71–80 of 130 posts
I have reason to believe my country's fiat will be inflated in the coming 12 months. Not hyper inflation, but a 50% to 100% increase in consumer prices over the next 12 months. My country is small and not connected to anything American related. Still wondering if it is a good idea to buy more crypto now as a further hedge against my fears. The article makes me think it may be unwise to do so given the massive specula…
I'm interested in debating these facts: - 2.4 million bitcoins are lost forever [0]. Their owners, for one reason or another, can't access their wallets. No insurance, no guarantees, nothing. - 1.1 million are owned by a mysterious person who sits at the top of the pyramid [0]. - 2.3 million belong to investors and speculators [0] (who, I'm guessing, make money by pumping and dumping). - 1 million are owned by banks…
I sold 100 BTC back in 2015, which cleared all my debts and landed my first apartment. But obviously in hindsight, it was the most expensive mistake I've made in my life. I started following cryptocurrencies back in 2012. Still, for my life, I can't see the real value. Back then, when things were starting out, the idea was to bank the unbanked, make money transfer seamless, cheap, and fast, and basically break up act…
Thanks for sharing your story. I too frequently think back on "what could have been." Back in 2013, I bought and sold a bitcoin, and every time I see a crypto headline I remember my mistake of spending it. Maybe we should not be so hard on ourselves. Afterall, we still have a heartbeat. Did we truly make a mistake, or did we narrowly avoid getting consumed by avarice?
There are probably 75 year olds today regretting that they didn't spend an extra $0.12 in 1962 when they were at the comic book store to pick up an extra copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 to preserve. That was the first appearance of Spider Man and and a copy of that in near NM+ condition ("A very well-preserved collectible with several minor manufacturing or handling defects") sold at auction in 2021 for $3.6 million.
I did buy an extra copy of X-Men #137 (the death of Jean Grey) for $0.75 in 1980 and promptly bagged it. If I could actually find it and it actually is still in mint condition it might sell for around $400. From $0.75 then to $400 now is 15% a year growth.
But that $0.75 would have been better invested in Apple stock. That would be around $1600 now which is 18% a year growth. But in 1980 there were other exciting tech companies to invest in and most did not grow like Apple, so it is pointless to consider not buying Apple stock instead of X-Men #137 a mistake.
Nor would it have been a mistake to just put the money in an S&P 500 index fund. That would only have earned about 11% a year over the subsequent 45 years.
I wish people would gamble with something other than a proof-of-work coin. There are very similar alternatives now. When bitcoin rises, more money is spent on mining. Whoever holds bitcoin is in part responsible for this waste of energy.
I'm interested in debating these facts: - 2.4 million bitcoins are lost forever [0]. Their owners, for one reason or another, can't access their wallets. No insurance, no guarantees, nothing. - 1.1 million are owned by a mysterious person who sits at the top of the pyramid [0]. - 2.3 million belong to investors and speculators [0] (who, I'm guessing, make money by pumping and dumping). - 1 million are owned by banks…
Your links ending in ... are broken.
Reading through the comments here, it seems that most people on HN vastly underestimate the significance of the "store of value" use case. It is a core aspect of human life. And there is no other asset that does that with as little inflation and risk as Bitcoin. That seems counterintuitive because Bitcoin is portrayed as a very risky asset. Which it is in the short term. But long term, fiat, gold, equity, and real es…
Crypto is polarized, as far as politics goes. Especially if we look past the US. When a pro-crypto government rules, risk goes down. And opposite when the skeptics take charge.
I'm interested in debating these facts: - 2.4 million bitcoins are lost forever [0]. Their owners, for one reason or another, can't access their wallets. No insurance, no guarantees, nothing. - 1.1 million are owned by a mysterious person who sits at the top of the pyramid [0]. - 2.3 million belong to investors and speculators [0] (who, I'm guessing, make money by pumping and dumping). - 1 million are owned by banks…
this fact does not matters since if people valued bitcoin at 120k then bitcoin price would be 120k simple as that also pump and dump scene exist in stock too, does this stop people trade in stock??? I don't think so
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Shhhh. they like the hamster wheel...
i actually used to like the hamster wheel. until i learned how much money people were making on crypto. now i dont like the hamster wheel... crypto is a legit information hazard that threatens to completely demoralize the actually productive hamsters in the economy. if everyone knew they could've made more money in a year than their entire career, they'd give up working forever.
It puzzles me how people see 10x-100x’ing their money on crypto as gods gift to humanity and a stroke of brilliance, but making the same amount by investing in NVDA seem like just another lucky stock pick.
If anything, there will always be the next FAANG startup, that will make one fabulously rich.
I'm interested in debating these facts: - 2.4 million bitcoins are lost forever [0]. Their owners, for one reason or another, can't access their wallets. No insurance, no guarantees, nothing. - 1.1 million are owned by a mysterious person who sits at the top of the pyramid [0]. - 2.3 million belong to investors and speculators [0] (who, I'm guessing, make money by pumping and dumping). - 1 million are owned by banks…
Agreed, by and large. Furthermore, Nakamoto wanted to disintermediate intermediaries. Instead, now we have many centralised exchanges, centralised stablecoin issuers, centralised custodians, centralised miners, etc. So many additional intermediaries, providing so little value. Remarkable.
I'm interested in debating these facts: - 2.4 million bitcoins are lost forever [0]. Their owners, for one reason or another, can't access their wallets. No insurance, no guarantees, nothing. - 1.1 million are owned by a mysterious person who sits at the top of the pyramid [0]. - 2.3 million belong to investors and speculators [0] (who, I'm guessing, make money by pumping and dumping). - 1 million are owned by banks…