Clearly you are referencing US Gov fiat paper, correct?

Fact: In the last 2 years, the value of U.S. fiat paper has decreased about 4%. U.S. fiat paper is regularly counterfeited. Finally, there is NO LIMIT to the amount of U.S. fiat currency being produced, therefore its value MUST decrease under the laws of supply & demand.

Fact: In the last 2 years, the value of Bitcoin has increased roughly 7,000%. Bitcoin cannot be counterfeited. There is a finite limit to the total number of Bitcoins which can be mined. That number is 21,000,000 coins. Additionally: Unlike stocks, bitcoin can be traded in fractions. No, you cannot buy 1/100 of a share of Berkshire-Hathaway. But, you CAN buy 1/100 of a bitcoin, currently costing you about $57.63.

Note: I own, and actively trade, Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin. These are the 3 most popular of the dozens of crypto-currencies. I also use Bitcoin as a method of payment for goods & services.

In my opinion, crypo-currencies are the future. Currently, there is a TREMENDOUS amount of short, and possibly long term upside in owning/trading cryptos.

Again, in my opinion, stocks & fiat currencies are far too easily and frequently manipulated. Therefore, I currently have no faith in either of these financial products.

Unfortunately this is incorrect. Bitcoin is a worldwide currency. The U.S. makes up a very tiny portion of the global crypto-coin market. It is unlikely that the entire world eventually wants a USD conversion. In fact, one of the largest trading platforms, Bitfinex, is ceasing all U.S. related trades and closing all U.S. accounts on Nov 9. In the global Bitcoin market, the U.S. is completely irrelevant. So, the reality is quite the opposite. People all over the world are trading in their fiat currencies for Bitcoin, etc. And the more businesses that accept bitcoin, and the more governments that accept bitcoin, the higher it goes.

Supply and demand at its finest.

Substitute the word Bitcoin, for any other word in the dictionary and the statement still holds true. Irrelevent. The IRS wants theirs whether one makes a billion dollars selling cocaine, or profiting from bitcoin.

All of that education, and all of those degrees still doesn't allow you the ability to predict the future.

It's funny. Guys that won't hesitate to "speculate" on a new, unfinished, pinball machine for $10,000-$12,000 cash, are telling the rest of us that we're throwing our money away by speculating a few hundred, or a few thousand bucks on a basket of crypto-currencies. Fucking hilarious.

I'll tell you what.... You geniuses sit on the sidelines, while us idiots dip our toes into the water.

BTW - bubbles have a base, and a top. The base in bitcoin has not yet been set, therefore, theories of a bubble are completely unsubstantiated. As an example, oil used to trade regularly at $50bbl. But in 2008 or so, oil skyrocketed to $150bbl in a short period of time. Then crashed back down to near it's normal base. The same thing happened with the housing market. Those are bubbles kids.

Crytpo-currencies are in their infancy. If you want to see what a real bubble looks like, and feels like, toss some money into the stock market right now. Because everybody knows that a 9 year bull market never....pops.

And it's not even close to being accurate as it omits many other entities including foreign governments. You might want to mention that.

Acceptance by mainstream retailers.... like, The D Hotel & Casino, Microsoft, Subway, etc. Are those not mainstream enough?

Again, Bitcoin, and all crypto currencies are a global game. And the U.S. market is but a tick on an elephant's ass.

Understand, I'm not pushing cryptos. I'm not selling this stuff. I'm a buy & hold player in this market when I'm not trading for profit. If I lose my entire $15k investment. BFD. I've lost more, faster, in the U.S. stock market.

If I were concerned, I could pull my original $15k and just ride my current profit the rest of the way. No Risk/All Reward. There is absolutely no loss, for me personally, in that situation. But I have no fear, so I think I'll let my entire investment ride a while longer.

If the shebang goes in the crapper, you can all have a good laugh at my expense. Much in the same way I laugh at those who "invested" their money in a BM66.

www.gdax.com

You can buy/trade Ethereum & Litecoin as well.

This IS NOT a recommendation, merely information to help you begin your research.

You can purchase a Bitcoin Investment Trust though. OTCQX US: GBTC

In the U.S., you cannot buy anything on bitfinex. They have ceased all direct U.S. transactions months ago, and will be closing all U.S. based accounts on Nov. 9. There are ways around this, but I'm not getting into that here.

And yet somehow you manage to use credit cards, debit cards, electronic banking, etc., with no concerns about hacking?!?!?!?!

Are those 1's & 0's somehow different?

Start from post #1. Read all of the posts completely. All of your questions will be answered.

It's as simple as that, only a little more complicated. Yes, start by opening a coinbase account. You will not be able to "slide over" that much, that quickly as there are weekly deposit limits in place. These can be increased in just a couple of weeks, once you're verified, if I remember correctly. Once you get your $5k into the account, you'll simply purchase $5k worth of Bitcoin, which will yield you slightly less than a full coin due to the current price being north of $5k, and fees.

Sit back, don't panic (the price can swing +/- 10-15% in a single day). Watch the "long term" trend.

When you decide to sell, simply click on the full amount you hold, click sell, and you're back into USD.

A point of note: Those that purchased 1 Bitcoin 2 years ago, paid $265.

I remember reading a very similar quotes when some companies went public. If it's the company of the future.... blah, blah, blah.

"There's no reason to own Tesla today at $15.00 when you can wait a few years and buy it for $352.00.

"There's no reason to own gold today, except to speculate on its appreciation."
"There's no reason to own Alibaba stock today, except to speculate on its appreciation."
"There's no reason to own land today, except to speculate on its appreciation".

Almost ANY investment fits this sentence. It's all speculation, and it all comes with risk. Albeit some riskier than others.

