Cryptocurrency

yowza

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This is going to end like the lady who put the lottery ticket through the wash.

Why does there have to be damn paper tickets anyway? Just input info with your numbers and let it roll online. Like those damn Menards rebate forms. They could put that crap online, but then all the customers would actually get rebates.
 

JustAnotherTimeline

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I have a friend who is super into crypto, we had a very long conversation about it and all of the other use cases for crypto, and he's even going to install a miner in my house for one of the other smaller offshoot currencies.

Ultimately crypto isn't that disruptive right now though. There is nothing that it does that something else doesn't do very easily. I've never done anything with crypto and I don't understand how it could improve anything that I am doing. That's not disruptive, it's not even a minor tingle.

Are you familiar with decentralized finance? It has the power to disrupt the entire legacy banking system.

Also, Bitcoin checks all the boxes required for reliable currency and store of value. It is durable, portable, divisible, uniform, and scarce. Blockchain technology allows for this form of currency to exist. Notice how the US dollar does NOT meet the criteria.

It's adoption is inevitable IMO.
 

brianhos

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Are you familiar with decentralized finance? It has the power to disrupt the entire legacy banking system.

Also, Bitcoin checks all the boxes required for reliable currency and store of value. It is durable, portable, divisible, uniform, and scarce. Blockchain technology allows for this form of currency to exist. Notice how the US dollar does NOT meet the criteria.

It's adoption is inevitable IMO.

Nope, it will never fly. It is just a stupid waste of energy that has no value except what other suckers pay for it.
 

brianhos

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Sounds a lot like the dollar.

Except one can be manipulated and inflated away while the other can’t.

And one cannot be traced which is why as soon as it get some traction the world banks and governments will outlaw it. Plus it is a colossal waste of energy and horrible for the planet.
 
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JustAnotherTimeline

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And one cannot be traced which is why as soon as it get some traction the world banks and governments will outlaw it. Plus it is a colossal waste of energy and horrible for the planet.

Bitcoin is a public Blockchain. All transactions are viewable by the public.

I wonder what the carbon footprint of gold mining is? Or, the bloated banking system?
 

besserheimerphat

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Bitcoin is a public Blockchain. All transactions are viewable by the public.

I wonder what the carbon footprint of gold mining is? Or, the bloated banking system?
Until the government accepts it for paying taxes, it doesn't matter. It will still have to be translated back to dollars to be meaningful.

The environmental impacts of gold mining haven't been relevant to finance since the 70's.

Make up your mind - is cryptocurrency anonymous or transparent? Those are mutually exclusive. I get there are benefits to both sides, for privacy and law enforcement. But you can't have both simultaneously.
 

cyfanbr

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And one cannot be traced which is why as soon as it get some traction the world banks and governments will outlaw it. Plus it is a colossal waste of energy and horrible for the planet.
Sure, they might. However, it is highly unlikely. You are talking about a $1T dollar asset at this point. It is larger than the three largest US banks combined (JPMorgan, US Babk, Wells).



As other have said, how much energy is put towards maintaining the dollar system? The argument that bitcoin is terrible for the environment is also questionable in my opinion. Sure if you don’t think bitcoin has any value than any power put into it is a waste… however even at $0 value bitcoin mining using flare gas from oil fields still helps the environment. It literally takes flare gas that would be sent to the atmosphere and instead converts it to energy to mine bitcoin, resulting in lower emissions from those fields. There are also some other interesting arguments regarding how BTC can help electrical grids optimize renewables etc. I’ll post some more later if I think there is real interest in the topic.

 
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besserheimerphat

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You are talking about a $1T dollar asset at this point...
Backed by what? The US$ is backed by the federal government and our economy. You could argue that it's backed by the global developed economy. In this very thread, all the crypto advocates continue to talk about how many dollars crypto is worth. So it's no different than saying "baseball cards will be the new global currency!" Unless someone will accept baseball cards as payment, it doesn't matter how much they are worth. They aren't liquid enough. Sure you can trade with another baseball card collector, but that's hardly a "global currency."
 

JustAnotherTimeline

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Until the government accepts it for paying taxes, it doesn't matter. It will still have to be translated back to dollars to be meaningful.

The environmental impacts of gold mining haven't been relevant to finance since the 70's.

Make up your mind - is cryptocurrency anonymous or transparent? Those are mutually exclusive. I get there are benefits to both sides, for privacy and law enforcement. But you can't have both simultaneously.

You can't pay taxes with gold as far as I am aware. Bitcoin is best compared to digital gold.

The energy argument is far from settled. Bitcoin mining costs half of gold mining per year. I don't understand your argument. Of course it matters what it costs to mine gold when mining Bitcoin is best compared to it.

