But the same would happen for any similar-functioning market. If every AAPL shareholder tried to simultaneously sell for $173.97 (current price), many would end up disappointed.

Instead, the article seems like FUD that would confuse non-tech users into thinking they couldn't cash out their 0.5 BTC at the price they're seeing on their exchange (they can.)

They would however end up with more than 0$ because Apple has cash on hand representing real value. Bitcoin on the other hand is only worth bitcoins so it can crash to zero.

Historically, stock market corrections may be ~50% but they don't hit 95% because of underlying value. Other bubbles can be much harsher.

>But the same would happen for any similar-functioning market. If every AAPL shareholder tried to simultaneously sell for $173.97 (current price), many would end up disappointed.

Yes. But if one thinks Bitcoin, with its distribution of holders, price volatility, and "quality" of trading implementations etc has the same tolerances as the regular stock market (which indeed can crash too), one is beyond deluded.

It's like saying "sure, I can crash on my custom built hot-rod made from a modified jet ski if I go into a wall, but so can someone in their Hammer". The impact, and the implications are not going to be the same...

(Heck, when the market tried to go trashing, it got a 1 trillion bailout to help it out. Who is gonna do that for bitcoin?)

Did you mean Hummer?

Yes, I did.

Banks are also backed by the fed which is there to prevent failures, and the government through too big to fail. Even in the case of the Bank of the United States (which despite its name was just an ordinary bank) whose failure in 1930 kicked off the bank panics of the 1930s, when it was liquidated the depositors received 92.5% of their deposits.

Most failures of crypto exchanges have resulted in a total or near-total loss for depositors, and triggered rushes to the exit on other exchanges.

> if something were to happen that made holding bitcoin undesirable (such as say, a possible crack for their elliptic curve crypto implementation).

A much more realistic scenario that could make bitcoin undesirable to hold would be something like all major central banks collectively viewing bitcoin as a threat then working in concert to target the weakest link of the cryptocurrency: exchanges that facilitate conversions to fiat.

Yep. Everyone yelling "We're gonna replace the US Dollar! We have a superior currency and The System is evil!" are doing the equivalent of walking into a Wells Fargo, yelling out "Hey everyone! We should all rob this bank! We'll be rich! And these WF bastards are evil anyway!" and expecting the bank to do nothing.

I think 99% of people who have decided not to own any cryptocurrencies are basically just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sooner or later, governments will figure out that cryptos are sucking money away from The System, which, if left unchecked, will drive down stock and bond prices and nullify attempts to control savings/spending rates via monetary policies. I'm betting it won't happen until market cap hits $1T though.

Sure, definitely. There are many possible scenarios, like a major exchange like Coinbase, Bitfinex, or some chinese exchange going down / getting hacked. Wouldn’t even have to be all the worlds central banks: could just be one new regulation or rule in China.

MtGox was a major exchange and it went down but it didn't deter people from investing in bitcoins, they merely moved their business to other exchanges.

Your original comment talked about a scenario where people decide against bitcoin and such a scenario can only play out if there is too much uncertainty to make them a viable investment. Because bitcoin is decentralized, the only way major governments can try to influence it and related activities like exchanges is by acting in concert. Anything short of this will not work against it as has happened repeatedly with past attempts by individual governments like China.

"They merely moved their business to other exchanges"

The price crashed from like $1200 to $200 and it took years for it to recover. All those Moms and Dads and Grandmas who bought $10,000 of Bitcoin after Thanksgiving dinner hoping it would turn into $100,000 within a month will certainly get hit if the price falls to $1600 and doesn't recover for 3 years. All it takes is a change in the media narrative that scares away a sizable chunk of the market (say, institutional investors or mom and pops, or Chinese people)

> All it takes is a change in the media narrative.

Every article I read in the media has huge negative sentiment already. Can you point to some positive articles about bitcoin? Seems to be very few going around, it's all bubbles, energy consumption, hackers, ransomware and terror funding.

Wondering how the narrative can change for the worse from here.

The nearly weekly articles about btc hitting all-time high milestones would count as the positive articles about bitcoin in my opinion.

Fair enough though I'd contend such articles are the motivation for the bubble commentary.

You might have missed the articles about people getting rich...

A scenario where the government makes crypto currencies completely impossible is unlikely, as that would mean that you essentially controlled all communication. There are many ways they can make it difficult, cumbersome and risky however, even on an individual basis. That could lead to a short term dampening effect on the global price until people figure out effective ways to get around the regulation in question.

No, the scenario is that the governments tell banks:

"Deal with BTC and lose your license. Kay, bye!"

Yep. It would be like what happened after they made online poker illegal: anyone sufficiently committed will either have to cut their losses or leave the country.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Bitcoin is sea shell currency trading market pretending to be a currency.

That's the same for every asset ever.