(Topic ID: 200502)

Somebody explain Bitcoin to me

By Pinballlew

6 years ago


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    #501 6 years ago

    Astro, you need to check with your accountant on that. Once you convert it back to usd you have a gain, not when you withdraw.

    Think of it like bank interest or mutual fund gains. You are taxed when the event happens not when u take money out of the account.

    #502 6 years ago
    Quoted from Black_Knight:

    Astro, you need to check with your accountant on that. Once you convert it back to usd you have a gain, not when you withdraw.
    Think of it like bank interest or mutual fund gains. You are taxed when the event happens not when u take money out of the account.

    All of my crypto is being held in a "self directed" IRA account...I'm good.

    #503 6 years ago

    Oh, i missed that detail earlier.

    #504 6 years ago
    Quoted from Black_Knight:

    Oh, i missed that detail earlier.

    Yeah...I was being a little coy with my initial response.

    #505 6 years ago
    Quoted from BeaglePuss:

    Once the CME futures go live, I might jump back in if there's a significant dip.

    I think if the CME futures cause a dip it will be very brief. Of course with institutional money jumping in we could see even more "pumping & dumping".

    #506 6 years ago

    It's a good thing I love rollercoasters. One time I look and all the numbers are red as values plummet...next time I look they are all green as prices shoot up.

    Litecoin is on a tear now.

    #507 6 years ago

    I bought another 0.041 ($450) this morning. I wish I had more to throw at it, but I don't want to pull away from my other saving habits. I'm now up to 0.6842 BTC.

    #508 6 years ago
    Quoted from Spyderturbo007:

    but I don't want to pull away from my other saving habits

    Good plan. I'm about to put some money into my regular SEP IRA. As "exciting" as crypto is, can't get carried away.

    #509 6 years ago
    Quoted from Astropin:

    I think if the CME futures cause a dip it will be very brief. Of course with institutional money jumping in we could see even more "pumping & dumping".

    100% agreed, which is why I set up an auto purchase for a particular benchmark. If it hits a number that makes sense to me, I’ll jump back in.

    #510 6 years ago
    Quoted from Astropin:

    Good plan. I'm about to put some money into my regular SEP IRA. As "exciting" as crypto is, can't get carried away.

    Bought 100,000 shares of a marijuana stock this morning. Came back home this evening and it was up 17.82%. Beat Bitcoin.

    I also bought some put options contracts on MGM.

    Plus I put an offer on 6,000+ sf retail space just off of Fremont Street this afternoon.

    Now it's off to the Baccarat tables to close out the day.

    #511 6 years ago

    @ extreme what pot stock?

    #512 6 years ago
    Quoted from cdnpinballer:

    @ extreme what pot stock?

    HEMP

    #513 6 years ago
    Quoted from ExtremePinball:

    Bought 100,000 shares of a marijuana stock this morning. Came back home this evening and it was up 17.82%. Beat Bitcoin.
    I also bought some put options contracts on MGM.
    Plus I put an offer on 6,000+ sf retail space just off of Fremont Street this afternoon.
    Now it's off to the Baccarat tables to close out the day.

    Yeah I tried a different marijuana stock a few years ago...apparently I picked the wrong one.

    #514 6 years ago

    ugh all anyone uses the stock market for is illegal purchases and speculation.

    #515 6 years ago
    Quoted from pezpunk:

    ugh all anyone uses the stock market for is illegal purchases and speculation.

    lol

    #516 6 years ago

    I’ll have to check out HEMP. I got in on MJNA & SRNA trying to ride the pot wagon but they haven’t moved much.

    I’ve been eying SING. It’s *supposed* to be a crypto solution for the marijuana industry. What can possibly go wrong, crypto and pot.

