Watching bitcoin

Been watching this all day. I can’t believe the volatility. Just when you think it can’t possibly go higher, it does. Then it falls $700 in an hour.

I have a friend who is super into this. I don’t understand a thing about it and I like it that way

Is there any restrictions on how many transactions you can make on it in one day?

I’ve heard it said it’s going way up before crashing next year. I have a feeling with all the volatility and chatter about the stock recently, it’s going to crash soon. The ups and downs are going to wear on some of these “investors”.

By the way that’s not even armchair quarterbacking by me. It’s more like prophecy. Armchair QBs have some understanding while prophets just go on a hunch.

Great time to cash out and donate to avoid capital gains tax?

Or buy a boatload of psychedelics on the dark web.

mplspug wrote:

Is there any restrictions on how many transactions you can make on it in one day?

I’ve heard it said it’s going way up before crashing next year. I have a feeling with all the volatility and chatter about the stock recently, it’s going to crash soon. The ups and downs are going to wear on some of these “investors”.

Since it is an actual currency, I’d have to say no. You have options too. You can cash it out into dollars or simply spend it. The number of places that take bitcoin is growing.

I basically spent today learning about it. I was home with a sick kid today.

Before I went to hockey it was $17,770. After I got back to my truck it was $16,220.

The bubble may burst but I think it has to keep climbing. There is only so much bitcoin out there that it can really never lose value long term.

Unlike our dollar where the gubment can print more whenever they feel like it.

Since you researched it, how are/were bitcoins mined?

I assume the only reason they have any value is because they can be spent. Now if I am a company producing a product and accept Bitcoin as payment and I can’t spend it on anything to create more of my product, I assume the only way I make money is to sell the bitcoins? Isn’t it kind of like accepting stocks as payment?

I wish I had thrown $500-$1000 at it back when I find out about it in 2010-12.

My nephew bought $500 back in 2010. The problem is he has no idea where it is. His ledger at the one place he has an account shows $0. Until he figures out where it is he is screwed. He thinks the info was on his old computer that is gone.

Since you researched it, how are/were bitcoins mined?

First you need a computer that can calculate at incredibly fast levels. Then you need to join in or create a mining group with other people that have other really fast computers. Then you need to program those computers to solve highly complex math problems. The first mining group to solve gets the Bitcoins for that particular set of math problems.

You in???

Seems legit.

I’m going to start S###coins. I mine my dogs poop and people can buy certificates of ownership. He’s 15, so the resource is limited. He also eats his own poop so some double in value over night.

I’ll buy eleventy billion!!! How do I get priority on the double processed ones??

mplspug wrote:

My nephew bought $500 back in 2010. The problem is he has no idea where it is. His ledger at the one place he has an account shows $0. Until he figures out where it is he is screwed. He thinks the info was on his old computer that is gone.

That’s one of the 3 major downfalls to bitcoin. If you lose your account info, that money is gone.

Another downfall is security. You need to make sure your wallet password is very good. If it gets hacked, someone can literally steal all your money.

I can’t remember the other downfall.

mplspug wrote:

Since you researched it, how are/were bitcoins mined?

I assume the only reason they have any value is because they can be spent. Now if I am a company producing a product and accept Bitcoin as payment and I can’t spend it on anything to create more of my product, I assume the only way I make money is to sell the bitcoins? Isn’t it kind of like accepting stocks as payment?

Not really sure. I’m home again today so I’ll find out.

I guess the beauty is that it really doesn’t have to be sold to profit. You can spend it. Converting to and from a dollar costs money so it would be nice to simply spend it. Apparently there are a few companies that are paying their employees in bitcoin. I’m guessing day traders and investors.

At some point to be a legitimate currency it needs to stabilize. Otherwise everyone will simply use it for investing with and no one will spend it.

mplspug wrote:

Seems legit.

I’m going to start S###coins. I mine my dogs poop and people can buy certificates of ownership. He’s 15, so the resource is limited. He also eats his own poop so some double in value over night.

