[QUOTE]THE HAGUE (AFP) - A Dutch family has sold virtually all they own, including a business, their home, two cars and a motorbike and invested the takings in bitcoin just as the virtual currency is soaring to new heights."We are putting everything into bitcoin, we've sold everything to invest in this currency," Didi Taihuttu told AFP.
The 39-year-old is currently living in a camping ground with his family, aiming "to put as much money as possible to one side and transform it into bitcoin".
Having turned his back on a "materialistic life" three months ago, Taihuttu and his wife and three daughters, aged 12, 10 and seven, are living in a small holiday chalet in a camping ground in eastern Venlo and are watching their savings "grow every minute somewhere on the cloud".
Bitcoin, a crypto currency created from computer code, was worth only a few US cents when it was launched in February 2009 by someone using the Japanese-sounding name Satoshi Nakamoto.
Unlike a real-world unit such as the US dollar or euro, bitcoin has no central bank and is not backed by any government and is not generally recognised as a currency.
But bitcoin can be exchanged for goods and services - or for other currencies - provided the other party is willing to accept it.
Last week, it surged through the US$5,000 level for the first time since its launch - representing a rise of more than 400 per cent just this year.
"It's the currency of the future," said Taihuttu, who is an IT specialist and until recently ran a company employing 16 people.
"We are taking part in a revolution, or an evolution of the monetary system," he added, predicting that "by 2020 the bitcoin will probably be worth 25,000 euros". That equates to S$40,000.
Bitcoin is traded through blockchain technology, which publicly records transaction details including the unique alphanumeric strings that identify buyers and sellers - technology which is gaining increasing currency among banks and companies.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/dutch-family-sells-everything-to-bet-on-bitcoin[/url]
I don't think its that good of an idea, you know, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Plus, he's got kids, can bitcoins feed a family? It rises alot but its risky, and not everywhere accepts it atm.
And just like people who bet their life savings on gambling in Vegas, they may very well be left with absolutely nothing for almost absolutely no reason. A riskier investment I'm not sure I could imagine.
This can only end well
see what you can do in a society with ridgid safety nets people, you can have the choice to make probably moronic life crushing decisions, its freedom to innovate in the field of dodgy financial investments, freedom to know that no matter how bad your fortunes fall, no matter how stupid people think you are, you can at least know you have healthcare and a strong social state behind you
If they've decided to sell everything because they don't want a materialistic life, then go for it. They probably don't care what happens to their money and bitcoins then anyways.
[QUOTE=Ignhelper;52805486]
I don't think its that good of an idea, you know, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Plus, he's got kids, can bitcoins feed a family? It rises alot but its risky, and [B]not everywhere accepts it atm[/B].[/QUOTE]
Actually you can pay directly with bitcoin using visa. My friend has a bitcoin atm card and uses it to buy stuff in person(although this is in california and not the netherlands). You can even buy real estate now [URL]http://bitcoin-realestate.com/[/URL]
Bitcoin is increasing at a tremendous rate but holy fuck this guy does not know that there is no inviolable law stating it will keep increasing. If he bought in last month when the price crashed to $3k and everyone was panicking, he could have doubled his money by now it seems like he's really betting on the value skyrocketing to the moon.
He really should have diversified but when btc goes up, shitcoins go down. I don't think he'll lose all his money though. BTC is at the point where it has gotten so popular that people are instabuying the slightest dip to get a piece of the action since people are believing that it really will reach $10k by the end of the year.
[QUOTE=Ignhelper;52805610]I was referring to atm as in at the moment, but thanks for the extra info.[/QUOTE]
I know you were but it's coincidence that it still doesn't change my response. I thought it would cause confusion.
[QUOTE=Dr.C;52805602]Actually you can pay directly with bitcoin using visa. My friend has a bitcoin atm card and uses it to buy stuff in person(although this is in california and not the netherlands). You can even buy real estate now [url]http://bitcoin-realestate.com/[/url]
Bitcoin is increasing at a tremendous rate but holy fuck this guy does not know that there is no inviolable law stating it will keep increasing. If he bought in last month when the price crashed to $3k and everyone was panicking, he could have doubled his money by now it seems like he's really betting on the value skyrocketing to the moon[/QUOTE]
I was referring to atm as in at the moment, but thanks for the extra info.
[QUOTE=Dr.C;52805602]Actually you can pay directly with bitcoin using visa. My friend has a bitcoin atm card and uses it to buy stuff in person(although this is in california and not the netherlands).[/QUOTE]
TenX?
I got my temporary card almost a month ago, haven't had any issues.
[t]https://i.imgur.com/I1W6UWJ.jpg[/t]
I've used it on Steam, I've used it to grab some energy drinks, I've bought tomatoes with it. Zero problems.
i think the real money is on dogecoins, in corgulous we trust
[QUOTE=Sableye;52805661]i think the real money is on dogecoins, in corgulous we trust[/QUOTE]
Doge isn't even a corgi.