    -1
    #517 6 years ago

    Bitcoin is basically the modern day tulipmania. It's purely speculative at this point, from just north of 2k to crossing 10k USD per BTC a few days ago. The worst thing is that it's not actually a tangible asset, it's just information. The mining process is weird and complex, and liquidity is an issue. Basically you've got people hyped up about it cause they suddenly have a portfolio that's worth tens of thousands, maybe even a couple hundred thousands, dollars. Good for them, but it's all an illusion. Nothing appreciates in value this much, and I mean nothing that grows organically i.e. the growth is a result of book value, not market value. Bitcoin is heavily overvalued, largely a result of the speculative actions behind it. Remember what happened to the US housing market 10 years ago? That wasn't the result of houses, that was the result of speculation in non-tangible assets. Bitcoin claims to be a currency, but there range of commodities you can buy with it is still limited (largely due to the liquidity problems). The problem is that it's self-proclaimed status as a currency makes it liable to being taxed as income.
    My friend approached me back in September 2012 asking whether we should put up 500 British pounds each to buy some bitcoins. At that point, it would have gotten us about 50 Bitcoins each, so my portfolio right now would be worth around 500,000 USD. Would I liquidate? No, probably just because of the problems involved in it (it's not like selling stock on the market), the commissions and fees involved, etc. Also why would I? All Bitcoin had done was appreciate over the paste decade, it would be foolish to sell, right? One day Bitcoin will crash, and when it does it will really hit hard. This thing has an insane volatility rate. Fluctuation of 600-1000 USD are normal. When the crash comes, it'll take everyone with it just because it will be so hard to distinguish it from "normal" fluctuations.
    If you're looking into alternative currencies, try Glint. At least there you have some tangible asset.

    #518 6 years ago
    Quoted from snowvictim:

    Bitcoin is basically the modern day tulipmania. It's purely speculative at this point, from just north of 2k to crossing 10k USD per BTC a few days ago. The worst thing is that it's not actually a tangible asset, it's just information. The mining process is weird and complex, and liquidity is an issue. Basically you've got people hyped up about it cause they suddenly have a portfolio that's worth tens of thousands, maybe even a couple hundred thousands, dollars. Good for them, but it's all an illusion. Nothing appreciates in value this much, and I mean nothing that grows organically i.e. the growth is a result of book value, not market value. Bitcoin is heavily overvalued, largely a result of the speculative actions behind it. Remember what happened to the US housing market 10 years ago? That wasn't the result of houses, that was the result of speculation in non-tangible assets. Bitcoin claims to be a currency, but there range of commodities you can buy with it is still limited (largely due to the liquidity problems). The problem is that it's self-proclaimed status as a currency makes it liable to being taxed as income.
    My friend approached me back in September 2012 asking whether we should put up 500 British pounds each to buy some bitcoins. At that point, it would have gotten us about 50 Bitcoins each, so my portfolio right now would be worth around 500,000 USD. Would I liquidate? No, probably just because of the problems involved in it (it's not like selling stock on the market), the commissions and fees involved, etc. Also why would I? All Bitcoin had done was appreciate over the paste decade, it would be foolish to sell, right? One day Bitcoin will crash, and when it does it will really hit hard. This thing has an insane volatility rate. Fluctuation of 600-1000 USD are normal. When the crash comes, it'll take everyone with it just because it will be so hard to distinguish it from "normal" fluctuations.
    If you're looking into alternative currencies, try Glint. At least there you have some tangible asset.

    I really wish there was a giant yawn emoji.

    #519 6 years ago
    Quoted from snowvictim:

