Cryptocurrencies

[rkbabang]

BTC just went to 1800, ETH to 130... Talk about volatility for 'currencies'.

 

While BTC maybe a 'currency' it is like a nano-cap currency.  The vast majority of people on earth have never heard of it, the vast majority of those who have heard of it have no idea how to acquire or use it, and the vast majority who do know how to acquire it are holding it or trading it for speculation purposes.  It isn't functioning as a currency for the most part yet, so wild price swings are pretty much inevitable.  That goes double for ETH as it is accepted as currency even less often.  There are Bitcoin ATMs and businesses which accept Bitcoin, not so much for ETH yet.  Couple that with the fact that most "investors" have no prior investing experience and panic at the first sight of a down tick in price and, yeah, it's going to be a rollercoaster for a while.

 

[mttddd]

I did buy some bitcoin in the 1800s but I am accumulating some powder for closer to or after august first. I am hesitant to put much more in until I get a better sense of how Segwit is going to play out, I personally see that as the cause of a lot of the current volatility

[rkbabang]

I did buy some bitcoin in the 1800s but I am accumulating some powder for closer to or after august first. I am hesitant to put much more in until I get a better sense of how Segwit is going to play out, I personally see that as the cause of a lot of the current volatility

 

I also think that is the reason for the volatility. The reason I'm buying some now is that if all goes well the price will probably bump right back up without giving you the opportunity to purchase even at current prices.  Markets fall on uncertainty which is what we are seeing now.  Of course if things don't go well with many people choosing to keep the original blockchain alive BTC could split into two like ETH/ETC and prices may fall even further.  This could be an opportunity as well.  After the etherium hardfork I was able to convert my ETC into ETH to increase my ETH holdings.  It should be interesting to follow anyway.

 

 

 

[Jurgis]

I did buy some bitcoin in the 1800s

 

I also time-travelled back to the 1800s and tried to buy bitcoin, but the Amsterdam folks were all talking tulips to me...

 

Oh wait...

 

NVM.

 

8)

[rkbabang]

I did buy some bitcoin in the 1800s

 

I also time-travelled back to the 1800s and tried to buy bitcoin, but the Amsterdam folks were all talking tulips to me...

 

Oh wait...

 

NVM.

 

8)

 

;)  I recently read someone saying that "If you bought bitcoin stock 10 years ago it would be worth a fortune today".

 

[Travis Wiedower]

Went down a 3-hour crytocurrency rabbit hole this afternoon--interesting stuff. Anyone have a good non-technical book recommendation that isn't written by a total fan boy? Just looking for a good overview of everything and how it works, not 101 reasons why crypto is going to take over the world.

[Fat Pitch]

Here's a good start http://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols

 

It requires you to re-think the current business models of the internet economy.

[DTEJD1997]

I did buy some bitcoin in the 1800s

 

I also time-travelled back to the 1800s and tried to buy bitcoin, but the Amsterdam folks were all talking tulips to me...

 

Oh wait...

 

NVM.

 

8)

 

You know what Abraham Lincoln said about the interweb? 

 

"Don't believe everything you see on the interwebs!"

 

-Abraham Lincoln

[SharperDingaan]

The $50,000 bitcoin?

http://fortune.com/2014/02/18/could-there-be-a-50000-bitcoin/

 

The article speaks to a back-of-the-envelope valuation approach that is just one of many; but you may want to just go back to the very basic supply/demand model, and think of it as the price set by supply/demand as at a point in time.

 

At any one point in time the supply is essentially fixed. As new coin is added only by the mining process, at a insignificant rate that is not a function of price - the supply curve is vertical at any point in time. However, over time - the supply will increase from today's 7M to the maximum 21M per the design specs.

 

Hence almost all the price change, reflects demand change; find new ways to raise demand for bitcoin, and the price must rise. Could be by a virus demanding bitcoin as ransom, could be via textbooks citing bitcoin - as the technology is rolled out and the masses buy some to play with, could be by treating bitcoin as an asset class - no different to a stock, and it could be by creating credit swaps with bitcoin and cash as different legs of the swap. Lots of ways - all increasing demand for the coin - and thereby its price.

 

All technology rides a 'S' curve, and crypto-currency is in its very early days still.

As the technology begins to ride the neck of the 'S', a $50,000/coin exchange rate at some point is not unrealistic.