It's a Shiba Inu.
How retarded do you have to be to liquidate your entire life and invest it into internet meme currency. Not sure if "giving up a materialistic life" and "living on a campground because you sold everything for internet money" is the same
I think it's a good idea, but they should've waited for a bust. Bitcoin will keep growing as long as people believe in it. It's quite beautiful how far investors have gotten on hope alone.
[QUOTE=bob4life;52805810]How retarded do you have to be to liquidate your entire life and invest it into internet meme currency. Not sure if "giving up a materialistic life" and "living on a campground because you sold everything for internet money" is the same[/QUOTE]
Spotted the guy who sold his bitcoins too early
I have doubts that the BTC/USD ratio will drop significantly. Large financial entities have started buying them up, so they're probably going to have value just because these companies say they have value.
I still wouldn't trade all of my economic worth into Ethereum or Bitcoins, though.
[QUOTE=Ott;52805850]I think it's a good idea, but they should've waited for a bust. Bitcoin will keep growing as long as people believe in it. It's quite beautiful how far investors have gotten on hope alone.
You spotted a guy with common sense. It's a terrible idea to invest all your wealth into anything, much less something as funky as bitcoin.
Spotted the guy who sold his bitcoins too early[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Ott;52805850]I think it's a good idea, but they should've waited for a bust. Bitcoin will keep growing as long as people believe in it. It's quite beautiful how far investors have gotten on hope alone.
Spotted the guy who sold his bitcoins too early[/QUOTE]
How bout you go live on a campground for an indeterminate amount of time because your dad has a gambling addiction, and let me know how that works for you
should have done it 7 years ago, now its pointless
[QUOTE=Svinnik;52806970]should have done it 7 years ago, now its pointless[/QUOTE]
That's what they were saying five years ago. And two years ago. And six months ago. And two months ago.
[QUOTE=Svinnik;52806970]should have done it 7 years ago, now its pointless[/QUOTE]
while the point has been said; it's seen a 400% increase in this year alone according to the article, and im sure many people thought one year ago that it was already too late to invest. So, yeah.
[QUOTE=Svinnik;52806970]should have done it 7 years ago, now its pointless[/QUOTE]
started investing in the last 4 months and im v. optimistic about the outlook
[QUOTE=Dave_Parker;52808214]Way to make yourself a target to hackers[/QUOTE]
Fair bet to say their private key is probably pretty safe on a hardware key.
It's actually pretty trivial to secure this stuff.
Is Bitcoin going to be the future, where ordinary cash and known currencies such as the us dollar and euro will become redundant?
Bitcoin? No. Nobody's going to wait 10 minutes for a transaction to go through.
Ethereum is going in the direction that it can do VISA amounts of traffic, thanks to staking (no more fickle miners) and sharding. But it can't do it yet.
Even then, you'd still need to get people using it.
EMV-Crypto bridges like TenX are probably going to be the popular option, for those that want it, for the next 3-10 years.
Why bitcoin? If they're looking to invest, why not invest in a wide variety of stocks
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will never gain traction, as they're simply too niche for the general public to use. Throwing your money at a cryptocurrency while thinking its a good investment is foolish at best and downright destructive at worst. Blockchain technology [I]is[/I] being seriously looked at by banks and other financial institutions, however. They're looking to use it to streamline operations such as clearing and settlement for securities trades, cross-border payments, and interbank lending.
If you want to invest in the [I]technology[/I] as a low-net worth retail investor, look for companies developing such systems. If they're not already public, wait for them to IPO or see which banks are looking to acquire them and trade/invest appropriately. For publicly traded blockchain technology companies, do some research and see which one you think is most promising. These will likely be companies that provide financial services to others. It's hard to invest directly unless you have several hundred thousand or a few million to put into a specialised mutual fund run by a venture capital firm.
Putting [I]everything[/I] you got into BTC is stupid, but I can commend his resolve. It has the potential for an absolutely enormous payoff provided he can continue to hold out as it grows. However, if you're a believer in BTC, you should also be investing in companies that want to utilize it as a form of currency.
No point in having BTC if you can't actually buy anything with it and just plan to flip it back to your standard fiat after it grows. Support decentralized.
[QUOTE=Techno Grub;52808276]Is Bitcoin going to be the future, where ordinary cash and known currencies such as the us dollar and euro will become redundant?[/QUOTE]
No. Central technocratic control over fiat currencies is essential to pretty much any functioning modern economy. Cryptocoins, and especially bitcoin, recreate a lot of the problems gold, silver, etc. had.
It has its place though, with people using less and less cash there is something to be said about using assets to be able to exchange for something in a decentralized manner. As well as being able to run decentralized apps, which will probably largely be the legitimate usage for these coins. The key point of these is that they aren't liable to censorship.
First it was tulips, now it's BitCoins.
Welp... Hope that works out...
Breaking news: man loses everything to bitcoin crash
"I just couldn't have seen this coming"
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