    Bitcoin is basically the modern day tulipmania. It's purely speculative at this point, from just north of 2k to crossing 10k USD per BTC a few days ago. The worst thing is that it's not actually a tangible asset, it's just information. The mining process is weird and complex, and liquidity is an issue. Basically you've got people hyped up about it cause they suddenly have a portfolio that's worth tens of thousands, maybe even a couple hundred thousands, dollars. Good for them, but it's all an illusion. Nothing appreciates in value this much, and I mean nothing that grows organically i.e. the growth is a result of book value, not market value. Bitcoin is heavily overvalued, largely a result of the speculative actions behind it. Remember what happened to the US housing market 10 years ago? That wasn't the result of houses, that was the result of speculation in non-tangible assets. Bitcoin claims to be a currency, but there range of commodities you can buy with it is still limited (largely due to the liquidity problems). The problem is that it's self-proclaimed status as a currency makes it liable to being taxed as income.
    My friend approached me back in September 2012 asking whether we should put up 500 British pounds each to buy some bitcoins. At that point, it would have gotten us about 50 Bitcoins each, so my portfolio right now would be worth around 500,000 USD. Would I liquidate? No, probably just because of the problems involved in it (it's not like selling stock on the market), the commissions and fees involved, etc. Also why would I? All Bitcoin had done was appreciate over the paste decade, it would be foolish to sell, right? One day Bitcoin will crash, and when it does it will really hit hard. This thing has an insane volatility rate. Fluctuation of 600-1000 USD are normal. When the crash comes, it'll take everyone with it just because it will be so hard to distinguish it from "normal" fluctuations.
    If you're looking into alternative currencies, try Glint. At least there you have some tangible asset.

    Very insightful. Very insightful indeed. I'm particularly impressed with your technical analysis of the Bitcoin mining process.

    Quoted from snowvictim:

    The mining process is weird and complex, and liquidity is an issue.

    And the liquidity issue, holy cow! What an issue it is indeed. Who knew there would be so many exchanges available so that one could quickly and easily convert Bitcoin into cash. Had you not mentioned that just now, all these good people might not know about liquidity. Thank you.

    I'm further impressed with your investment strategy of "better to make no money at all, than to make hundreds of thousands of dollars because of fees & taxes". Spot on my friend. Way to stick it to the man. A lot of the folks who sleep outside in the streets downtown are doing the same thing. You should consider getting together for a convention so that you can share your thoughts on all things financial.

    So the whole not making money thing.... how's that going so far?

    #520 6 years ago

    That HEMP stock at close this week was 2 cents a share.

    Back in January of this year, I bought several thousand dollars of CVSI stock . . . another Mary Jane 'scientific' company. I paid 5 cents a share. Today, it is worth exactly half of that! It's done nothing but rock up and down slightly, with a gentle glide toward 'down'. I'm relating this to any of you who might be considering purchasing stock in 'pot', (or is that a stock pot? ). Anyway, I don't think CVSI is going to do much, so you might steer clear of it.

    #521 6 years ago
    #522 6 years ago
    Quoted from Spyderturbo007:

    I’ll have to check out HEMP. I got in on MJNA & SRNA trying to ride the pot wagon but they haven’t moved much.
    I’ve been eying SING. It’s *supposed* to be a crypto solution for the marijuana industry. What can possibly go wrong, crypto and pot.

    Looks like you should have been "eyeing" SING last week... Before it shot up 100%!!!!!

    I'd place a speculative wager on SRNA at .10c. I can't see paying more right now.

    #523 6 years ago

    I see what you did there.

    #524 6 years ago
    Quoted from snowvictim:

    Bitcoin is basically the modern day tulipmania. It's purely speculative at this point, from just north of 2k to crossing 10k USD per BTC a few days ago. The worst thing is that it's not actually a tangible asset, it's just information. The mining process is weird and complex, and liquidity is an issue. Basically you've got people hyped up about it cause they suddenly have a portfolio that's worth tens of thousands, maybe even a couple hundred thousands, dollars. Good for them, but it's all an illusion. Nothing appreciates in value this much, and I mean nothing that grows organically i.e. the growth is a result of book value, not market value. Bitcoin is heavily overvalued, largely a result of the speculative actions behind it. Remember what happened to the US housing market 10 years ago? That wasn't the result of houses, that was the result of speculation in non-tangible assets. Bitcoin claims to be a currency, but there range of commodities you can buy with it is still limited (largely due to the liquidity problems). The problem is that it's self-proclaimed status as a currency makes it liable to being taxed as income.
    My friend approached me back in September 2012 asking whether we should put up 500 British pounds each to buy some bitcoins. At that point, it would have gotten us about 50 Bitcoins each, so my portfolio right now would be worth around 500,000 USD. Would I liquidate? No, probably just because of the problems involved in it (it's not like selling stock on the market), the commissions and fees involved, etc. Also why would I? All Bitcoin had done was appreciate over the paste decade, it would be foolish to sell, right? One day Bitcoin will crash, and when it does it will really hit hard. This thing has an insane volatility rate. Fluctuation of 600-1000 USD are normal. When the crash comes, it'll take everyone with it just because it will be so hard to distinguish it from "normal" fluctuations.
    If you're looking into alternative currencies, try Glint. At least there you have some tangible asset.