 

Nothing says you have to buy a whole bitcoin at 50K to participate, just as nothing says you have to buy a full BRK share at a few hundred thousand; baby B's are widely available.

 

Sometimes, the simpler the better.

 

SD

 

   

[enoch01]

SD,

 

At what price are you buying bitcoin, and at what price are you selling?

[giofranchi]

I am reading "Blockchain Revolution" by Don Tapscott, and I find it to be quite fascinating so far.

Here you can find the most interesting excerpts:

 

 

Cheers,

 

Gio

[SharperDingaan]

SD,

 

At what price are you buying bitcoin, and at what price are you selling?

 

We just invest the same small amount every quarter, and try to be opportunistic along the way; sometimes we're right, other times not so much. Ideally the weighted average realizable value of our token doubles along the way, we sell 1/2 to recover our investment, and let the rest ride.

 

Bitcoin isn't the best at what it does; but like it or not it's the benchmark standard against which others are compared - if only because its the most liquid and best known. They have first mover advantage, much as RIM had at one time with the Blackberry.

 

If it turns out to be the next Apple, we look like Forest Gump.

If not, no big deal - as long as we've recovered our original investment.

 

SD

   

[rkbabang]

It's looking like 80%+ of the bitcoin miners are already signaling support for the BIP91 proposal.

https://www.xbt.eu/

 

Good brief summary of the possible timelines here:

UASF/Segwit2x Scenarios and Timelines

 

[rkbabang]

It's looking like 80%+ of the bitcoin miners are already signaling support for the BIP91 proposal.

https://www.xbt.eu/

 

Good brief summary of the possible timelines here:

UASF/Segwit2x Scenarios and Timelines

 

 

From: https://www.xbt.eu/

 

"BIP91 LOCKED-IN  267 blocks until rejecting non-SegWit blocks."

 

[clutch]

Aside: Do you want to clone the AlphaBay creator's cryptocurrency allocations?  ;D

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/alexandre-cazes-millionaire-cars-property-alphabay-1.4215894

 

Cazes's assets seized by the U.S. government included $6.6 million Cdn in bitcoin, $2.4 million in Etherium, $622,000 in Monero, and $980,512 in Zcash.

[rkbabang]

Aside: Do you want to clone the AlphaBay creator's cryptocurrency allocations?  ;D

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/alexandre-cazes-millionaire-cars-property-alphabay-1.4215894

 

Cazes's assets seized by the U.S. government included $6.6 million Cdn in bitcoin, $2.4 million in Etherium, $622,000 in Monero, and $980,512 in Zcash.

 

I'd love to.  Unfortunately my balances are somewhat lower.  :(

 

On the bright side though, I still have mine. :)

 

What a tragic story though.  Since I don't think any object or substance should be illegal, I don't think he did anything wrong.  Quite the opposite, he provided a way for people to safely buy what they wanted without the dangers of dealing in person with shady and possibly dangerous characters.  In short he put his own life and freedom on the line everyday, not only to profit, but to save lives as well.  If this guy was anything he was a hero.  In other words the exact opposite of people for whom my disdain couldn't be greater, like Jeff Sessions and others involved in taking him out.

 

[DeepSouth]

Aside: Do you want to clone the AlphaBay creator's cryptocurrency allocations?  ;D

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/alexandre-cazes-millionaire-cars-property-alphabay-1.4215894

 

Cazes's assets seized by the U.S. government included $6.6 million Cdn in bitcoin, $2.4 million in Etherium, $622,000 in Monero, and $980,512 in Zcash.

 

I'd love to.  Unfortunately my balances are somewhat lower.  :(

 

On the bright side though, I still have mine. :)

 

What a tragic story though.  Since I don't think any object or substance should be illegal, I don't think he did anything wrong.  Quite the opposite, he provided a way for people to safely buy what they wanted without the dangers of dealing in person with shady and possibly dangerous characters.  In short he put his own life and freedom on the line everyday, not only to profit, but to save lives as well.  If this guy was anything he was a hero.  In other words the exact opposite of people for whom my disdain couldn't be greater, like Jeff Sessions and others involved in taking him out.

