Noel Whittaker is the author of Wills, Death & Taxes Made Simple and numerous other books on personal finance. Email: [email protected]

Bitcoin looks like the star of 2024, with a mind-blowing increase in price of 147 per cent for the year. The big question is: what happens next? The buzz is that – with Donald Trump returning to power and pledging support for cryptocurrency – Bitcoin could be poised for a big run. We've hit the stage where Uber drivers and home handymen are telling me to get on board. That’s a classic red flag! I don’t hold any crypto, and I’m reminded of financier Joseph P Kennedy's famous warning: 'You know it's time to sell when shoeshine boys start giving stock tips.'

You can even find Bitcoin ATMs in many newsagencies now. The best part for small investors? You don’t need to buy an entire coin: you can start with small fractions. We were driving in the country recently, and I was chatting to the owner of a small newsagency agency… I asked him if anyone used his bitcoin ATM; he said it was extremely busy, especially with the young folks.

What is Bitcoin? Image Credit: Shutterstock

Then he shared something remarkable. He had bought five bitcoins a few years ago at $10,000 each. Today, his holding is worth nearly three-quarters of a million dollars. When I asked if he planned to sell, he shrugged and said, 'I’ll just let it sit there.'

I’m hearing more and more stories like this: people who bought a couple of bitcoins on a whim a few years back now find themselves sitting on life-changing profits. Yet people’s prevailing attitude seems to be the same: let it ride and see what happens.

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[Zemo]

So, let's say I have a bitcoin and its value(?) has skyrocketed to 140 grand. Where can I go to turn it into real, dollars and cents, currency? Any takers out there willing to front with the money? Any restaurateurs willing to give me some change if I order a slap-up meal? Any Uber drivers handing me over 130 grand in return for a $50 cab ride if I wave a bit of paper saying my bitcoin is worth 140 big ones? I wouldn't touch this "investment" with a 40-foot person of middle European descent.

 

[Veggiepatch]

Bitcoin?

If a person makes money, it is invariably at another person's detriment.

Money does not miraculously appear at the waving of a magical wand.

 

[Noon]

Another one I wouldn't fall for either.

 

[Gunpark]

I can remember back to '69. I was in the Army and a fellow officer who dabbled in shares told me about Poseidon. I knew my then Boss was interested in the share market. This was in November "69 that I told him Poseidon would be $100 before Christmas and he said to, "never happen". As it turned out they were not $100 before Christmas, they were $200 and he missed out. He never let m forget it neither did I let him forget it.

 

[Cheb]

I do not understand Bitcoin, and I am really not interested, however on the Channel 9 News last night
they said that AMP had/was moving into Bitcoin. I'm glad that my Super is not with AMP

 

[richmich.4422@gmail]

Isn't Warren Buffet getting into cryto's now? He was strongly against all crypto's just a little while ago.
Now he's "Dabbling" on quite a scale.
That alone says something.

NOVEZAR.