    IMG_5282 (resized).JPGIMG_5282 (resized).JPG

    #525 6 years ago

    Anyone know how many coins The Creator has sold? And how much has been received?

    #526 6 years ago

    Zero sold by the original creator. Who mined the fist 1 million coins. This is known because it's an open ledger.

    #527 6 years ago
    Quoted from Astropin:

    Zero sold by the original creator. Who mined the fist 1 million coins. This is known because it's an open ledger.

    Thank you.

    #528 6 years ago
    Quoted from ExtremePinball:

    Looks like you should have been "eyeing" SING last week... Before it shot up 100%!!!!!
    I'd place a speculative wager on SRNA at .10c. I can't see paying more right now.

    Tell me about it. I’ve been watching it for the last few weeks actually. Just didn’t pull the trigger. I’ve been funneling all my extra investment “play money” into crypto.

    Anyone have a trading platform suggestion where I can pick up crypto that isn’t the standard 3 they sell on GDAX?

    I want to sell some of my BCH and grab XRP.

    #529 6 years ago
    Quoted from Spyderturbo007:

    Tell me about it. I’ve been watching it for the last few weeks actually. Just didn’t pull the trigger. I’ve been funneling all my extra investment “play money” into crypto.
    Anyone have a trading platform suggestion where I can pick up crypto that isn’t the standard 3 they sell on GDAX?
    I want to sell some of my BCH and grab XRP.

    I'm just now looking into Kraken. I'll open an account later this week. I'm also going to research Gemini, Bittrex, Coincheck, Coinswitch, Bitshare, and Bitsave. As time allows.

    My Avatar LE sells at auction this weekend in Anaheim with a few old driving games. If I don't re-invest that cash into other arcade games, I'll likely toss it all into cryptos.

    #530 6 years ago
    Quoted from ExtremePinball:

    I'm just now looking into Kraken

    I looked into some Kraken yesterday.

    rd

    1492AE1A-7DEA-40F6-8954-97636A778950 (resized).jpeg1492AE1A-7DEA-40F6-8954-97636A778950 (resized).jpeg

    #531 6 years ago
    Quoted from rotordave:

    I looked into some Kraken yesterday.
    rd

    I’ll see your Kraken and raise you a Jonah’s curse.

    66C7F88F-E2C6-4B3B-9550-17B4F945CBD9 (resized).jpeg66C7F88F-E2C6-4B3B-9550-17B4F945CBD9 (resized).jpeg

    #532 6 years ago

    So CBOE begins futures trading Bitcoin on Dec 10th. Will this be the next "Big Short"? Or will they jump on the train and propel it forward even faster?

    I am concerned that this opens the doors for greater manipulation. They could force a major downturn if there is a consensus of shorting. How can they force the price of BTC down just by shorting it...by creating an arbitrage situation. If the futures value drops significantly below the actual trading price of BTC then the holders of BTC would purchase the futures and sell their holdings thus netting an instant profit. If enough of that happens then the value of Bitcoin could plummet.

    On the other hand if they are just jumping on the bandwagon then the price could soar even higher.

    #533 6 years ago

    Anybody have any advice in getting my Coinbase account back up? For some reason they disabled my account and their customer support just down right sucks. I was told to provide my DL and proof of current address, which I have done, but still nothing. Their communication is horrible.

    #534 6 years ago

    Astro, you are funny. I mentioned value manipulation on page 2 and you wanted to argue about it. Glad you saw the light!

