Читать книгу The Bitcoin Big Bang - Kelly Brian - Страница 8

In my day job, I am accustomed to taking risks, but as I contemplated buying into the Bitcoin hype, fear coursed through my veins. This was a different kind of risk; Bitcoin had a bad reputation. The notorious website Silk Road had just been shut down and its hoard of bitcoins seized by the FBI. Characters with monikers like Dread Pirate Roberts ruled this realm, while hackers constantly launched attacks. If I were to stride into this land flashing my Wall Street credentials, I would be an easy target. Caution and anonymity would be my friends on this quest.

Clicking on stealth mode, I typed “how to buy Bitcoin” and Google's algorithm churned out 166,000 results. The first page of results was meaningless to this neophyte, except for one: Mt. Gox. Since Mt. Gox was the largest exchange in the world, I was vaguely familiar with the name. It was comforting that Mt. Gox was the largest bitcoin exchange in the world, and I decided immediately to ascend Mt. Gox to make my purchase. Astonishingly, it did not bother me that only a short time ago Mt. Gox stood for Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange and was a place to trade magical game cards. Bitcoin was cutting edge, it was the Wild West; I needed to take a risk. In a spurt of rapture I convinced myself that since Mt. Gox was located in Japan and the inventor of Bitcoin went by the name Satoshi Nakamoto, then Japan must be the Bitcoin epicenter.

Doing my best impression of James Bond, I created a fictitious Gmail account to remain as nameless as everyone else who dealt in these “coins.” My pulse quickened as I registered under my alias – I was unsure if I was breaking the law or stumbling upon a hidden fortune. I surveyed my new environs, and I decided to make a purchase; this was my first step toward untold riches. But it all came to a screeching halt when I realized that I overlooked one tiny detail – I needed an actual bank account with real money to buy the coins.

I was determined to cash in on my bubble and promptly formulated a plan.

When I signed into Mt. Gox, a message advised that there was a waiting list of people trying to buy bitcoins. The exchange was so busy that they could not process all the requests, and the message indicated it would be five days before my paperwork could be processed. I was thrilled to have an additional five days to open a U.S. bank account for a “person” with only a fake Gmail address. It was not yet clear to me that my judgment had been compromised by visions of planes, autos, and jewelry. Finally, I drifted back to reality and began to hatch a better plan.

Even though Bitcoin was anonymous, I quickly recognized that my dreams of bitcoin billions required my personal information. I immediately began to look for a layer of security. Another Internet search led me to eBay, where sellers of bitcoins were plentiful. It appeared that I could use PayPal, which meant I did not need a bank account and my information would be safeguarded. Alas, I had once again overlooked a small, but important, detail. If I bought bitcoins on eBay, I would be a counterfeiter's dream. This is a currency that lives on the Internet. While I was accustomed to dealing in foreign currencies, buying Mexican pesos from JPMorgan is a long way from purchasing a digital currency from a stranger on EBay. I did not know if I should expect a zip file of computer code or an actual metal coin. Obviously, I needed Plan C.

After an appearance on Fast Money, where I disclosed parts of my Bitcoin buying adventure, a Twitter follower mentioned Coinbase as an alternative to Mt. Gox. I had not heard of Coinbase, so back to Google stealth mode I went. As it turns out, Coinbase is one of the largest digital wallets, and it is a bitcoin broker that could handle my purchase seamlessly. I felt even more comfortable when I learned that Coinbase was based in the United States and backed by one of the largest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley.

Now that I was back on my road to riches, I needed to register, verify a bank account, and wire funds. The entire process would take over a week: three days to verify the bank account, one day to buy the bitcoins, and another five days before the coins would show up in my account. This was unacceptable – I was about to make a fortune and every second counted. Sadly, I was out of options. Since I was technically inept and had absolutely no idea how Bitcoin worked, I was at a severe disadvantage. I just had to wait, which was a monumental task for this attention-challenged trader. For a week I checked my account like a child on the night before Christmas: Were they there yet? How about now? Now? Now? Now?

My anticipation was exceeded only by my excitement when the coins finally arrived. All that remained was relaxation, planning my private jet purchase, and waiting for the world to catch up and buy bitcoins. I was waiting for a greater fool than I, and it did not take long before a whole bunch of fools arrived. The price of bitcoin soared from my purchase at $795 to $1,200 in a matter of days. I quickly calculated the annual return – $400 in 4 days meant $100 a day; multiplied by 365 days meant I had just turned $795 into $36,500, a 4591 percent gain. This was going to be the greatest trade I ever made – drop the mic and walk off stage.

Not so fast, hero.

Within days, the Chinese government banned banks from dealing with bitcoins, effectively shutting down the largest market. The price plummeted to $500 almost overnight. There is a saying on Wall Street about losing positions: they start out as a trade and end up as investments – rationalization at its finest. My “can't miss, surefire” trade had just turned into an investment. I was in for the long haul.

Now that I was an “investor,” I thought I better find out what I actually owned. Typically, I rely on a deep knowledge of the markets I trade before I place money at risk. In the case of Bitcoin, I had succumbed to the powerful emotion of greed. Ironically, I make a living seeking out greed and fear, acting only when other people's emotions have reached their zenith. In the case of Bitcoin, I was a rookie and I had paid the price of inexperience.

In order to supplant my ignorance with knowledge, I began to research Bitcoin as a currency. If Bitcoin was a new type of currency, then the logical place for me to start my journey was from a familiar point of view. Since Bitcoin was designed to have a finite money supply – only 21 million coins will ever exist – it appeared to be akin to digital gold. The process of mining fit with this analogy, and the fact that miners received free coins was intriguing. However, unlike gold, bitcoins were being used to purchase everything from pizza to Tesla automobiles. As a medium of exchange, bitcoins were fulfilling at least one of the three functions of money.

Like many other Bitcoin explorers, I had my “aha” moment when I realized that if people could buy a pizza with bitcoins as easily as a credit card, then Bitcoin was also a payment system. This disruptive technology was a free payment system – no credit card fees for those who indulged in the pizza pie or the pizza shop. Not only was this technology disruptive but it was happening in my industry. I was hooked; I needed to know everything. It did not matter that by now I could sell my bitcoins for a small profit; I was in too deep to turn back.