Coinbase and GDAX are about to p~~~ me off.

[MarketWatcherParticipant]

Anonymous wrote:

Those who have mastered it are convinced it’s going to be big.
You don’t need to master it to believe in its potential however.

That is where I am at right now.

Anonymous wrote:

Crypto is going to remain one of the few things the authorities can’t get their hands on.

Actually, the CME is going to start futures trading based on Bitcoin. I have also heard rumors of an ETF. That will be the beginning of regulation. The good news is that demand will skyrocket. Don’t worry the big players smell blood in the water and they will get their pound of flesh.

/I am not giving any investment advice/

[Anonymous 38]

It can’t be regulated. They can invent their own currencies but they can’t control something like bitcoin.

Worst case it goes completely black market but notice that a number of progressive countries are embracing bitcoin.

[BeerParticipant 11832]

What scares me more than anything about Bitcoin is people hype it up as a currency…only nobody is using it as a currency. People are just buying and holding it hoping to make profits. Do any of you guys buy pizzas or pay your phone bill with Bitcoin?

So…you guys are investing in a “currency” that isn’t even used as a currency and don’t see what could possibly go wrong?

Long term the only one who will win from Bitcoin is the government. They get to tax the everyone’s profits while the bubble is inflating, and when it eventually pops there isn’t even a Madoff figure to put the blame on. I’ve got to hand it to the Bitcoin creators there…they managed to create a massive ponzi scheme which they will never have to answer for. If it doesn’t implode on its own government’s will eventually crack down on it when they decide the tax revenue its bringing in is no longer worth the challenge it poses to their ability to manipulate currencies.

[BeerParticipant 11832]

Anonymous wrote:

It can’t be regulated. They can invent their own currencies but they can’t control something like bitcoin.

I think a question you should be asking yourself is if alternate currencies are such an awesome idea and they can’t be regulated, why has it taken so long for something like Bitcoin to pop up?

I think what you will find if you want to look at it from that perspective is Bitcoin isn’t the first attempt at a private currency and the government doesn’t have a hard time regulating private currencies when they feel like it, and its been done multiple times in the past.

Anonymous wrote:

Worst case it goes completely black market but notice that a number of progressive countries are embracing bitcoin.

They’ll embrace it when its bringing them in tax revenue. They’ll destroy it when it interferes with big government.

[MarketWatcherParticipant]

Beer wrote:

Do any of you guys buy pizzas or pay your phone bill with Bitcoin?

No and that is the interesting part. Many of the large market cap tokens are used by websites to raise capital and create a market within their own sites. It is based on many things and is not something you just jump into. /as I am learning/

[BeerParticipant 11832]

MarketWatcher wrote:

No and that is the interesting part. Many of the large market cap tokens are used by websites to raise capital and create a market within their own sites.

If they’re selling tokens to raise capital, what do those tokens represent…partial ownership in the company? Wouldn’t “token” in that sense just = “stock?” That’s exactly what companies do with stock…in which case its not really a digital currency, its probably more equivalent to pink sheets.

If they’re selling tokens to be used as currency within their sites…how is that worthy of an investment? Would you consider a stack of Walmart gift cards an investment? You can spend them on walmart.com. I’m guessing you wouldn’t. If they come in “digital currency” form, why does it change things?

MarketWatcher wrote:

It is based on many things and is not something you just jump into. /as I am learning/

I really hope you guys make money off it…but ultimately, don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. When I ask myself what is Bitcoin used for and what gives it value I don’t like the answers that come to mind…even if its fascinating to learn about blockchain and ledgers and how a decentralized currency could work, etc, its just irrelevant if the answer to those two fundamental questions I ask myself before investing in things doesn’t change.

[MarketWatcherParticipant]

Beer wrote:

more equivalent to pink sheets

+1 Beer. All good points.

[Anonymous 38]

What scares me more than anything about Bitcoin is people hype it up as a currency…only nobody is using it as a currency. People are just buying and holding it hoping to make profits. Do any of you guys buy pizzas or pay your phone bill with Bitcoin?

It’s early days, but bitcoin is being accepted as currency at more and more places every day.

So…you guys are investing in a “currency” that isn’t even used as a currency and don’t see what could possibly go wrong?

Yeah I understand what could possibly go wrong… I lose my investment. No big deal. I’ve make an educated bet, it’s standard risk.

As crypto rises I expect more governments to try to outlaw it. But not all countries, I think some will embrace it because they can see how they might prosper by doing so. But even if it’s not an accepted currency, it will still be a reliable store of value.

Let’s return to this thread this time next year, shall we?

[Anonymous 38]

MarketWatcher wrote:

Carnage wrote:
I wish to know what gives you guys Soo much confidence in bitcoin, at the actual lvl I see it as a huge risk to get in.

I genuinely don’t understand this point.

