Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Chat

[CohibaRobusto]

I've been buying and selling BTC since it was around $300. I'd be rich by now except for the fact that back then I had no decent amount of money to just let sit in it. It wasn't up until 2016 that I started realizing the true potential of BTC and crypto.

I've bought my fair share of shitcoins and lost money on most of them too, but it seems like I have always made money on BTC trades.

Anyone else here trade crypto?

What do y'all think is behind the current run-up and how high will it go?

I'm holding for now, but thinking about taking some profit soon.

My amateur prediction is that we are nearing the top and there will be a big correction in the following 6-12 months, but the next bottom might be around $8-10k.

 

[CJ]

I don't get it personally. It's pure speculation as far as I'm concerned. Totally gambling.

I also think the government seizing over a BILLION dollars worth of Bitcoin a few weeks back takes away some of the implied benefits of BC.

https://fortune.com/2020/11/05/bitcoin-seized-justice-department-doj-billion-mystery-man-x/

 

[CohibaRobusto]

I think the true value of cryptocurrency is in the fact that it is autonomous and not controlled by any 1 authority. Also the fact that it provides an easy way to transfer value from one party to another, with lower fees than traditional banking and money transfer systems (like credit cards, wires etc.) The scale of the network makes it very safe. The price volatility, not so much. But there is inherent danger to any store of value in my opinion. Hence why we diversify.

Bitcoin is not truly anonymous, and it is very easy to track using the public ledger, so the idea that it is a tool for the black market is kind of crazy. I think this idea originated in the early days because of Silk Road and the fact that most people didn't understand it. Hence, if governments want to confiscate it there are ways for them to do that.

There are also ways to protect your Bitcoin from Governments though. The clincher is that they can track it and when hackers have stolen BTC from exchanges these days, it gets tracked to where they move it to and those exchanges can lock it up, it can get hard for hackers to be able to use their stolen BTC in other words.

 

[CJ]

Yeah, the ease of international transfer is definitely a plus, vs currency exchange.

The volatility though, in something that's designed to by used like currency, is too much for me. I want relative stability in currency.

 

[Bobbyloads]

I personally think it’s all a big scam and eventually someone is going to crash and burn it once they are ready to cash out. it’s good for buying illegal shit online and for drug dealers to move cash around i guess.

Peter Schiff actually talked about them on his newest podcast was listening this morning.

I’m just too scared to trust it my real estate and tattoo guy swear by them.

 

[CohibaRobusto]

Monero is really the best thing for illegal stuff because it is untraceable.

 

[Bobbyloads]

Monero is really the best thing for illegal stuff because it is untraceable.

I was gonna buy 10 of then years back when they were at $300 a pop ****ed that one up lol would of had like $200k now.

My buddy was telling me about that shit but I don’t do anything stupid anymore so no need for it but that’s how bitcoin started pretty much.

 

[CohibaRobusto]

Best advice I always tell my friends is only spend as much as what you're prepared to lose.

 

[Bobbyloads]

Best advice I always tell my friends is only spend as much as what you're prepared to lose.

Yeah that’s why i don’t really trust stocks or crypto but sometimes people are smart or lucky. Imagine the people that bought bitcoin when it was cheap and held on or amazon stock when it was like $20 a share.

You have to catch something early get a decent amount and play the waiting game and hope it works out.

 

[CJ]

Yeah that’s why i don’t really trust stocks or crypto but sometimes people are smart or lucky. Imagine the people that bought bitcoin when it was cheap and held on or amazon stock when it was like $20 a share.

You have to catch something early get a decent amount and play the waiting game and hope it works out.

But at least stocks, metals and commodities are actual THINGS that have uses. Stocks give you an ownership stake in a company that produces goods/services. Oil/corn and other commodities can be consumed, metals have industrial uses it at least pretty jewelry. Wtf is a bitcoin?

Crypto just seems like a balloon that could pop at any moment.

 

[Iron1]

Like CJ said, stocks are at least tied to tangible businesses with assets that have intrinsic value. An increase in company valuation leads to an increase in stock price though there is always some speculation priced into the share price (looking at you TSLA). Stocks trend on earnings reports and other things that affect profit.

