Bitcoin (cryptocurrency)

[comiskey33]

Invested €3500 about 2 years ago. It was worth €21000 around November last. I said this is easy peasy. It's now back to €3647 but I'll not give up but maybe take my stake out if it reaches some heady heights again

you have had a good few weeks

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

It’s a Ponzi scheme.

It’s always been a Ponzi scheme.

 

[Wafty Cranker]

Not a bad few weeks.

 

[flook]

I ended my bitcoin experiment in the same manner as I'd progressed the whole thing, with astoundingly bad timing. My £500 holding being sold for £730 about 2 days before the orange shit gibbons triumph :/

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

A great time to sell.

 

[Siker]

A great time to sell.

Hey, I just came across a really solid article about the 4 key steps of digital wallet development and how to keep such systems secure. Thought you might find it useful. It breaks everything down clearly — from defining wallet types and essential features to the full development cycle and the main security challenges.What I really liked is that it’s practical https://weelorum.com/blog/4-steps-of-digital-wallet-development-and-keeping-it-secure/ : the article gives a structured overview, highlights real risks like fraud and compliance, and explains the best practices for protecting user data. If you’re interested in fintech, app development, or security, it’s definitely worth a read.

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

Tanking

 

[jrb]

Tanking

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/05/investing/bitcoin-price

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

It seems that of the nearly 20 million or so bitcoins currently mined that nearly 4 million have been permanently lost which at todays price of £50,000 each equates to £20 billion. Is this only down to people not keeping proper records of their bitcoin address? How would someone buy 1 safely or guarantee keeping their investment safe? Or is this the reason the financial conduct authority & its compensation scheme doesn't recognise cryptocurrency?

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

It’s a Ponzi scheme.

It’s always been a Ponzi scheme.

Is that like a pyramid scheme? A scam?.

 

[PepsFleece]

Check the charts. Zoom out. Same cycle every 4 years.

 

[We've got Guardiola]

It seems that of the nearly 20 million or so bitcoins currently mined that nearly 4 million have been permanently lost which at todays price of £50,000 each equates to £20 billion. Is this only down to people not keeping proper records of their bitcoin address? How would someone buy 1 safely or guarantee keeping their investment safe? Or is this the reason the financial conduct authority & its compensation scheme doesn't recognise cryptocurrency?

You can't guarantee that it's safe because ultimately it's based upon nothing. The only value that bitcoin has is the amount that somebody is prepared to pay for it versus the compute power required to mine it.

At the moment it's more expensive to mine versus buy, that should create a fight over existing bitcoin and the price should increase but the price has decreased. That means the supply-demand equation is broken and it's nothing more than a bubble.

It's like buying a house that doesn't exist, giving it a value and asking the bank to give you a mortgage whilst also asking the FCA to guarantee that mortgage if the value drops. Ultimately this can happen if there was something tangible away from value, ie, bricks and mortar but with bitcoin there is nothing.

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

You can't guarantee that it's safe because ultimately it's based upon nothing. The only value that bitcoin has is the amount that somebody is prepared to pay for it versus the compute power required to mine it.

At the moment it's more expensive to mine versus buy, that should create a fight over existing bitcoin and the price should increase but the price has decreased. That means the supply-demand equation is broken and it's nothing more than a bubble.

It's like buying a house that doesn't exist, giving it a value and asking the bank to give you a mortgage whilst also asking the FCA to guarantee that mortgage if the value drops. Ultimately this can happen if there was something tangible away from value, ie, bricks and mortar but with bitcoin there is nothing.

I thought the whole point of bitcoins was that it was a safer way to store money digitally as it uses multiple ip addresses over different continents to create an address that holds the bitcoin. As internet banks and the like work off one ip address for themselves and one for the customer (ie the customers device be that computer, laptop, ipad or phone) they are easier to hack or scam which happens multiple times to the tune of billions of pounds a year when someone for example sends a fake text message and a single link is followed.

Anyway my question was why are there 4 million bitcoins lost for ever? There has to be a way of securing your bitcoin address which is in effect your money or why are people buying and selling them?

 

[hammersmithlad]

I thought the whole point of bitcoins was that it was a safer way to store money digitally as it uses multiple ip addresses over different continents to create an address that holds the bitcoin. As internet banks and the like work off one ip address for themselves and one for the customer (ie the customers device be that computer, laptop, ipad or phone) they are easier to hack or scam which happens multiple times to the tune of billions of pounds a year when someone for example sends a fake text message and a single link is followed.

Anyway my question was why are there 4 million bitcoins lost for ever? There has to be a way of securing your bitcoin address which is in effect your money or why are people buying and selling them?

Did read somewhere a large majority of 'lost bitcoins' are contributed to users forgetting their private keys when storing in a wallet. And since these private keys arn't stored by companies, access to these coins are pretty much unrecoverable.

 

[We've got Guardiola]

I thought the whole point of bitcoins was that it was a safer way to store money digitally as it uses multiple ip addresses over different continents to create an address that holds the bitcoin. As internet banks and the like work off one ip address for themselves and one for the customer (ie the customers device be that computer, laptop, ipad or phone) they are easier to hack or scam which happens multiple times to the tune of billions of pounds a year when someone for example sends a fake text message and a single link is followed.

Anyway my question was why are there 4 million bitcoins lost for ever? There has to be a way of securing your bitcoin address which is in effect your money or why are people buying and selling them?

Bitcoin has two things, a public key generated when it is mined and a private key which is your part of ownership.

