<p>Whether it fluctuates or not depends on how you express value. If you happen to be one of them American folks, who use dollars to express value, then a fixed amount of money in other currencies (such as euros or bitcoins) will fluctuate.</p>

<p>But similarly, a $10 dollar bill will fluctuate in value, if you express value in euros or bitcoins (basically, that is if you live anywhere on the planet except the US).</p>

<p>It's all a matter of perspective. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-15T00:44:42.110Z
I don't know how to respond to this. Lol.  Well, if the $10 turns to $11 in euros, gold bars, or whatever & you can use the $11 to buy something then it has in fact increased in value.
verve
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-15T06:06:46.640Z
It's more like, if I bought a $10 bill for €7 and I can now sell it for €8, then yes, it has increased in value - if'm spending euros. A $10 bill always stays worth 10 dollars of course, so I can't spend more in America. So it's still relative :)
Maǳi Koǌo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-17T16:12:06.243Z
@verve Think about what you could trade $10 for in 1950 (a steak dinner for 4, 12 gallons of milk, or 40 loaves of bread) versus what you could trade $10 for today. The $10 has definitely decreased in value. A bank won't lend you $10 today in exchange for you paying them back $10 next year because (among other reasons) $10 next year is worth less than $10 today.
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-17T16:26:39.397Z
@DavidSchwartz I think I screwed up the question...I know that value does fluctuate or maybe I'm stupid but the money in my regular bank account with no interest etc. from 10 years ago is pretty much the same value...my question is when your bitcoins are in your wallet since they are virtual...if tomorrow $10 worth of coins are worth more...will the numbers within the wallet change to show it's increased value or will it just say .000051 or whatever $10 worth of Bitcoin is...yep, I'm dumb.
verve
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T05:04:01.860Z
@verve It's just like anything else. If you have $10, and the value changes, you still have $10, it just has a different value. The same is true with Bitcoins. If you have 1 Bitcoin, and the value changes, you still have 1 Bitcoin, it just has a different value.
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T05:34:27.833Z
@DavidSchwartz What I'm confused about is since the value increased in such a short amount of time...how do people get the most value out of their Bitcoin?  If yesterday a company was charging $10 worth of Bitcoin for their services but the next day the value Bitcoins has changed..will the company change the prices of their service?  If the company doesn't change their prices then don't we get ripped off?
verve
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T05:54:35.313Z
@verve Generally, Bitcoin price quotes are only valid for 10 to 15 minutes. Otherwise, the customer could wait to see what happens to the price of Bitcoin and accept the quote if and only if the price of Bitcoin dropped significantly.
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T06:03:11.367Z
@DavidSchwartz But how does it work for things like retail online shops etc.? So if you decide to pay with Bitcoin you must do so through the phone for a quote?  You can't just pay online? I think Expedia uses Bitcoin so how would that work?
verve
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T06:05:18.590Z
@verve You can pay online. You choose the stuff you want. You push the "pay" button. You get a quote that's good for 10 minutes. You pay within ten minutes.
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T06:47:30.717Z
@DavidSchwartz Ohh...interesting. Is the quote done by a machine?
verve
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T09:04:44.163Z
@verve Of course. It's usually done by services like Coinbase and Bitpay.
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-15T00:03:03.457Z
2014-10-15T00:03:03.457Z
Maǳi Koǌo
<p>Bitcoin value is analogous to gold or foreign currencies. If you buy a gold bar with US dollars and wait a year, and if the value of gold increases during that time, then when you sell that gold bar, you will get more US dollars.
The interesting thing about bitcoin is that is was discovered suddenly and the demand increased because of the internet, so the value increased faster than most other assets we are familiar with.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-15T05:45:58.027Z
And technically, it's anomalous why the demand exists at all. It (probably) contradicts Mises' Regression Theorem, yet here we are buying it for $400/btc.
Tyler
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-25T19:25:43.673Z
$1300/btc now @Tyler
Liam
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-20T14:22:38.020Z
$1900/btc @ 5/2017
abelenky
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-15T02:21:19.360Z
2014-10-15T02:21:19.360Z
Neil
<p>If you own a small amount of Bitcoin (say,$10) does one have to "invest" it somewhere for it's value to change or will the $10 fluctuate by just sitting in one's wallet and one can see the value fluctuate by checking the wallet from time to time?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-15T01:40:08.627Z
George I'm aware of trading but as I'm starting to learn about Bitcoin...it's different from cash money yet sort of the same...my thinking was one's $10 worth of Bitcoin could be worth more even if you didn't specifically invest it right??!....just wondering about those people who bought Bitcoin years ago & they forgot they had it...then now they find it's grown...but I presume it was just sitting in their Bitcoin wallet?
verve
<value>
Does the value of my Bitcoin fluctuate automatically?
verve
# Does the value of my Bitcoin fluctuate automatically?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-14)

