical in nature at all. For example, governments could fail to recognize cryptocurrencies as valid contracts thus voiding the benfit of legal systems. So, you own tokens of a house? Good luck enforcing that.
Investing in Bitcoin, the currency, is just that: currency investing/speculation. Buffett knows and understands that. Investing in the blockchain technology is no different than investing in any other technology: invest in companies you think will use the technology effectively to create profitable businesses. It is actually the technology people that conflate the two and are getting confused by it.
And Buffett has repeatedly said that it's a bad idea to invest in things you don't understand. He's also known for preferring longer-term investing to short-term speculation.
As for cryptocurrency values, of course they're all quite volatile. Anybody who reads HN is probably aware of this by now. Using them as a long-term store of value without actively managing a portfolio right now would be unwise.
Long-term, however, I expect distributed cryptocurrency will replace centralized fiat currency for most purposes. All it would take is an existing cryptocurrency that actually works well as a currency (not Bitcoin) combined with a financial crisis.
My problem with it all is right now, there are numerous ICOs happening by new companies, old companies, and small groups of people. Instead of adapting ones created already, such as ethereum, they claim theirs takes it to the next step. When does it all stabilize and people actually use the currency instead of invest? Who knows.
There are two types of investors. Those that don't understand cryptocurrencies and just ride the hype train; and those that do.
To those that do, some rich guy's opinion doesn't mean a lot. It's just another opinion floating in the infinite opinion space. Authority means nothing to them.
Buffet, someone that says they don't invest in technology because they lazily "don't understand it" then advises clients not to invest in it. Also misses big run ups. Techs are on the top billionaires list for a reason.
I've seen plenty of people calling this a FOMO craze and that may well be the case, and demand may eventually fizzle out. But I think it's far more likely investors get spooked.
Compared to market investors, relatively few of the people investing in cryptocurrencies understand the technical underpinnings. All it's going to take is a spate of high value hacks, another central service provider going down (MtGox v2) and thefts, or even an act of terrorism funded by Dogecoin... and you'll see a run. It may not be sustained, but I think this is an important difference from standard investment theory.
Something to consider is that people like Buffett stand to lose the most from a completely egalitarian financial system, as is professed by Bitcoin idealists (such as myself). Another perspective here is that Buffett does understand Bitcoin, and wants to protect his own interests by maintaining the status quo.
I think except for Bitcoin, most altcoins have no infrastructure or developers working on it and hence doomed to fail. There is definitely a bubble and individual investors not knowing how to time the market will fail and lose lots of their hard earned money.
All i could focus on was the statement increase of 20% and how ambiguous that statement is whether you are referring to the original percentage or a percentage of that percentage (which is what he meant here).
Cryptocurrency is currently in the silly phase of bubble. It looks exactly like the peak of dot.com mania. A crash is coming fairly soon. My top end estimate for time remaining would be a year, but I'd warn anyone contemplating a shorting strategy that bubbles have a way of going far higher than anyone can predict. Many people lost serious money trying to short dot.com and housing. Still we are definitely in the fragile tail end and the crash could come literally any second now.
I lived through dot.com and housing mania and I'm having serious deja moo right now. Deja moo is when you've seen this bull before. On a recent flight I saw a long format in-flight advertising video for DASH, an altcoin. I repeat: airline advertisements! If you still have doubts that we are in gibbering flapdoodle land, head over to YouTube:
We have celebrity endorsements and music videos. Run away.
I think the crash is going to look a lot like a bank run. There will be some piece of news that triggers it (exchange collapse, policy change, who knows) and then everyone will scramble to cash out. It will quickly become obvious that there is insufficient USD/EUR/etc. on hand to actually back the current market cap of the top ten coins. At that point exchanges will halt trading. Lawsuits will be filed. Exchanges will go into receivership. More lawsuits will be filed. Criminal charges may start getting filed. You get the picture.
Most of the crime and financial fraud that will happen in this bubble is happening now or will happen during the crash itself. Most financial fraud is driven by frantic attempts to cover one's ass. My guess is that top people at all the exchanges know they are in serious trouble and there are many frantic meetings going on debating what can possibly be done. Since a bubble is basically a naturally occurring emergent Ponzi scheme, the only way "out" is to get more dumb money in so smart money can exit... hence the airline advertisements and Facebook ads to buy coins. I am currently seeing a lot of the latter.
