Nog maar een keer deze voor de nieuwkomers:
http://www.reddit.com/r/B(...)o_for_crash_selling/quote:
The more seasoned bitcoiners have seen what is happening now several times in a relatively short period, and I'm sure they are as frustrated as me watching the insanity repeat itself time and time again.
Bitcoin is valuable:
1. Bitcoin has been tested and attacked by the best and still stands strong.
2. Bitcoin brings freedom to an abusively regulated financial system.
3. Bitcoin offers a method to transmit funds that is WAY ahead of the current system.
4. Bitcoin is not susceptible to inflation by greedy govts or corps.
5. Bitcoin is a better store of value than both fiat (inflation), and precious metals (storage, transportation, etc).
6. Bitcoin is not susceptible to regulation. If the US regulates US companies (they cannot regulate anything else), they will inflict massive damage on their economy as business moves overseas.
So Bitcoin has value, it is not an abstract concept for gambling. Given that it has value for everybody, its value will only rise over time. The value will not rise automatically, but must be nurtured by the community. Of course evil actors may be able to sabotage it, but the entire community would have to be asleep while this happens.
Now a brief explanation of these "crashes." There are several players out there with DEEP pockets. These people can create large swings in the price by "dumping" and "pumping."
When such a person feels the price is high enough, he sells a very large amount and collects all the top asks. When this happens, all the sheep jump on the bandwagon to sell, fearing a crash. These people drive the price MUCH lower than the original "dumper" could do on his own. Now he waits for the sheep to do their work, and when the price is way lower, he buys in again sending the price back up. All the sheep follow again, raising the price to new heights where our big player can sell again.
As you can see, any small player who follows these big swings, is merely handing his money over to the big players. Thousands of people are getting played on a daily basis. This does not mean that the big players are bad. They simply see an opportunity and act on it. The sheep have only themselves to be angry with.
TL;DR Don't be a sheep. Read above.