Let's talk about Cryptocurrencies

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Slava

If I had money in bitcoin I would be concerned about how to get out. Seems like the systems that let you trade are just hammered and can't handle the volume. At this point of course, that is due to the rise, but if the plan is to "get out before everyone else does" then you have to expect to face that same issue.

I have no position, and won't be taking any.

Coinbase has basically come out and said that we shouldn't expect their system to hold up if there is a rush on the currency.

A run is fine I suppose because at least people won't be losing their lives, but if it crashes and people are trying to get out everyone is going to panic and the system will crash.

[Krovikan]

Originally Posted by Azure

Coinbase has basically come out and said that we shouldn't expect their system to hold up if there is a rush on the currency.

A run is fine I suppose because at least people won't be losing their lives, but if it crashes and people are trying to get out everyone is going to panic and the system will crash.

The bitcoin network is SLOW if you need to get your money out it'll cost you $20-30 to get it to the exchange from your wallet in the lightning speed time of 30-50 minutes.

That is based on the current transaction rate, a run would cause a spike in transaction cost. If a run happens then enjoy the ride as you probably aren't getting your money out of that network.



Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Azure]

Personally if I had more than 1% of my net worth tied up in any crypto currency I would get out now with the run its had. Let 1% sit there and let it ride to a million if that is what it will do.

[corporatejay]

I'm putting my money back into beanie babies, I think they'll make a comeback.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I'm putting my money back into beanie babies, I think they'll make a comeback.

You should diversify with pogs

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I'm putting my money back into beanie babies, I think they'll make a comeback.

Pretty good idea for an ICO actually... Tap into as many crazy over-valued products as possible..

BeanieCoins
BiTulips
RipplePogs
TickleMeEthereum

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by photon

Any suggestions for an exchange to buy/sell? After LTC tanking today I figure I should have something ready to go if I ever want to sell something. Is it better to use a Canadian exchange? Or will anyplace do?

This all seems to remind me of tulips for some reason.

In any case - I am curious if you've actually been able to extract real money from this?

Do update when you decide what to do, and how it goes. Good luck!

[Flashpoint]

Found this to be interesting regarding how Bitcoin is "mined".

So that’s where the egalitarian thing breaks down. In the beginning, cryptocurrency enthusiasts could run mining software on their home computers. That evolved. First people realized that graphics processing units were better at those hash computations than plain old CPUs. They used more power and required more elaborate cooling, but still. And then people started customizing Field Programmable Gate Array chips, bought off the shelf and then customized for mining. These days, the preferred hardware is Application-Specific Integrated Circuits, made to order in Bitcoin-specific configurations and installed in specialized data centers.

Not only does that centralize bitcoin mining, but it also screws up energy usage. The most advanced bitcoin miners now expend 0.3 watts per billion hash calculations, or “gigahashes.” Flip that math around and you get 300 Gh per second per kilowatt. So the sketch is basically 13,600 petahashes per second with 234 kWh consumed by every transaction, giving you 32.71 terawatt-hours consumed by the Bitcoin network—or 0.15 percent of the total world consumption of electricity.

https://www.wired.com/story/bitcoin-global-warming/

[bubbsy]

Woke up quite hungover today, after a lengthy night of drinking with some friends who are heavily invested in bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies.

Ugh, the feeling of missing the boat on this and my general failure in managing my portfolio for anything better than marginal growth, compounded with the hangover has me feeling really down today.

I'm pledging to read through this thread and becoming a contributor within the next few months (when I am able to liquidate some assets I'd like to part with anyways).

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

Woke up quite hungover today, after a lengthy night of drinking with some friends who are heavily invested in bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies.

Ugh, the feeling of missing the boat on this and my general failure in managing my portfolio for anything better than marginal growth, compounded with the hangover has me feeling really down today.

I'm pledging to read through this thread and becoming a contributor within the next few months (when I am able to liquidate some assets I'd like to part with anyways).

I feel like we are ripe for a pretty big correction in the coming months.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

Woke up quite hungover today, after a lengthy night of drinking with some friends who are heavily invested in bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies.

Ugh, the feeling of missing the boat on this and my general failure in managing my portfolio for anything better than marginal growth, compounded with the hangover has me feeling really down today.

