Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community
Old 02-20-2018, 03:36 AM   #321
Thor
God of Hating Twitter
 
Thor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Exp:
Default

So my best friend in Iceland is determined to buy some BTC.

So should I tell him to buy at this price, I am weary, or go with ETFs..?

Anyone have any recommendations.
__________________
Allskonar fyrir Aumingja!!
Thor is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Thor For This Useful Post:
Old 02-20-2018, 09:02 AM   #322
Canehdianman
Lifetime Suspension
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Calgary
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor View Post
So my best friend in Iceland is determined to buy some BTC.

So should I tell him to buy at this price, I am weary, or go with ETFs..?

Anyone have any recommendations.
I recommend your friend do whatever he wants. There is no benefit to you in advising him, only he knows his risk tolerance.

My only advice to him is to not invest anything he can't afford to lose.

It is a very volatile and speculative investment.
Canehdianman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2018, 01:04 PM   #323
OMG!WTF!
Franchise Player
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor View Post
So my best friend in Iceland is determined to buy some BTC.

So should I tell him to buy at this price, I am weary, or go with ETFs..?

Anyone have any recommendations.
I think he/she needs some sort of reason to buy. There was a reason to buy at 8:35 am on Feb 14. I think it's more likely to go down a bit from here. Probably consolidate a bit.

If GBTC spends a few low volatility days around $20 I would look to buy if it makes a strong move above $20 and some of my other criteria is met. That was the plan last week, bought after a strong move above $15 after some low volatility around that level.

I think your friend is probably just scared of missing out. FOMO usually happens when something is driven up by emotional buying and then everybody reads about it in the news and piles in at the very top. Your friend has waited out the big drop which is good but I also think the easy money has been made. From here I doubt you'd see a massive move up again like we've already had. Always possible and worth watching with some sort of strategy in mind.

In general, Bit's controlled by traders much more skilled than us. We are small, small fish waiting to get chopped up into little bits...aka Chum.
OMG!WTF! is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to OMG!WTF! For This Useful Post:
Old 03-16-2018, 12:10 PM   #324
Fuzz
Franchise Player
 
Fuzz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Exp:
Default

https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/0...tm_medium=feed
Quote:
One single cryptocurrency mining operation called Coinmint used up around 10% of the city's allotted power supply alone in January and February, according to Motherboard. When its electrical budget was exceeded in January, the city had to buy electricity from the open market at a higher cost, which was distributed among its residents.
A city bans mining due to electricity usage. It's kind of bonkers we are trying to reduce consumption in all areas, and then along comes coin mining to throw that all out the window for something that has zero economic benefit.
Fuzz is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Fuzz For This Useful Post:
Old 03-16-2018, 01:24 PM   #325
photon
The new goggles also do nothing.
 
photon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary
Exp:
Default

Humans have teh dumb.
__________________
Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
photon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2018, 11:57 AM   #326
photon
The new goggles also do nothing.
 
photon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary
Exp:
Default

Could possessing a blockchain become illegal?

German researchers have discovered unknown persons are using bitcoin’s blockchain to store and link to child abuse imagery, potentially putting the cryptocurrency in jeopardy.

The blockchain is the open-source, distributed ledger that records every bitcoin transaction, but can also store small bits of non-financial data. This data is typically notes about the trade of bitcoin, recording what it was for or other metadata. But it can also be used to store links and files.

Researchers from the RWTH Aachen University, Germany found that around 1,600 files were currently stored in bitcoin’s blockchain. Of the files least eight were of sexual content, including one thought to be an image of child abuse and two that contain 274 links to child abuse content, 142 of which link to dark web services.