Sadly a lot of naive people will lose tons of money. People have been dumping their life savings and mortgaging their houses to get into this. It could have follow-on effects on the economy. Some of the big Bitcoin exchanges are privately insured, so I wonder if it could drag down a few insurance companies. The rest of the economy is fragile so it's not impossible that this could trigger a recession.
Cryptocurrency will not go away post-crash any more than the Internet went away post dot.com crash. We're just approaching the irrational exuberance peak of the new technology adoption hype cycle.
After the crash it will go back to being a semi-underground niche thing for a while. Valuations will return to sanity. Those exchanges and other businesses that do survive will gain a lot of experience and a reputation for stability. Ironically sometimes the best technical work gets done post-crash, so I wonder if after the crash we will finally see useful applications built on this tech beyond its core currency use case.
If you really believe in the long term promise of this technology, after the crash would be the time to buy in.
P.S.
I really wish high schools would teach a class on finance, and if they did it should include a lesson on bubbles and a study of a few recent ones like dot.com and housing. People should be educated about what a bubble looks like and how to avoid getting ruined by one.
It wouldn't stop everyone. The allure of herd behavior and gambling is strong. But it would save a few folks from losing their life's savings.
Why does seeing an ad for an established cryptocurrency signal a crash? Do you think the same thing about tech stocks when you see an ad for a new tech company?
Paradoxically, reading Buffett's essays on investing was one of the major inspirations for me to invest in crypto in the first place. Buffett typically only invests in things he understands well, that produce a solid return, and that are undervalued. These are good principles for anyone to follow.
But when he buys, he either buys all of a company, or enough of it to have some level of control over it, and that's only possible these days if you're wealthy as he is. The rest of us are pretty much just betting on horses.
I think I would agree with him about crypto if I was an older person who already had enough wealth to purchase a significant stake in a real business. For investors like that, the world is their oyster. For people who are young, familiar with technology and largely without any wealth, Bitcoin is much more attractive. It's risky, sure, but to many of us, the entire economy looks just as risky, and with lower growth potential. This statement would sound insane to someone like Buffett, but it's the reason why Bitcoin exists in the first place.
Edit: I'm not advising people make any investments in Bitcoin. Just providing a counterpoint. Invest in what you know.
> For people who are young, familiar with technology and largely without any wealth, Bitcoin is much more attractive.
This is a crazy way for young people to think though and the opposite of how they should be thinking. If they don't have much wealth, they certainly shouldn't put it in something so incredibly risky as Bitcoin. They would be really hurt if/when BTC tanks. Someone who's rich wouldn't really notice 10% of their net worth gone.
> It's risky, sure, but to many of us, the entire economy looks just as risky, and with lower growth potential.
The entire economy is definitely not as risky as BTC. The economy doens't see 50% swings in value week-to-week.
Check out Bill Miller's investor letter where he discusses the "certainty" of storied investors that Bitcoin will fail. Miller is the most successful mutual fund manager in history.
Could you please explain succinctly why do you think that Bitcoin is undervalued, why should it produce solid future returns and why do you think it is a good investment for someone with (comparatively) little investable cash?
> But when he buys, he either buys all of a company, or enough of it to have some level of control over it, and that's only possible these days if you're wealthy as he is.
A lot of that is simply that he now has too much money to be able to efficiently buy bits of companies. His early career was still based on value investing, but mainly consisted of regular stock purchases. Berkshire Hathaway still has decent-sized chunks of Coca Cola and various other companies on its books.
Buffet is first and foremost a reader and an investor second. He reads A LOT! If he does't like bitcoin it's because techies have failed to explain it or he truly thinks it's not valuable (perhaps he has knowledge of money/currency/banking that most of us dont?).
Not only does he invest in things that are undervalued but they also must provide value. Crypto currencies themselves do not provide value. The companies that make the hardware for mining provide value. Power generation companies that make the electricity for mining provide value. But a crypto currency provides no value by itself, it's just bits and bytes on a harddrive.
