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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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  • George KG Offline
    George KG Offline
    George K
    wrote on last edited by
    #425

    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."

    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

    MikM 1 Reply Last reply
    • AxtremusA Away
      AxtremusA Away
      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 Away
                        AxtremusA Away
                        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 Away
                          AxtremusA Away
                          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.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
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