    Just remember, the CBOE doesn't buy or sell the futures themselves, they are just creating a place for them to be bought and sold. They make their money on the transaction itself.

    It will be interesting to see how active this market is.

    #535 6 years ago
    Quoted from Black_Knight:

    Astro, you are funny. I mentioned value manipulation on page 2 and you wanted to argue about it. Glad you saw the light!

    You mentioned trusting a corporation to back your money...I replied that no corporation owns Bitcoin.

    Quoted from Black_Knight:

    Just remember, the CBOE doesn't buy or sell the futures themselves, they are just creating a place for them to be bought and sold. They make their money on the transaction itself.

    I understand how it works

    Quoted from Black_Knight:

    It will be interesting to see how active this market is.

    Coinflip (pun intended)...It really could go either way. But we still have to remember that Bitcoin is global...even though the US (and China...and probably even Russia) could do the greatest amount of manipulation.

    I still believe that even if it does get shorted down in price that it would still eventually rebound. It has shown amazing resiliency to downward pressure in the past. Just depends on (if it gets shorted) how severe it is. Wonder if the Winklevoss twins will sell all or part of their billion dollar holding in Bitcoin just prior to the futures market going live?

    #536 6 years ago

    I'm left wondering what the heck is going on in the world when millionaires and billionaires can be created overnight with virtual currency that had been in-use for illegal activities for years. It has a potential impact (even at today's price per coin) to redistribute a large amount of the world's wealth to a HUGE number of illegal entities that were doing business in Bitcoin the last 8 years. And somehow that's allowed to happen by our governments? Fear and greed keep driving this because there's no intervention and it's seen as easy money. The average Joe doesn't understand it *at all* and they get talked into it by friends, family, relatives for the easy money or fear of losing all they worked hard for their entire life. People buying into it are apparently okay with an unknown person/group/country at the top holding a million bitcoins. Many don't know the illegal origins of the currency and yet are buying into it because of media. The more coverage, the more investors & the higher the price goes -- ultimately helping groups involved in illegal activities have more purchasing power or control when they inevitably cash out and use whatever currency nets them the most to purchase weapons. This gets feeling like the end of it all here. Short-term visions of making money quick & instant access to exchanges allow anyone to throw their net worth toward it to make a quick buck, but could very well fuel dramatic shifts of control in this world.

    The technology is cool & I'm sure we'll be doing something like this with government issued cryptocurrency at some point.. but even this blip where *anyone* has the ability to cash out and net tens of thousands of dollars if they had sat on a few dollars of Bitcoins -- that's very real. And no matter when people invest at this point, the top dogs are already established YEARS ago when it was $1 or $10 or $100 a coin. Many of them aren't going to be very friendly people and can at any time cash out for real-world money in the denomination of their choosing.

    It seems like there should have been some kind of limit imposed on how much a Bitcoin could be worth compared to real-world currency. Some measure of control from having something like this happen. For as clever as the technology is, for what's unfolding to be happening -- it's just insane. Why work hard any more and offer the world anything of substance? Just jump on some crazy bandwagon and make your millions doing nothing at all.

    Governments better be putting some serious resources into figuring this out and move quick in shutting down exchanges or whatever's necessary to control it some while they get a handle on understanding the economic impacts. Other countries as well. This is like some bad movie that keeps getting worse. No doubt anyone sitting on a reasonable amount of Bitcoin will disagree -- but the idea of it all, the fact that 10,000 Bitcoin bought 2 pizzas from Papa Johns in 2010 and that was all.. and now it's somehow viable as a real currency? I'm a computer guy and heavy into technology at points in life, and think this is just absolute bananas that it's gone this far.

    #537 6 years ago

    If bitcoin was ever to be used as an actual currency, where people are paid their salary in bitcoins, considering the finite number of coins possible, wouldn’t an investment strategy be to simply hold onto your coins vs investing? A sound investment strategy would be to simply not invest at all?