 

Yes, what will you do without the ability to easily commit identity and financial frauds on a massive scale? You're going to have to find a new marketplace to buy and sell the financial records of >100k innocent people and malware to procure more. As you said, I'm sure hackers and fraudsters will die without the ability to anonymously buy/sell malware. /s

[rkbabang]

Aside: Do you want to clone the AlphaBay creator's cryptocurrency allocations?  ;D

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/alexandre-cazes-millionaire-cars-property-alphabay-1.4215894

 

Cazes's assets seized by the U.S. government included $6.6 million Cdn in bitcoin, $2.4 million in Etherium, $622,000 in Monero, and $980,512 in Zcash.

 

I'd love to.  Unfortunately my balances are somewhat lower.  :(

 

On the bright side though, I still have mine. :)

 

What a tragic story though.  Since I don't think any object or substance should be illegal, I don't think he did anything wrong.  Quite the opposite, he provided a way for people to safely buy what they wanted without the dangers of dealing in person with shady and possibly dangerous characters.  In short he put his own life and freedom on the line everyday, not only to profit, but to save lives as well.  If this guy was anything he was a hero.  In other words the exact opposite of people for whom my disdain couldn't be greater, like Jeff Sessions and others involved in taking him out.

 

Yes, what will you do without the ability to easily commit identity and financial frauds on a massive scale? You're going to have to find a new marketplace to buy and sell the financial records of >100k innocent people and malware to procure more. As you said, I'm sure hackers and fraudsters will die without the ability to anonymously buy/sell malware. /s

 

That's a small part of what went on there.  That's like saying craigslist is bad because stolen goods are sometimes sold there.  The people creating and using malware are doing something wrong, not the person running an online marketplace where things can be bought and sold.  If someone finds a hitman on craigslist and pays him in cash does that mean Craigslist and the US Dollar are to blame?  That is the same kind of thinking that says if someone is stabbed you blame the company who made the knife and the retailer who sold the knife rather than the person who actually committed murder.

 

[DeepSouth]

Aside: Do you want to clone the AlphaBay creator's cryptocurrency allocations?  ;D

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/alexandre-cazes-millionaire-cars-property-alphabay-1.4215894

 

Cazes's assets seized by the U.S. government included $6.6 million Cdn in bitcoin, $2.4 million in Etherium, $622,000 in Monero, and $980,512 in Zcash.

 

I'd love to.  Unfortunately my balances are somewhat lower.  :(

 

On the bright side though, I still have mine. :)

 

What a tragic story though.  Since I don't think any object or substance should be illegal, I don't think he did anything wrong.  Quite the opposite, he provided a way for people to safely buy what they wanted without the dangers of dealing in person with shady and possibly dangerous characters.  In short he put his own life and freedom on the line everyday, not only to profit, but to save lives as well.  If this guy was anything he was a hero.  In other words the exact opposite of people for whom my disdain couldn't be greater, like Jeff Sessions and others involved in taking him out.

 

Yes, what will you do without the ability to easily commit identity and financial frauds on a massive scale? You're going to have to find a new marketplace to buy and sell the financial records of >100k innocent people and malware to procure more. As you said, I'm sure hackers and fraudsters will die without the ability to anonymously buy/sell malware. /s

 

That's a small part of what went on there.  That's like saying craigslist is bad because stolen goods are sometimes sold there.  The people creating and using malware are doing something wrong, not the person running an online marketplace where things can be bought and sold.  If someone finds a hitman on craigslist and pays him in cash does that mean Craigslist and the US Dollar are to blame?  That is the same kind of thinking that says if someone is stabbed you blame the company who made the knife and the retailer who sold the knife rather than the person who actually committed murder.

 

If Craigslist is actively aware of hitmen advertising themselves on Craigslist and continue to make their platform available to said hitmen then they are bad and their management should be imprisoned. Craigslist would be actively facilitating murder for hire.

 

Are you under the impression that Craigslist actively facilitates this and would refuse to comply with authorities if hitmen classifieds are found on their site? This is insane.

[rkbabang]

Aside: Do you want to clone the AlphaBay creator's cryptocurrency allocations?  ;D

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/alexandre-cazes-millionaire-cars-property-alphabay-1.4215894

 

Cazes's assets seized by the U.S. government included $6.6 million Cdn in bitcoin, $2.4 million in Etherium, $622,000 in Monero, and $980,512 in Zcash.

