Let's talk about Cryptocurrencies

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Don't make it out to be such a simple process. The exchanges where you can fund with USD and purchase crypto are so backlogged that verification is taking weeks (some exchanges are outright saying "no new verifications at this time"), with funding the account after verification expected to take weeks again. The exchanges where no verification is required, and crypto can be purchased with a credit card, are showing "server unavailable" and have been doing so since the Fall.

It's incredible that there is not an exchange capable of taking my credit card and selling me crypto, without the month of dicking around.

Find a Bitcoin ATM.

The exchanges all have laws they have to follow.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Azure

Wasn't there an exchange based out of Calgary that did a pretty good job?

CaVirtex. They were so so and then shut down and sold to Kraken.

[Krovikan]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

What do others here think of Steem? Anyone sharing content on this platform?

I have shared a number of articles on Steemit, and I've also bought Steem because I think there's value in community and media sharing which has a good level of stickiness to it. It's also a great place for reading and learning about cryptos because so many people on it are naturally very involved in blockchain.

They seem like a good platform; however, I think they have made a critical error in the coin There is no reason to purchase the coin other than speculation, this could eventually see an undervalued coin compared to what it could be. A lot of platforms seem to do this, integrating purchase platforms that have nothing to do with their coin. A lot of platforms do this; however, with Steem there doesn't seem to be any service that you are really purchasing.

Not to mention the obvious legal issues with the name Steem in the future. I would love for this platform to succeed but there are too many issues with the design for me to invest.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Don't make it out to be such a simple process. The exchanges where you can fund with USD and purchase crypto are so backlogged that verification is taking weeks (some exchanges are outright saying "no new verifications at this time"), with funding the account after verification expected to take weeks again. The exchanges where no verification is required, and crypto can be purchased with a credit card, are showing "server unavailable" and have been doing so since the Fall.

It's incredible that there is not an exchange capable of taking my credit card and selling me crypto, without the month of dicking around.

Simple and slow are different concepts ! 😉

They are following standard KYC rules . Yes it sucks demand is so high they are a hit behind on automating the process, but it will be streamlined soon.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Simple and slow are different concepts ! 😉

They are following standard KYC rules . Yes it sucks demand is so high they are a hit behind on automating the process, but it will be streamlined soon.

I haven't bought any of this, but are they following securities regulations like the KYC requirements? I thought that one of the things people liked about these currencies is that they were essentially not tracked and regulated? If they're following KYC and other securities though, that's out the window. Next thing you know it's all taxable and while that's not exactly a surprise, it's different than what I had heard.

[Krovikan]

Originally Posted by Slava

I haven't bought any of this, but are they following securities regulations like the KYC requirements? I thought that one of the things people liked about these currencies is that they were essentially not tracked and regulated?.

Depends on where the exchange that you are purchasing form and how legitimate the exchange wants to be. As a consumer, you want to use the services of the most legitimate exchanges possible so you are less likely to be the victim of a scam. If you go for a Canadian exchange they will be subject to Canadian financial and anti-money laundering regulations.

Also unless you are trading in a privacy coin you are trading on a public ledger which means there is no privacy. That being said it is very... very easy to obfuscate your transactions when using multiple coins if you understand the networks.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Krovikan

Depends on where the exchange that you are purchasing form and how legitimate the exchange wants to be. As a consumer, you want to use the services of the most legitimate exchanges possible so you are less likely to be the victim of a scam. If you go for a Canadian exchange they will be subject to Canadian financial and anti-money laundering regulations.

Also unless you are trading in a privacy coin you are trading on a public ledger which means there is no privacy. That being said it is very... very easy to obfuscate your transactions when using multiple coins if you understand the networks.

Right but I guess when you layer on all of the factors that make this increasingly legitimate it defeats the point of these alternative currencies to an extent. If you're jumping through all of the securities regulations and everything that comes with that, then isn't the only reason to be in these due to speculation? The usefulness seems to be slipping away here?

[Itse]

This quote from a friend of mine, posted with the linked article, kind of sums up my feelings about Bitcoin.

"I think it's a testament to us as a species that we've managed to create a way to generate profit with all the environmental effects of heavy industry but without actually producing either goods or services."

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

Bitcoin emits the equivalent of 17.7 million tons of carbon dioxide every year, a big middle finger to Earth’s climate and anyone who enjoys things like coastlines, forests, and not dying of mosquito-borne diseases. Refracted through a different metaphor, the Bitcoin P2P network is essentially a distributed superintelligence utterly dedicated to generating bitcoins, so of course it wants to convert all the energy (and therefore matter) in the universe into bitcoin.

