Wilson Grant Fisk
Elite Member
- Nov 10, 2012
- 15,677
- 46,840
Its hard to say whether the value reflects its actual cost at the moment. There are two factors that constitute its intrinsic value:
1. Mining electricity costs. This is the same as with gold. Gold cannot worth less than the mining costs. Otherwise the mining will stop, leading to deficit of gold on the market, which in turn will set the prices higher. The electricity costs are high at the moment, and some people moving to Indonesia in order to mine, as electricity costs there are much lower.
2. Bitcoins per capita. Say there are total of 1000 bitcoins, and only 2 people use it. It makes 500 bitcoins per capita on average. Suddenly Bitcoin gets a media exposure and 998 new users buy 1 bitcoin each. Now there is 1 bitcoin per capita on average. The prices go up, because having only 1 bitcoin in a pocket makes it seem as a much more valuable/rare asset.
IMHO the prices are higher than they are supposed to be, but its really hard to say whether it is really or only slightly overpriced.
In my opinion the value is being fuelled by speculation.
If you look at the charts there was natural growth until Jan of this year, now gains are rising due to people seeing BitCoin as an investment opportunity.
[h=2]Who's making money from Bitcoin?[/h] People who bought early and sold at the peak. The currency has been through two boom-and-bust cycles, with the cost of one Bitcoin rising from $2 to $30 in 2011, and then from $13 to $266 earlier this year. But having a fortune in Bitcoin is a bit like having a fortune in gold: you have to sell your holdings to really make the most of it.
[h=2]Will it ever be a mainstream currency?[/h] Economists and developers point to several flaws in the implementation of Bitcoin which render it unsuitable for widespread use. One problem is that the currency has deflation built in to its very core: only 21m bitcoins will ever be produced, and we're already halfway there. Most economists believe deflation is disastrous for an economy, but the Austrian school of economics, beloved by the libertarian creators of Bitcoin, disagrees.
A more immediate problem is that it's not clear that the backbone of the currency can withstand the increased use that going mainstream would take. Transactions can already experience relatively lengthy delays in processing (taking minutes to clear), and that's just with Bitcoin remaining mostly popular amongst enthusiasts.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/04/bitcoin-what-you-need-to-know-silk-road
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