Dutch man risks everything hoping to hit big with bitcoin

boing
21

According to the Business Insider story, he already cashed out once before, then regretted it because the value went up even further later.

To be honest, the OP makes it sound crazy but the linked story makes it seem much more understandable if not exactly rational.

He’s been speculating in various crypto-currencies for a while as well as having other business interests. His father was a professional footballer so I assume there’s a bit of money to start off with.

His father died not too long ago which prompted the usual life reassessment. The family sold up his business and went travelling.

Now they’re back they’ve rented themselves into a camp-site where (oh, horror) instead of having their own rooms, the three daughters have to share one room. In a chalet. So it’s not like he’s living out of a tent and it doesn’t sound as if all his assets are in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

He’s picked 2020 as an end-date for his little “drop-out” experience on the basis that he thinks bitcoin, etc. will be mainstream by then and his investments worth shed-loads. If not, he’ll do something else.

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22

Q: What is a speculative bubble?

A: You’re about to find out.

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23

No, true hodler ever cashes out.

24

“Daddy, I’m hungry.”

“Good news! I know a wholesaler who has a deal on some delicious Egyptian cotton!”

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I was continuing on with the joke, but yes, there are non-darknet things one can buy with Bitcoin. For the most part, though, it has to be converted to normal money, which means the weak point of the exchanges, which means the possibility of the (for most people) small holdings getting stolen. Another way the value can disappear is due to extreme volatility. Really, with all that it should be the official currency of Vegas.

And after, if you were that committed, you’d have waited until this volatile currency took its next nosedive, re-invest, and wait another year or so to cash out again at the high.

But you’re not a greedy fool.

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“What’s that?” “WHAT?” “I SAID WHAT’S THAT!” deafening scream of cooling fans “Oh god it’s so hot!”

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I think that is sort of the point of this guy’s particular speculation. He reckons by 2020 Bitcoin, et. al. will be much more widely spendable so there won’t be as much need (if any) to bother with turning it into cash.

He may be nuts but to be fair, he doesn’t seem to consider it anything other than a punt which he hopes will do really well but it’s not putting his family into actual poverty.

28

In Arnhem in the netherlands, there are a few supermarkets accepting bitcoin. But those are exceptions, that’s true.

Using only bitcoin is stupid. The guy from the article probably makes a statement for political reasons. But people saying you can’t use bitcoin for anything but speculation are misinformed as well.

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But you can’t skim the take with cryptocurrency, can you?

And isn’t skimming the take the point of Vegas?

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Funnily, enough he isn’t (using only bitcoin that is).

For example his house was/is up for sale on the basis that he will accept bitcoin for part of the transaction. Exactly how much was still being negotiated. Evidently, at least the bit that pays off the mortgage was going to be in boring old euros.

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Less than three years from now? With a specific cryptocurrency (the most established but also the oldest)? Good luck with that. It sounds like ideology is getting in the way of good sense. On the other hand, he and his family aren’t currently trying to “Keep Up With the Joneses”, which will instill good habits whether or not this pays off.

If he can afford to lose it as a punt that’s fine, but if he’s risking everything and going long on it and holding that’s a different story.

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It sounds as if he is invested in more cryptocurrencies than just Bitcoin. It’s just bitcoin is what people have heard of so it goes in the headline.

I agree the time scale sounds a bit optimistic (but then the whole thing sounds barmy to me) but I suppose it’s a trade off between how long his money will lasts versus when the bitcoin rapture hits.

I can see someone who sold his house and business easily having enough money to sit around doing nothing for that sort of period without leaving him penniless at the end of it.

That does seem to be how he managed to persuade his wife to agree to it :slight_smile:

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Absolutely false. In fact, quite a few companies allow direct purchase with Bitcoin.

(From Zerohedge; this list isn’t meant to be all-inclusive):
List of Companies Who Accepts Bitcoins as Payment!

Many companies are accepting bitcoins, many are not. Here is a list of the biggest (and smaller) names who accepts bitcoins as a currency.

