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Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

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191–200 of 426 posts

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't know what they were buying; bits in a database. A very poorly implemented database that was - not scalable - not rare - didn't have any government backing or big institutional backing in case the price dropped from 19,000 to 11,000 - easily hackable (tether, fake trades, scam exchanges, etc) - too expensive to do a single transaction this applies to most crytocurrency

>"- not rare" Its not a commodity it's a currency. Why does it need to be "rare"? The US dollar is also not backed by anything "rare" and hasn't been since Nixon abandoned the gold standard in 1973. >"didn't have any government backing or big institutional backing in case the price dropped from 19,000 to 11,000" You realize this is the exact reason it was created right? That's the whole point. It's not coincidence th…

The US dollar is backed by the most rare entity in the world. The Hegemon.

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#192
post #64
post #51

I do mobile software consulting. To give you an idea of the level of crypto currency mania: Every single one of my clients in San Francisco have some kind of slack or group chat devoted to crypto trading. I was waiting at the front desk of a client who has a floor in a fancy building downtown. Whilst waiting I overheard the end of a conversation between the door guy talking to the maintanence man: “I put in a bunch o…

The key moment of bubble insanity for me was overheating the security screeners at Heathrow talking about how they just signed up for “this new app called CoinBase” which was going to make them all rich.

Yeah I knew it was time to get out when my neighbor's dog started telling me about this hot new ICO.

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't know what they were buying; bits in a database. A very poorly implemented database that was - not scalable - not rare - didn't have any government backing or big institutional backing in case the price dropped from 19,000 to 11,000 - easily hackable (tether, fake trades, scam exchanges, etc) - too expensive to do a single transaction this applies to most crytocurrency

>"- not rare" Its not a commodity it's a currency. Why does it need to be "rare"? The US dollar is also not backed by anything "rare" and hasn't been since Nixon abandoned the gold standard in 1973. >"didn't have any government backing or big institutional backing in case the price dropped from 19,000 to 11,000" You realize this is the exact reason it was created right? That's the whole point. It's not coincidence th…

when you talk to a bitcoin enthusiast, at first it was 'well it's a currency'. then after seeing the transaction fee and time, it was 'well it's a store of value'. then after seeing the 80% price drop, it was 'well it's rare'. then after seeing hundreds of cryptocurrencies on coinbase it was '......?'

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean, like the US dollar ?

You can pay taxes with USD. You can pay employees. You can buy millions of different kinds of goods, including any other currency. Bitcoin can do none of these things.

The only thing you cannot do with bitcoin is pay taxes directly. You can do that indirectly by trading your bitcoin for USD. There are a lot of different goods you can buy with bitcoin, some of which you cannot buy any other way (many are illegal but that is a different matter). Bitcoin is traded for other currency all the time.

I tend to believe those who say bitcoin will not last are right, but right not it is a currency. Not the most useful one, but there are countries with a real currency that is not very useful.

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny how any pro-bitcoin comment immediately attracts downvotes. I'm considering posting opposite of what I think about bitcoin to get those sweet, sweet upvotes. :-)

from the guidelines: >Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Meta: but this is probably one of the rules I've broken most frequently.

Most times not because I was downvoted (and then only to ask for an explanation IIRC) but because it seems like people are misunderstanding or IMO abusing the downvote feature.

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#196
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Buying it now is fairly reasonable. I'd wait few months. If it is actually crashing not just backing up before next silly raise then you'd be better off waiting till it settles after the crash. It usually takes few months or a year. If you don't want to gamble, bitcoin is rather long term investment.

no matter what term you invest on it's a gamble.

Technically true, no matter what you invest in and for how long, but I suspect casinos would be less thrilling places and caused less addictive costly behaviors if you had to wait for the outcome of your gamble few years.

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#197
post #179

What we're seeing right now is a shakeout of all those unsophisticated individuals who have been purchasing crytocurrencies in growing numbers, mostly without understanding them, and in many cases with borrowed money and even by taking out home mortgages.[a] Those unsophisticated buyers are the ones who pushed the price of Bitcoin from ~$1000 at the beginning of the year to $18000+ a couple of weeks ago.[b] Now they'…

My theory is still Saudi Arabia. The government as well as individuals fearing further confiscation of their assets.

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#198
“Hey, our currency dipped 20% today. And swings any number of percent each way daily. You know, like Zimbabwean dollars and the like. Don’t worry, it’s value will only increase in 2018”

People are delusional (except those who scam people out of their money)

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#199

Still crashing. Down to 11k. ::grabs popcorn:: https://www.gdax.com/trade/BTC-USD

Interesting. The pattern from the 9:30-10:15 range (EST) is a classic Ross Hook 1-2-3 (low) setup [1].

[1] https://oxfordstrat.com/trading-strategies/ross-hook-1/

Re: Bitcoin and almost every other cryptocurrency crashed hard today

#200
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Christmas comes early for the cynic.

I find the cynics much less tolerable than the crypto-evangelists. HN is a haven for them: bitter, jealous people who never miss an opportunity to trash crypto when it's up or mock it when it's down. This likely isn't the end of Bitcoin just as its numerous other 30%+ corrections didn't stop its rise. Whatever happens, I'll be proud to have participated in such an important new technology while avoiding the leagues o…

http://cryptoisnotcryptocurrency.com/
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