The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread

[LuFins Dad]

Really wishing I had set Luke up with a mining rig right now…

So I am at a 250% return… Cash out or let it ride?

[Axtremus]

@LuFins-Dad said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

So I am at a 250% return… Cash out or let it ride?

Cash out the original invested amount, then let the "house money" ride.

Maybe invest the cashed out money in a mining rig.

[89th]

Not a bad idea, @Axtremus

I bought some crypto in 2021 and 2022 with the sole idea of just letting it sit and checking on it in 10-20 years. It's enough to be meaningful (I think $10k) but not enough to hurt my retirement if it's lost. I think it's at $25k right now. If I check in 15 years and it's gone... oh well. But maybe it'll be 10x higher.

[LuFins Dad]

Bitcoin has passed $100K

[89th]

Wow. Think we're in for a 3-4 year ride as Trump is in office? I could see the crypto markets loving it for a few years.

[jon-nyc]

Problem is it still only has two use cases: speculation and money laundering. As long as that’s true it’ll just be boom and bust.

Still fun if you time it right. But not really for me.

[taiwan_girl]

Yeah, you cant really "spend" bitcoin directly, without first converting it into a "real" currency.

Give someone USD$5000 and another person the equivalent of USD$5000 in bitcoin and tell each of them to live for a month, but they must convert the currency (USD or bitcoin) directly to goods and services, who would be able to have a better month?

[Horace]

I prefer investments with some actual value to justify themselves, but I do regret that no investment platform I've ever had my money in, has allowed me to invest in BTC. I would have some. But I could have opened a Robin Hood account if I'd really wanted to, so my own laziness is to blame.

[89th]

I just use coinbase. Consolidated it there from other crypto platforms a few years ago. For me, it's a "check it again in 15 years" idea. So far it's up about 130% since 2020. I have a few other stocks, such as JOBY and ACHR that are all about electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOLs)...aka drone cabs, that I I'll check on in 20 years to see if we're doing that yet for transportation.

[Mik]

I follow the Buffett rule - if I don't understand it I don't invest in it.

[Mik]

And if I needed any further convincing:

Bitcoin: Initially, this is confusing for people, but unlike dollars, euros, pesos, and pounds, not only is there no physical Bitcoin, but there’s no digital Bitcoin either — nothing you can point at and say, “Look, there’s a Bitcoin.” Instead, the Bitcoin is just represented by the ledger saying that the Bitcoin exists. In January 2009, information was added to the Bitcoin ledger — this is what’s known as the Genesis Block — saying, in effect, “50 Bitcoins were added to the ledger.” From then on, Bitcoin existed because the ledger said so!

[89th]

Haha yup, what a concept. One could say the same thing about dollars, or gold. It's valuable because everyone says it's valuable. When the government prints more money, it's not like they found a stash of gold bars to base it on. They just made it up, printed it, and gave it to people. For me, bitcoin is like holding digital gold. Or monopoly money in a game that doesn't end.

[Jolly]

@89th said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

Haha yup, what a concept. One could say the same thing about dollars, or gold. It's valuable because everyone says it's valuable. When the government prints more money, it's not like they found a stash of gold bars to base it on. They just made it up, printed it, and gave it to people. For me, bitcoin is like holding digital gold. Or monopoly money in a game that doesn't end.

Not quite. There is a difference between fiat currency and precious metals. There is a reason the metal is worth something. It is worth something because of things you can do with it. Imagine the manufacturing world without gold, silver, platinum or even metals such as copper.

I'm with Mik, give me something I know what it is and so does everybody else...

[89th]

I don't disagree, and crypto isn't even 1% of what I am invested in, but still... what about diamonds? Relatively useless (I know, drilling... and jewelry...) but diamonds are basically pretty lumps of coal that everyone has agreed is worth tons of "money".

[LuFins Dad]

But blockchains those are real! And are needed to do… stuff! Important stuff! Like… crypto security! Yeah! You need blockchains to protect your information on crypto markets, so you should definitely invest into crypto markets because you’ll need them to keep safe on the crypto markets!

[George K]

A lawyer was talking about the "Hawk Tuah" crypto thing.

"Someone lost a lot of money and said, 'I really don't understand how crypto works.' Well, guess what, you don't have to know how a blender works to not stick your dick in it."

[Axtremus]

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/teen-creates-memecoin-dumps-it-and-earns-50000/

Teen creates memecoin, dumps it, earns $50,000

This being a zero-sum game, the teen "earns" $50,000 means other people "lose" $50,000 elsewhere.

After all these years, it seems cryptocurrencies still have only one application: speculation.

[Mik]

@George-K said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

A lawyer was talking about the "Hawk Tuah" crypto thing.

"Someone lost a lot of money and said, 'I really don't understand how crypto works.' Well, guess what, you don't have to know how a blender works to not stick your dick in it."

Outstanding observation.

[Mik]

@Axtremus said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/teen-creates-memecoin-dumps-it-and-earns-50000/

Teen creates memecoin, dumps it, earns $50,000

This being a zero-sum game, the teen "earns" $50,000 means other people "lose" $50,000 elsewhere.

After all these years, it seems cryptocurrencies still have only one application: speculation.

That is certainly how it seems to me.

[jon-nyc]

What ultimately gives fiat currencies value is that governments require you to use them to pay taxes. No such equivalent for crypto.