If I invest 100% of my worth, I’d be a f~~~ing idiot. Huge risk.
If I invest 50% of my worth, I’m still an idiot. Huge risk.

However if I invest 1-5% of my worth, the risk is that I lose 1-5% of my worth, which is not a ‘huge risk’ for me. Is losing 1% of your worth a huge risk for you?

I encourage you to read up on crypto because until you have a basic understanding of it you’ll probably always be afraid of it.

[narrow road travelerParticipant 1680]

The basic understanding I have about it. Note I still haven’t put my feet in. Is Cryptocurrency is a computing lottery system. There also will only be a finite number of lotteries.

As an example. A random number string is generated on the bit end. A group of processors then crunch numbers until the correct formula matches the random number. One crypto currency unit is created.

Then each processor has a currency wallet. The wallet gets a fraction of the coin produced commensurate with processing input to the correct formula.
The coins then can go into other wallets with tag numbers following them. So two virtual coins or fractions will ever exist.
Those coins are then routed to a market. Where people bid actual currency values proportional to a whole crypto unit.

The system is geared towards anonymity. There’s no bank, or government agency able to track all the currencies created. Yet the currency still has crypto value.

Now that’s as much as I understand about that market. When I have more income. It’ll be behind physical silver hoarding in my long term value holding position.

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. --Sun Tsu

[CoolbreezeParticipant 442]

Wish I had known to invest in Bitcoin back in 2010 when it was offered at $.003.

[MarketWatcherParticipant]

Anonymous wrote:

Let’s return to this thread this time next year, shall we

Deal. We will see what happens.

[BeerParticipant 11832]

narrow road traveler wrote:

The basic understanding I have about it. Note I still haven’t put my feet in. Is Cryptocurrency is a computing lottery system. There also will only be a finite number of lotteries.

As an example. A random number string is generated on the bit end. A group of processors then crunch numbers until the correct formula matches the random number. One crypto currency unit is created.

Then each processor has a currency wallet. The wallet gets a fraction of the coin produced commensurate with processing input to the correct formula.
The coins then can go into other wallets with tag numbers following them. So two virtual coins or fractions will ever exist.
Those coins are then routed to a market. Where people bid actual currency values proportional to a whole crypto unit.

Why should I care about any of this? I can explain to you how I make game currency in an MMO and it sounds all fancy and exciting and requires time, effort, and computing power…does it mean that MMO currency has long term real life value?

narrow road traveler wrote:

The system is geared towards anonymity. There’s no bank, or government agency able to track all the currencies created. Yet the currency still has crypto value.

Unless you are doing something illegal with it, who really cares how anonymous it is. You still have to pay taxes on gains you make from buying/selling bitcoin…again…unless you want to do something illegal. In cases where people have been doing illegal things involving Bitcoin, the government can, and has in the past, confiscated their Bitcoin.

Additionally for the amount of cash the average person handles…you can be plenty anonymous just using paper money. I can go take 1000 bucks cash out of the bank tomorrow and pay some guy under the table to paint my house and the government is never going to know or care. Its not like the average person is shadily moving millions of dollars around and needs to hide it. That, and again…I’m not doing something illegal. If the government wants to look at my credit card statement or bank statement for whatever reason, I can give zero f~~~s if they know I spent 87 dollars at the grocery store 3 days ago.

Plus the fact that it is anonymous makes it actually kind of scary to me. What if you had a substantial amount of Bitcoin and someone gets access to your wallet somehow and wires it off to another account. Even if you think Bitcoin itself is secure…all it takes is a key logger and you could be potentially sending your key/password to someone without even knowing it. You would be f~~~ed. What are you going to do cry to the cops your anonymous Bitcoin wallet got emptied into someone else’s anonymous Bitcoin wallet? At least if my physical credit card is lost/stolen or my number gets stolen because I’m using it on a computer/phone and someone makes purchases on my account I can get the charges removed and lot’s of times the person using it is dumb enough to leave a trail leading cops right to them, or if they have the physical card are sometimes dumb enough to scan it in a store after its reported stolen and get arrested on the spot.

[Gravel PitParticipant]

BEER: After mocking Bitcoin for 5 years and being a naysayer myself, I’m now willing to take the risk, especially after the last quarter of 2017! Let me just say ….I will not make that mistake again. People with IQs lower than NFL athletes are now instant multi-millionaires, and not just on-screen, they are undoubtedly withdrawing real money in the 10’s of thousands weekly. Believe me, they don’t care about paying 50% of it to the IRS when they’re sleeping on a pillow filled with one hundred dollar bills. And if you’re only into for a few grand, you can take the total loss and carry on in life, worst case scenario. Best case, you retire in 5 years, build a house in the country, read books and do whatever you want for the rest of your life. I don’t know about you but I hate living check to check.

[Author]

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