Crypto Loser

'Pretty sure I left it here somewhere...'

"DO YOU still have that physical Bitcoin I gave you?" writes Bill Bonner in his Diary of a Rogue Economist.

A couple of years ago, a friend gave us a physical Bitcoin, suggesting we should take an interest in cryptocurrencies.

"I hope you didn't lose it. That coin is now a collector's item. It sells for more than $10,000 on eBay."

We searched high and low. We couldn't find it.

Did we give it to our grandson? Did it end up in the laundry? Did we give it to a porter as a tip?

It must be somewhere. We'll keep looking. Bitcoin is back. Here's Forbes:

"They're ba-aa-ack. Whether it's the Chinese, or the Koreans, or the Russians or us Americans is anybody's guess at this moment, but what it looks like for a few cryptocurrency players out there is that the Chinese have found a new way to get back into the game."

"Earlier this month, China banned initial coin offerings (ICOs) – a way crypto ventures raise capital – and crypto exchanges, websites that allow you to exchange your government fiat currency for cryptocurrencies.

"It looked to many as though it was the end of the road for Bitcoin. The Bitcoin price fell to $3,200 from its all-time high of $5,000. Now, it's back over $4,100.

"And this morning, Japan – the main beneficiary of China's clampdown – approved 11 cryptocurrency exchanges."

Money talks, and it's hard to argue with people who are getting rich.

For instance, subscribers of Palm Beach Confidential, one of the advisory services from the Palm Beach Research Group, have had the chance to strike it rich on recommendations from colleague Teeka Tiwari.

Last April, after it had just launched, Teeka recommended what's now the world's second most valuable crypto asset.

Then, it was about $9. Now, it's over $300.

And in February, he recommended one of the hottest Chinese crypto ventures. It was 12 cents at the time. Today, it's selling for more than $32.

Let's see, if you'd invested $1,000, you'd have more than $250,000 now.

Finally, we checked with our son Will, the Bonner family's in-house cryptocurrency enthusiast. A while back, he urged us to speculate with some of the family money in the crypto casino.

"We're up about 85% since we invested in June," Will reported back.

Will is more open-minded than we are.

He likes technology...and believes it will improve the future. We're not so sure.

The last tech innovation that clearly improved our lives was air conditioning, invented by American engineer Willis Carrier in 1902.

When we could finally afford it, in 1990, it made the Maryland summers much more agreeable.

Penicillin, discovered by Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming in 1928, was a big help, too; it saved our lives when we had pneumonia in 1954.

As for the rest, we could take them or leave them.

And cryptocurrencies?

As far as we're concerned, they're still a novelty...and, as money, still unproven. So, we do not advise following our example.

Not unless you can lose your money but keep your sense of humor.