Think of it like keys to a safe, when you sell bitcoin you are allowing somebody to use your keys to get in the safe and take the bitcoin. When you buy bitcoin somebody else is giving you their keys to get into their safe and get the bitcoin. The keys to your safe are your private key.

Most bitcoin is lost when people lose their private keys.... So it's not actually lost, it's just inaccessible, again like losing the keys to your safe and you will never be able to get back into it.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I thought the whole point of bitcoins was that it was a safer way to store money digitally as it uses multiple ip addresses over different continents to create an address that holds the bitcoin. As internet banks and the like work off one ip address for themselves and one for the customer (ie the customers device be that computer, laptop, ipad or phone) they are easier to hack or scam which happens multiple times to the tune of billions of pounds a year when someone for example sends a fake text message and a single link is followed.

Anyway my question was why are there 4 million bitcoins lost for ever? There has to be a way of securing your bitcoin address which is in effect your money or why are people buying and selling them?

Most probably lost back when 1 btc < 1 usd.

The inherent problem with crypto is its hard to access without using a big trading platform / wallet provider. And they are generally a bit dodgy. But its much easier now than back in the early days when you had to basically remember the keys. Most were probably lost in email accounts that got locked out.

For the 1st 10 years of bitcoin it traded initially at a fraction of a dollar per coin and then slowly grew to circa $10 per coin. So back then losing a few coins was not an issue.

The big problem for crypto going forward is the crypto bros have been pushing it hard for years claiming its going to become a universally accepted asset that will keep rocketing in value. Its now pretty much universally accepted and understood. But it's not rocketing, bitcoin has halved in value in the last 6 months.

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

Most probably lost back when 1 btc < 1 usd.

The inherent problem with crypto is its hard to access without using a big trading platform / wallet provider. And they are generally a bit dodgy. But its much easier now than back in the early days when you had to basically remember the keys. Most were probably lost in email accounts that got locked out.

For the 1st 10 years of bitcoin it traded initially at a fraction of a dollar per coin and then slowly grew to circa $10 per coin. So back then losing a few coins was not an issue.

The big problem for crypto going forward is the crypto bros have been pushing it hard for years claiming its going to become a universally accepted asset that will keep rocketing in value. Its now pretty much universally accepted and understood. But it's not rocketing, bitcoin has halved in value in the last 6 months.

Yes it is definitely a volatile way to buy & sell. I first started to follow it before xmas when it was around £70k but noticed it had been £90k in October. Some projections i have read speculate it will rise by 270 % by May while others put it at around £350k by 2030 but i question what their incentive is...do they own one of the wallet providers or have some other vested interest. Its difficult to know who or what to trust as the truth seems to evaporate as quickly as the steam out of my kettle nowadays. One way it might recover is (apparently) only 21 million will ever be mined & if 4 million are missing there will never be any more than 17 million. I can understand the value if it is ultra secure but its a big if.

I saw a nice story about an 8 year old kid who recieved $1000 from his grandparents for xmas & instead of copying his mates & buying computer games he bought 83 bitcoins at $11 each & its now worth 4.15 million dollars...if he can get the money of course.

So its the agent's (wallet providers) who buy & sell them on a custmers behalf who cant be trusted then? Companies (loose term) like Kraken, Coinbase or Gemini? I still cant understand why people invest in them if they are so dodgy. Maybe its like anything in life they may suck you in & give you great returns as long as you keep investing but when they get a sniff you may be cashing out to sail into the sunset they send you a bunch of fake bitcoin addresses & then its a case of "Sorry your call cannot be answered at the moment...please try again later".

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

Bitcoin has two things, a public key generated when it is mined and a private key which is your part of ownership.

Think of it like keys to a safe, when you sell bitcoin you are allowing somebody to use your keys to get in the safe and take the bitcoin. When you buy bitcoin somebody else is giving you their keys to get into their safe and get the bitcoin. The keys to your safe are your private key.

Most bitcoin is lost when people lose their private keys.... So it's not actually lost, it's just inaccessible, again like losing the keys to your safe and you will never be able to get back into it.

Right. I understand that thankyou. If people lose their key (private bitcoin address) its on them.

So how do people get scammed or is that a myth? For example do people send incorrect private key data so that when the buyer tries to use their key its invalid?

Or is the private key (bitcoin address) sometimes lost in the ether of the internet for example a seller/agent might send you a bitcoin private key RAGS1-6CITYHAHA but the correct private key is RAGS1-6CITYHA.

It would be difficult to have an argument with someone over the phone or by email whereas at least if its barclays or similar you can go & speak to someone.

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

Did read somewhere a large majority of 'lost bitcoins' are contributed to users forgetting their private keys when storing in a wallet. And since these private keys arn't stored by companies, access to these coins are pretty much unrecoverable.

I think id also right it down but i have no idea how many digits a private key has...not that id be skimping on ink or paper. Keeping it private would be wise also as I've heard stories of people being kidnapped & tortured until they gave up their private key details but they were probably multi billionaires or something.

 

[Kompany Car]

I think id also right it down but i have no idea how many digits a private key has...not that id be skimping on ink or paper. Keeping it private would be wise also as I've heard stories of people being kidnapped & tortured until they gave up their private key details but they were probably multi billionaires or something.

Its a 256bit encryption key so as a hexadecimal code thats 64 characters, or Base64 which is what most passcodes use (the normal 0-9, a-Z and a few special characters) would require 44 characters minimum.