The Bitcoin Hype - Is It A Scam?

[Stargazer]

Richard Branson and Bill Gates and now Ant McPartlin?

[ummmm]

Looks like it.

I don't really understand bitcoins.

[DarceyK123]

I dont know if its a scam in itself but i read that a lot of 'celebs' are angry that their names are being associated with this as they say they are not involved in this, the Bitcoin Companies are making false claims that they are.

And if they're lying about that......

[Buenchico]

Investing in bitcoins (or other cryptocurrencies) is no different to investing in dollars, euros or any other currency except for the sizes of the falls and rises in value which can occur. (e.g. if you spend lots of money buying euros you might expect the value of your investment to gradually creep up or to gradually go down. You wouldn't expect it to halve, or to double, almost overnight, as can happen with bitcoin investments).

So, as long you're prepared to take bigger-than-usual risks with your investments, ther's absolutely nothing wrong with buying into bitcoins, per se.

However there are plenty of scam websites around (e.g. Bitcoin Trader) that promise to help you put your money into bitcoins but where you'll end up losing everything. Such sites often falsely claim to be endorsed by well-known figures. (Martin Lewis, from the Money Saving Expert website and BBC TV, is constantly having to fight to prevent unscrupulous firms saying that he's endorsed their dodgy services).

If I'd got money that I could afford to put at risk I'd most definitely be buying cryptocurrencies. (e.g. if I won £50m on the Lottery, I'd use £1 or £2m to make such speculative investments). However
(a) I'd probably not buy into Bitcoin, per se. There are many newer cryptocurrencies which potentially offer far higher returns ; and
(b) I'd not use any money that I couldn't afford to lose to make such investments.

[spathiphyllum]

you need a lot of money to get anything back out of it. It's not a scam at all, but, it is a gamble.

[Canary42]

.... as if Ant McPartlin is a role model ! ! !

[jno]

it's not a scam (though as Buenchico points out, lies are told in promoting it); it's an alternative currency that isn't beholden to individual countries and their governments, which you might see as an advantage or a disadvantage.

But it's a gamble, one that at present has failed - prices shot right up (at which point prophets should have sold out and gone on holiday) and now they're down again. But that's standard for investing in anything.

[spathiphyllum]

its a trick to help the rich get richer and the poor move nowhere apart from backwards.

[ummmm]

Canary...why not?

Our young also learn from others mistakes. He's not a junkie, he was taking prescribed drugs for a leg injury.

[spathiphyllum]

He was driving drunk lol

[Mamyalynne]

He did not put himself forward as the face of Britcoin , he and others were scammed.

[bainbrig]

Buenchico’s answer is complete, definitive.

If Bitcoin is a scam, then so is Gold.

Believe in it, and like Scientology, it is True.