I am all for legislation and increased KYC. Most have nothing to hide. We simply buy into a store of value independent of what of government decides by decree. This kind of innovation provides good for people around the globe.

The beauty of crypto is that the value is outside in. It's decided by the community. The us dollar is inside out. The government decides the value of current and past value.
 
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JustAnotherTimeline

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Backed by what? The US$ is backed by the federal government and our economy. You could argue that it's backed by the global developed economy. In this very thread, all the crypto advocates continue to talk about how many dollars crypto is worth. So it's no different than saying "baseball cards will be the new global currency!" Unless someone will accept baseball cards as payment, it doesn't matter how much they are worth. They aren't liquid enough. Sure you can trade with another baseball card collector, but that's hardly a "global currency."

You are missing point. Some people are interested in a store of value not backed by the US government. Fiat currencies have a very poor history and have zero actual value. Again, the value of Bitcoin is decided by the community that uses it. It hardly cares what the united States government thinks.

Also, Elon musk sold 10% of Teslas Bitcoin to prove liquidity early this year
 

brianhos

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Bitcoin is a public Blockchain. All transactions are viewable by the public.

I wonder what the carbon footprint of gold mining is? Or, the bloated banking system?

Not nearly as bad as crypto. How many billions of tons of CO2 are created for something of no value. Just bitcoin use 80+ TWH of energy a year. That is insane.
 

cyfanbr

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Backed by what? The US$ is backed by the federal government and our economy. You could argue that it's backed by the global developed economy. In this very thread, all the crypto advocates continue to talk about how many dollars crypto is worth. So it's no different than saying "baseball cards will be the new global currency!" Unless someone will accept baseball cards as payment, it doesn't matter how much they are worth. They aren't liquid enough. Sure you can trade with another baseball card collector, but that's hardly a "global currency."
@JustAnotherTimeline put it well. Nobody here is saying that BTC or other cryptocurrencies are today a global currency or a global store of value. However, BTC (the one I know best) has many properties that make it a perfect store of value. Fiat (think dollars) system is one of the greatest contributors for the wealth gap. Regulators refuse to let economies and companies fail and instead distribute the losses to everyone via QE and other economical tools. This just leads to debasement of those currencies, which hurts those leaving paycheck to paycheck the most as they have no investable wealth.

Perhaps currencies still around, but they are now all pegged to BTC instead of like it was to gold in the past. Currently in El Salvador >40% of the country is using an app where their currency instantaneously gets converted to BTC and then back to the currency to settle transactions. The whole transaction takes less than 5s.
 
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besserheimerphat

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You can't pay taxes with gold as far as I am aware. Bitcoin is best compared to digital gold.

Right - gold is for all intents and purposes a store of value and NOT a currency. Except gold can be turned into jewelry or electronics, and crypto can't.

The energy argument is far from settled. Bitcoin mining costs half of gold mining per year. I don't understand your argument. Of course it matters what it costs to mine gold when mining Bitcoin is best compared to it.

Again, gold is a physical asset with properties that make it valuable outside of its abstract purpose of being a currency. All pollution needs to be reduced regardless of source (and that mobile natural gas thing is very cool, I hadn't heard of that).

I am all for legislation and increased KYC. Most have nothing to hide. We simply buy into a store of value independent of what of government decides by decree. This kind of innovation provides good for people around the globe.

I agree that we need to give everyone on earth the ability to get plugged into the global economy. Human well being could be significantly improved if we do that.

The beauty of crypto is that the value is outside in. It's decided by the community. The us dollar is inside out. The government decides the value of current and past value.
But that's also why its so volatile and can't be counted on as a currency. And why having a tie back to physical assets is important. I mean imagine going to the store and the price of a gallon of milk goes up and down as you wait in the checkout line. The regulation by the govt helps keep the value predictable - 2% inflation - so people can make good decisions about future investments and returns. Like that dude that ordered a pizza a few years ago with what is now millions of dollars worth of bitcoin.
 

cyfanbr

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cyfanbr

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@besserheimerphat you seem to be able to an honest conversation and intellectually curious regarding the topic. Getting a bit late for me, but I’ll try to be back tomorrow and give you a couple good articles to read. Not saying it will change your mind, but might help you understand the angle I am coming from.

For me, once I realized the current economic system is doing more harm than good for the vast majority of people, then BTC or potentially another crypto started making a lot more sense as an alternative that I hope becomes reality.

An important caveat for me. My crypto position was purchased with the intention that if it went to zero, my life would be just fine, but if it reaches its potential then I’ll make a nice buck out of it, but likely not life changing.