    If the cost to mine future coins is ever increasing, the value of existing coins should increase as well, correct? Opposite of how cash loses value over time, bitcoin would increase in value over time. Rather than an annual salary increase, would people now get annual salary decreases that still represent an increase or similar level of buying power as the prior year?

    #538 6 years ago

    The government should stay out of it. As soon as it is regulated it becomes real and I’d rather the market determine its reality and durability than the US government.

    Two trends Ive been watching-

    Futures - will this cause the crash or a short squeeze? Either way it becomes more susceptible to value manipulation.

    Distribution and security - As china’s investment in Bc infrastructure grows they could break the security inherent in the distributed ledger concept. If you control 51% of the processing power, you can create and verify bogus transactions. Don’t underestimate China’s ability to get there to disrupt financial markets and tech in the US.

    These are examples of companies manipulating values that I referred too long ago. No one has to own it to manipulate it. The dollar is the largest reserve currency in the world because it is the most stable and least likely to be manipulated. Even though I disagree with much of our monetary policy which impacts its long term value.

    #539 6 years ago
    Quoted from acebathound:

    I'm left wondering what the heck is going on in the world when millionaires and billionaires can be created overnight with virtual currency that had been in-use for illegal activities for years. It has a potential impact (even at today's price per coin) to redistribute a large amount of the world's wealth to a HUGE number of illegal entities that were doing business in Bitcoin the last 8 years. And somehow that's allowed to happen by our governments? Fear and greed keep driving this because there's no intervention and it's seen as easy money. The average Joe doesn't understand it *at all* and they get talked into it by friends, family, relatives for the easy money or fear of losing all they worked hard for their entire life. People buying into it are apparently okay with an unknown person/group/country at the top holding a million bitcoins. Many don't know the illegal origins of the currency and yet are buying into it because of media. The more coverage, the more investors & the higher the price goes -- ultimately helping groups involved in illegal activities have more purchasing power or control when they inevitably cash out and use whatever currency nets them the most to purchase weapons. This gets feeling like the end of it all here. Short-term visions of making money quick & instant access to exchanges allow anyone to throw their net worth toward it to make a quick buck, but could very well fuel dramatic shifts of control in this world.\

    The dark web angle of bitcoin is interesting, but not really a significant component of if the thing should succeed or be legitimate.

    What is far more important is the players who stand to be able to manipulate the market... aren't necessarily people you trust.

    #540 6 years ago
    Quoted from acebathound:

    I'm left wondering what the heck is going on in the world when millionaires and billionaires can be created overnight

    Some millionaires sure....only billionaires I'm aware of are the Winklevoss twins who put up 11 million back it 2013...huge risk...big return, good for them.

    Quoted from acebathound:

    It has a potential impact (even at today's price per coin) to redistribute a large amount of the world's wealth to a HUGE number of illegal entities that were doing business in Bitcoin the last 8 years.

    Quoted from acebathound:

    The average Joe doesn't understand it *at all*

    Then the average Joe shouldn't be investing (a fool and his money... )

    Quoted from acebathound:

    Many don't know the illegal origins of the currency

    Please explain...in detail the nefarious origins.

    Quoted from acebathound:have more purchasing power or control when they inevitably cash out and use whatever currency nets them the most to purchase weapons.

    Ya got me... I'm invested so I can buy more weapons! Aren't we all?

    Quoted from acebathound:

    the top dogs are already established YEARS ago when it was $1 or $10 or $100 a coin.

    They saw the potential early they reap the rewards. To buy more "weapons" of course.

    #541 6 years ago

    So how "easy" is it to cash out of an initial investment in the market if say you bought Bitcoin at the $5k mark and it's $11.7k right now? What's the process? How many days does it take to see USD in your bank account & who pays that out?