Sounds like something the Trailer Park Boys would’ve already done.

Bitcoin = Ponzi Scheme. I would not put a nickle into it.

Even if it is semi legit, I’m guessing the US government will take it down. At least for US citizens. This will happen under the Patriot Act laws that are intended to prevent transfer of funds to terrorists or terrorist governments.

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

Bitcoin = Ponzi Scheme. I would not put a nickle into it.

Even if it is semi legit, I’m guessing the US government will take it down. At least for US citizens. This will happen under the Patriot Act laws that are intended to prevent transfer of funds to terrorists or terrorist governments.

-J.

There’s a lot of reason to believe you’re right. It does a lot of reason for the government to take it down. The reality is that this contributes no more to terrorism than our own dollar does.

The irony is that our government is BY FAR the biggest sponsor to world terrorism. Don’t get me started.

The Blockchain method that makes Bitcoin work is a work of genius.

It’s also the reason why no government (or anyone else for that matter) can take down Bitcoin. Unless you take down the entire internet, everywhere in the world, you can’t take down Bitcoin. There is no Central Bank of Bitcoin to take down.

I’m not about to start trading in it, but it is a facinating concept.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Unless you take down the entire internet,

They can just like they took down internet poker! If nothing else, block all US individuals from making transactions over the internet.

-J.

In case anyone was wondering. I’m more confused now than I was before.

munchy wrote:

Since you researched it, how are/were bitcoins mined?

First you need a computer that can calculate at incredibly fast levels. Then you need to join in or create a mining group with other people that have other really fast computers. Then you need to program those computers to solve highly complex math problems. The first mining group to solve gets the Bitcoins for that particular set of math problems.

You in???

This is not fully true. I have seen and have had mining rigs made of micro controllers like Arduinos and RasberryPis. In order to make any kind of significant many you will need many mining rigs running 24/7. The mining rig i have now, is a very powerful PC but I only went this route to eliminate the amount of machines i would need to make this worth while (and I still think mining bitcoins is a waste of time and utility energy). I got into software development about 10 years ago have seen young men and women become millionaires almost over night and thats what sparked my interest in bitcoin. The young men and women did not mine for bitcoin but they invested their paychecks and bonus’ into buying bitcoin.

I used to play the stock market a while back and stopped doing that to invest my expendable income into bitcoin. In fact, i even take bitcoin as payments for development projects now. The bitcoin currency is becoming more prevalent in todays society where someone can now buy a hotel room, pay for some airfares and even car dealerships are starting to take bitcoin currency as payment. Last Tuesdays(12/5) bitcoin was valued at a little over 12,000USD, and as of tonight (Friday 12/8) bitcoin is valued at a little over 16,000USD. I look at this as the same thing as playing the stock market. Nothings garenteed and if you decide to invest into bitcoin, you should have in understanding on how it all works and most importantly ALWAYS have an avenue to cash out or sell your bitcoin at a moments notice. Also, if you look at some of the wealthiest people in the world, most of them, if not all, invest into bitcoin or some other form of digital currency. The prices are going to fluctuate up and down, like the stock market, but you need to realize that bitcoin value is over 16,000USD and 700USD, in my opinion, is a minimal amount of fluctuation. Now might not be the best time to get into bitcoin because the value is at an all time high, and i think its also safe to say the bitcoin value will come down in price at some point in the near future. I personally feel 100% better when i invest into bitcoin than i ever did trying to invest into the stock market.

Also, bitcoin has a bad wrap from the “dark web” or more specifically the website silk rode. Bitcoin is used on the dark web to buy all sorts of stuff but that is a very small percentage. When Ross William Ulbricht (founder of silk rode) was arrest in 2013, the dark web or underground web has never been the same. The ordinary joe shmoe with a laptop can’t just go onto the dark web and find silk rode or any other website like that. You need a specific browser and a modified operating systems for any of that to work. The people that do this bullshit, should be locked up and makes people like myself mad because its giving bitcoin an bad wrap.

