And today it's $14,860.45 USD

I'm really trying to understand what's going on.

Fundamentally not much has changed except the public knowledge and accessibility. Pretty fair to conclude its a speculative bubble. I believe right now that people are buying in because they don't want to "miss out" on the profits they keep hearing about and because of the comments that "it could go to $1M.

The questions in my mind are how long before the bubble breaks & what is the real valuation a&nd how is that done?

Quelle surprise...

If some crypto currency guy has now become the worlds richest man... well, first, a tip of the hat- Bravo man. Well done. And second- WTF! It's pure ether. He has produced absolutely nothing and the "value" of his currency is purely in the heads of the speculators. Astounding! Cash out now. You only have one life.

There was a time when some became fabulously wealthy selling tulip bulbs...

Pump and dump works, bringing fresh meat to the table every day. With bots running coordinated high volume trades it's tough to know which end of the rope you are on. Crypto is like playing hedge funds in many ways. It is gambling at Vegas tables and the house has better odds. You can still win big short term just like at the MGM Grand, but long term hedge funds don't even beat boring SP500 index funds. Feeling lucky?

Tulips indeed.

https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/05/whats-behind-ripples-rapid-surge-panicked-investors-hunting-for-crypto-bargains/

Maybe for some crypto currency, but this couldn't be more untrue of Ripple. Ripple has created a way for banks, financial institutions, Western Union, anyone really, to transfer money in real time for a fraction of the cost of typical means. Over 100 banks are currently testing it or using it.

Just like pump and dump penny stocks don't mean the entire stock market is a scam, not everything in the crypto world is a scam either.

It's funny how people think Ripple's CEO being one of the richest people in the world is BS, yet accept that Warren Buffet is. Buffet is on record saying his "net worth" is meaningless. He has already earmarked his stock to various charities, and even if he didn't, he couldn't sell all his shares at the current BRK price. It would crash the stock price before he got 1/10th the way through. Same with Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos, etc etc.

It's a joke to say ANY person is worth $xxx billions if it's all linked stock that is practically unsellable. No different that these new crypto billionaires.

this. and why i sold everything else and i am sticking with ripple. it is an actual product that reduces money transfers with swift that take days to less than 3 seconds. brilliant.

Interesting insights guys - thanks for the perspective....

When crypto currency's start advertising on Facebook you have to wonder .......

I hope you all have invested heavily in the Dogecoin by now!

Things are getting interesting in cryptoland.
Ripple’s XRP has lost 60% of its value in less than 2 weeks | Markets Insider

This is priceless LoL

:rolleyes::)

I was tempted to sell my Carrera for 3 bitcoins a few weeks ago....so glad I waited....today I can get 5 of 'em.

Imagine that :)

I just knew those 1s and 0s weren't valued properly back then....

I can see the reason for their business plan to work.

My company recently accepted a bank transfer for a payment for a project we did. Our bank charged us $10.40 for the honor of accepting electronic bank transfer. If I make a payment via ACH (Automated Clearing House) it "only" cost 40 cents for the transfer. Of course if we stick to checks and do it in the analog world there is no fee at all. And it cost them a lot to run a check.

And the money if not really instant available like in the movies. They still had a 24 hour hold on the deposit for the bank transfer or the ACH.

The interesting thing is that I have the company credit card set up on an automatic payment. The credit card company is authorized to withdraw the statement balance on the day it is due. On the current statement balance, and I can terminate that at any time or change it.

Bernie Madoff went to prison for six years for doing something similar.

The fact that someone would freely admit that they "sold everything" to invest in one single issue speaks volumes about their knowledge base with regards to the global capital markets. Beyond that the SWIFT system does not take "days". Even further mentioning 100 banks as if thats some significant number is scary. 100 banks is a pittance, a microscopic number when compared to the number of banks on the planet. Additionally there is no real mention of the size of those banks or what sorts of "testing" they're doing with the system.

I am trying not to make this personal, I apologize. My thought is this...selling all your assets and buying into 1 singular asset is a very dangerous play. I just think its a dis-service to this community if that fact is not pointed out. My opinion is pretty clear, I would be very weary of commodity or coin which is backed by nothing.

Six? That azzhole will die there....good :)