WTF moves bitcoin? What's the underlying asset that sets a long term trend? As an "investment", it's 100% gambling not that that's a bad thing but I haven't seen BTC as part of any sound retirement portfolio.

 

[CohibaRobusto]

As an online merchant, I would rather take bitcoin than any other form of payment. Here's why:

1. Credit card chargebacks - I've had chargebacks over the years from customers who simply forgot what the charge was for. I have almost zero recourse in getting my money back when this happens. In other words I can and do get ripped off regularly by people on credit card sales. You can't do a chargeback with bitcoin.

2. Stolen credit card info - I regularly get people from overseas trying to buy from me, and I'm pretty sure 90% of it is credit card fraud with stolen card numbers. I tell them I'll only do the sale via wire transfer or Bitcoin. Those are the only 2 ways I can be sure to get my money.

I've also lost a bunch of money to domestic sales that were purchased using stolen credit cards.

3. Credit card merchant fees

The intrinsic value is the network, software behind it, efficiency and security of it.

 

[CJ]

As an online merchant, I would rather take bitcoin than any other form of payment. Here's why:

1. Credit card chargebacks - I've had chargebacks over the years from customers who simply forgot what the charge was for. I have almost zero recourse in getting my money back when this happens. In other words I can and do get ripped off regularly by people on credit card sales. You can't do a chargeback with bitcoin.

2. Stolen credit card info - I regularly get people from overseas trying to buy from me, and I'm pretty sure 90% of it is credit card fraud with stolen card numbers. I tell them I'll only do the sale via wire transfer or Bitcoin. Those are the only 2 ways I can be sure to get my money.

I've also lost a bunch of money to domestic sales that were purchased using stolen credit cards.

3. Credit card merchant fees

The intrinsic value is the network, software behind it, efficiency and security of it.

Are you charging and paying the gov't taxes on these transactions?

You better believe they know they're happening, and the IRS is going to want its cut.

I'm not saying that you're not, it just popped into my head.

 

[CohibaRobusto]

Are you charging and paying the gov't taxes on these transactions?

You better believe they know they're happening, and the IRS is going to want its cut.

I'm not saying that you're not, it just popped into my head.

I plead the 5th! :32 (19):

For my business yes, everything is accounted for. With crypto, I'm pretty sure it is a taxable event when you go to cash (take profit), and there are now tax forms for crypto. I haven't gone to cash in any crypto in a very long time, and pretty sure that when I did it was below any threshold I'd have to worry about paying taxes on.

 

[NbleSavage]

I actually get paid in BC for the off-book work I do - which since Covid is most of the work I do (On-book I work in construction leading work teams).

Yea, it fluctuates - or has been - between 'round 8K up to the highs we're seeing today. I sometimes try to time when I cash out - actually did pretty well just following that same pattern fer a while, but yea, I don't have any science behind it - just noticing the pattern and making sure I always cash out what I need to pay bills & such. Never really thought about it as an investment, just know the bosses prefer to not comingle the public work with the private work on their books is all.

 

[CohibaRobusto]

Like CJ said, stocks are at least tied to tangible businesses with assets that have intrinsic value.
WTF moves bitcoin? What's the underlying asset that sets a long term trend? As an "investment", it's 100% gambling not that that's a bad thing but I haven't seen BTC as part of any sound retirement portfolio.

Supply and demand moves the bitcoin price. The underlying asset that sets a long term trend is the inherent value of the network, it's real-world usage, and the people who hold it as a store of value. As these factors increase or decrease over time the price adjusts accordingly.

I have about as much faith in the long term viability of Bitcoin as I do any large cap company in the USA. Just my personal opinion. I can also see how people look at it the way you and others do.

Make no mistake, there will be bubbles. People start to get irrationally exuberant when their money starts doubling and tripling, so tulip mania takes hold like it did 4 years ago.

But the difference here is the intrinsic value of Bitcoin's network and usage, which grows despite the speculators that pile in. People have been declaring the "end of bitcoin" since it came on the radar (see https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituaries/). If you have time, take a look at all of the obituaries written by major financial news sources and glooming editorials in that link.

It will happen again soon. There will be a huge correction sometime within the next year that will send people running for the exits and once again people will claim that tulip mania has taken hold and bitcoin was a fraud.

