Author Topic: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?  (Read 4180 times)

precrime3

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What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« on: September 04, 2016, 11:19:34 AM »
Is as basic as it seems. A IRA where Bitcoin is purchased. Seems there's a California startup over at https://bitcoinira.com/ doing this.


mxt0133

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2016, 11:27:01 AM »
I would highly advise against it.  Just look at the price history it is way too volatile and reminds me of the tulip bubble in the 1600s.  Yeah I said tulips!

But I understand the appeal of hitting the lottery.  If you must invest a small amount in a non retirement account and call it day.

Spork

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2016, 11:46:10 AM »
I would think similarly as an emu farm IRA.

Or maybe more directly relate-able: an IRA that invests in speculative currencies of 3rd world countries.

Bit coin may very well be the future.  It's a cool idea.  But it isn't the present.  If it was the present, then it would be an absolutely stable currency and there would be no obvious reason to invest in it.  There would just be mild fluctuations in relation to other stable currencies.

What I mean is: It might be fun to invest tiny amounts.  But I wouldn't any significant percentage of my stash in it.

precrime3

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2016, 11:59:12 AM »
I would highly advise against it.  Just look at the price history it is way too volatile and reminds me of the tulip bubble in the 1600s.  Yeah I said tulips!

But I understand the appeal of hitting the lottery.  If you must invest a small amount in a non retirement account and call it day.

I'm probably better sticking to the small amounts I invest in the coin currently. I do strongly believe Bitcoin is the future and we're just scratching the surface of potential applications of both the currency itself a well as the blockchain, but I'm not sure how strongly. Thank goodness there are good 'ol index funds :)

Spork

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2016, 12:31:08 PM »
...and I wouldn't necessarily bet that Bitcoin (the proper noun) is "the future"... but instead that cryptocurrency is "the future".  It will be several years before a nonspeculative front runner settles out and gains acceptance.

csprof

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2016, 02:43:04 PM »
Bitcoin itself is too well-popularized to have good odds of being a reasonable investment in terms of risk vs. reward.  The risk is absolutely huge, and the potential reward is already priced in.  Total meh.  Unless you're actively doing something to increase its odds of success (buying & holding it is not such a thing), it's a crap investment for the ordinary person.

Spork's point about "some cryptocurrency, some day" possibly being a huge thing may well be right.  But it may not be Bitcoin, and it may not be in the next few years.  But a warning here:  The "alt-coin" space (cryptocurrencies that aren't bitcoin) is the wild west of currency speculation and fraud.  Most non-bitcoin coins that are being created are purely coming into the existence for their creators to make a quick buck.  Copy the bitcoin (or some other) source code, change the name, tweak a few parameters, and then try to hype the crap out of it and get people to pay real money for it.  Then stop "developing" it (hah - as if they were in the first place) as soon as you manage to sell a few thousand bucks worth of it back to bitcoin.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  Everyone in the game knows that this is what happens, but there are new suckers entering all the time.

(I've played that game to win before, and I'd advise folks to stay away from it.)

There are legitimate startups playing in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency space, of course, but as with anything, you've got to ask yourself whether you really want to invest significant money in a single, high-risk startup (regardless of whether they have the magic word "blockchain" in them or not).  For most people, a diversified investment base makes a ton more sense.  I doubt that's a point I need to belabor around here. :)

Of course, I "meh'd" bitcoin back when it was new, and I was clearly wrong then. :)  But now that you've got professional investors playing around in this space, it's not likely to be a hidden gem investment opportunity.  It's a huge gamble.  Don't gamble.

moustache79

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2016, 04:09:28 PM »
What could go wrong?

Syonyk

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #7 on: September 04, 2016, 04:25:33 PM »
Beyond being an IRA (and therefore with some minor tax benefits), how is this any better than just buying and holding Bitcoin yourself?

MoonLiteNite

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #8 on: September 04, 2016, 05:42:10 PM »
It is just another "throw your eggs into one basket" type of IRA.
Chance you could do great, chance you could fail hard.

I really wouldn't be holding bit coin for long term, ever. Only swing/day trading for me.

kite

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #9 on: September 04, 2016, 09:31:27 PM »
PT Barnum vastly underestimated. 
There's a sucker born every millisecond.

Syonyk

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #10 on: September 04, 2016, 09:35:40 PM »
Globally, it's 250ms between births. So every millisecond isn't possible.

Bicycle_B

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Re: What do you guys think of a Bitcoin IRA?
« Reply #11 on: September 04, 2016, 09:53:44 PM »
Bitcoin itself is too well-popularized to have good odds of being a reasonable investment in terms of risk vs. reward.  The risk is absolutely huge, and the potential reward is already priced in.  Total meh.  Unless you're actively doing something to increase its odds of success (buying & holding it is not such a thing), it's a crap investment for the ordinary person.

Spork's point about "some cryptocurrency, some day" possibly being a huge thing may well be right.  But it may not be Bitcoin, and it may not be in the next few years.  But a warning here:  The "alt-coin" space (cryptocurrencies that aren't bitcoin) is the wild west of currency speculation and fraud.  Most non-bitcoin coins that are being created are purely coming into the existence for their creators to make a quick buck.  Copy the bitcoin (or some other) source code, change the name, tweak a few parameters, and then try to hype the crap out of it and get people to pay real money for it.  Then stop "developing" it (hah - as if they were in the first place) as soon as you manage to sell a few thousand bucks worth of it back to bitcoin.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  Everyone in the game knows that this is what happens, but there are new suckers entering all the time.

(I've played that game to win before, and I'd advise folks to stay away from it.)

There are legitimate startups playing in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency space, of course, but as with anything, you've got to ask yourself whether you really want to invest significant money in a single, high-risk startup (regardless of whether they have the magic word "blockchain" in them or not).  For most people, a diversified investment base makes a ton more sense.  I doubt that's a point I need to belabor around here. :)

Of course, I "meh'd" bitcoin back when it was new, and I was clearly wrong then. :)  But now that you've got professional investors playing around in this space, it's not likely to be a hidden gem investment opportunity.  It's a huge gamble.  Don't gamble.

Wow, talk about an interesting post!

Also, as a global citizen, thanks for posting the original post.