I'm not saying he's wrong, but he's notoriously bad at investing in technology. He just does not get it, for the most part.
He would probably have never invested in Netflix, or Facebook, or Google. Yet any investor who did made a killing.
Now, I'm pretty sure everyone is aware at some point the music has to stop (at least I hope they do). A major correction will happen at some point. But no one knows when. It could be tomorrow, or it could be 3 years from now.
I believe that 98% of the roughly 1400 coins listed on coinmarketcap will come to a bad ending, because the vast majority cannot has no good enough reason to exist. That includes all bitcoin clones with a few parameters tweaked and a different hash flavor of the hashcash PoW.
Bitcoin continues to evolve, and will find more use cases with 2nd layer scaling solutions like Lightning.
Ethereum continues to experiment with proof of stake and sharding solutions.
Both will explore ways to increase privacy, hopefully in ways that do not impair scaleability.
Those two are the only ones I am reasonably sure will still list near the top, 10 years from now.
[+] [-] littlestymaar|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JumpCrisscross|8 years ago|reply
Public trust is destroyed by bubbles. That takes time to rebuild. In the meantime, it leaks into the political system.
I was in an Uber the day Bitcoin hit $19,000. My driver was proud he'd just taken out a second line on his house to buy. There is a non-negligible chance he, and people like him, will end up on the public balance sheet as a result of these wealth transfers.
[+] [-] AnimalMuppet|8 years ago|reply
2008 was a speculative bubble in real estate. When it burst, it came frighteningly close to taking down the entire US financial system. "No value destroyed" doesn't begin to describe what nearly happened.
The Great Depression did far more than wipe out the gains made in the stock market.
[+] [-] perseusprime11|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spookthesunset|8 years ago|reply
Well, a metric shit-ton of nonrenewable fuel took a one-time conversion into global-warming causing greenhouse gas. But let's all just paper over that little fact, eh?
[+] [-] FabHK|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ataturk|8 years ago|reply
No, you won't. Because you don't know the scam, you just think you know. It's not a coincidence that hundreds of Wall Street con men jumped into the crypto space in the past couple of years. You aren't going to outwit them. They know exactly how to operate their scams in a completely unregulated environment.
[+] [-] workthrowaway27|8 years ago|reply
Note: I'm not saying they have to agree with it, but if you don't understand his point and are invested in cryptocurrencies you should really be asking yourself how much you really know.
[+] [-] jm_l|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] frgtpsswrdlame|8 years ago|reply
Hmm, in that way you could see it as the market around cryptocurrencies lacking the financial complexity that could bring their volatility back down to more normal levels.
[+] [-] panarky|8 years ago|reply
Buffett doesn't need complex financial markets because he does custom transactions directly with companies.
A Winklevoss could easily sell him a billion-dollar five-year put, but he wouldn't like the price.
[+] [-] cma|8 years ago|reply
This must mean Buffett thinks crypto has a good chance of exploding in value! Buy Kodak! /s
[+] [-] csomar|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] elhudy|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown_apostle|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] comboy|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brndnmtthws|8 years ago|reply
Buffett (with all due respect, and I have a lot of respect for him) doesn't understand Bitcoin, and doesn't add anything of value to the discussion. He's never been much of a technology investor, so this should surprise no one.
[+] [-] nxsynonym|8 years ago|reply
Just because you read the white paper and spend 20 hours a day refreshing news alerts for bitcoin doesn't make your investment a good one.
I agree this article doesn't add anything to the discussion. If anything, Bloomberg is making out by selling the proverbial shovels around here by fueling the hype machine.
[+] [-] samfisher83|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nolok|8 years ago|reply
You may disagree with his point of view, but to dismiss his input as absolutely irrelevant is out of touch, so is claiming he "doesn't add anything of value to the discussion": his opinion, by value of who he is and his experience, is value to the discussion in a field that is still about speculation and high risk investment.
I find it interesting how many people on here like to eat up the words of most mogul and take it as semi gospel, then balks when one of them goes against one of their pet love thing. This is not specific of cryptocurrencies, although due to their "get rich quick" attributes these tend to make it even stronger. Just goes to show how people are the same everywhere, even (hell, especially) the "more informed".