The SHA-256 algorithm is designed, intentionally, to be so hard that it requires brute-force computing. Try as many computational answers as you can, as fast as you can. Which means you have to keep your computer turned on all the time, running the fan to cool off your hot, overclocked processor. “The energy consumption is a security feature. It’s a good thing,” Sirer says.

bitcoin miners are now building ASIC clouds in places where electricity is cheap, like Iceland (where thermal energy is plentiful) or China (where electricity is underwritten by the government and bitcoin is a good way to speculate without regulation). Because that’s where they can bring more servers online to mine more bitcoin.

[Jason14h]

Maybe this was the NDPs whole plan! Drive up energy prices through Bitcoin mining

[troutman]

Is bitcoin an environmental hazard?

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/t...zard-1.4469361

By some estimates, unless something changes, bitcoin could be consuming enough electricity to power the U.S. by the middle of 2019.

The Current get's to the bottom of how these mining operations work, and whether they're sustainable.

Listen to the full conversation at the link.

[The Fonz]

I'm finally in. Managed to buy at a BTC ATM and send to my binance wallet.

Now I wait... Hope I did it right, excited to get trading.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by troutman

Is bitcoin an environmental hazard?

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/t...zard-1.4469361

By some estimates, unless something changes, bitcoin could be consuming enough electricity to power the U.S. by the middle of 2019.

The Current get's to the bottom of how these mining operations work, and whether they're sustainable.

Listen to the full conversation at the link.

It is obviously an environmental hazard, but I'm sure the power companies are loving it.

[The Fonz]

So many pump & dumps in the alt coins, it's crazy.

I watched ARN on thursday night go from .0009 ARN/BTC, to .00043 in a matter of 3hrs - a 478% increase. I managed to pull a few 10% gains off of it by riding the highs/lows, but I do not have the sack to hold a currency in hopes of a 200%+ gain.

Something I noticed while watching ARN's run - it was trading sporadically between .0002 - .0003, then all of a sudden, someone made a big buy at .0004, a good 50% higher than it's trading level. Is this a big player who is basically seeding the Pump?

I've seen the same thing on the other side - a coin will be trading at one level, then someone will do a large sell at ~30% below, resulting in panic selling thereafter. I assume that is also a whale, who's wanting to sewer a coin and then buy back in at an artificial low?

It's fun to watch.

[Slava]

Anyone super excited about kodakcoin?

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by Slava

Anyone super excited about kodakcoin?

Not even a little bit.

I suspect they are still feeling the burn from missing out on digital cameras, so they are just tossing out words that they think investors want to hear.

They won't be the last mainstream company to do it though.

Bit of a drop across most of the board lately. Ethereum seems to be the strongest at the moment.

[Krovikan]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

Bit of a drop across most of the board lately. Ethereum seems to be the strongest at the moment.

The drop was mostly due to the Korean exchanges from being considered by Coin Market Cap. The market overall seems flat, but there are still opportunities, I've gone from ~25% gains in 2018 to ~57% gains while the market has been flat.

Kicked Verge to the curb yesterday though LOL

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by Krovikan

The drop was mostly due to the Korean exchanges from being considered by Coin Market Cap. The market overall seems flat, but there are still opportunities, I've gone from ~25% gains in 2018 to ~57% gains while the market has been flat.

Kicked Verge to the curb yesterday though LOL

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

I salute people who have the bravery for alt coins. I've just been holding ETH.

[Krovikan]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

I salute people who have the bravery for alt coins. I've just been holding ETH.

To OG Bitcoin holders Eth is an altcoin... Even though it should take over the #1 market cap this year. (In my opinion)

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[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by Krovikan

To OG Bitcoin holders Eth is an altcoin... Even though it should take over the #1 market cap this year. (In my opinion)

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Yeah, bitcoin seems doomed to falter. No one seems to be pushing to scalability anymore.

None of the current coins might survive the coming crash, but I think Ethereum is the most likely to survive right now.

The entire situation reminds me of the dotcom boom/bust. Here's hoping Ethereum is more of a Google than a Petfood.com.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

Yeah, bitcoin seems doomed to falter. No one seems to be pushing to scalability anymore.

None of the current coins might survive the coming crash, but I think Ethereum is the most likely to survive right now.

The entire situation reminds me of the dotcom boom/bust. Here's hoping Ethereum is more of a Google than a Petfood.com.

It's a shockingly similar scenario at times. Just before Christmas a Long Island Iced Tea company changed their name to Long Island Blockchain and the shares rocketed (maybe covered in this thread?) Today Kodak, famous for getting crushed digitally because they didn't change, comes out with "Kodakcoin" and the shares are up 100%. It's ridiculous that there are those kinds of jumps based basically on nothing.