WordPress.com – An online company that allows user to create free blogs
Overstock.com – A company that sells big ticket items at lower prices due to overstocking
Subway – Eat fresh
Microsoft – Users can buy content with Bitcoin on Xbox and Windows store
Reddit – You can buy premium features there with bitcoins
Virgin Galactic – Richard Branson company that includes Virgin Mobile and Virgin Airline
OkCupid – Online dating site
Tigerdirect – Major electronic online retailer
Namecheap – Domain name registrar
CheapAir.com – Travel booking site for airline tickets, car rentals, hotels
Expedia.com – Online travel booking agency
Gyft – Buy giftcards using Bitcoin
Newegg.com – Online electronics retailer now uses bitpay to accept bitcoin as payment
Dell – American privately owned multinational computer technology company
 Wikipedia –  The Free Encyclopedia with 4 570 000+ article
Steam – Desktop gaming platform
Alza – Largest Czech online retailer
The Internet Archive – web documatation company
Bitcoin.Travel – a travel site that provides accommodation, apartments, attractions, bars, and beauty salons around the world
Pembury Tavern – A pub in London, England
 Old Fitzroy – A pub in Sydney, Australia
The Pink Cow – A diner in Tokyo, Japan
The Pirate Bay – BitTorrent directories
Zynga – Mobile gaming
4Chan.org – For premium services
EZTV – Torrents TV shows provider
Mega.co.nz – The new venture started by the former owner of MegaUpload Kim Dotcom
Lumfile – Free cloud base file server – pay for premium services
Etsy Vendors – 93 of them
PizzaForCoins.com – Domino’s Pizza signed up – pay for their pizza with bitcons
Whole Foods – Organic food store (by purchasing gift card from Gyft)
Bitcoincoffee.com – Buy your favorite coffee online
Grass Hill Alpacas – A local farm in Haydenville, MA
Jeffersons Store – A street wear clothing store in Bergenfield, N.J
Helen’s Pizza – Jersey City, N.J., you can get a slice  of pizza for 0.00339 bitcoin by pointing your phone at a sign next to the cash register
A Class Limousine – Pick you up and drop you off at Newark (N.J.) Airport
Seoclerks.com – Get SEO work done on your site cheap
Mint.com – Mint pulls all your financial accounts into one place. Set a budget, track your goals and do more
Fancy.com – Discover amazing stuff, collect the things you love, buy it all in one place (Source: Fancy)
Bloomberg.com – Online newspaper
Humblebundle.com – Indie game site
BigFishGames.com – Games for PC, Mac and Smartphones (iPhone, Android, Windows)
Suntimes.com – Chicago based online newspaper
San Jose Earthquakes – San Jose California Professional Soccer Team (MLS)
Square – Payment processor that help small businesses accept credit cards using iPhone, Android or iPad
Crowdtilt.com – The fastest and easiest way to pool funds with family and friends (Source: crowdtilt)
Lumfile – Server company that offers free cloud-based servers
Museum of the Coastal Bend – 2200 East Red River Street, Victoria, Texas 77901, USA
Gap, GameStop and JC Penney – have to use eGifter.com
Etsy Vendors – Original art and Jewelry creations
Fight for the Future – Leading organization finding for Internet freedom
i-Pmart (ipmart.com.my) – A Malaysian online mobile phone and electronic parts retailer
curryupnow.com – A total of 12 restaurants on the list of restaurants accept bitcoins in San Francisco Bay Area
Dish Network – An American direct-broadcast satellite service provider
The Libertarian Party – United States political party
Yacht-base.com – Croatian yacht charter company
Euro Pacific – A major precious metal dealer
CEX – The trade-in chain has a shop in Glasgow, Scotland that accepts bitcoin
Straub Auto Repairs – 477 Warburton Ave, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706 – (914) 478-1177
PSP Mollie – Dutch Payment Service
Intuit – an American software company that develops financial and tax preparation software and related services for small businesses, accountants and individuals.
ShopJoy – An Australian online retailer that sells novelty and unique gifts
Lv.net – Las Vegas high speed internet services
ExpressVPN.com – High speed, ultra secure VPN network
Grooveshark – Online music streaming service based in the United States
Braintree – Well known payments processor
MIT Coop Store – Massachusetts Institute of Technology student bookstore
SimplePay – Nigeria’s most popular web and mobile-based wallet service
SFU bookstore – Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada
State Republican Party – First State Republican Party to accept bitcoin donations (http://www.lagop.com/bitcoin-donate)
mspinc.com – Respiratory medical equipment supplies store
Shopify.com – An online store that allows anyone to sell their products
Famsa – Mexico’s biggest retailer
Naughty America – Adult entertainment provider
Mexico’s Universidad de las Américas Puebla – A major university in Mexico
LOT Polish Airlines – A worldwide airline based in Poland
MovieTickets.com – Online movie ticket exchange/retailer
Dream Lover – Online relationship service
Lionsgate Films – The production studio behind titles such as The Hunger Games and The Day After Tomorrow
Rakutan – A Japanese e-commerce giant
Badoo – Online dating network
RE/MAX London – UK-based franchisee of the global real estate network
T-Mobile Poland – T-Mobile’s Poland-based mobile phone top-up company
Stripe – San Francisco-based payments company
WebJet – Online travel agency
Green Man Gaming – Popular digital game reseller
Save the Children  – Global charity organization
NCR Silver – Point of sales systems
One Shot Hotels – Spanish hotel chain
Coupa Café in Palo Alto
PureVPN – VPN provider
That’s my face – create action figures
Foodler – North American restaurant delivery company
Amagi Metals – Precious metal furnisher