I don't personally believe in his point of view, I think while all current cryptocurrencies are going to fail or at least become a small sideshow especially the big names ones, the next wave will be smarter in what they try to be. Still, I value his input as much if not more as those of "self proclaimed cryptocurrency experts" who merely happened to have made one good bet. He made a ton more of those.
[+] [-] sacheendra|8 years ago|reply
But apart from that, bitcoin and the concept of cryptocurrency are conceptually not that difficult. And even if they were, their value is not due to their technical novelty but due to their fundamental nature as financial instruments.
If Warren Buffet is warning against them, we do need to look at them and try to understand what is the problem he sees. As he knows more than most here about financial instruments.
The risks need not be technical in nature at all. For example, governments could fail to recognize cryptocurrencies as valid contracts thus voiding the benfit of legal systems. So, you own tokens of a house? Good luck enforcing that.
[+] [-] rpedela|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Zak|8 years ago|reply
And Buffett has repeatedly said that it's a bad idea to invest in things you don't understand. He's also known for preferring longer-term investing to short-term speculation.
As for cryptocurrency values, of course they're all quite volatile. Anybody who reads HN is probably aware of this by now. Using them as a long-term store of value without actively managing a portfolio right now would be unwise.
Long-term, however, I expect distributed cryptocurrency will replace centralized fiat currency for most purposes. All it would take is an existing cryptocurrency that actually works well as a currency (not Bitcoin) combined with a financial crisis.
[+] [-] otachack|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] mcguire|8 years ago|reply
And personally, I don't really see what the "technology" brings to the party other than a specific bag of features. Kind of like Uber.
[+] [-] dmichulke|8 years ago|reply
To those that do, some rich guy's opinion doesn't mean a lot. It's just another opinion floating in the infinite opinion space. Authority means nothing to them.
To all others: Sell!
[+] [-] KasianFranks|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oliwarner|8 years ago|reply
Compared to market investors, relatively few of the people investing in cryptocurrencies understand the technical underpinnings. All it's going to take is a spate of high value hacks, another central service provider going down (MtGox v2) and thefts, or even an act of terrorism funded by Dogecoin... and you'll see a run. It may not be sustained, but I think this is an important difference from standard investment theory.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] legulere|8 years ago|reply
Poor souls that invested/going to invest and don't manage to jump of the ship before the bubble bursts.
[+] [-] brndnmtthws|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] perseusprime11|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] austenallred|8 years ago|reply
Interesting to think what five year puts on a cryptocurrency would cost. Probably more than Buffett or anyone would want to pay.
[+] [-] nautilus12|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] api|8 years ago|reply
I lived through dot.com and housing mania and I'm having serious deja moo right now. Deja moo is when you've seen this bull before. On a recent flight I saw a long format in-flight advertising video for DASH, an altcoin. I repeat: airline advertisements! If you still have doubts that we are in gibbering flapdoodle land, head over to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXRhIXp4idM
We have celebrity endorsements and music videos. Run away.
I think the crash is going to look a lot like a bank run. There will be some piece of news that triggers it (exchange collapse, policy change, who knows) and then everyone will scramble to cash out. It will quickly become obvious that there is insufficient USD/EUR/etc. on hand to actually back the current market cap of the top ten coins. At that point exchanges will halt trading. Lawsuits will be filed. Exchanges will go into receivership. More lawsuits will be filed. Criminal charges may start getting filed. You get the picture.
Most of the crime and financial fraud that will happen in this bubble is happening now or will happen during the crash itself. Most financial fraud is driven by frantic attempts to cover one's ass. My guess is that top people at all the exchanges know they are in serious trouble and there are many frantic meetings going on debating what can possibly be done. Since a bubble is basically a naturally occurring emergent Ponzi scheme, the only way "out" is to get more dumb money in so smart money can exit... hence the airline advertisements and Facebook ads to buy coins. I am currently seeing a lot of the latter.