 

[Miamiking]

I've been buying and selling BTC since it was around $300. I'd be rich by now except for the fact that back then I had no decent amount of money to just let sit in it. It wasn't up until 2016 that I started realizing the true potential of BTC and crypto.

I've bought my fair share of shitcoins and lost money on most of them too, but it seems like I have always made money on BTC trades.

Anyone else here trade crypto?

What do y'all think is behind the current run-up and how high will it go?

I'm holding for now, but thinking about taking some profit soon.

My amateur prediction is that we are nearing the top and there will be a big correction in the following 6-12 months, but the next bottom might be around $8-10k.

Was introduced to be by a security friend of mine, when it was appx $.00000016 , didn't get into it myself until about $3 a bitcoin, did not have money myself to save it either. It will go up. Bitcoin was not invented for profit. It was invented by person(s) with insider knowledge of the true nature of our financial system etc as a way to be free from the banksters and central bank control and manipulation. It has been attacked several times by the powers that want to be but has resisted sabotage. Consider it a hedge. The idea is not to profit, its to make sure that savings you worked hard for is still there after the economy implodes. If tyou make a profit, all the better, but it's meant to be a long term thing to protect you against a system that was engineered from the start to collapse. That is all.

 

[dreamscraper]

I think you can view Ethereum like stock options but options on a computer network that we don't quite know what to do with right now but may find a great use for in the future. It could also be that it makes no sense to be hording computer resources if you don't intend to actually compute anything on the network though.

Bitcoin to me is a failed payment system that has transformed nicely into a store of wealth and currency hedge to compete with gold. Buying physical gold or silver has all kinds of problems with the spreads from dealers in and out and then you have to store it someplace. Gold only has value over rocks because it is hard to mine, there is a finite amount and we have all agreed it has value. That also describes bitcoin.

These are both mature instruments at this point.

The scam though is Tether. If you study the smallest amount of financial fraud/forensic accounting it is more obvious than a Crazy Eddie commercial. It reminds me of the way that Bernie Madoff investors for the most part knew his equity curve was bullshit. They just thought he was using his position with NASDAQ to front run other players. They knew he was cheating but they thought the cheating was helping them. I think everyone in the crypto space knows that tether is a fraud but because the fraud pushes the market higher and they benefit no one is really that concerned.

Tether is basically acting like quantitative easing in the stock market but they use to do this strategically. Since the end of August they are close to doubling the market cap now.
It would seem to me there is a good chance things are unraveling and they have no other choice but to do this.

The market prices for ETH and BTC are so incredibly distorted by tether that I don't see how anyone can buy and hold a position here.

Crypto just seems like a balloon that could pop at any moment.

 

[Miamiking]

But at least stocks, metals and commodities are actual THINGS that have uses. Stocks give you an ownership stake in a company that produces goods/services. Oil/corn and other commodities can be consumed, metals have industrial uses it at least pretty jewelry. Wtf is a bitcoin?

Crypto just seems like a balloon that could pop at any moment.

Not going to happen with Bitcoin. However, I would not trust ANY of the other digital currencies as many were in fact created by the very banksters Bitcoin was meant to insulate us against. Bitcoin cash is a perfect example of the way the banksters and other scum have tried to take advantage of the hype from Bitcoin itself, they are not the same at all. Personally, I would never even get ETH or Litecoin and they have been around for awhile as well. So Bitcoin and only Bitcoin (BTC) , they code behind the BTC platform is original, solid, and can be used for many many other purposes because of its genius. It is a guard against having someone pull the strings / manipulate any system/ market, no matter what you use it for (e.g. BTC system could be used for voting)

 

[dreamscraper]

I hadn't even noticed this with Tether per the wiki page.
"Tether formerly claimed that each token was backed by one United States dollar, but on 14 March 2019 changed the backing to include loans to affiliate companies"

lol. It is just so textbook financial fraud. We are no longer backed by $1 = 1 Tether but $1 = some amount of tether and some amount of a loan to myself. I mean that is just a euphemism for blowing the reserves.

I can already hear the CNBC American Greed voice starting the Tether episode..."He was a child actor..."