 

I'd love to.  Unfortunately my balances are somewhat lower.  :(

 

On the bright side though, I still have mine. :)

 

What a tragic story though.  Since I don't think any object or substance should be illegal, I don't think he did anything wrong.  Quite the opposite, he provided a way for people to safely buy what they wanted without the dangers of dealing in person with shady and possibly dangerous characters.  In short he put his own life and freedom on the line everyday, not only to profit, but to save lives as well.  If this guy was anything he was a hero.  In other words the exact opposite of people for whom my disdain couldn't be greater, like Jeff Sessions and others involved in taking him out.

 

Yes, what will you do without the ability to easily commit identity and financial frauds on a massive scale? You're going to have to find a new marketplace to buy and sell the financial records of >100k innocent people and malware to procure more. As you said, I'm sure hackers and fraudsters will die without the ability to anonymously buy/sell malware. /s

 

That's a small part of what went on there.  That's like saying craigslist is bad because stolen goods are sometimes sold there.  The people creating and using malware are doing something wrong, not the person running an online marketplace where things can be bought and sold.  If someone finds a hitman on craigslist and pays him in cash does that mean Craigslist and the US Dollar are to blame?  That is the same kind of thinking that says if someone is stabbed you blame the company who made the knife and the retailer who sold the knife rather than the person who actually committed murder.

 

If Craigslist is actively aware of hitmen advertising themselves on Craigslist and continue to make their platform available to said hitmen then they are bad and their management should be imprisoned. Craigslist would be actively facilitating murder for hire.

 

Are you under the impression that Craigslist actively facilitates this and would refuse to comply with authorities if hitmen classifieds are found on their site? This is insane.

 

I'm not saying that Craigslist actively facilitates this, but let's just say compared to say ebay or Amazon, it is a lot easier to fence stolen goods, or advertize sex for hire, or even something as extreme as a hitman for hire, on Craigslist.  I'm not saying that Craigslist should change, or that they are liable, I'm just saying that there are things they could do and they don't.

 

[DeepSouth]

Aside: Do you want to clone the AlphaBay creator's cryptocurrency allocations?  ;D

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/alexandre-cazes-millionaire-cars-property-alphabay-1.4215894

 

Cazes's assets seized by the U.S. government included $6.6 million Cdn in bitcoin, $2.4 million in Etherium, $622,000 in Monero, and $980,512 in Zcash.

 

I'd love to.  Unfortunately my balances are somewhat lower.  :(

 

On the bright side though, I still have mine. :)

 

What a tragic story though.  Since I don't think any object or substance should be illegal, I don't think he did anything wrong.  Quite the opposite, he provided a way for people to safely buy what they wanted without the dangers of dealing in person with shady and possibly dangerous characters.  In short he put his own life and freedom on the line everyday, not only to profit, but to save lives as well.  If this guy was anything he was a hero.  In other words the exact opposite of people for whom my disdain couldn't be greater, like Jeff Sessions and others involved in taking him out.

 

Yes, what will you do without the ability to easily commit identity and financial frauds on a massive scale? You're going to have to find a new marketplace to buy and sell the financial records of >100k innocent people and malware to procure more. As you said, I'm sure hackers and fraudsters will die without the ability to anonymously buy/sell malware. /s

 

That's a small part of what went on there.  That's like saying craigslist is bad because stolen goods are sometimes sold there.  The people creating and using malware are doing something wrong, not the person running an online marketplace where things can be bought and sold.  If someone finds a hitman on craigslist and pays him in cash does that mean Craigslist and the US Dollar are to blame?  That is the same kind of thinking that says if someone is stabbed you blame the company who made the knife and the retailer who sold the knife rather than the person who actually committed murder.

 

If Craigslist is actively aware of hitmen advertising themselves on Craigslist and continue to make their platform available to said hitmen then they are bad and their management should be imprisoned. Craigslist would be actively facilitating murder for hire.

 

Are you under the impression that Craigslist actively facilitates this and would refuse to comply with authorities if hitmen classifieds are found on their site? This is insane.

 

I'm not saying that Craigslist actively facilitates this, but let's just say compared to say ebay or Amazon, it is a lot easier to fence stolen goods, or advertize sex for hire, or even something as extreme as a hitman for hire, on Craigslist.  I'm not saying that Craigslist should change, or that they are liable, I'm just saying that there are things they could do and they don't.