“Our analysis shows that certain content, eg, illegal pornography, can render the mere possession of a blockchain illegal,” . “Although court rulings do not yet exist, legislative texts from countries such as Germany, the UK, or the USA suggest that illegal content such as [child abuse imagery] can make the blockchain illegal to possess for all users.”


https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...llegal-content
__________________
Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
photon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2018, 12:15 PM   #327
Fuzz
Franchise Player
 
Fuzz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Exp:
Default

Quote:
The City of Medicine Hat has agreed to supply electricity and lease land to a Toronto-based cryptocurrency mining company in a deal that will see $100 million in construction spending in the southern Alberta city.
The city will provide electric energy capacity of about 42 megawatts to Hut 8 Mining Corp., which will construct bitcoin mining facilities near the city's new Unit 16 power plant.
The operation is expected to be running by September and will triple the company's operating power to 60.7 megawatts, Hut 8 said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ut-8-1.4584257

This is getting ridiculous. It's going to drive up our power rates, burns fossil fuels and converts electricity to heat. All for what? Nothing. Governments should be banning bitcoin mines if they are serious about reducing greenhouse gases. New York will be charging more for power for miners, but they should just ban them.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...n-miners-more/

Its a giant Rube Goldburg mechanization. Hey, look at us! We have created the most expensive, power consuming, slow, convoluted method of processing transactions ever!
Fuzz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2018, 12:43 PM   #328
BananaPancakes
Crash and Bang Winger
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Calgary, AB
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz View Post
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ut-8-1.4584257

This is getting ridiculous. It's going to drive up our power rates, burns fossil fuels and converts electricity to heat. All for what? Nothing. Governments should be banning bitcoin mines if they are serious about reducing greenhouse gases. New York will be charging more for power for miners, but they should just ban them.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...n-miners-more/

Its a giant Rube Goldburg mechanization. Hey, look at us! We have created the most expensive, power consuming, slow, convoluted method of processing transactions ever!
You seem to have such a strong opinion. I'm curious, have you actually looked into blockchain technology and it's applications at all?

What you're saying is just as silly as saying they should've banned the development of cars because in the beginning they were noisy, slow, polluted the environment, broke down all the time, required all this expensive infrastructure like roads, etc. Not only that, they get stuck in the mud unlike the superior horse!

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are in their infancy and yes they are slow and inefficient right now, but some of the greatest minds in the world are working on it everyday. It's only going to get better.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain are the future and banning them so early in development would put Canada at a huge disadvantage.
BananaPancakes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2018, 12:54 PM   #329
Fuzz
Franchise Player
 
Fuzz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Exp:
Default

I'm well aware of blockchain. I'm not against it as a technology, nor am I totally against all crypto-currencies. But Bitcoin is poorly constructed, and I'm sure if the founders knew a transaction would use as much power as a house in a month, they may have re-thought that part of it. It's incredibly flawed at the moment, for all the reasons I mentioned in my previous post. Develop a coin that can be easily bought(no, Bitcoin is not easy to acquire) can process a transaction in seconds, for pennies, and uses as much power as a Visa transaction and then it might make sense. Bitcoin is bonkers in any logical analysis.

We should not be encourage wasting electricity in any industry, let alone one that is used by a minuscule number of people, where many much better alternatives exist. What percentage of Bitcoin transactions are to actually purchase something, as opposed to what amounts to speculating on it's growth?
Fuzz is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Fuzz For This Useful Post:
Old 03-20-2018, 12:56 PM   #330
Canehdianman
Lifetime Suspension
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Calgary
Exp:
Default

^ Yeah I don't really take comments like that (and the article that photon posted) very seriously.

As soon as you start reading them it becomes apparent that they have no understanding of the purpose of cryptocurrency,nor how it works.

I do agree that Proof of Work is very energy inefficient though. With some luck, we will move on to Proof of Stake (or some other option) soon.
Canehdianman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2018, 01:22 PM   #331
Fuzz
Franchise Player
 
Fuzz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Exp:
Default

I understand the perceived purpose and how it works. I just don't think it is filling the role it was meant to(for the majority of transactions) and I don't think the original designers realized the massive flaws. If you don't agree that long transaction times, huge power consumption, fluctuating value and fees that can balloon to $50 (Even their current rate of $1.30 is excessive) are flaws of the currency, I'd love to hear why not. As far as I know it was never the intention for massive server farms to process transactions, it was for individuals to be able to do it as part of the network.

