Let's talk about Cryptocurrencies

[BananaPancakes]

Originally Posted by desiboy

If I'm only dealing with a few grand which is spread across multiple exchanges, does it make sense to put them each into offline wallets? My goal is to pretty much treat these as short or long term stocks and cash out once in a while.


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I keep all of my crypto in offline wallets as well. If you're not day trading, I don't see any reason to keep them on an exchange. Like Canehdianman said, exchanges get hacked all the time, and if someone takes them they are gone forever.

A few grand might not be a lot to you now, but who knows what it will be worth in the future.

[1_Flames_Fan]

Rough couple days, my portfolio dropped like 15G's. Hopefully things go up again in the next couple weeks

[photon]

Oh man glad I sold when I did. Question is if/when to get back in.

[desiboy]

Originally Posted by 1_Flames_Fan

Rough couple days, my portfolio dropped like 15G's. Hopefully things go up again in the next couple weeks

Yeah, it's been brutal. Trying not to panic and sell...


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[GGG]

Originally Posted by BananaPancakes

Looks like Mastercard may have started blocking transactions from Coinbase.

If this is true, this is the exact reason why cryptocurrencies are needed in the first place. As the world becomes increasingly cashless, do we really want banks/credit card companies deciding what we can and cannot buy?

Yes, I would like state regulations on monetary transactions to prevent crime
and ensure proper payment of taxes.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by 1_Flames_Fan

Rough couple days, my portfolio dropped like 15G's. Hopefully things go up again in the next couple weeks

doesn't seem like today is going to be any less rough.

https://coinmarketcap.com/#CAD

Ocean of red out there right now. Everything is down another 20-40%.

[NuclearFart]

The current crash is being triggered by fears of global regulation...I guess I'm missing something, but isn't that the innate strength and whole point of a cryptocurrency? How are they going to regulate something that's untraceable?

I guess they could make it illegal on the backend to accept as currency, but I would think that is going to be extremely hard to police when there is nothing tangible linking buyer and sellers.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

The current crash is being triggered by fears of global regulation...I guess I'm missing something, but isn't that the innate strength and whole point of a cryptocurrency? How are they going to regulate something that's untraceable?

I guess they could make it illegal on the backend to accept as currency, but I would think that is going to be extremely hard to police when there is nothing tangible linking buyer and sellers.

Sure, if people are actually using this to buy things and transact. But what's being shutdown is the ability to trade the currencies on the various exchanges. I also think that mining is problematic in some places because of the extreme amounts of energy required. So I think in Sichuan province for example, it's been a concern. Truthfully though, I don't follow this very closely, so I might be off-base.

[DoubleK]

Isn't money laundering a concern as well?

[BananaPancakes]

Originally Posted by GGG

Yes, I would like state regulations on monetary transactions to prevent crime
and ensure proper payment of taxes.

Ok, but here’s a radical idea. Maybe these regulations should be passed by elected officials and enforced by police departments and the CRA and not by independent billion dollar corporations.

[NuclearFart]

Originally Posted by Slava

Sure, if people are actually using this to buy things and transact. But what's being shutdown is the ability to trade the currencies on the various exchanges. I also think that mining is problematic in some places because of the extreme amounts of energy required. So I think in Sichuan province for example, it's been a concern. Truthfully though, I don't follow this very closely, so I might be off-base.

I thought the magical hype buzz word of cryptocurrency is a decentralized exchange, no one can regulate that. Also, what's stopping a centralized exchange based out of a country that doesn't care about regulation?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

I thought the magical hype buzz word of cryptocurrency is a decentralized exchange, no one can regulate that. Also, what's stopping a centralized exchange based out of a country that doesn't care about regulation?

You might be able to do something like that, but I think it would affect the legitimacy if that was the only way to buy it. I know it's extreme, but say Somalia was the place. Who in their right mind plunks down $10k for a bitcoin if that's the home base?

There are some growing pains to be reckoned with for cryptos. First, they need to be fully legitimate, otherwise it erodes their value. But then to be fully legitimate, they want to be largely unregulated, otherwise people can just use the already available methods.

[BananaPancakes]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

I thought the magical hype buzz word of cryptocurrency is a decentralized exchange, no one can regulate that. Also, what's stopping a centralized exchange based out of a country that doesn't care about regulation?

You're right. The only way to truly stop cryptocurrencies is to globally ban it, which I don't see as possible as it would require every country in the world to be onboard.

Even if countries targeted exchanges that deal with fiat to crypto trades, people will find other ways to get it (travelling, international sites, sites like localbitcoin, etc.)

[BananaPancakes]

Originally Posted by Slava

You might be able to do something like that, but I think it would affect the legitimacy if that was the only way to buy it. I know it's extreme, but say Somalia was the place. Who in their right mind plunks down $10k for a bitcoin if that's the home base?