    I'm really just wanting to educate myself on this entire thing. I've been researching heavier over the last week, trying to understand it more. Virtual currency as the way of the future makes sense. But this Bitcoin (maybe "Bitcon") doesn't really make sense in its current form. At this time it's feeling more like a pyramid scheme or ponzi scheme that's spreading like wildfire. The more people can convince others to invest, the more they make themselves. Yet the people at the top can cash out at any time. That won't happen enough to tank markets, just enough to cause it to dip so they can invest again at lower Bitcoin pricing and siphon more of the global wealth their way. It's like a casino wanting you to win just enough that you're convinced you can "hit it big" and keep coming back, while in the long-haul many people are bled dry.

    There's definitely going to be incentive for hackers or scammers to go to work here, even if the blockchain & associated encryption is plenty secure. It's the exchanges, where people keep their wallets, the time in-between transactions that the virtual currency is being shifted around that become areas to attack. The idea you can lose ALL OF IT if the hardware wallet you have goes bad, or you lose a private key.. that's insane I think. Seems like you have to move quick to get any substantial amount of Bitcoin sitting in-limbo anywhere (ie. online wallets at exchanges) OFFLINE.. and I highly doubt if you can associate a bank account with an exchange that's where you want your USD to remain, so you'll need multiple bank accounts to initiate transfers through to secure things more.

    I guess I have a lot more to learn, but just can't help feeling this is all bananas. It's illogical, it makes no sense.. yet here we are. And the idea Bitcoin itself is great.. changing the world.. well it will. It'll redistribute wealth to people that weren't wealthy before. I'm now feeling forced to learn about all of this to see how it might affect my future and what I need to do if this nonsense continues. It's really not about missing the boat on some hot new investment -- it's the aftermath of what happens when people thinking they're playing a game are being fed the same casino routine that makes you comfortable putting more money in. It's people that have a huge amount of wealth in this world, diversifying into Bitcoin, convincing others through interviews that it's a solid investment because it's working.. meanwhile maybe a larger game is being played by some earlier adopters with little wealth invested & a lot more to make if they can both influence the market in a major way & time the buys right, over and over.

    #542 6 years ago

    It's a risky endeavor to be sure. Don't put in more than you are willing to lose. That's pretty simple. But...stupid is as stupid does, and I'm sure more than a handful off people will likely go broke over this someday...if it's a bubble or becomes a bubble.

    If you don't understand what you are investing in then don't do it.

    To answer your first question... you are purchasing from exchanges. If you cash out to USD it happens pretty much right then (as soon as your sell order goes through). USD in your account, same day.

    From there you can transfer the money to a bank account or pretty much wherever you want to transfer it to (another brokerage etc...).

    #543 6 years ago
    Quoted from acebathound:

    So how "easy" is it to cash out of an initial investment in the market if say you bought Bitcoin at the $5k mark and it's $11.7k right now? What's the process? How many days does it take to see USD in your bank account & who pays that out?

    there is a bitcoin ATM a few minutes away from me at a Shell station. I could walk up to it right now and withdraw (or deposit) up to $9,999 USD per day. It's a pretty easy process. i've used it to deposit money to an exchange, where I bought a small amount of Monero.

    Quoted from acebathound:

    It's the exchanges, where people keep their wallets, the time in-between transactions that the virtual currency is being shifted around that become areas to attack. The idea you can lose ALL OF IT if the hardware wallet you have goes bad, or you lose a private key.. that's insane I think. Seems like you have to move quick to get any substantial amount of Bitcoin sitting in-limbo anywhere (ie. online wallets at exchanges) OFFLINE.. and I highly doubt if you can associate a bank account with an exchange that's where you want your USD to remain, so you'll need multiple bank accounts to initiate transfers through to secure things more.

    It's a pain right now, but keep in mind the tech is in its infancy. It's really not super complicated once you get yourself set up. For me, depositing money at an ATM to an exchange turned out to be very easy. I then bought some Monero at the exchange, and sent it to my wallet. Done. I can reverse the process in a matter of minutes any time I want.

    Note that nobody should be keeping the bulk of their money in an exchange. Exchanges are a marketplace.