Anyhow thats my 2 cents!

Interesting stuff Chris. Thanks for the insight. Do you know anything about litecoin? I’ve been watching that as well. I’m just wondering if that will quietly make a run up the ladder. I’m thinking about buying some litecoin.

I see that bitcoin dropped below $13k around noon today. I’m gonna guess we’ll see it drop below $10k this week. I might consider a purchase then.

Can you buy small percentages of bitcoins? I don’t have 10-18k just laying around.

walleyevision wrote:

Can you buy small percentages of bitcoins? I don’t have 10-18k just laying around.

You can buy any fraction you wish. You can spend $5 if you like.

I bitcoin once and broke a tooth,oh never mind,this is totally different than what I was thinking.

I told a friend about bitcoin 3 moths ago. He did some reading and invested a sizable sum in cryptocurrencies 30 days ago. As of today he’s nearly doubled his money… I’m still too chicken!

biggill wrote:

Interesting stuff Chris. Thanks for the insight. Do you know anything about litecoin? I’ve been watching that as well. I’m just wondering if that will quietly make a run up the ladder. I’m thinking about buying some litecoin.

I see that bitcoin dropped below $13k around noon today. I’m gonna guess we’ll see it drop below $10k this week. I might consider a purchase then.

Litecoin is very similar to bitcoin. Many people believe that litecoin will replace bitcoin within 5-10 years. The advantages of litecoin are: 84 million coin cap, faster transaction speeds, easier for mining and the transaction fees are very small, as in a few cents, where bitcoin charges around 12USD per transaction. Not sure if this is an advantage or disadvantage but with bitcoin, your wallet is tied to you by a string of numbers, with litecoin the user’s identity is tied to their wallet in ways. Also with litecoin a portion of block rewards from mining goes back into litecoin’s development and funds their developers. From what i’ve seen, litcoin’s value has gone up more recently but looking at last year and early 2017, to me litecoin, litecoin has been treading water. Personally, i got into bitcoins when the value wasn’t even close to where its at now. Where litecoin is at now, reminds me of where bitcoin was when i got into the game.

I think that many people look at cryptocurrency like a bank almost. Bitcoin, Litcoin, ect.. . In my opinion, any type of cryptocurrency should be viewed as a way to invest your money and not as a bank account or a place to holds your funds. The beauty of bitcoin and litecoin is that there really isn’t that “middle man” or in other words “the banks” ripping you off with service charges and all these hidden fees. The only fee with bitcoin or litecoin is a transaction fees, which is a minimal fee especially with litecoin. I other words i will be investing into litecoin in the near future wether I’m putting my personal USD into litecoin or trading in bitcoin for litecoin. Not sure yet.

The best advice i can give a person thats interested in cryptocurrency is to the homework and know what your getting into, only invest money that expendable right away and to do what your gut tells you to do. When i got into bitcoin, my non-computer development friends and family thought i was a f**king idiot for “throwing” my hard earned dollars away. 8 year later now, there all pissed off at theirselves for not listening. I think a good analogy is comparing cryptocurrency to precious metals. Gold, silver, platinum, ect… all experience price fluctuation. Most people don’t have a problem investing into precious metals because their physical objects; meaning, a person can touch, taste, smell, see or anything else. With cryptocurrency, its just a number on a screen until you cash out. Some people argue that with precious metals that there is only so much out there, meaning that the value will always stay the same or grow, but in reality that pretty close to how cryptocurrency works also. I personally do not play the lottery, gamble or do anything else that puts my hard earned money at risk but i will take a calculated risk where i know that my odds are in my favor.

Hope this helps biggill!

Jon Jordan wrote:

Bitcoin = Ponzi Scheme. I would not put a nickle into it.

Even if it is semi legit, I’m guessing the US government will take it down. At least for US citizens. This will happen under the Patriot Act laws that are intended to prevent transfer of funds to terrorists or terrorist governments.

-J.