Bluntly put, even the “official” currency in your pocket is only “worth something”, IF other people agree.

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34

What makes YOUR money worth something, hmm? It’s not like any currency on the planet is tied to a physical resource, any longer =). Sounds like many folks here don’t understand “money” all that well, themselves…

35

My money is worth something, because all the Eurozone governments recognize it as valid money, accept it as payment, and make sure everyone else in the Eurozone does likewise. So it’s backed by, ultimately, the collective economy of most of Europe, and the authority and power of all the governments thereof, and of the European Union.

Whereas bitcoins are valuable, because people invested in bitcoins deem them valuable. They have all the worst qualities of commodity-based money and fiat money – nothing physical backing them up, and no actual states or even major corporations guaranteeing that they are going to remain valuable. Unlike stocks, there’s no system of dividend or any functional business, of which the stocks are shares of.

And as seen by the fluctuations, when China moved to tighten their bitcoin ban, bitcoins don’t actually make your investment free from government interference, quite the opposite! All it takes is the US govt or the EU deciding to follow China’s example, and bitcoin’s busted.

36

Your money, at the root of it, is backed by nothing but abstract concepts, exactly like any cryptocurrency.

And your money is valuable, simply because nations invested in their own currencies deem them so, point of fact. I also did not insist Bitcoin (or cryptocurrencies) are “free from government interference” in any way, although they certainly are more resilient against certain types of interference.

All you have said, so far, can be summed up as, “My money is more popular than your money; nyaah!” Sorry, not even remotely convincing. Point of fact, traditional currencies can be similarly volatile; would you like to discuss the North Korean won, for example? Now, this doesn’t make won (or Bitcoin) a good investment, but that’s a different ball o’ wax entirely.

Do I think cryptocurrencies are some sort of “panacea”? No, and I never implied otherwise. But yes, if your money is “worth something”, then Bitcoin is, as well; you CAN buy products, services, and even other types of currency with it. Any attempt to argue otherwise will fall to empirical fact.

The simple fact is, governments hate cryptocurrencies because they’re difficult to control reliably in any way and cannot be easily taxed or traced. If you get rid of all the FUD and hyperbole, there’s really no other reasons they can present, at least to date. And that’s a problem; “offshoring” of accounts is rampant in every country, not just the US, and cryptocurrencies can let you “offshore” money without using an external storage site. As long as you carefully select where to exchange for “real” money (back and forth), there’s not much anyone can do, without outlawing cryptocurrencies entirely. And that is pretty much unenforceable; it’s not like you can ban hashes, themselves, and exchanges exist worldwide o.o’…

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Well, yeah. But which of these “abstract concepts” has access to a military?

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Pembury Tavern – A pub in London, England

They don’t accept bitcoin anymore

https://www.individualpubs.co.uk/pembury/info.html

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That has absolutely no bearing on what “money” is. It’s just part of how the purveyor attempts to persuade the public that their money is legit, nothing more =).

40

If you stop there, sure. But if you don’t stop there, then the abstractions mentioned come with two conditions: one meaningful, the other quite a bit less so.