Crypto…the wild wild west

[_Robert_Participant]

We don’t need no stinkin rules…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WItLsfGx85k

The best story as of late is some clown who bought an “Ethereum” domain name typically used to setup an NFT environment where people can “invest” in pictures of monkeys or whatever. So, in an effort to resell the domain at a profit he secretly bids $150K worth of etherium (~100 ETH) on his own offer to drive up the price. Well, someone bids $3K to buy and he sells it to them. He goes on twitter to brag about how smart he is and that he made 3K but forgets to take down his own offer for 150K and the new owner sells it back to him for 150K, LOL. So, he sends a message that he didn’t really wanna buy and transfers the 3K worth of ethereum back to the guy in an effort to get him to transfer the 150K back and guy is like “Thanks for the bonus”.

https://twitter.com/franklinisbored/status/1549838025882042373

[UnseenParticipant]

I’m sitting on some Ethereum but I’m not a speculator. I’ll hang onto it and ride it out till (I hope) it really takes off. At this moment, however, it’s worth about 1/3 what I bought it for because, as you know, there’s been a big dip in crypto going on this year. LOL

As you know, Ethereum is up there with Bitcoin (of course), Cardano, BinanceCoin, and a few others as probably among the best long-term crypto investments, but the market is extremely volatile, and anyone who’s going to panic at huge ups and downs should stay out of it.

From April 2016 to the beginning of July 2022, an Ethereum coin’s price went from about $11 to $1,057, increasing almost 9,509%. My paper loss is just a blip.

After years of being the number-one smart contract blockchain, Ethereum is transitioning to a less energy-intensive technology. You may have heard of the planned updates as Ethereum 2.0 or Eth2, but the Ethereum foundation now calls it Ethereum Merge. (Source: Ethereum Is Planning a Major Software Update. Here’s What Investors Should Know)

The “less energy intensive technology” is a switch from proof of work to proof of stake, which will make it less subject to the common criticism of crypto that it wastes energy on a huge scale.

Whether or not that switch results in a price-raising run, I’m what’s called a “hodler” (someone who holds onto a cryptocurrency rather than speculates with it).

[PopeBeanieModerator]

What’s at stake in these investments, other than personal hopes and dreams. Is it not the definition of a zero-sum game, based only on being lucky enough to guess right when it’s time to get out, without regard to any material  business effects? It seems to me that in the end, some industries or enterprises also lose out when that money isn’t invested in their growth, and their innovation in real products. How is it different from a pyramid scheme?

I’m pretty one-sided on this now. I think they’re investments in future gullibility. I know there are other markets that share this kind of “value” based largely on speculation, but crypto is based solely on hopes, dreams, and disposable income that eventually just moves into someone else’s pocket, on average. Just putting that money into a savings account can do more work, at large.

[_Robert_Participant]

I agree Pope. There was a time when I thought blockchain would have more utility than pyramid speculation. Not so sure about that now. I did park some cash in USDC (audited) stable coin at 8% interest through my stockbroker while bitcoin was going up last year and then withdrew it all when was bitcoin headed down. I figured that high rate was coming from using my cash to leverage loans for bitcoin buyers. Hell, if I bought crypto, I would probably just lose the wallet key, LOL.

This web3 idea to get rid of the middleman and their fees disregards the fact that middleman often protects, vets and legitimizes your investments.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Fellow Unbelievers,

If currency is not based in a precious metal such as Gold, Silver, or Platinum, it’s all a sucker’s bet, whether it’s “crypto currency” or The Federal Reserve.

If the U.S. Dollar were based in precious metal, as it once was, Government couldn’t print more bills than it had Gold or Silver to redeem for the bills. That means there would be less money chasing more goods and services, which means prices for everything would be lower. No inflation exists with a precious metal-based currency unless more precious metal is discovered.

Best yet, if currency is based in precious metal, the only way Government could do any “free shit” gimmies to get Citizens dependent on them and to exercise more control over them would be through direct taxation, which Citizens would feel right away and resist. Precious metal-based currency is thus a check upon unlimited Government power and one of many guarantors of Individual Liberty.

Gold in particular is a solid basis for a currency because it goes up in value as the paper Federal Reserve Note goes down and also goes up in value as the Information Age goes on and Moore’s Law keeps puttering away, since Gold is used as a conductor in computer circuitry.

I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard this song years ago. Hair-band rockers like Sammy Hagar as well as Free-Market Economists like Ludwig Von Mises understand the monetary policy wisdom of precious metal. Nowadays, Sammy would probably sing: “Paper and Vapor Money Don’t Hold.” 😎

[UnseenParticipant]

@Reg

When Ethereum switches to proof of stake, it is predicted to reduce its energy footprint by 99%. And Bitcoin could follow suit, along with the other popular cryptos.

But why go crypto in the first place? To get banks off our backs with all of their fees and keep the government from looking over our financial shoulder. And, of course, to take us further into a cashless society.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  Unseen.

[UnseenParticipant]

@Enco

Having a gold standard only works if you stick to it. How did we finance WW2 even though we were under a gold standard? I know there were liberty bond drives but (I’ve looked into it) basically we temporarily forgot our commitment to the gold standard and went into debt.

[_Robert_Participant]

Unseen wrote:

@Reg When Ethereum switches to proof of stake, it is predicted to reduce its energy footprint by 99%. And Bitcoin could follow suit, along with the other popular cryptos. But why go crypto in the first place? To get banks off our backs with all of their fees and keep the government from looking over our financial shoulder. And, of course, to take us further into a cashless society.

Since crypto is not legal tender, every time you buy something with bitcoin you have produced income or loss that needs to be reported to the IRS. Else you are committing tax evasion. What a pain in the ass. Digital dollars are probably on the horizon anyways.

[_Robert_Participant]

Gold has a place in a balanced portfolio, but most of the time since the mid 90s, owning stock in money-producing businesses has paid better than gold. If we end up in a recession soon, I think gold will go up again as inflation falls.

[Author]

Posts