Wait for Peilthetraveler to come here and tell us all how another $100 collapse is meaningless because BTC is still up "xxx%" over the last 12 months. How that matters to anyone who went long over the last 4-5 months and are getting crushed, I have no idea. But why use facts and logic. BTC is the next world currency! Woooooooooooooo!
You can say the same about any investment/gamble. Obviously where you bought and/or get out is what matters. I wonder how those who bought bear when Cramer was pumping it up right before the collapse feel. Probably a lot worse than those who got out at the all time high.
And that is why you should be trading it and not investing in it. The initial run up phase that comes with a new technology is over and now it will behave like a penny stock, reacting to every news, but also following TA. So just sell at every run up and buy it back when it falls. Short term it will probably go back to the above $600 range. The major dangers for your long term holdings are: 1. Government regulation. 2. A bitcoin killer coming along. 3. Some other big and maybe unfixable problem in the protocol. Other than that, I am not against virtual currencies if they are not a beta phase human socio-economy test projects.....
That's nonsense for a Long-term investor. You guys still don't get it: Fundamental prospects for the Bitcoin-protocol (and just one of its apps: the currency) are astounding. Just like what the Internet was in 1995. Give it a few years and we will all agree: that it developed to something as useful and valuable as the Internet today. Fundamentals are bright: you invest and hold for a few years, it's that simple!
1) Regulation is a good thing, as long as it isn't over-regulation. And NewYork is just doing that: a moderated Bit-License, which will enable (this Summer) one or more professional USA Exchanges, which will fill the gap the Gox is leaving. 2) possible but not likely (5 years network-effect isn't easy to overcome) 3) it's a programmable protocol, so always fixable (unless SHA-encryption is cracked, but in that case the whole-world is in default {Bitcoin would be one of it least troubles}). And as always: don't Invest in Bitcoin with money you can't miss.
Oh nowadays it is very easy to overcome it. All you need is to distribute the coin among a large userbase, instead of keeping most of it for yourself. There is a guy in Iceland who plans to premine a new coin and distribute it among icelanders based on their SS number (it is public). That would be immediately a possible 300K userbase. Or just use a popular website like reddit, if you give coins to each user, that is like a 10 million possible user in 1 day.... Network effect is one of the most over rated argument for bitcoin. Doge has more users after 3 months than bitcoin had in its first 3 years....
I agree that Doge is one of the exceptions with some amateur Miners in the Script-family. Still Bitcoin has 99%, and I really don't see that any professional Investor or VC or Payment-processor or large internet-shop will jump on that Doge joke.
Like I've said in other threads, anyone that thinks the major world governments are going to give up the power that comes with their printing presses have a poor grasp on how government and politics work. 95% of what a US Congressman or Executive Branch member does is related to controlling and distributing how money that is printed by the US Treasury. All they have to do is label these crypto currencies as criminal money laundering schemes or banking for terrorists and it's all over for them. That will happen if these things ever become even remotely main stream, which is what it would take to bid up the price to where most BTC lovers think it's headed.