Bitcoin touched a peak of almost $20,000 in December – and indeed crossed over that threshold on some exchanges – but has since been roiled by several large sell-offs.

Other cryptocurrencies plunged as well. Ethereum and Ripple were both down heavily after reports South Korea and China could ban cryptocurrency trading, sparking worries of a wider regulatory crackdown.

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Bitcoin slides profusely on crackdown fears; crypto rivals also plunge

Chinese authorities plan to block domestic access to Chinese and offshore cryptocurrency platforms

At the start of 2018, it has been speculated that Bitcoin will crash

Bitcoin tumbled 18 percent on Tuesday to a four-week trough close to $11,000, after reports that a ban on trading of cryptocurrencies in South Korea was still an option drove fears grew of a wider regulatory crackdown.

Bitcoin’s slide triggered a massive selloff across the broader cryptocurrency market, with biggest rival Ethereum down 23 percent on the day, according to trade website Coinmarketcap, and the next-biggest, Ripple, plunging 33 percent.

South Korea had said on Monday that its plans to ban virtual coin exchanges had not yet been finalised, as government agencies were still in talks to decide how to regulate the market.

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tatertatertatertot: The fear of a world currency is that it would be easily manipulated to create wealth out of thin air, through manipulation of pre-held and ancestral assets and power, not actual merit or actual labor/work/productivity.

So it depends on who owns it, and at what concentration.

Oh…

>Cryptocurrency Concentration – Just 4% Own Over 95% Of Bitcoin

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-19/cryptocurrency-concentration-just-4-own-over-95-bitcoin

Yeah, you may have a point.

cO-necaremus: I actually believe bitcoin is dying. the mining wastes too much energy, the transaction is slow and high fees. nobody, except rich people trying to “invest”, is going to use it from now on.

sure… keep the stories floating in: “person X made amount Y with bitcoin!” — doesn’t change the fact that nobody can use it effectively. i assume they gained some form of control over it (sooooo much invested in bitcoin mining) and because of that it is lately hitting mainstream outlets.

we have enough other cryptos. cryptos are here to last. bitcoin can be honored as a pioneer, but i doubt it will remain at “the top” for much longer. the market spread and doesn’t channel into a single crypto.

bashar_speaks: So buy Monero instead?

There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies. The idea of a one-world currency is a quaint anachronism at this point.

slackcityrebels: No I believe it is the opposite. It is more than just bitcoin. There are a bunch of promising cryptos. All of them decentralized. Not a single world cashless currency issued by a central bank of the world to enslave everyone. The people decide which coins they believe are valuable by owning, trading and using them. I see it like the dotcom bubble.. a bunch of ideas that are in their infancy most of which are crap and won’t amount to anything but some will survive and become legitimate. Now it is all totally unregulated and you have manipulators like John McAfee running pump and dump scams so it’s a far cry from the libertarian dream of sound currency. The exchanges are always overloaded and the sites go down all the time so it’s a wonky system but everyday there are more options to spend your coin online. Overstock accepts several. If it comes together the right way it could be the death of the banks. Sadly I’m sure it will all be used against us but until they figure it out it’s fun to gamble on and hope for the best.

goodnightcommies: “We”

FREETHOUGHTSOPEN: I tell all my friends that Bitcoin is good to invest in.

But I also tell them that it will be the introduction of the mark of the beast.

Have fun deciding the best move.

Tlc1231: I refuse to buy into it. Theres nothing like cash in the pocket. Its either the plan or a ponzi scheme. We will all find out soon enough.

dickjokesauce: yup and currency is shitty design and we should avoid it..get off that tit before we really fuck ourselves up, which we’ve been doing well this whole time, morons that we are.

Electromeatloaf: I’m not too attracted to the idea of using it, but it’s going to be interesting to see where it goes.

yucatan36: NWO comes next

jasenlee: I do believe it will become a one-world currency or some variation of it will.

1. I don’t like it because of **[how very traceable](https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/14/7546669/silk-road-trial-bitcoin-tracking)** it is.

2. Look at Puerto Rico right now. As of 5 days ago, they have restored power to 55% of the population months after the hurricane. Imagine if you were in the group of the 45% who don’t have reliable power sources right now. Trying to use your BTC would probably be pretty damn difficult. Most likely not impossible but not easy.

3. A bit more nefarious but it latches on to my example above. What if someone didn’t like you so much. Maybe your name is Julian Assange or Edward Snowden. I’m not so sure your money couldn’t be taken very easily making life pretty hard on you. People go on about how secure it is if you are careful but I’m not so sure. We don’t even know who invented it. That’s a bit weird.

4. It is insanely volatile. I keep a notebook next to my computer and I just jot things down. I am taking these numbers off the top of my head because I discarded that page but a week or so before Christmas I was watching some of the crazy price movements so for 3 days when I’d think about it I would look up the price and then jot it down with the time/date. At one point I watched it swing about $500 in an hour and over the 3-day period, I saw swings as wild as 2k per 1 BTC. In theory, you could check your BTC balance, make a quick shopping list then drive to the store, find the items you want and then have lost $500 in value (*or maybe more*) when you go to pay for things with your magic money.

5. An all cashless society can be a dangerous one. Take a look at [this list](https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/mar/29/10-lessons-cyprus-bailout) that was pulled together after Cyprus decided to bail out their banks by making the questionable move of [taking a high percentage of money from people’s accounts](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/29/bank-of-cyprus-depositors-lose-savings/2595837/) to help the government and very banks who created their financial problems.

6. And a final point on the move to an all cashless society which is tied into number 5 above as well. Take a look at what happens when countries start implementing [negative interest rate policies](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/negative-interest-rate-policy-nirp.asp). At that point, you are paying the bank the pleasure to have your money. If the government needs a little juice the central bank and deflate interest rates some more because they are trying to encourage spending which just drives down your savings and increases debt. You don’t have a choice in the matter. If all money is electronic and your country goes negative you are screwed. If we maintain a system of every country having a central bank of their own but a one world currency your bank is making float (*they do it anyway but this just feels even more wrong*) off your money as they do overnight lending to other banks in other nations.

**tl;dr:** There are a lot of f’d up reasons why people should not want this. Sorry my list is so long but it is actually pretty hard to summarize it down because there are so many bad things about this.

murphy212: Not commenting on Bitcoin in particular, but p2p crypto-money is an important stepping stone in the direction of fully separating money and State. Our generation will fulfill [Hayek’s dream](http://nakamotoinstitute.org/static/docs/denationalisation.pdf) (pdf).

When we finally take the monetary prerogative away from the fake sovereign (the State), and place it in the hands of the real one (the individuals), it will mean an end to poverty and war.

When the bank of “Israel” says “it wants to implement a cryptomoney”, you should see this as reverse psychology; subtle propaganda, sabotage, agitprop.

Remember [that’s the game they’re playing.](https://np.reddit.com/r/C_S_T/comments/5v7fwp/the_conspiracy_of_trust_or_why_didnt_they_simply/)

mr-no-homo: With over 1,000 cryptocurrencies, I don’t believe one will lead to a one world currency in our lifetime. Bitcoin formed at the cusp of the 2008 financial crisis as a way to eliminate the need for banks. A P2P electronic payment system that does not require a middle man (banks) or regulations to abide by.

The underlying tech that powers bitcoin is where things really shine. Blockchain technology is going to shape the world in ways the internet has done.

TheWiredWorld: No and you are saying that because you are ignorant.

cky_stew: Well Bitcoin specifically has many problems that will likely stop it ever succeeding.

The current market is alternatives looking to solve those problems – some of them are pretty sketchy looking, centralised, and heading towards banks.