Thread: Cryptocurrency

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  1. #1
    Derek McCullough
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    Cryptocurrency

    How many are invested in this confusing mess? I still do not truly understand as much as I should to be be investing money it it but it's too alluring not too!

  2. Member
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    #2
    I have a portfolio of various cryptos. I suggest researching alot about the underlying technology of these "cryptocurrencies," which is a Blockchain. The Blockchain is the interesting part about them and will be a disruptive technology for several industries. People that haven't delved into this just think these "coins" are trying to be a digital currency, like Bitcoin, and that is not the case.

  3. Stocks/Investments Moderator boneil's Avatar
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    #3
    Yup I missed the boat on cryptos. I remember talking to the wife about bitcoin years ago. I told her how it was probably a scam and would be worthless. How could your money be safe? Boy do I feel like an idiot.
    Thanos was the hero

  4. BBC SPONSOR
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    #4
    Remember the guy that bought 2 pizzas for 10000 bitcoins back in the early days

    Unregulated markets and no telling what kind of schemery is going on behind the scenes to shoot this thing to the moon. When someone starts dumping - it will be a race to the exit gate and liquidity won't exist.

  5. Derek McCullough
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    #5
    Quote Originally Posted by MyGreenOutdoors View Post
    Remember the guy that bought 2 pizzas for 10000 bitcoins back in the early days

    Unregulated markets and no telling what kind of schemery is going on behind the scenes to shoot this thing to the moon. When someone starts dumping - it will be a race to the exit gate and liquidity won't exist.
    Maybe so but there is plenty of money to be made in the meantime.

  6. Stocks/Investments Moderator boneil's Avatar
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    #6
    I caved...........on bitcoin.

    After trying to understand it and reading about it and hearing knowledgeable people talk about it, I realized that I know less now than I did a few days ago. And that every bearish reason that I can think of, and there are many, those reasons may not matter and some can be made into bullish reasons.

    I stopped thinking about it as a currency. I don't know what it is or what it will become. It's not a stock so why should I look at price and valuation. It's not a currency, in the regular sense, so why should I expect it to move like one.

    I remember reading about the expert analysis on the valuation of an online bookstore.........I'm going to treat bitcoin like a lottery ticket..........I wish I would have treated AMZN like a lottery ticket. If it does become the biggest scam or bubble, oh well I will be out a little money. But if it does become mainstream, or something else all together, then who knows. And I have seen some crazy price predictions. Just look up John Mcafee's bet. LOL
    Thanos was the hero

  7. Member skeeterator's Avatar
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    #7
    I created a coin base account 6 months ago but never funded it. Like you I tried to make sense of it from a normal investment standpoint and simply couldn't see an upside. It still leaves me scratching my head when I research it and the thought of my wallet being hacked and losing it all has kept me out of it.

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    #8
    I first bought Bitcoin back in 2013. I bought and sold many times since then but missed the latest massive bull run. I've done LOTS of research on "cryptocurrencies" (it's actually blockchain technology that's what's valuable) since 2013. While everyone has started talking about bitcoin and i literally hear it everywhere, what i've found is that 99% of people don't actually understand it, and they don't see any further than bitcoin itself. No, it's not going to replace the USD as a currency. It's looking to be utilized more as a "store of value" now than anything else. But I'm going to tell you this.... something is going to have to change with the Bitcoin protocol if it's going to ultimately succeed. It needs to solve a scaling problem as transactions are getting more costly and slower. But more importantly, the amount of energy being spent mining bitcoin (which makes the system run) is absurd. We're talking a country's worth of electricity.

    Im sure if you've looked into crypto then you know that theres thousands of "cryptocurrencies" now and more being released each day. While lots of these are straight up scams, terrible copy cats, etc.... there are many that are actually trying to solve real world problems. It's a giant maize trying to shuffle through them, and it's a very risky gamble buying any of them.

    I'm not going to get into all of the reasons, as folks can do there own research, but if you're looking for a solid crypto investment IMO, you need to look into Ethereum. Instead of trying to be a currency or store of value, it's a platform for decentralized applications to be run on. And once you start looking into how blockchain and decentralized ledgers can literally change industries... then you start to see the potential. Think of it being like the internet itself instead of a company.

    Be warned though: It's very likely we are in a bubble now and it could burst any minute. Lots of "value" will be lost, but there will still be boom and busts cycles. I believe in blockchain technology. My two main gambles are Ethereum and Factom.

  9. Stocks/Investments Moderator boneil's Avatar
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    #9
    I was going to go with Ethereum, not that I understand it, but I kind of get it's potential. But my issue is this, Ethereum is a platform, it's usable and is being used, but why is there a dollar value to it. Isn't the platform just as usable wether Ethereum is priced at $10k vs. $1?
    Thanos was the hero

  10. Member
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    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by boneil View Post
    I was going to go with Ethereum, not that I understand it, but I kind of get it's potential. But my issue is this, Ethereum is a platform, it's usable and is being used, but why is there a dollar value to it. Isn't the platform just as usable wether Ethereum is priced at $10k vs. $1?
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    Good question

  11. Derek McCullough
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    #11
    Have any of you looked into ripple?