    Second -- yes, storage technology is a weak link in the chain currently. Hard drives are not a reliable long term store of data, and therefore they are not a reliable long term store of the keys to your wallet. It will be interesting seeing what (additional) tech solutions pop up to address that need.

    #544 6 years ago
    Quoted from pezpunk:

    there is a bitcoin ATM a few minutes away from me at a Shell station. I could walk up to it right now and withdraw (or deposit) up to $9,999 per day. It's a pretty easy process. i've used it to deposit money to an exchange, where I bought a small amount of Monero.

    I saw some of those pictured in articles as I was researching. That's wild.

    #545 6 years ago

    Perhaps someone can explain this to me. I bought BTC through Coinbase back in June of this year. It was going for around $2200 per BTC. Before my account was disabled for some reason, I transfered my Bitcoin to a personal wallet on my computer called Bit Core. Now Bit Core doesn't work, the app just crashes and I have to force close the app. No customer service available from Bit Core. Is my Bitcoin lost somewhere in this transaction? I can't gain access to either of my accounts and it's frustrating to say the least. I know I saved a transaction of this transfer from Coinbase to my personal wallet and I'll save that if I can ever get some answers from Coinbase.

    #546 6 years ago

    if you can't access your wallet... you're toast. Doesn't matter about Coinbase at all at this point. Transaction is done... its you who needs to recover your private key more than anything.

    Just that Coinbase knows what wallet they sent to... doesn't help you. You still need the private key. no key... no access.

    you gotta hope that your private key was stored somewhere where you can access it and if it was encrypted, that you know the passphrase.

    #547 6 years ago

    I just read that some company lost a couple hundred million dollars worth of bitcoin because some employee accidentally deleted the key folder. Crazy that there isn't a good backup system.

    The problem with investing in bitcoin now is that everyone knows about it. And the number one rule of investing is
    Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You need to find the next bitcoin or amazon or Microsoft in its infancy to make huge money. Easier said than done.

    The thing that would worry me as a holder of bitcoin is not knowing who has large holdings in it that could manipulate the market or short it. Doesn't anyone find it strange that the creator of bitcoin has 1 million of them and hasn't cashed in a single one? Who is willing to risk billions of dollars by not diversifying and cashing out at least some of that. What happens if he cashes them all out tomorrow and starts a major panic sell off?

    #548 6 years ago

    Actually the employee was investigating a bug in their company's wallet system that allowed a $32M theft. He accidentally took control of wallets of owners totaling $300M. When he panicked and tried to return the wallets to the owners he encrypted them.

    All gone.

    Edit: I think it was Ether.

    #549 6 years ago

    There are so many ways to backup your private keys. Offline "cold storage" on an encrypted usb. You could literally have them printed out on paper and stored in a safe or saftey deposit box.

    Quoted from vicjw66:

    The thing that would worry me as a holder of bitcoin is not knowing who has large holdings in it that could manipulate the market or short it. Doesn't anyone find it strange that the creator of bitcoin has 1 million of them and hasn't cashed in a single one? Who is willing to risk billions of dollars by not diversifying and cashing out at least some of that. What happens if he cashes them all out tomorrow and starts a major panic sell off?

    Maybe he died? Maybe they are lost like so many others? Maybe 10,000 other reasons. Why would the creator try to crash the value all at once? That wouldn't make a lot of sense.

    #550 6 years ago

    As soon as someone detects a sell off of the original coins there are going to be questions and worry if it is huge. And with the open ledger everyone will know.

    While it does have a future it has many pitfall to overcome. Now people want in on the ground floor so new systems are being created. But the systems require miners to sustain them. These have been hobbyist but as others said there could be a take over by an nefarious entity.

    The funny thing is people have been ignoring theft, destructions, key loss and other major issues. I don't know if they think it happens only to others only and gold fever has taken over. Where did your digital wallet come from and is there a back door?

    What happens when they near the end of 21M Bitcoins mined? Will there be a panicked sell off and it does collapse like a Ponsie scheme? If there is a failure in one currency will it cause distrust and instability in other currencies?

    I find the whole thing incredibly interesting.

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