The Bitcoin Craze/ Fad/ Real Thing??

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Onebadcad

He manages multiple funds, rule is they only buy what they can sell within 24 hours, I do not believe he buys cybercurrencies for his clients.

His son knows cybercurrencies, told him to do it, he is glad he did.

Know another dood, not family, he bought bitcoin in OCT last year, paid $27K, doing VERY well today.

I do not understand cybercurrencies, never been a buyer.

I have a brother who was a stock broker for a while back in the '80s. He's never had any formal training in finance or investing, but thinks he's the greatest investment genius ever. In the late '90s, I bought some SPY for $80 per share, and he ripped me up and down saying that was the STUPIDEST investment I could have made, that I could do SOOOO much better in other securities. For years, he would ask me in a mocking tone "So, Mick, how are those $80 Spyders working out for you?"

I still have them, and they are trading for 6.5x what I paid for them, as well as paying me dividends for the last quarter century. He doesn't ask that dumb question anymore.

I don't understand crypto either, so I have never invested in it, much like dozens, or possibly hundreds of other types of securities. I am fully aware that those "in the know" might have better returns than I do over time, and I don't care. Someone will ALWAYS have better returns than me no matter what I do.

[dvarapala]

Originally Posted by Mick

I don't understand crypto either, so I have never invested in it

That's good, because it was never intended to be an investment. It's actual purpose is to be a fiat currency that is entirely free of any government's control, immune to being frozen or forfeited like the fiat currencies issued by governments and kept in banks.

As an example of one intended use case, one of my oldest friends in an expat living in Argentina. Lots of folks down there have been using cryptocurrency because it's less volatile than the Peso.

[Vette40th]

I am just now trying to understand this. It is for keeping government from being in control of it. But, they are, in some way. Largest holder of Bitcoin, FBI.. via confiscation.
Blockchain.. Interesting concept
I have my external wallet now and will buy and see where it goes.

[Frankie the Fink]

Originally Posted by dvarapala

* immutable linked list

IOW, it's a distributed digital financial ledger than cannot be forged.

Its a linked list underneath it all; I've written similar constructs in Pascal, Fortran, Assembler and "C"... It doesn't matter what moniker you put on it, such as "ledger". The "payload" is financial records, but could just as easily be social security numbers, vehicle VINs or what-have-you.

The forgery protection is (among other things); that a percentage of certain players "validate" a transaction. I never say NEVER (as in "cannot be forged").
Something is "immutable"; until it isn't.

[SteveOceanside]

Originally Posted by dvarapala

That's good, because it was never intended to be an investment. It's actual purpose is to be a fiat currency that is entirely free of any government's control, immune to being frozen or forfeited like the fiat currencies issued by governments and kept in banks.

As an example of one intended use case, one of my oldest friends in an expat living in Argentina. Lots of folks down there have been using cryptocurrency because it's less volatile than the Peso.

I started to research it, but got lost in the weeds. Also concerned that BTC is now designated by .gov as an Exchange Traded Fund. This means the big boys with huge resources can wade in, buy big time and manipulate the market.

There's also the problem of just where can you use crypto, especially the lesser known "privacy coins" like Monero, to actually buy things. A few places yes, but few & far between.

[Yadkin]

I bought $2k worth a few years ago as "play money". When my investment doubled I sold half to get my original amount back. Today it's worth over $17k.

Should I have stayed "all in"? Nope.

[Vette40th]

^, Since the beginning of time, humans have made almost everything into some sort of value. From salt, nuts, seeds, metals, precious metals, and now electricity.. Zeros/Ones in a digital world.. WIll it last? Maybe.
AI will overcome it in my opinion as it will cause a pwoer consumption so large bitcoin wont be able to carry on.. Mining for Bitcoin and AI are power hungry.

[Frankie the Fink]

Originally Posted by Vette40th

^, Since the beginning of time, humans have made almost everything into some sort of value. From salt, nuts, seeds, metals, precious metals, and now electricity.. Zeros/Ones in a digital world.. WIll it last? Maybe.
AI will overcome it in my opinion as it will cause a pwoer consumption so large bitcoin wont be able to carry on.. Mining for Bitcoin and AI are power hungry.

Don't forget ostrich feathers. If you think Bitcoin is zany, think about NFTs....nothing says "get rich quick" like a non-fungible, virtual piece of something. The smart money has already been made in that market too.