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The New Coffee Room

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  3. The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread

The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread

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  • AxtremusA Offline
    AxtremusA Offline
    Axtremus
    wrote on last edited by Axtremus
    #426

    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.

    MikM jon-nycJ 2 Replies Last reply
    • George KG 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."

      MikM Away
      MikM Away
      Mik
      wrote on last edited by
      #427

      @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.

      “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

      1 Reply Last reply
      • AxtremusA 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.

        MikM Away
        MikM Away
        Mik
        wrote on last edited by
        #428

        @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.

        “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

        1 Reply Last reply
        • jon-nycJ Offline
          jon-nycJ Offline
          jon-nyc
          wrote on last edited by
          #429

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

          Only non-witches get due process.

          • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
          HoraceH 1 Reply Last reply
          • AxtremusA 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.

            jon-nycJ Offline
            jon-nycJ Offline
            jon-nyc
            wrote on last edited by
            #430

            @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.

            You forgot money laundering.

            Only non-witches get due process.

            • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
            1 Reply Last reply
            • LuFins DadL Offline
              LuFins DadL Offline
              LuFins Dad
              wrote on last edited by
              #431

              It is speculating, but it’s not blind speculation. Emerging blockchain technologies do look to have very promising applications in secure data transfer. Healthcare systems are looking at using it for faster and more secure methods of transferring patient data, banks and credit card processors are investing into it for better and more secure financial transactions. There are applications that could make blockchains one of the most critical technologies developed in first half of the century, which could have significant financial implications. Tossing a few bucks into the pot doesn’t necessarily hurt. Especially with a pro-crypto admin coming in.

              The Brad

              HoraceH 1 Reply Last reply
              • markM Offline
                markM Offline
                mark
                wrote on last edited by mark
                #432

                My "investment" or "wager" in Shiba Inu is currently almost twice what I have invested. I am waiting this cycle out, to see if it gets close to ATH. If it does I will cash out with 2 - 3 x the "lunch money investment" I made and still have 40 million of them
                for which I will have spent zero "real coins"

                I have already cashed in 50% of my original wager in fiat dollars issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.

                1 Reply Last reply
                • LuFins DadL LuFins Dad

                  It is speculating, but it’s not blind speculation. Emerging blockchain technologies do look to have very promising applications in secure data transfer. Healthcare systems are looking at using it for faster and more secure methods of transferring patient data, banks and credit card processors are investing into it for better and more secure financial transactions. There are applications that could make blockchains one of the most critical technologies developed in first half of the century, which could have significant financial implications. Tossing a few bucks into the pot doesn’t necessarily hurt. Especially with a pro-crypto admin coming in.

                  HoraceH Offline
                  HoraceH Offline
                  Horace
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #433

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

                  It is speculating, but it’s not blind speculation. Emerging blockchain technologies do look to have very promising applications in secure data transfer. Healthcare systems are looking at using it for faster and more secure methods of transferring patient data, banks and credit card processors are investing into it for better and more secure financial transactions. There are applications that could make blockchains one of the most critical technologies developed in first half of the century, which could have significant financial implications. Tossing a few bucks into the pot doesn’t necessarily hurt. Especially with a pro-crypto admin coming in.

                  I don’t see the connection between the general value of an algorithm and the value of an application of that algorithm into a gambling game. The gambling game might still be useless.

                  Education is extremely important.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

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

                    HoraceH Offline
                    HoraceH Offline
                    Horace
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #434

                    @jon-nyc said in The Bitcoin/Crypto Thread:

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

                    Slightly imprecise framing IMO. I would say that fiat currencies have value because they are defined as valuable by entities with authority to impose violence on you, if you do not provide them that value upon request.

                    Education is extremely important.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • AxtremusA Offline
                      AxtremusA Offline
                      Axtremus
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #435

                      https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/01/30/errol-musk-memecoin-elon-tesla-donald-trump-crypto/

                      Elon Musk’s father Errol looks to monetize his famous name with ‘Musk It’ memecoin: ‘I’m the head of the family’

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • AxtremusA Offline
                        AxtremusA Offline
                        Axtremus
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #436

                        https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/business/rainbowex-crypto-ponzi-scheme.html?unlocked_article_code=1.7k4.1E46.Om7LSXWGaMmo

                        A close look into a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that took a town in Argentina, one of hundreds such schemes around the world.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        • taiwan_girlT Offline
                          taiwan_girlT Offline
                          taiwan_girl
                          wrote last edited by
                          #437

                          https://www.pcworld.com/article/2767705/bitcoin-mining-is-no-longer-profitable.html

                          ... the basic equation is that it now costs more in electricity to “mine” a single Bitcoin than that Bitcoin is currently worth—by a significant margin. Due to the nature of the Bitcoin protocol, which started the better part of two decades ago, it was inevitable that we’d reach this point eventually. The pool of minable Bitcoins shrinks as more are mined, and as that happens, the cryptographic work needed to “find” new ones becomes increasingly harder.

                          Coinshares, via reporting from Overlclockers.ru and PCGamer, reports that we’re now past that point—well past it, in fact. The math says that mining a new Bitcoin in 2025 costs approximately $137,000 USD in electricity, even if you have the (very expensive) computer power to do it, while that Bitcoin is worth about $95,000 on the open market. Even at its all-time high of over $100,000 earlier this year, and assuming ideal conditions with access to cheap power and hardware, it’s a losing game.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • KlausK Offline
                            KlausK Offline
                            Klaus
                            wrote last edited by Klaus
                            #438

                            That doesn't make sense to me. The difficulty of mining a Bitcoin is adjusted every two weeks to get a block time around every 10 mins. That should make that situation very unlikely and self-correct quickly. Also, I believe the miners get something extra from the transaction costs.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            • jon-nycJ Offline
                              jon-nycJ Offline
                              jon-nyc
                              wrote last edited by
                              #439

                              Yes there are transaction fees. They were always in the protocol but were never collected in the early days because mining was sufficiently profitable. They became meaningful around 10 years ago.

                              Only non-witches get due process.

                              • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • KlausK Offline
                                KlausK Offline
                                Klaus
                                wrote last edited by Klaus
                                #440

                                Yes, from what I understand, the transaction costs are going to become more and more important until they become the single source of income for miners (namely when the maximum number of bitcoins has been reached).

                                In any case, I believe the protocol is self-adjusting in the sense that the situation above - mining more expensive than reward - self-corrects quickly.

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