There are some growing pains to be reckoned with for cryptos. First, they need to be fully legitimate, otherwise it erodes their value. But then to be fully legitimate, they want to be largely unregulated, otherwise people can just use the already available methods.

"Home bases" for cryptocurrencies don't exist. There's no borders to them, even if banned in certain countries, nodes will be spread all over the world.

But let's take your example and say I had to for some reason travel and stay in Somalia and they were bitcoin-friendly. I would 100% choose to use bitcoin over whatever fiat currency they have.

Let's remember that bitcoin/cryptos are divisible. There's no need to buy $10K in bitcoin if all you need for a trip is $200.

[NuclearFart]

Originally Posted by BananaPancakes

You're right. The only way to truly stop cryptocurrencies is to globally ban it, which I don't see as possible as it would require every country in the world to be onboard.

Even if countries targeted exchanges that deal with fiat to crypto trades, people will find other ways to get it (travelling, international sites, sites like localbitcoin, etc.)

This is what I dont understand about the recent sudden devaluation in response to proposed attempts at government regulation. The main reason why bitcoin has any inherent value is because of its imperviousness to regulation, so why is this commodity realistically under threat?

Either I am missing something (certainly possible), or the vast majority of investors don't understand the very commodity they are investing in. If its the latter, then everyone who believes in cryptocurrencies should be considering doubling down right now before the market comes back to its senses.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

This is what I dont understand about the recent sudden devaluation in response to proposed attempts at government regulation. The main reason why bitcoin has any inherent value is because of its imperviousness to regulation, so why is this commodity realistically under threat?

Either I am missing something (certainly possible), or the vast majority of investors don't understand the very commodity they are investing in. If its the latter, then everyone who believes in cryptocurrencies should be considering doubling down right now before the market comes back to its senses.

I think the devaluation has more to do with manipulation caused by the coming option calls than the SK/China news.

[BananaPancakes]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

This is what I dont understand about the recent sudden devaluation in response to proposed attempts at government regulation. The main reason why bitcoin has any inherent value is because of its imperviousness to regulation, so why is this commodity realistically under threat?

Either I am missing something (certainly possible), or the vast majority of investors don't understand the very commodity they are investing in. If its the latter, then everyone who believes in cryptocurrencies should be considering doubling down right now before the market comes back to its senses.

This is also true lol

[Tron_fdc]

People need to understand that cryptocurrencies are in their infancy right now. It's not a speculatory tool to jump in and out of to make money; it's supposed to be used in the place of a fiat currency. Once pricing stabilizes, and once people start adopting it globally (and not necessarily bitcoin, it could be any iteration of a blockchain currency) you will see more and more people using it, and countries possibly adopting it in place of their fiat. The ENTIRE idea behind it is a decentralized, unregulated (and sometimes anonymous) currency that costs nothing to send to someone in order to pay for goods or services. The original whitepaper can be found here:

https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

What people are seeing now are the issues when the currencies are converted to fiat. Exchanges are charging outrageous fees, and that's not the intent behind cryptos at all. I also assume exchanges are (or will be) reporting withdrawals to the tax man, and that's all part and parcel with "regulation". Same with exchanges being shut down or banned; that's fine, but if I'm in China and someone says I can pay in bitcoin, and I have bitcoin, there is NOTHING stopping me from doing so. In fact, that's how it used to work before exchanges even existed. The government would have no clue how to trace these transactions, other than a blockchain ledger recording ownership registrations. That's not going to happen anytime soon, seeing as half the government doesn't even know what the blockchain is, let alone how to utilize it.

Governments have no idea how to regulate them on their own, especially the currencies like Monero that are DESIGNED to be totally anonymous. If I have a pile of Monero, and it's the adopted global currency, CRA is going to have no way of knowing what I'm doing with it or where it's going, and THAT'S THE POINT. Credit card companies, banks, and financial institutions in general SHOULD be pushing for regulation or outright banning of them, seeing as they are the ones that stand to lose the most if it turns into widespread global adoption. Good luck with that though!

IMO it's going to take years (if not decades) for cryptos to take hold and legitimize. I really do think they are going to change our lives (for the better) once it happens though.

[1_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by desiboy

Yeah, it's been brutal. Trying not to panic and sell...


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Everything rebounding nicely right now. Never panic sell unless you absolutely have to.

[The Fonz]

I struggle to see a future where cryptos are a legitimate currency. Wouldn't this cripple our economies? Imagine all of our government's lost tax revenue... how will we maintain infrastructure, education, healthcare, etc.

I'm open to having my mind changed - I really only started paying attention to this market about a month ago. I'm leaning skeptical though... I believe our governments would/will make crypto sales/purchases highly illegal before losing out on all of that tax revenue.