Sadly a lot of naive people will lose tons of money. People have been dumping their life savings and mortgaging their houses to get into this. It could have follow-on effects on the economy. Some of the big Bitcoin exchanges are privately insured, so I wonder if it could drag down a few insurance companies. The rest of the economy is fragile so it's not impossible that this could trigger a recession.
Cryptocurrency will not go away post-crash any more than the Internet went away post dot.com crash. We're just approaching the irrational exuberance peak of the new technology adoption hype cycle.
After the crash it will go back to being a semi-underground niche thing for a while. Valuations will return to sanity. Those exchanges and other businesses that do survive will gain a lot of experience and a reputation for stability. Ironically sometimes the best technical work gets done post-crash, so I wonder if after the crash we will finally see useful applications built on this tech beyond its core currency use case.
If you really believe in the long term promise of this technology, after the crash would be the time to buy in.
P.S.
I really wish high schools would teach a class on finance, and if they did it should include a lesson on bubbles and a study of a few recent ones like dot.com and housing. People should be educated about what a bubble looks like and how to avoid getting ruined by one.
It wouldn't stop everyone. The allure of herd behavior and gambling is strong. But it would save a few folks from losing their life's savings.
[+] [-] jsutton|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] adamnemecek|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] viach|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tboyd47|8 years ago|reply
But when he buys, he either buys all of a company, or enough of it to have some level of control over it, and that's only possible these days if you're wealthy as he is. The rest of us are pretty much just betting on horses.
I think I would agree with him about crypto if I was an older person who already had enough wealth to purchase a significant stake in a real business. For investors like that, the world is their oyster. For people who are young, familiar with technology and largely without any wealth, Bitcoin is much more attractive. It's risky, sure, but to many of us, the entire economy looks just as risky, and with lower growth potential. This statement would sound insane to someone like Buffett, but it's the reason why Bitcoin exists in the first place.
Edit: I'm not advising people make any investments in Bitcoin. Just providing a counterpoint. Invest in what you know.
[+] [-] bluedevil2k|8 years ago|reply
This is a crazy way for young people to think though and the opposite of how they should be thinking. If they don't have much wealth, they certainly shouldn't put it in something so incredibly risky as Bitcoin. They would be really hurt if/when BTC tanks. Someone who's rich wouldn't really notice 10% of their net worth gone.
> It's risky, sure, but to many of us, the entire economy looks just as risky, and with lower growth potential.
The entire economy is definitely not as risky as BTC. The economy doens't see 50% swings in value week-to-week.
[+] [-] vm|8 years ago|reply
https://millervalue.com/certitude-not-test-certainty/
Also a good read is Miller's letter on Bitcoin from 2015. He put 1% of his fund into Bitcoin (now 50% of his fund due to the meteoric rise in price): https://millervalue.com/a-value-investors-case-for-bitcoin/
[+] [-] short_sells_poo|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pmyteh|8 years ago|reply
A lot of that is simply that he now has too much money to be able to efficiently buy bits of companies. His early career was still based on value investing, but mainly consisted of regular stock purchases. Berkshire Hathaway still has decent-sized chunks of Coca Cola and various other companies on its books.
[+] [-] jbob2000|8 years ago|reply
Not only does he invest in things that are undervalued but they also must provide value. Crypto currencies themselves do not provide value. The companies that make the hardware for mining provide value. Power generation companies that make the electricity for mining provide value. But a crypto currency provides no value by itself, it's just bits and bytes on a harddrive.
[+] [-] charlesdm|8 years ago|reply
He would probably have never invested in Netflix, or Facebook, or Google. Yet any investor who did made a killing.
Now, I'm pretty sure everyone is aware at some point the music has to stop (at least I hope they do). A major correction will happen at some point. But no one knows when. It could be tomorrow, or it could be 3 years from now.
[+] [-] hooande|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] s1mpl3|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tromp|8 years ago|reply
Bitcoin continues to evolve, and will find more use cases with 2nd layer scaling solutions like Lightning. Ethereum continues to experiment with proof of stake and sharding solutions. Both will explore ways to increase privacy, hopefully in ways that do not impair scaleability.
Those two are the only ones I am reasonably sure will still list near the top, 10 years from now.