"In the last thread, people likened it to the tulip craze, railway mania or just called it a straight up ponzi scheme."
I think those calling it a Ponzi scheme are forgetting two elements of what makes a Ponzi scheme a Ponzi scheme: 1) no theoretical limit on the number of shares; 2) a bad actor at the top of the pyramid siphoning off money.
In a Ponzi scheme, the schemer comes up with a supposed "investment" that he makes look good by paying out big gains to early investors--using money from other investors. There's no theoretical limit on the number of shares. The schemer may limit how many people he lets in because it makes the investment seem like an exclusive opportunity, but basically he can run off as many shares as his photocopier can handle. And of course his goal is to take the vast majority of the money and leave investors holding the bag.
Bitcoin, it seems to me, lacks both of these elements. It may be a bubble, but it cannot be a Ponzi scheme (not unless we've been completely lied to about the fundamental architecture). But please check my reasoning, that's why I am posting this.
It just became easier to buy into bitcoin. There is a Canadian exchange traded fund (ETF) that directly buys bitcoin with funds from investors. It's only been on the market a few days and already has $400+ million invested in it. You can buy it and have it in your stock portfolio like any other stock. Symbol is BTCC and you can invest in USD or CDN pesos.
Bitcoin has pulled back 10% today so it may be a good time to look to get in. This is not investment advice