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    #12
    Quote Originally Posted by boneil View Post
    I was going to go with Ethereum, not that I understand it, but I kind of get it's potential. But my issue is this, Ethereum is a platform, it's usable and is being used, but why is there a dollar value to it. Isn't the platform just as usable wether Ethereum is priced at $10k vs. $1?
    ETH is the token that the Ethereum protocol issues to miners who are securing the network through a process called Proof Of Work. ETH can be seen as a "gas" for using the network. Each transaction will cost a minute amount of ETH, (the gas), which will be rewarded to the miners. As the system increases in use and transactions, and more and more people, businesses, etc need ETH (just by transacting with the network) then the price of ETH should increase. (It has a limited supply with some inflation built in.) In the future, Ethereum is to transfer to Proof of Stake securing. Which means instead of "miners" using advanced computing power to secure the network (which will burn lots of electricity and be costly as can be seen with Bitcoin), it will then use a process that simply owning ETH and "locking it up", so to speak, in an account will run checks on the system to secure it. Those which are "staking" these ETH are rewarded with the transaction gas prices (more ETH.) The intricacies of all of how exactly this works on the code level is where it gets hard for me, not being a genius, to understand.


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    #13
    Quote Originally Posted by derek81 View Post
    Have any of you looked into ripple?
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    I have; but am a little stumped by it.........still doing some research; I’d prefer an app like Coinbase where I could link it to an account to invest; but all I’m finding is where you have to exchange bitcoin for it; which is fine........but I’d also like an app that shows real time movement, I find that interesting to peek at.
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    Could someone recommend a good message board to crypto currency topics?
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    I don’t recall if it was you Derek? But there was another thread that I think got deleted, had lotsa good info in it, went a few pages and I thought a recommendation to a crypto message board?
    Last edited by motomania; 12-04-2017 at 07:23 PM.

  14. Stocks/Investments Moderator boneil's Avatar
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    #14
    Quote Originally Posted by motomania View Post
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    I have; but am a little stumped by it.........still doing some research; I’d prefer an app like Coinbase where I could link it to an account to invest; but all I’m finding is where you have to exchange bitcoin for it; which is fine........but I’d also like an app that shows real time movement, I find that interesting to peek at.
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    Could someone recommend a good message board to crypto currency topics?
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    I don’t recall if it was you Derek? But there was another thread that I think got deleted, had lotsa good info in it, went a few pages and I thought a recommendation to a crypto message board?
    It wasn't deleted here. I'm all for good info, so by all means find it and share
    Thanos was the hero

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    #15
    Quote Originally Posted by boneil View Post
    It wasn't deleted here. I'm all for good info, so by all means find it and share
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    Naw; it wasn’t here; it was in the lounge. Topic went a bit astray and the thread went off the rails (typical lounge) I posted in it; but can’t seem to find it now.

  16. Stocks/Investments Moderator boneil's Avatar
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    #16
    Quote Originally Posted by motomania View Post
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    Naw; it wasn’t here; it was in the lounge. Topic went a bit astray and the thread went off the rails (typical lounge) I posted in it; but can’t seem to find it now.

    It was probably the one where the guy was posting about a bitcoin investment company. I remember it. I'm sure I posted several reasons why bitcoin was a scam or atleast why I wouldn't invest in it.........a few weeks later I'm like, well, maybe its worth some risk.
    Thanos was the hero

  17. Member
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    #17
    The reddit communities have a lot of good threads on crypto, bitcoin, ethereum, and so on. But like anything you're going to be faced with very biased opinions. Just have to shuffle through the "WE'RE GONNA BE RICH!" nonsense and find the productive discussions.

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    #18
    Quote Originally Posted by wbrown View Post
    The reddit communities have a lot of good threads on crypto, bitcoin, ethereum, and so on. But like anything you're going to be faced with very biased opinions. Just have to shuffle through the "WE'RE GONNA BE RICH!" nonsense and find the productive discussions.
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    yeah; that’s where I’m finding a lot of info. But, you’re right; the signal to noise ratio is way off with this stuff. Even articles I come across on google have me raising an eyebrow.

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    #19
    Quote Originally Posted by boneil View Post
    It was probably the one where the guy was posting about a bitcoin investment company. I remember it. I'm sure I posted several reasons why bitcoin was a scam or atleast why I wouldn't invest in it.........a few weeks later I'm like, well, maybe its worth some risk.
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    Ah yes; that was the one........I forgot it did start out with a plug for an investment company. But, I was like you boneil, for the longest time I actually laughed off the cryptocurrency; until I started researching it quite a bit and read about the ole Blockchain. It got me thinking too; maybe there is something here?..........I’m not gonna bet the farm on it. But, A little fun money into it won’t hurt though.

  20. Derek McCullough
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    #20
    Quote Originally Posted by motomania View Post
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    Ah yes; that was the one........I forgot it did start out with a plug for an investment company. But, I was like you boneil, for the longest time I actually laughed off the cryptocurrency; until I started researching it quite a bit and read about the ole Blockchain. It got me thinking too; maybe there is something here?..........I’m not gonna bet the farm on it. But, A little fun money into it won’t hurt though.
    Same way I have looked at it, make a little here and there why not. I would not put up more than I am willing to lose, like buying a lottery ticket at this point.

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