Wait here while I check on the investment money I sent to Bernie Madoff for my Enron shares.

It doesn't have to be Bitcoin. That just happens to be the topic of this thread. It could be Ethereum, Litecoin, or any other crypto. When I was able to trade on Bitfinex, I was buying about a dozen different cryptos. Since they have abandoned the U.S. market, I'm down to Bit, Ether, & Lite on the Gdax platform. But I actively day/swing trade these.

And with all of your examples, there was a time to get in, and a time to get out. I'm willing to risk a few G's for that trip to the moon, although I can always decide to reduce my risk at anytime during the trip.

Nobody complains of a bubble when they buy the bottom & sell the top. And even fewer of us complain when we sell the top, and then buy the bottom.

Yes, exactly! For a few grand, this IS a game to me. But it's not for everybody. Absolutely DO NOT invest any money you are not comfortable losing. I'm self employed in the family entertainment business. My entire life involves risk.

I risk, on average, over $10,000 on each new arcade game I buy. I've bought 36 new arcade games YTD, with a couple more months left. Some games I can ROI in just a few months. Others haven't ROI'd after 4 years of operation. Risk.

I'm currently working on a 10,000sf expansion of my arcade. Should set me back over $1 million to complete the project. Is this more, or less, risky than dropping $15k into Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin?

Explain the "need" for art. You can't. And even if you tried, art has no intrinsic value aside from the cost of paint & canvas. So the overwhelming value in art, is in the agreement of it's value between at least two parties. If one of those parties decides it has no value, guess what, there is no market, and it has no value. Just because the seller is asking $10,000,000 means nothing.

Clear enough for you?

A real world example in speculation and calculated risk:

In my last career, I was a self-taught, self-employed numismatist specializing in rare die varieties of Morgan & Peace silver dollars.

So I'm at a coin show and I was reviewing auction lots that day when I came across an 1878 Morgan that I attributed as an obscenely rare VAM 123. Not only was the variety rare, but it was certified by NGC as MS64 DMPL. The only other known example of the variety was an AU53 (almost uncirculated), and was firmly placed in a collection.

At that time, a typical 1878 Morgan Silver Dollar graded NGC MS64DMPL traded at about $275. I, and I alone, estimated the value of this coin at $10,000-$15,000. I stood to make a tremendous amount of money…. If I was right. If I was wrong, I lost nothing because I would have paid $275 for a $275 coin…. Or so I thought.

The auction begins. When the bidding on the coin exceeded $500, I confirmed my fear that at least ONE other numismatist also attributed this coin as a VAM 123 variety. As it turns out, it was just one other person.

This is where I entered the pure "SPECULATION" aspect of this purchase. Remember, I was the only person on the planet who estimated that I could sell this coin, wait for it..... in the future, at $10-$15,000. I could have been completely delusional as there was no precedent. And without at least one other person in the world agreeing to MY value of this variety, its real world value remains at $275.

The bidding on this $275 coin gets to about $6,500 when the other bidder bows out. With the juice, I owned this normally $275 coin, at $7,500. Fuck!!!!

As expected, my attribution of the variety was completely correct. A couple of weeks later, I won my house in an auction. Then in an effort to quickly gather capital for the purchase, I immediately sold the coin to my best client for $10,000 without even shopping it around.

It wasn't just Bitcoin. Ethereum & Litecoin have experience similar rallies.

Ever growing increase in exposure to new speculators. (I won't use "investors")

Ever growing increased acceptance.

Bitcoin is a global phenomenon. News regarding cryptos, anywhere in the world, could cause them to rise or fall. The U.S. market is a very small fraction of all Bitcoin trades & transactions.

Right after you pay my exorbitant training fees.

Step 2 is stop being a wus.

Edit: I have a MUCH higher tolerance for risk than most. Don't follow my path, create your own.

Thank you. I'll accept that as your purchase offer if it does crash down.

Now I finally have an exit strategy.

He didn't say it's "worth" $1000. He said its "base value" is $1,000.

How much are you asking for your turd? Just because it's base value was $7.00, doesn't mean it's worth $7.00. You could have the finest shaped and most pleasantly smelling turd in the world. It could be "worth" millions. Then again, you more likely will need to pay somebody to take your turd away. (sewer fees)

Doesn't change the fact that it cost you $7.00 to produce the turd.

Agreed. Rather than "buy", the word should have been "invest".

Most of my business purchases & cash investments ARE based on speculation. Speculation that my business will produce a profit. Speculation when I buy an arcade game that it will earn. Speculation when I trade stock options contracts. And certainly speculation when buying/trading crytos.

Not quite purely, as I have used Bitcoin for actual purchases. In fact, an online pharmacy I use offers a 10% discount when paying with Bitcoin. So just by using Bitcoin to pay for goods, I'm actually coming out ahead. And if the price continues upward, and/or other retailers offer discounts for paying w/ Bitcoin, I may use it more frequently, thereby recouping & removing my original investment via spending the Bitcoin, rather than "cashing" out.

Yes.
No.

All income, from whatever source derived, is taxable income per the federal tax code. Since the IRS collects taxes under our "voluntary compliance" system, you, by law, must claim your gains.

I've only been in GDAX for about 3 months. I neither know, nor care, if they send a 1099. I have no interest in "evading" income taxes as I already have processes in place, completely within the IRS code, to legally "avoid" income taxes. I will not be explaining this statement any further. Consult with an accountant or other financial professional for additional information.

I neither know, nor care, about being anonymous, flying under the radar, avoiding a paper trail, etc., as I have no ill intent or will. For those seeking anonymity, do your research. There are ways to accomplish this.

