It happened. And then we blew through that number. And then…

Psychological barriers are fascinating things. There’s the 4-minute mile, there’s the Dow 10,000, there’s the speed of sound, and there’s $4000 for one whole Bitcoin.

We achieved that magical number last night; if you want to see video of some guy in the right place at the right time, you can watch that here. It’s also probably about as exciting for most people as those concert videos everyone seems to post – the ones with the bad sound and not-so-good lighting and obscured by everyone else holding up their phones, too.

Where do we go from here? Well, the several hours after this barrier was broken might give us a hint: wild ride ensued.

For the past few hours, we’ve witnessed a rise to $4254, and then a drop to $3830, and now teasing that $4000 level again.

12 Days After…

Remember August 1? Remember all the craziness, the “Bitcoin Cash” fork? The services like Coinbase (AFFILIATE LINK) and Poloniex back-tracking on whether support would be offered for this new currency?

Yawn.

We’re looking at a pretty nifty little run of late, and we’re also getting people talking about a couple concepts:

• The next psychological barrier: $5000
• Whether the average Joe and Jane are now entering the Bitcoin game
• Whether Bitcoin could replace gold as the de facto holding for those fearing a global meltdown.

Oh, and Gold Mania

I remember the late 70s and early 80s, when people were selling any and everything that had gold in it to cash in. Prices were crazy: the 400, 500, 600 bucks an ounce translate to $2000 or so when adjusted for inflation.

People weren’t holding their gold, they were selling it.

The difference this time is that people don’t have the Bitcoin to sell: they need to buy some to get in, and the idea is that today’s $4,000 is tomorrow’s $10,000.

Strap In, Buckle Up…

This could be fun.

By the way…

We’ve been trying out a few services here at Metacoin HQ, so on this site you’ll find AFFILIATE LINKS throughout. We’ve been learning a lot about the concept of “bot trading” and “volatility software,” as well as a couple automated mining services. Here’s a quick list of those we have an affiliate relationship with, and we encourage you to check them out:

Bitconnect. We studied this in depth on this post: Bitconnect Explained.

Control Finance. Similar to Bitconnect. They cap the daily profits, unlike Bitconnect, which caps them monthly. Both BCC and Control Finance have a “multi-level” component to them; so the affiliate commissions are potentially quite lucrative.

Ambis. Brand new. We just bumped into it yesterday and are giving it a whirl with a small amount of capital. Bot trading that you invest in.

Microhash. This is a mining solution, where you lease mining power from these folks. Another one we’re trying with a small amount of capital.

Caveats: Do your own research. Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose. Seek professional advice and counsel. Pay your taxes. We provide these as information only, not responsible for successes or failures.

Oh, and Coinbase, which had a nice investment this week and is now considered a “unicorn” (pre-IPO, valued at more than $1 Billion), is still the best way to get started. With that link, you even get a bonus of $10 worth of Bitcoin when you sign up and make a qualifying purchase.