If you own a small amount of Bitcoin (say,$10) does one have to "invest" it somewhere for it's value to change or will the $10 fluctuate by just sitting in one's wallet and one can see the value fluctuate by checking the wallet from time to time?

**Tags:** value

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: George I'm aware of trading but as I'm starting to learn about Bitcoin...it's different from cash money yet sort of the same...my thinking was one's $10 worth of Bitcoin could be worth more even if you didn't specifically invest it right??!....just wondering about those people who bought Bitcoin years ago & they forgot they had it...then now they find it's grown...but I presume it was just sitting in their Bitcoin wallet?  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-10-15. Score: 6

Whether it fluctuates or not depends on how you express value. If you happen to be one of them American folks, who use dollars to express value, then a fixed amount of money in other currencies (such as euros or bitcoins) will fluctuate.

But similarly, a $10 dollar bill will fluctuate in value, if you express value in euros or bitcoins (basically, that is if you live anywhere on the planet except the US).

It's all a matter of perspective.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I don't know how to respond to this. Lol.  Well, if the $10 turns to $11 in euros, gold bars, or whatever & you can use the $11 to buy something then it has in fact increased in value.  
> **username_1**: It's more like, if I bought a $10 bill for €7 and I can now sell it for €8, then yes, it has increased in value - if'm spending euros. A $10 bill always stays worth 10 dollars of course, so I can't spend more in America. So it's still relative :)  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Think about what you could trade $10 for in 1950 (a steak dinner for 4, 12 gallons of milk, or 40 loaves of bread) versus what you could trade $10 for today. The $10 has definitely decreased in value. A bank won't lend you $10 today in exchange for you paying them back $10 next year because (among other reasons) $10 next year is worth less than $10 today.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 I think I screwed up the question...I know that value does fluctuate or maybe I'm stupid but the money in my regular bank account with no interest etc. from 10 years ago is pretty much the same value...my question is when your bitcoins are in your wallet since they are virtual...if tomorrow $10 worth of coins are worth more...will the numbers within the wallet change to show it's increased value or will it just say .000051 or whatever $10 worth of Bitcoin is...yep, I'm dumb.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 It's just like anything else. If you have $10, and the value changes, you still have $10, it just has a different value. The same is true with Bitcoins. If you have 1 Bitcoin, and the value changes, you still have 1 Bitcoin, it just has a different value.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 What I'm confused about is since the value increased in such a short amount of time...how do people get the most value out of their Bitcoin?  If yesterday a company was charging $10 worth of Bitcoin for their services but the next day the value Bitcoins has changed..will the company change the prices of their service?  If the company doesn't change their prices then don't we get ripped off?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Generally, Bitcoin price quotes are only valid for 10 to 15 minutes. Otherwise, the customer could wait to see what happens to the price of Bitcoin and accept the quote if and only if the price of Bitcoin dropped significantly.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 But how does it work for things like retail online shops etc.? So if you decide to pay with Bitcoin you must do so through the phone for a quote?  You can't just pay online? I think Expedia uses Bitcoin so how would that work?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 You can pay online. You choose the stuff you want. You push the "pay" button. You get a quote that's good for 10 minutes. You pay within ten minutes.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Ohh...interesting. Is the quote done by a machine?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Of course. It's usually done by services like Coinbase and Bitpay.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-10-15. Score: 1

Bitcoin value is analogous to gold or foreign currencies. If you buy a gold bar with US dollars and wait a year, and if the value of gold increases during that time, then when you sell that gold bar, you will get more US dollars.
The interesting thing about bitcoin is that is was discovered suddenly and the demand increased because of the internet, so the value increased faster than most other assets we are familiar with.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: And technically, it's anomalous why the demand exists at all. It (probably) contradicts Mises' Regression Theorem, yet here we are buying it for $400/btc.  
> **username_5**: $1300/btc now @username_4  
> **username_6**: $1900/btc @ 5/2017  

---