Remember, I'm not trying to "steer the horse to water". I don't advise that anybody get involved. I'm only providing what very little information I've acquired as well as my methodology in speculating this market.

Right!

That's all I'm saying too. Besides, I already know that if I fail at this Bitcoin thing, I can always lower my station in life and get into something stupid like theoretical physics, or, yuck, medicine.

That's quite a diatribe there. I hope you didn't "invest" too much time into it.

It's a shame that you failed to note the following, which is directly in your own quoted source.

*******************************************************************************************
"Energy consumption model and key assumptions

Even though the total network hashrate can easily be calculated, it is impossible to tell what this means in terms of energy consumption as there is no central register with all active machines (and their exact power consumption). "
*******************************************************************************************

Now, I might be an idiot, and I'm certainly no genius, but when calculating the "IMPOSSIBLE" (energy consumption), with the only evidence being "ESTIMATIONS" and "ASSUMPTIONS", well, quite frankly, I just call that a flat out fucking lie.

But thanks for your 2c. I've gone ahead and invested it into more Bitcoin.

Between now, and that time long into the future, the price of Bitcoin will rise exponentially. That should really upset a bunch of people.

Oh, you can believe I'm riding it alright. And regularly adding to my positions. Hell, I recently scored 2c from some random dude.

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I really find it hilarious how some people can get all upset over something they actually have no interest in. So I can play this game all day, every day. Laughing all the way.
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Here's a fun fact: I have invested less than 2% into Bitcoin, compared to the total amount that I've invested into pinball.

Resulting in an ever increasing value of Bitcoin. So far you've successfully convinced me to buy more. But please, continue..

I NEVER, I repeat, NEVER stated, claimed, or inferred that there isn't an impact. Period. I only proved that his so called source, was flawed and completely fabricated.

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I honestly think that those who are truly concerned about the demon Bitcoin consuming all the world's electricity, should get off their collective asses and do something about it, rather than trying to prove to one guy on a pinball forum that we're all going to die because he bought 1 Bitcoin.

Because that, right there, is MASSIVE a waste of time and energy. So rather than WASTE your time and energy on me. INVEST it into taking down the evil crypto-currency industry.

Your move.

Bitcoin started in 2009, and is expected to take until 2040 to mine the last coin. We're 8 years into an expected 31 year run.

With Bitcoin at about $6,050 today, the absolute most amount of money I could potentially lose is my initial investment of about $5,000.

The amount of money that could potentially be made in that same time is unimaginable.

I'm cool taking my chances.

But I'm interested in hearing your opinion on how many years the stock market will continue its 9 year bull run, and whether you believe that "the smart money is already in and the dumb money is currently chasing..." in the United States Stock Market.

Agreed. Adding a couple Trillion dollars per year to a current $20 Trillion dollar +++ federal debt is obviously sustainable into eternity. Then once you add in interest and inflation, you're really building on solid financial base.

Are you pulling money out?!?!?!

I'm most certainly not. At this point, I just keep adding to my positions every week. When Wall street finally gets its greedy paws into this market, there's just no limit on how high it goes.

The creator mined the first 1 million Bitcoins. You can extrapolate that figure into todays dollars.

When this thread was started, 40 days ago, Bitcoin was trading at about $5,500. Now passing $9,300 today.

But wouldn't it fun to be the guy that sold at all of his accumulated "real estate" for $975,000 15 1/2 years ago? Seems that it would have worked out pretty well for him.

It has run up to $9,675 as I'm typing this 7:40pm Pacific. It could hit 10k before I go to sleep.

Seriously, I see $10k within 2 weeks. And I've been doing what I can to help it along.

Litecoin & Ethereum have been running strong too. They actually gained multiple percentages over Bitcoin during the last year, resulting in a better overall investment for the time period. They just don't get the publicity that Bitcoin does.

I do suspect that when Bitcoin crosses $10,000, it will get a ton of press, and then rally even further to $12k before a much needed correction. But I'm in it long term, so these early moves are but a fart in a hurricane.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I think you may have mis-timed both markets.

Google.com

Based on your posting in this thread, it appears that you're just a megalomaniac who believes that he has the superhuman ability to not only identify a mania cycle, but can actually predict the future.

And it doesn't take superhuman powers to identify that this is the very beginning of the Bitcoin/cryptocurrency era of currency evolution.

And it doesn't take superhuman powers to identify that as soon as Wall Street develops and sells financial products related to Bitcoin...

Well, you haven't even begun to see the "economic mania".

So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show that us Bitcoin supporters provide you.

For somebody who has everything figured out in the world of finance, I would imagine you would have better things to do than diddle around with a foolish idiot like me.

I mean I was stupid enough to increase my exposure into cryptos another $14,588 just in the last three days.

They don't call me a slow learner for nothin.

So tell me your strategy on getting rich playing the lottery.

Well, I'm a greater fool, and a buyer, so sell your Bitcoin. And hurry up before it crashes. How much do you have?

Yeah, we heard. You mentioned it before. Lead the charge. Write your congress-person.

I will buy all of your Bitcoin, right now, in cash, at $10,000 per coin.

Step up, or shut up.

Pardon the pun, but gold and silver coins can be a solid investment. They're not minting any more of those for circulation.

Yes, bought another $2k worth last night. I'm on the long term plan. While I fully expect there to be a pull back, this market is just too volatile for me to time my buys & sells, so I just buy and let it ride. So even if I pay $11k tomorrow, and it pulls back to $9k, this weekend, I'm not losing sleep.

I'm buying & holding Litecoin & Ethereum as they are two of the more popular coins, and the only other coins sold on GDAX. Once I get onto another platform, I will buy into every coin available for a while and then watch it play out.

