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No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

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Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#361
post #20

Since the article states "the trigger for the latest sell-off is unclear" I'm really curious if somebody here could venture a guess about the reasons for the sudden drop. The Bitcoin Cash fork seems suspiciously correlated but is it big enough news to cause such a turmoil? Being a cryptocurrency-skeptic I won't pretend that I don't experience a little bit of schadenfreude when I see CC crash, however if I'm trying to…

"I'm really curious if somebody here could venture a guess about the reasons for the sudden drop" A more telling question is how it has held any value at all for as long as it has. There was a period where BTC's rise was rationalized via its promise to become the currency of the future. Does anyone actually believe that now, though? BTC instead has become nothing more than a speculation vehicle built on a foundation…

TF are "GWs and GWs" ?

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#362
Well, what's interesting or perhaps not-so-interesting to those that understand the underlying mechanics is: there's 'crypto sell-off' but only Bitcoin is mentioned in the headlines. In other words, the implication is BTC crashing leads or is concomitant with ETH and LTC and others crashing, and no one is surprised or curious by this.

I really makes one laugh at all the "diversify your portfolio" advice of yesteryear's crypto shills.

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#363
post #20

Since the article states "the trigger for the latest sell-off is unclear" I'm really curious if somebody here could venture a guess about the reasons for the sudden drop. The Bitcoin Cash fork seems suspiciously correlated but is it big enough news to cause such a turmoil? Being a cryptocurrency-skeptic I won't pretend that I don't experience a little bit of schadenfreude when I see CC crash, however if I'm trying to…

I like to think it's because of this article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0321-8

I mean I hear ya but it seems a little bias when they are 'projecting'. I mean, if I had 0 wives last week, got married this week, does that mean in 2 months i'll have 8 wives? (no i am not in UT)

"Here we show that projected Bitcoin usage, should it follow the rate of adoption of other broadly adopted technologies"

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* 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?

BAT's quite interesting game-theoretically because they're using the token to set a price on attention. When you view an ad on Brave, it's not a simple transfer of BAT from advertiser to publisher. Rather, some fraction of the BAT goes to the user, and then can be traded on an exchange for other currency.

Because viewing ads is voluntary, and users receive a tradable token in exchange for it, it lets you put a price on attention. The idea is that below a certain price of BAT on the exchange, users won't find it worthwhile to view the ads, and so they won't, which limits the amount of BAT users will sell, eventually forcing an equilibrium. That equilibrium price is the value of the attention that ads cost them. The price then carries over to the amount that buying ads will cost an advertiser, and the amount that publishers receive for them. Basically, they're rectifying an externality by throwing a tradable token at the user: instead of advertising being a transaction simply between advertiser and publisher, it becomes a four-way transaction between advertiser, publisher, user, and Brave itself.

None of this is possible without a dedicated currency, because the currency's other uses would factor into the market price, making it impossible to get a clear signal for how much users value having their attention taken from them.

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#365
post #308

Having 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…

This is really strange but it's like I'd rather be right than be rich.

For example I am in no way a believer in bitcoin as having a future of anything. I did not buy any for that reason (among other reasons for example I am not a gambler and think rationally).

However I have made a great deal of money over the past few years (like a really large amount 7 figures) catering to people and companies that believe in bitcoin and crypto.

But all along I am waiting for it to end.

Because it's like I'd rather be right and smart with instincts than be wrong and have the money. Ok maybe I don't mean that literally. The money is nice. But it comes close to how I feel. As if I will have the satisfaction eventually even if the money ends for me (because bitcoin and crypto goes away) since my instincts will have been right.

I am wondering how many other people feel this way. I don't mean people who haven't profited (but would still like to hear what you think) but those who have profited off the ecosystem around bitcoin.

And I wonder if it's similar to what the people selling pick axes felt.

I never felt this way back in the 90's about the Internet. Was very clear that appeared both valuable and would end up being a big thing.

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#366
post #4

That's what happens when you screw over the general public in a giant pump and dump. There is just no more money left to steal. First time was for the early adopters at $1000, second time was for the late majority at $19,000. You're not going to see that happen again.

'Early adopters' at $1k. Haha. I can't help but laugh, after buying into bitcoin at $3.30.

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#367
post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what could we have done about it? It's unfair to be liked by fools. The core idea is still interesting to experiment and explore but now it's tainted by greed.

Many of the core ideas (well, all of them or almost none, depending on what you consider the core idea) could have been implemented with regulatory instruments in place that optimize for stable prices/controlled inflation instead of being effectively deflatory, similar to how regular currencies do it. Anything that does not will either fail in other ways or be loved to death as a value store/greater fool game. The tw…

The problem is if they were implemented with regulatory instruments and whatnot, they would share their critical weakness. If tomorrow China says 'we know your banking computer systems are insecure and have no integrity. We do not trust that the numbers on them represent anything', the US economy is over. They can't prove that Walmarts net worth came from trade rather than from some malware or error or some other fraud. That would leave cryptocurrency being the only thing that can actually be proven to be real.

Basing your currency on trust is great... until the trust is gone. And trust can disappear with a glance.

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At $250 I was explaining to my parents what bitcoin is. At $19,000 I was overhearing Starbucks baristas talk about it.

At 330 shoe-shine boys were buying into the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It went down to 42. It's at 24,581 now.

Yeah, and 400 years of inflation later, tulip bulbs are still way down from their peak, as long as you want to draw conclusions based on irrelevantly long periods of time.

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#369
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I broadly agree with this. My sense is that KYC hurts individuals who value their privacy and maybe catches some mid-level crooks. The big criminals bypass it without much difficulty. The recent case of Dankse Bank confirmed my opinions about this. Here's a forbes piece: https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2018/09/30/the-b...

> KYC hurts individuals who value their privacy If you care about privacy, use cash. Only your income will be reported.

How do I purchase an mp3 or an ebook from someone in another region with cash? This is definitely something I would like to do.

Re: No End in Sight for Crypto Sell-Off as Bitcoin Breaches $4,250

#370
post #20

Since the article states "the trigger for the latest sell-off is unclear" I'm really curious if somebody here could venture a guess about the reasons for the sudden drop. The Bitcoin Cash fork seems suspiciously correlated but is it big enough news to cause such a turmoil? Being a cryptocurrency-skeptic I won't pretend that I don't experience a little bit of schadenfreude when I see CC crash, however if I'm trying to…

It's the holidays and the market is a bit bearish on crypto so folks are selling to free up some $$$

Wrong hypothesis: the big run up started exactly this week last year.
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