Bitcoin.....

[Slitlikr]

Most crypto exchanges are shady af. Outrageous fees, difficult transfers, etc.

Use your play money and gamble with crypto.
Use your real money to invest in stock, real estate, precious metals...

[grand1001]

Would it be fair to say that "Thai Bebe" is the "Bitcoin" of Houston independents??

She appears to be the one everyone is buying.

[mathguy]

Personally I dont like digital currencies. Cryptocurrency first of all is not tied to any valued asset and is totally decentralized. In addition to there being no standard yet and WILD speculation on which one will win it's simply too volatile and risky.

The entire idea around it is really shady too not unlike what Ben mentioned above. Cryptominers basically buy up all these massive computing clusters so they can add new blockchain nodes, effectively "printing" new currency.

This situation is ripe for meddling with currency valuation. In fact, the massive speculation among investors, and the miners who are manipulating the market, is doing exactly that.

Many of you may not know it but due to the pandemic (which already caused supply issues worldwide) as well as all the speculative miners out there, meaning those who buy up massive loads of compute clusters, typically in the form of 20-30+teraflop video cards, have utterly destroyed the PC gaming market and custom/hobbyist PC builder market. Seriously. It has ruined that industry and the scalpers are holding what inventory is available hostage on eBay and other places for 3-5 times the MSRP. All b/c of ridiculous and absurd speculation over digital currencies and hoping they can "mine their way to a fortune".

You see, it's not just the speculation of investors. Let's use an analogy to drive this idea home. Let's compare it to the traditional stock market. We all know the market is also highly speculative. Right?

However, imagine if you could also influence the stock market itself by essentially "printing" up your own stocks purchases.

That is exactly what crypto miners are doing. They are in essence "printing money" by using compute power. However, the printing is very difficult and takes lots of time and tons of complicated mathematical operations to add new currency nodes. It's not only speculation on the investing side. There is the actual "mining" speculation as well (the computing new currency/blockchains).

I'm extremely dubious of cryptocurrencies as our monetary or economic future. Compute power has no upper bound. And furthermore b/c the "mining" is a mathematical process and not a physical process of work to find a jewel or something of value (for example), or to create something of true value, it leaves me with serious concerns. One could even [eventually] foresee (it's within the realm of possibility) a way to hack the market or manipulate, or "mine", it with fake currency.

If you want to invest in it now I'd keep it very minimal. I'm not sold that cryptocurrency is here to stay (not in this form anyway). Beyond that there is the issue of which technology will win if it in fact does stick around. Just be careful. This is a highly volatile market and technology.

[Ben Rhimene]

Wow. Just fucking wow. Thanks MG!!!

I have been skeptical from a market/valuation perspective but your technical analysis is VERY sound. I will stick to Berkshire Hathaway...

[mathguy]

^ Np bud. I'm very skeptical for many of these reasons and some beyond the scope of a forum post. I think that's best to stick with traditional value based assets/commodities.

Digital currency has undoubtedly made some people money quickly but what people don't hear about is all the people who lose money.

Additionally, many of those we read about (like the guy who turned ~75k into 1.05Mn in ~10 days via dogecoin) may end up losing it all too. It might be 2wks later, 2mos, or 2yrs. And we don't hear about those as much but there are far more people who are going to lose money than will make it. Especially if it turns out like the VCR wars. Or worse it dies out (at least dies out on this massive global speculation stage it has been on - I can see that happening easily in time). There is literally nothing of value there. Like you mentioned Ben. That's the other enormous problem.

Cryptocurrency right now is best used as a form of anonymous payment for services if anything at all (though I can think of at least one far easier method for anonymity; prepaid visa/mc bought with cash). Beyond that the concept of cryptocurrency [in its current state] as a long-term monetary/currency replacement simply doesn't make sense at all. Much like you pointed out earlier without knowing certain technical details. A+ dude :) I totally agree.

[grand1001]

Several public companies have purchased some form of crypto with their extra money.

There are some brokerage firms that have opened up crypto divisions.

Some places you can even pay with bitcoin. I haven't found one yet where I can pay with gold.


I wouldn't write it off as fraudulent just yet because some guy who uses the name "Math" says it is.

[lovelyxxxo]

Most crypto exchanges are shady af. Outrageous fees, difficult transfers, etc.

Use your play money and gamble with crypto.
Use your real money to invest in stock, real estate, precious metals...

Actually crypto.com ( or its app) charges 0 fees for your first 30 days and 1% therafter..
While i agree if you didnt buy in dodge early on your not going to see a big profit for awhile.. But its rival shiba inu is less then a penny and has seen huge gains even compared to dodge coin ( why because shiba already runs on proof-of-stake which is what elon is attempting to do with dodge less energy is used to mine less fossil fuel) so i went in 2 mill shares of that if it ever reaches a penny im good ... Will sell of half at 10k and hodl the rest..
But i also invested in Amc which has turned out to be quite a good investment i bought in at the dip of 9.00 bought 50 shares and today its up to 15. Soo im quite proud of myself for believing in the power of cinema ��.. As pandemic and mask restrictions are lifted it can only go up as long as there are children and teens the big screen will always be around.. So i feel this was a smart long term investment.. But always open to opinions here ..

But with crypto its best to buy in early get a couple mill shares then simply let it go stop watching check back in a few months..but if you look at crypto across the chart their patterns are almost identical which leads me to believe a major move is about to happen..

[grand1001]

Tesla supposedly made $101 million off their sale of Bitcoin.
If all is true that is being reported, it says Tesla made more money selling bitcoin in the first quarter than cars.
That's a lot of money for something that is supposedly one giant fraud.