It's a little presumptuous to assume I don't know anything about it just because I think it is hugely flawed in it's current form.
Fuzz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2018, 02:08 PM   #332
Canehdianman
Lifetime Suspension
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Calgary
Exp:
Default

If your point was that cryptocurrencies have flaws, then I totally agree.

Where I find it questionable, is where you think it is better to just ban the entire concept of blockchain because it doesn't work as well as it should right now.

The first automobiles were scary as hell. They spooked horses and killed people. I guess we should have banned them immediately.
Canehdianman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2018, 02:42 PM   #333
Fuzz
Franchise Player
 
Fuzz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Exp:
Default

I didn't say ban blockchain, I specifically said "governments should be banning bitcoin mines".
Fuzz is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Fuzz For This Useful Post:
GGG
Old 03-20-2018, 04:50 PM   #334
photon
The new goggles also do nothing.
 
photon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Canehdianman View Post
^ Yeah I don't really take comments like that (and the article that photon posted) very seriously.
What's not to take seriously about the article I posted? It reports something that actually exists (illegal content in the blockchain) and asks the necessary questions about what the implications of that are.

It's another example of where technology is outstripping the law and the law or the technology has to adapt somehow. Being able to revise the blockchain in circumstances where someone puts kiddie porn into it might be an option, but that of course kind of defeats the whole purpose of the underlying technology.

Just looking at interesting questions that come up while something evolves isn't a blanket condemnation of it...
__________________
Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
photon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2018, 04:48 PM   #335
jammies
Basement Chicken Choker
 
jammies's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: In a land without pants, or war, or want. But mostly we care about the pants.
Exp:
Default

Bitcoin has been around for 9 years and you still can't use it to buy anything. 9 years in information tech is an eternity. The onus isn't on the skeptics anymore, as so far skepticism has been entirely borne out - cryptocurrencies have entirely mirrored investment bubbles, excepting that at least most investment bubbles don't require wasting vast amounts of power to generate their inflation.
__________________
Better educated sadness than oblivious joy.
jammies is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to jammies For This Useful Post:
Old 03-21-2018, 07:52 PM   #336
BananaPancakes
Crash and Bang Winger
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Calgary, AB
Exp:
Default

ALL new technology creates bubbles. That's just how markets work; it's nothing new and has nothing to do with the promise of the underlying technology. For me, I think the least interesting thing about cryptocurrencies is the price.

After talking with people on the subject, I've found that the people who instantly see that value crypto are the people who grew up in countries with unstable/corrupt governments or have family that did. Ask people from Venezuela, Brazil, Greece, Ukraine, Cyprus, Vietnam, the list goes on. They know what it's like to experience hyperinflation, currency control, and corrupt governments that literally steal your money.

Here in Canada, we're so lucky that we've never had to worry about such things and I think that's the reason some people here see it wasteful, unnecessary, or stupid. Imagine one day you go to the bank to withdraw some money and they don't let you. Or there's less money in there than you left. Or your lifesavings can only buy a fraction of what it could a month ago. You might change your mind.

I encourage people to forget about the price/investing, and read up on the actual benefits of what an open, decentralized, distributed network can do for currency and the global economy.

I have no idea where the prices will go, or what cryptocurrencies we will end up on top. But I really think cryptocurrencies are going to do for money, what the internet did for information/communication.
BananaPancakes is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to BananaPancakes For This Useful Post:
Old 03-21-2018, 11:01 PM   #337
dino7c
Franchise Player
 
dino7c's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BananaPancakes View Post
ALL new technology creates bubbles. That's just how markets work; it's nothing new and has nothing to do with the promise of the underlying technology. For me, I think the least interesting thing about cryptocurrencies is the price.

After talking with people on the subject, I've found that the people who instantly see that value crypto are the people who grew up in countries with unstable/corrupt governments or have family that did. Ask people from Venezuela, Brazil, Greece, Ukraine, Cyprus, Vietnam, the list goes on. They know what it's like to experience hyperinflation, currency control, and corrupt governments that literally steal your money.