This is the definition of a Ponzi Scheme: A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors. The Ponzi scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors. This is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investors’ funds to pay the earlier backers. For both Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes, eventually there isn’t enough money to go around, and the schemes unravel.

An example of a ponzi scheme is when your in the mall and a random person comes up to you and says, “If you buy into this for a fixed amount up front(usually a service of some kind) and then do this, your return is going to be so great that the Ferarri, Lamborgini, mansion, ect.. (things that people want but most cant afford) will be yours in a matter of a short period of time”. These people promise you things with no intend to deliver, all there looking for is your money and not your best interest. When this happens, most people can read through the BS because theres not physical data to back up what that scammer is tell you. With cryptocurrency, anyone can see data from day one for that specific currency on the internet. The data is not hidden, and theres countless resources to compare with.

When you buy into cryptocurrency your investment only effects YOU (excluding litecoin because there are only so many coins and thats for a reason so they hold value and gain value). Money is being generated and thrown back into the foundation through mining/blockchaining. Cryptocurrency is 100% legal and is going nowhere. Cryptocurrency is more prevalent in todays society and is going to continue to grow. The closest thing to a Ponzi scheme that relates to money that is present now, should be Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo should be shut down and upper management should be put in prison. Wells Fargo doesn’t care about their customers and are screwing most over finically. Wells Fargo has lost many customers and more importantly has lost trust in most people. If i did bank at Wells Fargo, I would be more concerned about my hard earned money with them, then putting it into Bitcoin. Your money is better off in smaller banks, cryptocurrency or there are many other great investment opportunities out there. I would be willing to bet that Trump will never try to put an end to cryptocurrency because he probable invests in it also. From what I’ve seen in my life, smart investors think outside the box and thats why cryptocurrency is appealing to those that do. I’m also confused on how physical paper money doesn’t fund terrorists too? Sorry for going on a rant and i’m not trying to call anyone out, but comments like this get under my skin because it couldn’t be any farther from truth and reality.

Fyi…Bitcoin Futures trading begins tonight at 5pm. Good or bad, institutional money is now involved. Either way, Bitcoin has the attention of some major players.

I personally got involved around the $5k mark and am very happy with my gains. Currently just reinvesting profits once a week. Won’t be investing any more capital until i can see what shakes out with the futures trading.

Bitcoin has been touted as the “store of value” similar to how gold once was the store of value for the dollar. Bitcoin itself does not work as well for everyday transactions, due to its higher transaction fees than some other cryptos. Less than 1% of current crypto transactions are used to buy goods/services.

The best way to be involved with Bitcoin is to set up a bitcoin wallet.

I use Coinbase.

Very easy.

Here is a link https:

https://www.coinbase.com/join/57b7cc09a01b69010d6ddb86

I made a very small investment into Bitcoin 2 years ago.

Have bought plane tickets directly with Bitcoin.

You can spend directly out of your Bitcoin wallet at Coinbase.

Bitcoin will be very established when it is used for commerce by regular folks.

Regards,

BLueSmoke

Take a look at Gemini also,their fee schedule is much more palatable than Coinbase. Heck, i made 4% buying bitcoin on Gemini and transferring it to Coinbase. There was a period during that huge gain where Coinbase’s value of bitcoin was $1500 higher than Gemini’s. Bitcoin prices have since evened out amongst the different exchanges, but pay attention to the fees associated with buying and selling.

Actually, Bitcoin futures will start trading under the symbol BRR on the CME on Monday, December 18. That means the open of the market at 5 PM Sunday the 17th.

Looking forward to this, as I daytrade several other futures markets. Looking for the volume to be pretty skinny initially, similar to the Russell 2000 futures coming back to the CME a couple of months ago. Hoping we don’t see daily limit up/down closures like the agriculturals. May have good volume in the Globex market, which isn’t currently available in any of the equities, energy or metals markets I trade now.

The CBOE Futures market started tonight.

Already seeing some gains.

CNBC had a segment on bitcoin this morning. I caught the end so didn’t see much, but they said all week they will have guests on talking about it.