I have a VERY high risk tolerance so I don't mind losing a little on some, while making a lot on a few. I don't recommend this strategy to anybody.

When I was on another trading platform, Bitfinex, I was buying & selling XRP, EOS and about a dozen other coins. Bitfinex no longer accepts U.S. customers unless one opens a corporate account.

Agreed, but he's been absolutely brilliant for even more years. There's a fine line between genius & insanity. Unfortunately for all, he crossed it.

"Can we please call it a mania now?"

To be fair, he questioned if it was a mania, not a bubble. And I agree that there is unquestionably a great deal of mania surrounding Bitcoin's crossing of $10k.

The top won't be called for a long time, so the bubble is in zygote level right now. That's just my opinion, I could be wrong. Fuck, I'm been wrong about millions of things in the last 51 years.

Why give up a good streak. Right?

At the beginning of 2013, Bitcoin was trading at about $25 per coin. A $4,500 (Avg cost of a NIB) investment then would have given you 180 Bitcoin.

If you sold it right now, at $9,475 ($2,000 Below its recent top) it would have net you $1,705,500. In 5 years. Doing nothing.

So, honestly, how do you feel about not having "invested" at that time?

I honestly just don't get it.

To date, I've accumulated 2.2+ Bitcoin, 326 Litecoin, and 38 Ether. I should have picked up more of all of them this morning when there was blood in the streets. There may be more downside to come but I'm also looking at the long term potential, not the daily ebb & flow.

I just bought another 3.6 Ether & 14 Litecoin. I need to slow down...

Or sell some more well routed pins, then further expand my crypto currency empire, and subsequent world domination.

Less than that.

Now calculate how much I've lost since the peak of each of those cryptos just a day or two ago.

Oh and add another 3.5 Ether and 14 Litecoin to my existing wagers. I have no self control.

With that knowledge, could you afford to take $1,000 and buy $10 worth of the top 100 cryptos, based on market cap, and forget about them for 5 years?

Your entire "risk of loss" will never exceed $1,000. The potential gains could be worth tens or hundreds of millions... Or you lost $200 bucks a year.

Personally, I don't want to be the guy who saved $1,000.

Sure, the red paperclip. Similar to what I did that with my previous rare coin company. Taught myself numismatics. Started selling coins on ebay hoping to make $5 per auction. Eventually reached a point where I was making multiple thousands on each coin.

There are millions of ways to make money. What works for you would not necessarily work (as successfully) for me, or anybody else. We all create our own path through life.

I started my current business by buying cheap arcade games, refurbishing them in my garage, then putting them out to earn... anywhere that would let me. All of my profits went into better games, more games, getting more accounts and better accounts. I worked 16 hours day/7 days week for the first 7 years growing the business. Now I work less, and play more.... until we close a deal for the arcade relocation/expansion. Then it's back to full time work for a year.

Of course! That's the easy money. The money you for which one does not have to work, to get. It just magically grows whether you're shitting or sleeping. The American dream. I've never experienced the easy money until recently with the crypto currencies. I've worked very hard, for a very long time, to reach the level of success that I have achieved. And I'm not done.

So the big question is: What are you going to turn business parks into?

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.

HEMP

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

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?

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.

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.

But in the future, will undocumented immigrants still be legal??? I kid. I kid.

Please hold your applause.

Who needs it to be undocumented?!??! One just needs to study IRS law, or hire a financial professional who has. Personally, I'm not trying to hide anything, from any entity, as clearly evidenced by this, and previous posts. I'll happily, and I mean very happily pay any and all taxes due on any capital gains. What's 15% anyway, if one is making massive amounts of money, essentially out of thin air. And if one is trading in a pre-tax Roth IRA, there are no taxes due on the gains.*

BTW - With $12,000 in the rear view mirror, I've got my eyes on $15,000.....

Before Christmas.

* Consult with a financial professional before investing any money. One should only invest money one can afford to lose. Past performance is not indicative of future gains. Do not attempt to emulate anything I do. I'm not an expert, I'm just an idiot with too much time and money, at the moment. If I lose it all, you'll be notified by the immediate sale of my entire pinball collection. Enjoy the show.

Well you know right out the gate, I'm a buyer.

I opened a Bittrex account last night. They only accept crypto deposits. I sent over 25 LTC to get started. I'll probably send over a little BTC to juice the account and start buying. I'll wait to unload the 25 LTC on the next pop up, and then buy an eclectic assortment of other crypto currencies.

Spread my charm around this little crypto casino and see what happens.

If anybody on here has an interest in modern pinball, GoTG pro was placed at the Big Apple Arcade at NYNY Casino today. AC/DC pro headed to the shop for refurb. Kiss pro out next, but I haven't decided on a replacement yet. Probably bring back WOZ.

Not a problem. China, in an on going effort to rid us of our worthless fiat currency, has offered to step up their energy production, so that we can send them more of our IOU's based in "faith", in exchange for their Bitcoin based in, well, faith.

Making Bitcoin worth like a trillion dollars per coin.

I might be an idiot, but I'm no moron... I'm selling in January 2020 before the lights go out. I should be good for $4-5 trillion by then. Enough to secure me a flight and a place to stay on the moon base with Richard Branson and Elon Musk.

It's always good to have an exit strategy.

:p

I was doing more coin buying last night when it occurred to me to sell all of my LTC & ETH and dump it all into Bitcoin.

I didn't. BTC shot up $3,000 per coin overnight.

As I may have mentioned earlier, I'm an idiot.

$17,400 and counting....

$18,800.

I've made $4k since my last post.

