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94k Bitcoin (1B USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet

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Re: 94k Bitcoin (1B USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet

#101

Post by RandomBacon »

airstrike wrote: post #84

I'm mostly puzzled by the fact that someone would let $1 billion sit in a wallet without earning interest...

Bitcoin is essentially deflationary. If Bitcoin maintains its utilitarian value, it will only grow in monitary value since less and less coins will be minted until no coins are minted, and also as people lose access to their keys.

I speculate that in the future, Bitcoin might become valued so highly, that people don't even bother using it in favor of other coins, and as people don't use it, no one then accepts it, then it loses value, and by then people are accustomed to using other coins, and Bitcoin dies. Who knows, I probably won't live long enough to see it.

Re: 94k Bitcoin (1B USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet

#104

Post by cwkoss »

airstrike wrote: post #84

I'm mostly puzzled by the fact that someone would let $1 billion sit in a wallet without earning interest...

Bitcoin is deflationary relative to USD, so it benefits from inflation without additional issuance. Assuming the demand and(immeasurable) real value of Bitcoin holds constant, we should expect its price to increase at pace with inflation.

Re: 94k Bitcoin (1B USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet

#105

Post by Lordarminius »

ColanR wrote: post #68
shorts_theory wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the part which confuses me about Bitcoin the most. It's meant to be anonymous, yet with some diligent data mining, it can become pretty clear who's who from their spending patterns by observing the ledger. How is that remotely anonymous?

> It's meant to be anonymous Unfortunately, Bitcoin (BTC) is not anonymous, as you pointed out. It never was; and with tax laws requiring copious transaction information, it is particularly easily traceable. That's the idea behind Monero & Co., which tries to mix things up a bit (literally). The anonymity is still not perfect, especially against state-level actors.

>The anonymity is still not perfect, especially against state-level actors.

With PirateChain it is, but true anonymity brings with it other technical challenges.

Re: 94k Bitcoin (1B USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet

#106

Post by pavlov »

arcticbull wrote: post #83
pavlov wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

International wire transfers between USD accounts usually cost about $25 regardless of the amount. There's a lot of dollars moving around in the global financial system quickly and affordably, Bitcoin advocates just don't seem to know about it for some reason.

International wires are a bad example because they charge a huge FOREX spread. For a high-ticket transfer, you'd need to use a brokerage for the exchange first, which is also very cheap, but a bit more than $25 ($20 per million at InteractiveBrokers). Then a very cheap domestic wire for the last mile. Or, for small-ticket transfer TransferWise is around 0.85% for the whole exchange.

International banks are happy to open USD denominated accounts if you're a business or a private customer with a bit more than just paychecks and bills coming and going. Then you can send and receive USD with no exchange fee.

If you need to spend it locally, you still need forex at some point — but that's a much more predictable proposition than going from the wildly volatile BTC to local currency.

Re: 94k Bitcoin (1B USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet

#107

Post by kerng »

shorts_theory wrote: post #47
BluSyn wrote: post #12

I can count maybe 5 people in the crypto space that would have that much BTC, but none of them would be dumb enough to put it all in one wallet. Most likely some large institutional investor decided to re-key their cold storage wallet.

This is the part which confuses me about Bitcoin the most. It's meant to be anonymous, yet with some diligent data mining, it can become pretty clear who's who from their spending patterns by observing the ledger. How is that remotely anonymous?

A key feature of Bitcoin is its transparency, because it's an open ledger accessible to anyone. The intent of Bitcoin is not to be anonymous, it's not a feature the designers were trying to a achieve.

Re: 94k Bitcoin (1B USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet

#108

Post by isostatic »

bureaucrat wrote: post #98
simias wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if people own their wallets and transactions happen on-chain. We're far from that point, both for technical and social reasons. I like having my money in a bank and using my Visa card because I feel safe doing it. If I lose my card or get a bogus transaction? Just use your insurance. Beyond that, if you want additional services not provided by a blockchain such as getting a loan, I'm sure banks will ask you to p…

Theoretically crypto will never replace government backed currency if the world economy and politics is stable . Look at Turkey. Venezuela. Argentina. China. North Korea. People are already not trusting government backed currency. I don’t mean to over generalize. I just want to say it’s not just a dream. It’s possible.

And if the world economy and politics isn't stable your USB key isn't going to buy you something to eat any more than your amex.

At least cash can be burnt for warmth.

Re: 94k Bitcoin (1B USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet

#109

Post by umvi »

mlindner wrote: post #90
compiler-guy wrote: post #81

As far as the fees being so cheap, and every one else guessing about how expensive it would be to do it in a normal banking situation, F. Scott Fitzgerald is relevant: "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is…

Important qualifier on that that's missed for most "the very rich". The "rich" are often quite penny pinchers. My grandfather is "rich" (several millions, and in a very cheap place to live in the midwest) but he lived his entire life being extremely strict on spending and controlled personal finances very carefully. He still complains when there's large money to be spent on something that should be cheap.

I found out that my grandfather was a multimillionaire later in life as well, but I would never have guessed because he lives in an inconspicuous house in a middle class neighborhood and drives an inconspicuous car (Honda CR-V). He complains about milk and gas prices like most people and basically just doesn't telegraph his wealth at all (except by buying exclusively Wheaties as his breakfast cereal).

He grew up during the great depression though, so maybe that has something to do with his miserly ways.

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