Here in Canada, we're so lucky that we've never had to worry about such things and I think that's the reason some people here see it wasteful, unnecessary, or stupid. Imagine one day you go to the bank to withdraw some money and they don't let you. Or there's less money in there than you left. Or your lifesavings can only buy a fraction of what it could a month ago. You might change your mind.

I encourage people to forget about the price/investing, and read up on the actual benefits of what an open, decentralized, distributed network can do for currency and the global economy.

I have no idea where the prices will go, or what cryptocurrencies we will end up on top. But I really think cryptocurrencies are going to do for money, what the internet did for information/communication.
This guy gets it
__________________
GFG
dino7c is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2018, 07:42 AM   #338
Fuzz
Franchise Player
 
Fuzz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Exp:
Default

As you mentioned, the value of currency is its stability and that people trust it. One solution may be to peg a coin's value to something like the USD to prevent wild swings. They would want to have a planned method to decouple it in the future. It's value cannot simply be based on its scarcity becuase that results in what we have seen.

I'd like to read about a coin designed by an economist who understands the issues around currency. I don't believe the founder of bitcoin really understood all the flaws that would arise.

Like I said, I'm not against all cryptocurrencies or blockchain, I'm against poor implementations that have clearly failed and do more harm than good.
Fuzz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2018, 08:52 AM   #339
dobbles
addition by subtraction
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Tulsa, OK
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BananaPancakes View Post
ALL new technology creates bubbles. That's just how markets work; it's nothing new and has nothing to do with the promise of the underlying technology. For me, I think the least interesting thing about cryptocurrencies is the price.

After talking with people on the subject, I've found that the people who instantly see that value crypto are the people who grew up in countries with unstable/corrupt governments or have family that did. Ask people from Venezuela, Brazil, Greece, Ukraine, Cyprus, Vietnam, the list goes on. They know what it's like to experience hyperinflation, currency control, and corrupt governments that literally steal your money.

Here in Canada, we're so lucky that we've never had to worry about such things and I think that's the reason some people here see it wasteful, unnecessary, or stupid. Imagine one day you go to the bank to withdraw some money and they don't let you. Or there's less money in there than you left. Or your lifesavings can only buy a fraction of what it could a month ago. You might change your mind.

I encourage people to forget about the price/investing, and read up on the actual benefits of what an open, decentralized, distributed network can do for currency and the global economy.

I have no idea where the prices will go, or what cryptocurrencies we will end up on top. But I really think cryptocurrencies are going to do for money, what the internet did for information/communication.
I am genuinely trying to remain open on this, so this is not a loaded question:

How are the extremely volatile price changes that all of these cryptocurrencies have experienced in the past few years any different than the bolded above? Sure, I could imagine people in the countries you listed got screwed. How is that any different than them putting their savings in bitcoin 3 months ago only to see the value collapse? What am I missing here?
dobbles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2018, 09:13 AM   #340
OMG!WTF!
Franchise Player
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz View Post
As you mentioned, the value of currency is its stability and that people trust it. One solution may be to peg a coin's value to something like the USD to prevent wild swings
Crypto's are popular because they exist outside of central control. People don't trust fiat and so pegging a crypto to a commodity or bank might lose its attraction. Venezuela just issued a petro coin so I suppose we will see how that does. One coin is one barrel of oil in the Orinoco basin. Good luck ever collecting your barrel but none the less, it's there.

Russia is also developing a cryptoruble to settle accounts internationally while avoiding US sanctions.

There's also a royalmint gold crypto coin backed by UK gold. Its been around a while but not super popular as you might as well just own gold or gold stocks.

I should have been keeping track but there are still lots of blockchain stocks that get my attention. MARA was a decent day trade yesterday and by other accounts is one to watch. It's new to the Mining game I think. I never really look at the news associated with a stock but once and a while I check and often the big movers are still blockchain related.

My friend keeps asking me, "What is a bitcoin?" I still can't answer.

Last edited by OMG!WTF!; 03-22-2018 at 09:17 AM.
OMG!WTF! is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
bitcoin , cryptocurrency , ethereum

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:58 AM.

Calgary Flames
2023-24




Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright Calgarypuck 2021