I'm pledging to read through this thread and becoming a contributor within the next few months (when I am able to liquidate some assets I'd like to part with anyways).

I don't know how old you are but wealth building is about slow and steady over many many years. Get rich quick schemes are just that. Schemes. Right now Bitcoin is trading on fake value. There is nothing underlying that currency. It's completely made up.

Before anyone says that fiat currency is the same, you do realize that it is basically a promise to pay by a government with the power of taxation, or in some cases, to conquer other nations and steal their resources if things got desperate enough.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I don't know how old you are but wealth building is about slow and steady over many many years. Get rich quick schemes are just that. Schemes. Right now Bitcoin is trading on fake value. There is nothing underlying that currency. It's completely made up.

Before anyone says that fiat currency is the same, you do realize that it is basically a promise to pay by a government with the power of taxation, or in some cases, to conquer other nations and steal their resources if things got desperate enough.

The government that continually prints money...

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by dino7c

The government that continually prints money...

Eventually declares war on another state if they can't make ends meet?

[BananaPancakes]

It's interesting to see how people think currency being tied to government body is actually a good thing. Go to a country where the government is unstable or corrupt and the people there instantly see the value in bitcoin.

Being able to exchange value from one person to another without an intermediary, being able to hold and store value without fear of the government taking it away or devaluing it through hyperinflation. Those are only a few of the benefits of bitcoin/cryptocurrencies.

The price might be in a bubble right now, but even if it crashes this is not something that will just disappear. Just like how the internet has become an integral part of our lives, so will cryptocurrencies.

Someday we might look back and think about how crazy people were to store their hard earned money in fiat currency.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I'm putting my money back into beanie babies, I think they'll make a comeback.

Pet rocks, baby. Hard assets!

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by BananaPancakes

It's interesting to see how people think currency being tied to government body is actually a good thing. Go to a country where the government is unstable or corrupt and the people there instantly see the value in bitcoin.

Being able to exchange value from one person to another without an intermediary, being able to hold and store value without fear of the government taking it away or devaluing it through hyperinflation. Those are only a few of the benefits of bitcoin/cryptocurrencies.

The price might be in a bubble right now, but even if it crashes this is not something that will just disappear. Just like how the internet has become an integral part of our lives, so will cryptocurrencies.

Someday we might look back and think about how crazy people were to store their hard earned money in fiat currency.

What does crypto currency give me that Visa doesn't besides being able to buy rocket launchers, people and fentanyl?

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

What does crypto currency give me that Visa doesn't besides being able to buy rocket launchers, people and fentanyl?

You need a better Visa if they are blocking your fentanyl scrips.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by BananaPancakes

It's interesting to see how people think currency being tied to government body is actually a good thing. Go to a country where the government is unstable or corrupt and the people there instantly see the value in bitcoin.

Being able to exchange value from one person to another without an intermediary, being able to hold and store value without fear of the government taking it away or devaluing it through hyperinflation. Those are only a few of the benefits of bitcoin/cryptocurrencies.

The price might be in a bubble right now, but even if it crashes this is not something that will just disappear. Just like how the internet has become an integral part of our lives, so will cryptocurrencies.

Someday we might look back and think about how crazy people were to store their hard earned money in fiat currency.

You're worried about hyperinflation and instead point to crypto-currency as a solution? A lot of them are up about 1700% this year or something crazy.

[BananaPancakes]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

What does crypto currency give me that Visa doesn't besides being able to buy rocket launchers, people and fentanyl?

While bitcoin may not be scalable to replace Visa/Mastercard, Ethereum is looking at promising ways to scale and may replace credit card usage in the future.

The benefit of using a crypto instead of Visa/Mastercard is you will no longer have a bank taking 1.5-3% of every transaction from businesses. Not only does this save a significant amount of money for business owners, but in countries where they don't have an established banking system, they will finally have a way to accept payment other than cash.

[BananaPancakes]

Originally Posted by Slava

You're worried about hyperinflation and instead point to crypto-currency as a solution? A lot of them are up about 1700% this year or something crazy.

I'm not sure you know what inflation is?

Bitcoin is programmatically deflationary. Each new bitcoin is more difficult to mine than the last, with a hard limit on the total amount available (21 million). There is no centralized body or government that can dump new bitcoin into the economy and devalue your holdings unlike with fiat currencies.