resist, my son. i've made a pledge to myself that everytime i'm tempted to click on some BTC-related stuff i will instead study a new code library. i haven't totally wriggled free yet (obviously) but i'm close. as with all things, chasin paper is no way to live life and get-rich-quick ideas are something to discipline yourself against.

in life, studying code is what has netted me the most cash that i feel proud of earning

Earlier this year I decided I would buy 10 or so bitcoins if the price ever fell to $10, and so far I'm sticking to that.

heh now there's a plan.

even then i hope you're doin it for fun not investment. until it stabilizes its just kindof a crapshoot. i have long decided that id try it if its stable and succeeding as a currency but not as an investment since the economics are absurd. its been good for those who made a buck off it but its a game and it may have many negative implications. many have taken losses on it already during crashes (or buying mining equipment -- at least EC2 is more like renting, heh). i guess it's buyer beware but i'm not totally convinced that the entire concept doesn't amount to a scam, which is why i get a little fiesty about it.

if people decide its a scheme and no one wants to buy, the only winners will be those who recognized the potential of a pump-and-dump scheme and have been cashing out bits and pieces all along

Your idea of investment is not the only possible definition.

Thanks. I will instead finish my projects that I am working on :)

What are you even talking about? Buying bitcoins and mining are not the same thing.

Just keep the bitcoins you bought and thank HN in 10 years for making you rich.

Btw Bitcoin is also very interesting from a technical point of view.

But infuriatingly, the NSA scandal is causing technical trouble with my (our?) actual primary source of income, but is practically banned from HN.

If the NSA is "too political" for HN, then Bitcoin is "too get rich quick without working" for HN.

How are those shares from all those companies in the Y2K bubble working out for you?

Did you invest 100000k $ in Bitcoin? I suggest investing 1k as an anti-black swan option. Or something like that. (If the economy crashes, BTC might be worth a lot. Or not. But the option doesn't cost much).

If you're describing Bitcoin as an option play, that's not very encouraging.

I think it's useful as a method of exchanging money where the official options are terrible, or for certain forms of online payments.

It's value as a currency store is completely unknown.