 

In this case, it seems like alphabay was actively engaged in the promotion and distribution of malware and identity theft portfolios. Assuming you are a libertarian ideologue, both of those things should count as aggression/violence. Just as someone who fences knowingly stolen goods has responsibility in the chain of the crime whether they stole those goods or not, so does a platform that knowingly and actively enables these crimes. It's very disturbing that you believe this is a heroic action. It's like you don't think a getaway driver should be held liable for a drive by shooting because he didn't pull the trigger, he only actively facilitated the crime, and therefore should be lauded and rewarded as a hero.

[rkbabang]

In this case, it seems like alphabay was actively engaged in the promotion and distribution of malware and identity theft portfolios. Assuming you are a libertarian ideologue, both of those things should count as aggression/violence. Just as someone who fences knowingly stolen goods has responsibility in the chain of the crime whether they stole those goods or not, so does a platform that knowingly and actively enables these crimes. It's very disturbing that you believe this is a heroic action. It's like you don't think a getaway driver should be held liable for a drive by shooting because he didn't pull the trigger, he only actively facilitated the crime, and therefore should be lauded and rewarded as a hero.

 

If alphabay was actively engaged in the promotion and distribution of malware and identity theft as you say then I will concede that you are correct.  If they simply setup an anonymous marketplace and didn't police it, then I will stick by my previous statements.  I do think a getaway driver is just as guilty as the one who pulls the trigger.

 

[rkbabang]

If anyone is holding Bitcoin at Coinbase, an exchange, or with some other 3rd party system where you don't control your keys.  You might want to transfer it to a wallet which you control the private keys before August 1st, this way in the case of a hard fork you will end up holding an equal amount of both coins.  If you hold Bitcoin in Coinbase you will most likely not get any Bitcoin Cash (BCC).  You can always transfer BTC right back into coinbase afterwards if that is where you want to hold it.

 

https://news.bitcoin.com/what-every-bitcoiner-should-know-about-bitcoin-cash/

 

[rkbabang]

If anyone is holding Bitcoin at Coinbase, an exchange, or with some other 3rd party system where you don't control your keys.  You might want to transfer it to a wallet which you control the private keys before August 1st, this way in the case of a hard fork you will end up holding an equal amount of both coins.  If you hold Bitcoin in Coinbase you will most likely not get any Bitcoin Cash (BCC).  You can always transfer BTC right back into coinbase afterwards if that is where you want to hold it.

 

https://news.bitcoin.com/what-every-bitcoiner-should-know-about-bitcoin-cash/

 

 

My assumption that Coinbase would only support one side of any Bitcoin fork was correct.  Here is the official position:

https://blog.coinbase.com/update-for-customers-with-bitcoin-stored-on-coinbase-99e2d4790a53

 

"customers with Bitcoin stored on Coinbase will only have access to the current version of bitcoin we support (BTC). Customers will not have access to, or be able to withdraw, bitcoin cash (BCC). Customers who wish to access both bitcoin (BTC) and bitcoin cash (BCC) need to withdraw bitcoin stored on Coinbase before 11.59 pm PT July 31, 2017. If you do not wish to access bitcoin cash (BCC) then no action is required."

 

 

[DeepSouth]

In this case, it seems like alphabay was actively engaged in the promotion and distribution of malware and identity theft portfolios. Assuming you are a libertarian ideologue, both of those things should count as aggression/violence. Just as someone who fences knowingly stolen goods has responsibility in the chain of the crime whether they stole those goods or not, so does a platform that knowingly and actively enables these crimes. It's very disturbing that you believe this is a heroic action. It's like you don't think a getaway driver should be held liable for a drive by shooting because he didn't pull the trigger, he only actively facilitated the crime, and therefore should be lauded and rewarded as a hero.

 

If alphabay was actively engaged in the promotion and distribution of malware and identity theft as you say then I will concede that you are correct.  If they simply setup an anonymous marketplace and didn't police it, then I will stick by my previous statements.  I do think a getaway driver is just as guilty as the one who pulls the trigger.

 

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/dark-web-market-alphabay-2015-11/#online-black-markets-dont-exist-on-the-normal-internet-that-most-people-think-of-1

 

He created one section of the marketplace explicitly for the sale of malware and another that is simply labeled "fraud" most likely where stolen credit card numbers are sold from. Screenshots in the BI article. I mean what did you think was happening, some nice guy built a website and then closed his eyes while thieves fenced stolen goods/credit card numbers/malware under his nose?