$19,500

Another $2300 in the last few seconds.

Sure, but is the insanity coming to a peak, or is the insanity just starting?!?!?!

BTC hit $19,600 on GDAX before the platform crashed along with parent Coinbase. This is VERY peculiar.

My Bittrex account is working fine and showing a 24hr high of only $15,825. Really, really strange.

And Mark Cuban called a bubble at $3,000. The market dipped slightly, he then bought into BTC claiming that he's always been a supporter of blockchain technology. So BFD what any billionaire SAYS, watch what they DO.

Warren Buffet is either playing the "Mark Cuban" game to get in at a lower price, or he's afraid that if this goes high enough, he'll lose his place at the top end of the billionaire's club. Soon to be taken over by a bunch of millennials wearing headphones.

As I've said many times before, I'm an idiot. Yet somehow I predicted (Post 354) the breakthrough past $10k, the rally to $12k (reached $11.6k), before my accurately predicted correction thereafter.

I also predicted the breakthrough past $15k.

But that doesn't make me a genius. I have no delusions of being some investing guru.

When you really boil it all down, whether it's trading stocks, options, or crypto currency, I'm just playing around with some electrons. Sometimes those electrons move in my favor, other times, not so much.

It honestly won't become real (to me) until it's cold hard cash/gold in my hands.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.... see post #354

Never mind. It's all gone.

Fuckin electrons!!!!

Anybody have a line on some cheap Ramen Noodles?

I'm cool with the expired stuff.

Hmmm... mining, none of the risk, all reward. Sorry bro, but your post regarding mining has actually inspired me to do the same...

Er, on a much larger scale.

Signed,

Noob

I JUST got on GDAX. BTC shows a low of $13,500, and a high of $19,697.

Trading at exactly $17k right now.

Still trading at $15,500 on Bittrex.

And 7 years ago, I guarantee there were pundits calling Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme, a pyramid scam, and a tulip repeat, all while bragging how they weren't going to be the sucker who threw away $1,000 on this nutcase crap.

May I suggest splitting your bucks and getting a little bit of both?

$40 bucks huh? I think I might have you beat in the bad decisions department.

Last night in a smoky haze I decide to sell 160 LTC @ $97. It's trading at $130 as I type this. A $5,280 mistake there.

I take that capital and immediately buy 0.9 BTC @ $17,700. Currently trading at $16,400. A further $1,145 loss. All total, a $6,425 reduction in profit because of poor timing. A process that only took a few seconds to accomplish.

BTW, I'm up to 5.3 BTC for those keeping score at home.

Perhaps I'll get the next big trade right.

So you're suggesting I sell all of my Bitcoin and put it into Tulip bulbs??? Sorry, as I've noted before, I'm an idiot.

I'm going to hazard a guess and say that you weren't actually invested in the Tulip craze, nor were you around to witness it. I'll further assume that you didn't write your PhD Thesis on the subject. So let's just all agree to drop the Tulip issue here. Bring up something like the crude oil bubble of 2008. Or the dot com bubble. Or the real estate bubble from which we are still recovering. And you won't have a proper analogy because there is no analogy. Crypto currencies are the future. This is a fact that cannot be argued. How it all plays out, and which ones come out on top, is yet to be seen. But you are witnessing a first-time human event with crypto currencies. There simply is no precedent.

Now then, if we're going to play the bubble game, we should know the rules. The first rule of economic bubbles is that they don't pop or burst, they deflate. One must simply make an educated decision on when to get out, if what starts as a correction degrades into deflation.

In my opinion, that decision should based on the risk/reward analysis aspect of investing, and not on the ramblings of some billionaire investor, nor on the writings of some random pinball enthusiast on the internet. I have never "warned" anybody that they won't make money if they don't invest. In fact I haven't, and still don't, recommend to anybody, ever (with the exception of my business partner), to get involved in this crypto craze.

I trade stocks. Plenty of bubbles there. I trade options. Plenty of 100% worthless expired contracts there. There are plenty of ways to make money. When it comes to financials, more risk generally results in more reward. That's why I trade options more than I do stocks. Bigger risk as one could lose 100% of their investment in a matter of weeks. But when it goes right..... you could make multiples of your investment in the same number of weeks.

For the last month or two, I've been investing a couple thousand dollars a day into cryptos. Unless I experience a loss of life, or electricity, tomorrow will be no different.

I post frequently about my escapades on this thread. You'll know how it all turns out by sticking around here.

Ok, I concede. This is EXACTLY like the Tulip mania of the 17th century. You are entirely correct and I will proceed with the same expectation as the Tulip mania, which lasted a number of years. I'm going to heed your advice and expect the same outcome. So if you don't mind, it's still on the upside of the bubble so I should still have at least a year to cash in on the Bitcoin mania before it all bursts. Thank you for the generous warning.

In the season of giving, I thought I'd share a few unsolicited warnings of my own:

Don't bet on a lame horse.
Don't eat yellow snow.
When tying one's shoelaces, avoid tying the left & right shoe together.
Never lick a frozen light pole.
If it looks like dog shit, and if it smells like dog shit, it's best to ASSUME that it's dog shit, rather than proceed with a taste test.

You're welcome.

Speak for yourself.

I'm an immature, 51 year old child who actively seeks risk.

Tulips

In typical fashion, I unloaded 250 LTC @ $144. I vaguely remember somebody noting something about an idiot in a previous post.

Moderator Request: Since this Tulip shaped Bitcoin bubble isn't going anywhere for a while, we are currently in desperate need of a Tulip emoji and a Bubble emoji.

I, no WE, thank you in advance.

