No utility = no value. Tell me, how much utility is there one ethereum? Currently close to none. Why in the world would anyone pay anything over transaction value for eth? I think the answer is clearly hype and irrational behavior we saw in 2017 crypto rush. What we are seeing is natural return to real value, which for most crypto is next to nothing. Bitcoin is a bit different as you know and my bet with that one is someone or multiple someones with hefty bags are liquidating to save their asses.
No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
301–310 of 463 posts
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
They aren't cucumbers but over here in Europe, eggs do have a serial number. Making an analog asset machine readable and tied to a trackable digital asset is certainly an entertaining thought. Especially for an industry like the food industry where currently we have to trust that the state is controlling them correctly or even that they are controlling them themselves (which several food scandals showed that this isn…
do you have a counter argument for: "you still need to trust the devices that write to the blockchain" -- so ultimately you would be trusting the supplier.
In order to write to chain you need a key. If malicious activity is found, these keys can be banned from the network along with any products that they verify.
It's not that the system can't be exploited, it's introducing incentives to make it economically unviable to do so.
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#303Cryptocurrency crash will hopefully bring expectations back in line with reality. Legit blockchain projects will only have to deal with the stigma from being associated with a giant pump and dump when they approach VCs.
I have yet to see a single blockchain project that's actually interesting and worthy of anyone's attention.
It's still early so it's difficult, but better infrastructure and tooling is being created to enable more potential and also make it easier.
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#304Earlier quoted context omitted.
So I know next to nothing about these regulations but what do you mean by "cost/benefit" exactly? Surely if these rules are meant to fight (directly or indirectly) organized crime then you can't just judge them on the amount of money saved? If you spend $10 millions to prevent $1 million to reach a terrorist organization, can't you consider it money well spent?
Exactly. If we want to do a true benefit calculation, we have to look at alternate futures. One important future to avert is where organized crime is rampant. Even if we look at only the economic costs, one study in Italy suggests mafia domination cost 16% of per-capita GDP. Given the US's $20 trillion GDP, that's quite a lot. And that's ignoring people's preference for security and safety. As an entrepreneur, for ex…
> One important future to avert is where organized crime is rampant... one study in Italy suggests mafia domination cost 16% of per-capita GDP. Given the US's $20 trillion GDP, that's quite a lot.
You’re making two separate, tenuous extrapolations here. Can you justify them?
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think secondary markets could benefit from a distributed trusted database with smart contracts. I also think that behind the scenes on wall street there are some interesting things around securities settlement, something that is very time consuming and it's handled with some antiquated technology. If securities trades are settled faster and ownership is more easily verified it could lead to some very interesting sh…
For any solution for settling trades, the one without the blockchain will be faster. And the use of electronics for trading systems where it makes economic sense is already a done deal.
I'm talking about inter-broker settlements. Like settlements of securities between large banks. The actual physical securities that are stamped and all that.
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#306Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have yet to see a single blockchain project that's actually interesting and worthy of anyone's attention.
* Basic Attention Token (BAT), Brendan Eich, digital advertising * FunFair (FUN), Jez San, online gambling
How is BAT not just a money grab? It could've been done with cash. New blockchain tokens just create speculative hype and make the creator rich.
Also, how does blockchain help in its objective over any other solution beyond making the creator rich?
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#307Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can't afford to fix a hard drive with $250,000 on it? Can't you borrow some money against that?
It’s questionable if the data can even be restored. Plus there’s more sensitive data than just Bitcoin private keys on that disk I’m not really that comfortable sending that in to some lab for data recovery. When the disk broke I inquired what it would probably cost to retrieve the data and I was quoted with something around 150-300€ which to me is too much just for the small chance to actually get those coins. I don…
Discounting the sensitive data issue (I don't know what keeping that confidential is worth to you), a few hundred bucks for what I presume is a good chance at a 1000x up-side doesn't seem like much of a gamble to me.
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#308Having seen four of these major wipeouts over the years, here's the pattern for this highly cyclical spectacle:
1. Nobody cares about Bitcoin. If you tell anyone you bought it, they either shrug or laugh.
2. Bitcoin refuses to die. The long-predicted technology show-stoppers never happen and the network keeps chugging. A small but dedicated group of users continues using it on a regular basis.
3. Speculators who had written Bitcoin off as a fad take a second look.
4. Defying any explanation, the USD/BTC exchange rate begins a modest rally.
5. The financial press starts running stories about that crazy Bitcoin idea, and how it's not dead and the modest gains made by those crazy enough to buy in.
6. Seeing this coverage, people without much technical or financial savvy begin getting interested in Bitcoin.
7. Stage 6 continues relentlessly, producing jaw-dropping gains.
8. The financial press gives Bitcoin a bear-hug, dedicating special attention to it with special segments and even dedicated shows.
9. A full-blown speculative mania is now in progress. Gains of 3-8% per day, for days on end are not uncommon. Everyone, it seems, is an expert on Bitcoin.
10. An event takes place. Most likely, the collapse of a major Bitcoin exchange, although it could be something else. Regardless, a sharp decline takes place.
11. A prolonged period of USD/BTC declines unfolds. Initially, the press is all over the story, telling the tales of woe from those who bought in at the peak of the mania and lost it all.
12. Occasionally, BTC/USD shows signs of life, either rallying sharply or falling precipitously. These short-term changes are usually reversed quickly.
13. After months or years of flat to downward USD/BTC motion, the only people left holding bitcoin are those who understood it and wouldn't sell at any price.
14. GOTO 1
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#309Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem here is not Bitcoin per se, it is the current state of the real world, where anyone can "buy" and "sell" Bitcoin for legal tender. Bitcoin, in a world where it is the sole currency, has the benefits you quoted.
No. There are currently two super powerful individuals fighting and are allegedly dragging down every thing on the market just because they don't like each other. What makes you think that this would be a good state of affairs for a world currency?
According to this explanation those super powerful individuals "sell" Bitcoins for fiat in order to pay the energy (electricity) they use in order to mine another currency. It is only possible because Bitcoin is not the sole currency.
The current financial system faces such battle-ordeals and isn't immune, remember the Black Wednesday.
Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just curious, do you guys throw a bit of your retirement portfolio into roulettes at the casino just to diversify? I do, I gamble away maybe 3% of mine just in case.
I get the gag here, but it's not a very apt comparison. The expected return from a roulette spin is really well understood: a loss of about 5% of your bet, albeit with high variance. The future of these investments is less understood. Again the variance is high, but its performance over time is also really good. Perhaps you have plenty of reasons to doubt the future performance of BTC, but it's not like it's a known…
The point is it's the same as gambling. Pure luck, no proven way to project future demand, does not generate cash flows. It's also hyped AF so you can't even tell what's real vs. speculative demand.