I am going to offer you a short and free education on crypto-currency right now with nothing to buy and no where to join. Why should you care?
I am writing this because I know for a fact that many of you will soon be introduced to the world of crypto-currencies by others that do not have an understanding of how these things work. They will tell you that you can contact the person who brought them on board and that person will provide all the answers you are looking for. This post may be the only objective viewpoint you will be able to reference when this happens, and it will happen, as I know for a fact it is happening in Boquete now. Since the launch and success of BitCoin there have been thousands of crypto-currencies attempting to copy the business model of BitCoin. What is a crypto-currency? It is simply an electronic currency. Anyone can start one and many have.
When I first became aware of BitCoin it was trading at $6.75. I faintly remember attempting to set up an online 'wallet' to facilitate my purchase, having some difficulty, and shelving the plan. Do I regret not purchasing BitCoin at $6.75 with it now having peaked over $1000? Sure. Would I have made millions? In all honesty I likely would have exited the market long before it hit its peak, so probably not. Why is this important and relative to any other crypto-currency? Had I purchased BitCoin I would have been able to exit my position at any time for any reason due to others wanting to purchase BitCoin. There was a demand for BitCoin. There were places I could sell my BitCoin at any time at multiple online exchanges. Does meeting these first two criteria make a successful and winning formula for a crypto-currency?
No, this is just the minimum requirement to have a viable electronic currency. Ultimately for anything to have real value it must be exchangeable for goods and services. A promise of value in the near future reuires a big leap of faith. The more places I can use an electronic currency the more value it has. It has taken BitCoin over half a decade to gain acceptance in the digital currency market place and this has had its problems along the way but now it does appear safe to say that BitCoin will be around going forward. As I stated earlier the success of BitCoin has led to thousands of others all attempting to establish their own crypto-currency. There is a list of exchanges that will allow me to sell BitCoin to others and a comprehensive list availiable here: http://planetbtc.com/complete-list-of-bitcoin-exchanges/ There is also a site that is considered the authority on crypto-currency market valuations by capitalization listed here: http://coinmarketcap.com/ If someone were to offer me a crypto-currecy opportunity they would have to meet the minimum requirement of trading on at least a handful of major exchanges listed in the former link, so I could sell and exit my position at any time. I would also want it to be widely recognized and transparent currency which I could view their market capitalization at the latter mentioned link. This is no guarantee that any of the other crypto-currencies listed with BitCoin will have any value in the future but at least the ones listed have some perceived value now. It is simple to understand that a widespread perceived value by others is essential to any currency having any value at all. Anything less is equivalent to a promise to pay. We have all been given empty promises by people in the past. A written guarantee is a start but even then when it comes time to collect, if there is a refusal to pay you will be forced to take the legal route through the court system in order to collect. This can take a long time and be a hassle with no assurances there will ever be any money even if you secure a court ordered judgement. In Panama these promises to pay are often not worth the paper they are written on and if written in any other language than Spanish they are not enforceable. Be vigilant and refer to this information when you are approached to buy in on the ground floor so "you too can make millions." I hope you've found this brief and free education on crypto-currency interesting and useful. But most of all I hope that this will be enough to keep you from getting separated from your hard earned money in the near future.
Replies
http://thehill.com/policy/technology/344410-feds-eye-crackdown-on-d...
Mary,
I bought my bitcoins because I believed in the concept. You should not buy it simply as an investment. You don't buy dollars or pesos as an investment, do you? This is not gambling. I bought my bitcoins because I believe it is a better alternative to regular money that loses its value as more is printed. Now do I believe a bitcoin is worth the current price? Not really, but that can change overnight! If EBay and Amazon or a country like China would allow payment with bitcoin tomorrow, you would no longer consider it a gamble. So I understand that you call it a gamble, but that is because you see it as an investment only and not as a currency. Which is exactly why the price is unstable at the moment.
At this time bitcoin is still in diapers, it needs to be supported for what it is and it needs to used as a payment option by everyone. There are exchange services for businesses that take the risk of the fluctuating price out completely.
Of course Central banks and the big banks don't want someone else's cryptocurrency to be successful as it will eat away at their profits.
Walter, you just accused all Central banks of fraud.
The value in any currency or product lies in how the general population perceives it's value. The US dollar is solely backed by the perception that the US government backs it. So it's generally thought to be safe, but is it?
Cryptocurrencies work differently then regular currency, because there is a fixed amount of currency. To be completely correct, the amount of available bitcoins will continue to grow until a set amount. More buyers and the equal amount of bitcoins means the price goes up. Now to determine the true value of a bitcoin, you also have to understand that most people are currently buying them as an investment and thus hold on to them instead of using them as actual currency. To me this is the biggest problem of cryptocurrencies. The lack of being able to use it and it mostly being used as an investment. This is what is limiting bitcoin. I was lucky enough to buy some early on as an investment, but I seriously question the current price because if I and most don't want to sell, then the price is overvalued.
Another interesting fact is that several major banks and some Central banks are now working on their own (English and Dutch Central banks that I know of and several large commercial banks).
Although I completely understand that Clint posted this message simply to warn of some scam in Boquete with new cryptocurrencies, I disagree that all are bad and simply gambling. Bitcoin is real and it works. It has been put in a bad light many times mostly because it was being used in the underground circuits, but once it will be used as an actual currency more freely, it will be here to stay.
So justed wanted to point out that if cryptocurrencies are fraudulent, so are the Central banks and not all cryptocurrencies are gambling.
So we are clear. The reason I posted this is there is a not so good "opportunity" that may be emailed to you soon. I received it from an individual in Boquete who has no idea that he may be involved with people attempting to scam.
Without mentioning the names of the person who sent it to me or the people involved, my intent is to protect individuals from falling for a potential scam that has arrived to Boquete.
And this 'opportunity' finally meets justice
https://cointelegraph.com/news/onecoin-much-scam-18-seminar-organiz...
Completely understand and agree, although I hope people don't think bitcoin is a scam. It should simply not been seen as an investment, but as a future alternative to current money.
@Marie I agree with you. Many of these currencies are gambling at long odds against you. Although gambling implies you can win and if the crypto-currency being sold to you has no marketplace where it can be sold to some one else, then it is likely fraudulent.
@Walter
I agree with your common sense statement.