I didn't watch the video, but I think it comes down to the multipliers. On two levels. Level 1 is that you get more "Bang for the Buck" by receiving 12 BCC rather than 1 BTC for the same (current) $16,800 investment. Level 2 is that it will become more difficult for a crypto like Bitcoin, currently trading at $16,800, than it will be for BCC, currently trading at $1,400, to double, triple, or quadruple in a short time period.

One thing I do know is that Litecoin is up 160% in 4 days.

The future looks bright, my friend.

Ok, you've made your point.

"less room to run"

I'm curious, is it because you've already done all the research you need to identified the top of the Bitcoin life cycle, or is it just that that you don't know any numbers higher than 20,000?

It is. Everybody knows that crypto coins are only used by drug dealers, arms dealers and murderers.

Now try to figure out why I have so many.

Fact.

Additional facts from a NYT article on Coinbase written last week.

"The number of people with Coinbase accounts has gone from 5.5 million in January to 13.3 million at the end of November"
"Coinbase was sometimes getting 100,000 new customers a day"
"Coinbase v. IRS - Coinbase fought the broad request from the I.R.S. and last week, while the price was skyrocketing, announced an agreement to hand over only the records of customers who made transactions involving more than $20,000 of virtual currencies — around 3 percent of the company’s customers.
"At the beginning of the year, the company had 24 employees providing customer support. It now has around 180,"..."Daniel Romero, the general manager of Coinbase, said he wanted to have 400 customer support employees by the first quarter of next year"

Think about that... fewer than 3% of Coinbase's 13 MILLION customers have accounts of $20k+.

The real money hasn't even BEGUN to step in.

Listen snowflake, just because you have no self control, doesn't mean that the people here that support Bitcoin, and crypto in its entirety, also don't. Just because you are easily influenced into "fitting in", doesn't mean you can just project your personal character defects onto an entire community.

It seems that you, and only you, are focusing on YOUR perception of the power of "persuasion", and making it seem like everybody supporting Bitcoin is a con artist pump & dump expert, while everybody just deciding to toy around is a guaranteed victim.

Enough already. Find another thread to shit in.

Save the world in another thread please.

Thank you.

Wrong answer. Fear mongering is not a message.

If you have nothing to contribute to a thread entitled "Somebody explain Bitcoin to me", then I invite you to leave.

Again, shit in another thread.

And I "predict the future" differently. I'm already up $91k, so I'm personally funding the accounts of friends and family with the caveat that they NEVER invest their own money. Further, although not requested, if they would like, they can "reimburse" me my original investment if the account ever exceeds more than 100% return (3 months from now). They keep the profit and future growth if they decide not to cash out. And the only money being risked is mine, while I stand nothing to gain.

I just see things differently.

As I've said before... I don't recommend anybody try to emulate anything that I do. I'm just an idiot who, currently, has too much time & money, along with a VERY HIGH risk tolerance.

Both may vanish sooner than planned.

Recheck your math.

I count 0 pumpers and at least 6 Tulip screamers in this thread.

When that ratio reverses.... that's the top.

Every. Single. Day.

Google: ICO

In this market, I agree.

However, trend analysis/candlestick charting has served me well when trading options contracts.

Sorry, forgot the rules....

"Scoreboard"

Pot... Kettle, Kettle.... Pot.

For somebody not involved in the buying/selling/trading of crypto currencies, you sure seem pretty sensitive.

And what is the preferred currency for drug dealers and terrorists around the globe? Why YES, it's U.S. Currency.

So be sure to immediately rid yourself of this vile, evil paper by sending your remaining U.S. currency to me, and I'll convert it into harmless ashes for you.

Together, we can save the world.

I too was bored.... Until I bought some BTC, ETC, & LTC. Now my life is an exciting rollercoaster full of ups & downs, leaving my head spinning, and my stomach turning... all the while, my "speculation" continues its vertical ascent.

But admittedly, it's not for emotional or the faint of heart.

I put in a withdrawal request for $9,000 last night. It was in my checking account when I woke up this morning.

Perhaps the problems are isolated.

Obviously a tongue in cheek video.

However, the vast majority of people in the world have never even heard of Bitcoin, much less crypto currencies. I personally ask every business that I enter if I can pay with Bitcoin. I tried to pay my dentist last week, and my oral surgeon just this morning. 100% of the time, I'm met with "What's Bitcoin?" Then I smile, very happily.

Since this, and every internet forum is made up of "the vast majority of people", I expect there to be far more people against Bitcoin, and crypto currencies in general, based on the consensus that.... It's a scam, it's a bubble, and it's a tulip.

Since I've been searching for a tulip bubble scam, I'm currently happier than a pig in shit. Hence the number of red arrows I receive on a regular basis.

And I'm good with that because all those down votes are primarily from those who simply don't understand math, or the concepts of calculated risk and exponential ROI. So down vote away. If it makes YOU feel good, it makes ME feel good.

If you want to be the guy who clung to $200 (or any number) in 2017, carry on. I absolutely GUARANTEE that the $200 you saved, will be worth less than $200 in a year from now. That falls under the concept of inflation. Sure you can put $200 into savings, and it will be worth $200.50 in a year. But you still lost money due to 3% inflation. No risk, no return. You could put $200 into stocks for your 10% annual return (involves some risk of loss). You're not guaranteed any return, and could still lose money.

But, if you're the type of person who understands that a $200 speculation into crypto currencies (not necessarily Bitcoin) could net hundreds of thousands of dollars in just a few short years, then you understand the concept of risk/reward. Your risk of loss can never exceed $200, but the upside potential (reward) is unlimited. Think about that. No, seriously think about that.