Just like with the stock market, money can be made on this. I know, because I too, have made some myself.

To say...invest in stocks, land, and whatever else, and to say cryptos are for fools just because it doesn't fall in with a particular line of thinking, is shortsighted and dumb.

Ten years ago electric vehicles were laughed at. Now every carmaker out there is making them.
You go into certain countries in the world, and they take many different currencies for payment.
A transvestite may become the next governor of California. Impossible 50 years ago.
So who really knows...



Good luck with the stock market. It's a much more stable situation than cryptos...wink, wink...

[Slitlikr]

Like I said before, crypto is no more than a virtual casino chip whose value can swing wildly based on a single tweet by someone like Musk.
That being said, there's nothing wrong with gambling as long as you're willing to accept the potential consequences.

[Ben Rhimene]

Tesla supposedly made $101 million off their sale of Bitcoin.
If all is true that is being reported, it says Tesla made more money selling bitcoin in the first quarter than cars.
That's a lot of money for something that is supposedly one giant fraud.


Just like with the stock market, money can be made on this. I know, because I too, have made some myself.

To say...invest in stocks, land, and whatever else, and to say cryptos are for fools just because it doesn't fall in with a particular line of thinking, is shortsighted and dumb.

Ten years ago electric vehicles were laughed at. Now every carmaker out there is making them.
You go into certain countries in the world, and they take many different currencies for payment.
A transvestite may become the next governor of California. Impossible 50 years ago.
So who really knows...



Good luck with the stock market. It's a much more stable situation than cryptos...wink, wink...

Musk claims they haven't sold bitcoin.

Money can be made on ANYTHING...is it supported by fundamental analysis or sheer speculation? Your comment suggests the latter, but I welcome your discourse on how a non-governmental supported currency has lasting value to the masses...

[mathguy]

I wouldn't write it off as fraudulent just yet because some guy who uses the name "Math" says it is.

Wow, grand, don't take it so personally. That was caustic and unnecessary. What does the name "Math" have to do with anything? I wasn't trying to be insensitive or negative. I'm sorry if it came off that way.

To say...invest in stocks, land, and whatever else, and to say cryptos are for fools just because it doesn't fall in with a particular line of thinking, is shortsighted and dumb.

No one said that though. However, the other issue is you're presenting it as an analogue to other commodities investments and it's not the same.

It's more like investing in a "concept" (a concept that may or may not be viable on a large scale).

You go into certain countries in the world, and they take many different currencies for payment.

The main issue is that you are comparing governmentally backed, endorsed, controlled currencies with an entirely different privatized concept in currency (which has many other technical issues as well).

---

I agree with both Slit and Ben but why attack me for it?

I didn't say it was a "fraud". I did say I could see it being a system which can be manipulated or hacked at some point. And the very nature of how cryptocurrency is "created" is unstable, potentially creates moments of hyperinflation, and works against the notion of preserving the value of a currency.

I am more of the opinion that Slit said above about it being like a form of gambling. That's not necessarily "bad" if you want to do it or enjoy it and have the money. However, I do agree that it has no backbone and no real value. Not in it's current state anyway. I also doubt it ever could be without some governmental support. That's just my take. IJS. No harm no foul.

[Ben Rhimene]

Bitcoin fell as much as 29% overnight based on China re-stating something it has said for years: it will not support crypto.

Currently priced just under $40k.

There simply is no fundamental support for crypto as currently configured. Can you make money off it? Of course.

My guess is eventually governments will form their own crypto, and that will provide the central support that is lacking. Of course, that likely means the private versions become worthless other than novelty value. China is supposedly developing digital yuan.

[Ben Rhimene]

You go into certain countries in the world, and they take many different currencies for payment.

I do not think that is accurate...have you tried to pay the IRS in pesos?!

I would agree that certain private businesses will accept multiple currencies, but they adjust pricing in order to account for the loss on conversion. But they do because it is still profitable. And they lijely only accept easily exchanged, major currencies. Otherwise they get raked on the exchange. A completely different scenario.

[mathguy]

The bottom line is really that you can't have a non-centralized, privatized, currency.

You need government endorsement & a controlled centralized banking authority that monitors interest rates, printing of new currency, recycling/destroying old currency, and so on....

Cryptocurrency originally came about as a way for people to anonymously & untraceablely purchase things online (so long as you also acquired it anonymously).

The idea of crypto currency as a replacement for global currencies (i.e. money) is pretty out there and utterly insane in its current incarnation(s).

--How is it going to work without a central bank controlled by an authority?
--How will you control inflation or hyperinflation events?
--How can a government currency be privately owned?
--Furthemore, how do you manage these private currencies across different companies and technology platforms?

My biggest fear with cryptocurrency is that it's fairly easy to see how we could cause a similar "pre-2k dot-com bubble bursting" when everyone and their mother wanted to invest money in *anything* that was an "online business"; but most of it was smoke & mirrors & most of those companies didn't have backbones. We know what happened right? We had the recession years, 1999--2002+, as the dot-com bottom fell out and millions lost money investing in these startups.

[Ben Rhimene]

The bottom line is really that you can't have a non-centralized, privatized, currency.

You need government endorsement & a controlled centralized banking authority that monitors interest rates, printing of new currency, recycling/destroying old currency, and so on....

Your post reminds me of all the stories of the Mark being burned for heat and similar hyperinflation tales during the Weimar Republic.

https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/ban...nflation-1923/

Too many HUGE conflicts of interest when it comes to the private sector controlling monetary policy!