I obviously have a different mindset than most. That's partly because I neither worship money, nor do I fear money. I see money as nothing more than a tool to be used to make more money. I understand that this differs from the average American, because I'm self employed.

Now allow me to toss some actual numerical facts into this ridiculous diatribe.

On my current $89,137 investment, er, speculation into crypto currencies, I'm sitting on a $148,610 portfolio. That's down from the peak of $194,000 due to the recent crypto correction. This return took 6 months to accomplish, all the while I lost an additional $50k or so on some REALLY bad trades.

There are some 7 Billion people on the planet. Bitcoin's market cap is in the TRILLIONS $$$$$. So in all reality, whether buying or selling, the 1,000 people that frequent Pinside, will not affect the overall crypto currency market in any way. Hell, I do instantaneous $50,000 trades on a regular basis, and I can't even affect the LTC market @ $275 per coin.

Bottom line: The guys on the Bitcoin forum tell me I'm a moron for investing $250,000+ into pinball machines, while the guys on the Pinball forum are telling me that I'm an idiot for investing (currently) $89,137 into magical coins.

P.S. I didn't save $200 this year.

P.P.S. Fremont Arcade is down to 1 pinball machine.

P.P.S A lot of really nice pins are about to be sent to auction.

Risk/reward.

Serious answer: I don't drink.

I'm a self made millionaire who started with nothing. I've worked since I was 12 years old, speculating on various business ideas. I now own multiple businesses, a rapidly growing "speculative" crypto currency portfolio, and a rapidly growing "speculative" stock portfolio. I currently have more money than I need, and I'm adding to that total on a daily basis.

But by all means, if it makes you feel better about yourself, then please continue mocking me. I'm really ok with that. The difference between me, and most people, is that I will not only explain my successes, but I'm also always going to report and explain my losses, just as I have above. I'm not pushing Bitcoin, and I'm not advising against it. I'm merely illustrating my personal experience with this entire crypto currency market, and my beliefs on risk/reward. I apologize in advance for all of the financial success that I may endure while reporting on my experience.

Bottom line: If I make millions of dollars in cryptos, you'll read about it right here. If I lose my $89,137 speculative investment (substantially more as I'll be adding to my positions), I will announce it loud and proud right here also. What you will always get from me is the truth, based in reality.

Now, a serious question for you...

Are you a) Afraid of risk? b) Afraid of losing money? c) Afraid of making money? d) Generally afraid of everything?

e) All of the above so I'll just wait for my next paycheck and hope it gets me through the month. And if I'm really lucky, my boss made money and might give me a 3% raise next year, Not that there's anything wrong with that lifestyle choice. But it's a choice nonetheless.

Anyway, I'll put you down for one of those who successfully saved $200.

Working normal jobs while speculating in businesses. When I was in high school, I speculated on the firecracker selling business. lol Made money, but got into a little trouble. But I was always interested in trying to make money for myself, not money for somebody else. So from shoveling snow in winter, to cutting lawns in summer, there was always an opportunity for ME to make money.

I was an independent forensic automotive expert for a few years after working both as an ASE certified master automotive technician, and an automotive extended warranty adjuster. As a forensic automotive expert I was paid $65 per job. A job generally consisted of an hour of my time. Occasionally I could do 10 jobs in a day. However, I soon learned that this was not a path to wealth, it was a path to an early grave. So I took some of the money I was making, began researching Numismatics (rare coins), and then "speculating" on "unsearched" bags of coins I would buy off of eBay... and search through them looking for the more valuable dates/mint marks. I started with a goal of making at least $5 per coin auction, with at least 20 auctions per day to cover my living expenses. All profits were re-invested into more research to further educate myself, and better inventory. I started with wheat cents, moved into buffalo nickels, then walking liberty silver halves, all the while taking profits and buying more research material, and buying more coins. I eventually reached a point where I was regularly making thousands per coin sale. This is the business in which I made real money. It came at a price, in that I invested many years teaching myself the business, putting every penny (pun intended) I could muster up to invest, and eventually focusing on my specialty areas.

In one of my posts earlier in this thread, I explained in great detail one of my riskier "speculations" into a coin that was valued at $275, but I paid $7,500 for it, and then sold it for a 33% profit. Knowledge is king.

With the economic shit hitting the fan in 2008 or so, I decided to get into the arcade business as I had already created an opportunity to enter the business. Also because Numismatics required me to travel to coin shows around the country, and I really, really, don't like to travel.

The family entertainment business started as a similiar story to numismatics... self taught, started at the bottom being a hard worker, reinvested profits, grow both the business, and its reputation, and work my way up the "street account" levels of D, C, B, A. Most of my few remaining accounts are A accounts now. I also own my own arcade and I'm in the process of expanding/moving.

Again, I'm not like everybody else, I'll take on as much debt as my math dictates. I have no fear of being $1million in debt at 7% if the use of that debt is providing me with a 20% (random number) return. As I've said many times, I'm not afraid of losing money because the vast majority of decisions that I make result in profit, not loss. So I just keep making decisions (pot stocks & crypto currencies).

This is one of the reasons I abandoned professional poker. Yes, I was gambling for a living at a point in there somewhere. Anyway, one can make the correct mathematical decision based on the current information (cards, player, etc.), but wind up losing the pot anyway. That doesn't sit well in my brain and creates a level of internal conflict that I'm unable to overcome. I just believe that if I make a correct mathematical/financial decision, I full fucking well expect to be paid. Luck should not be a primary factor. So no more poker, but I do like to play around at the Baccarat tables.

In the end, spending one's profits on vacations and luxuries will defer, if not cease, any real success. Reinvesting both time and money is the path to growth. Both in business, and in finance. Sure, eventually one wants to treat one's self for all the hard work and sacrifice. When I decided to do so, the only thing that I desired was a Lamborghini. So I bought one this year.

Remember, I'm not offering financial advice of any kind, I'm merely providing my experience and my opinions. And I will always tell the truth.

I have two games on my truck right now that were supposed to replace 4 pins. Metallica is staying as it has the highest earnings of the five. I had oral surgery this morning so the move won't happen until tomorrow.

The lineup at the NYNY Arcade will remain, and constantly improve, until they kick me out.

Edit: Already planning on moving Kiss LE & GOT LE from Fremont to NYNY, replacing Kiss pro and another, yet to be determined, pin.

You do understand that your opinion in this matter means less than nothing to me, right?

I ask if I can pay because I am trying to gauge the current depth and exposure to the general public. This is called due diligence. Nothing more.

You are too small minded to understand that this cannot be pumped, by one man asking a question, with no further information being exchanged.

Finally, your constant accusations of pumping are beginning to create a legal liability for yourself. I'll have the moderators take note of this legal liability as well.

I'd pleasantly entertain the idea of spending the next few years suing you for defamation, slander or whatever the VERY high price attorney I hire decides is best.

So either cease and desist, or we can begin to play the "who's willing to spend more money on attorneys, flynnibus, or ExtremePinball".

I trust you understand the true severity of this situation, and do not take my statements lightly.

I started my search with an $80k budget. I was hoping to get into a rebuilt title, pre-LP Gallardo that had minimal previous damage.

After doing extensive research, I realized this was not a great idea. So I reversed my search in the other direction and bought the newest, most expensive, non-superleggera (too raw for me) Gallardo I could find. So I eventually settled on a 2014 LP560-4 Spyder with 6,000 miles, at more than $170k. In less than 10 months, I've added 10,000 miles to the odometer.

Interestingly enough, up until the last few months, I had been in the market to either add a Ferrari 430 Spyder to the stable, or upgrade the Lambo to a Huracan LP610-4 Spyder. I scrapped both plans and dumped the money into cryptos.

It causes me to smile because it clearly shows me that the Bitcoin market is not YET saturated. And as I've previously noted, I end the conversation right then and there. I simply dismiss any additional questions with the statement "I don't really know what Bitcoin is, I just saw it on a sign somewhere. Can I pay with my credit card?"

It's been said that when the shoe shine boy is giving stock tips, it's time to get out of said stock. I'm attempting to use this method based on my metrics to gauge market saturation. Simply meaning that I'm not limiting my analysis to shoe shine boys.

Allow me to include some additional facts about my positions in this market.

First, I have investments into no less that 27 different crypto currencies. That number escalates on a weekly basis. It's the shotgun approach to speculating.

Second, while I do hold Bitcoin, it's not even my largest crypto currency investment. That honor belongs to Litecoin. I further added to my position just this morning when it went on sale. My second largest investment is into Ethereum.

Third, while I still believe there is a great deal of money to be made in the Bitcoin market, I also believe that even greater percentage gains can be realized with alternative cryptos, which have more advanced blockchain technology than Bitcoin.

So the majority of my speculative dollars are NOT in Bitcoin, and are NOT going into Bitcoin, but rather into all of the other lesser known coins.

These are some of the reasons that your constant accusations of pumping Bitcoin are completely unfounded, and seem to be a vendetta against me personally, for reasons I cannot fathom.

Perhaps you could take a moment and explain the underlying basis for your hatred towards me.

I truly have no idea what coinbase may add in the future, Might be ripple, might be monero. So in an effort to immediately expand my speculative investments, I buy & trade on the Bittrex exchange as well. That's where most of the other cryptos can be purchased including tron & ripple. However, this exchange uses Bitcoin as the defacto reserve currency, so the vast majority of coins are traded against Bitcoin, not the U.S. dollar. This can seriously fuck with one's understanding of crypto currency movements, since the reserve currency can move faster than the coin being purchased or sold against it.

When it comes to low dollar speculative coins, I don't do any research, I just shotgun it. I haven't bought tron yet, but I do own 1,231 ripple coins. I've created a lifestyle that affords me the unique ability to throw money at speculative coins, and never miss the money if it just vanishes. While I fully understand that the majority of people cannot do this, I don't want anybody to think I'm some sort of crypto guru with more knowledge.

In my opinion, my money is more likely to grow exponentially in these speculative coins, than to decline to zero. As I've said before, I believe we are in the zygote stage of crypto currencies. And it's anybody's guess as to which coins come out on top in the coming years. Therefore, based on previously observed gains in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and others, I'll just buy as much as I can, with the expectation that most of those coins will gain a little in value, with one or more of those coins potentially creating millions of dollars in profit.

Real world example: I own 10,000 Dogecoin. I have no idea what that is. What I do know is that I paid about a half a cent per coin for a total investment of $59.36. So for less than the cost of lunch, I'm willing to take the risk in the hope and expectation that this coin rises.... exponentially over the coming years.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

In my opinion there's far more potential upside, than downside, so I don't sweat the small stuff. I just keep speculating.

I'm currently far enough ahead of the game that any loses that I incur, are short term loses of profit, not losses of original investment capital.

It's not that bad! An oil change runs about $600. There are 7 (seven) different drain plugs on the dry sump engine.

However, being a supercar, one is required to regularly service more than just the oil. So my first maintenance service at 13,000 miles set me back $2,600. This included the oil change, cabin as well as engine filters, clutch snap test, new spark plugs, brake fluid flush & refill and overall inspection of the vehicle. They did provide me with an Audi loaner while my car was there. And of course my car was detailed when I picked it up.