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Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

money.cnn.com

141–150 of 153 posts

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#141
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't go into CVS and buy things with gold either.

"You can't go into CVS and buy things with gold either." Pedantry: US Gold eagle coins are actually legal tender US currency with a $50 face value. So while it would be exceedingly foolish to treat an ounce of gold like a $50 coin, you could . Where this becomes slightly interesting is the $10k limit on foreign currency declarations in international travel ... since these are $50 coins of US legal tender, you should…

I would be willing to bet you wouldn't get far trying to buy things at CVS with a Gold Eagle. It's likely they've never seen one and will assume you're trying to pull some kind of scam.

Not that I'd be willing to research the point with my own money.

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#142
post #62
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" Novogratz says he bought Ether when it was trading for about $1. Today it's worth over $48. " He is worth ~$2B. Assuming he put 0.2% (only $4M) in Ethereum during the crowd sale, 3 years later Ethereum appreciates 48× and represents 10% of his net worth. Of course he says he is also invested into Bitcoin, not only into Ethereum. Say he purchased only $2M of ETH, that's 3300 BTC as of the crowd sale's initial phase…

I don't know much aboute Etherium but wouldn't he be owner of a substantial fraction of the blockchain at that point? If so, he can't sell it without tanking the value so hard he'd never be able to get a decent fraction of its "worth".

That's a problem for any substantial wealth in securities. Also why Wall Street stock and bond traders exist.

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#143
post #79

The people in this thread hating on crypto are missing the point. Complaining that you can't go into CVS and buy something with Bitcoin right now is like complaining that all you can do with the Internet is send "electronic mail", which nobody reads, in 1990, or like complaining that Facebook is nothing but a glorified campus directory in 2006. The truth is, you can't buy things with Bitcoin at CVS because the techno…

> The truth is, you can't buy things with Bitcoin at CVS because the technology isn't there yet ... In a couple of years, the addition of the lightning network on top of the Bitcoin network will enable you to buy things at CVS. That's awfully optimistic. Occasionally I drop in on Bitcoin forums/subreddits to amuse myself, and what I've seen for the last year+ is a deadlocked stalemate with the Segwit/BU/LN/no change…

He also called it an angel investment. As in 1/10 or 1/20 chance at profitability, and less than that at long term sustainability. Though at this point I'd consider buying bitcoin equivalent to buying stock in a company with a promising product but some major obstacles to achieving its vision. It could go to the moon if things work out (Facebook). It could muddle along if it has a brilliant idea but major internal problems (Twitter). It could go to zero if people lose interest, lose faith, or an amazing competitor comes along (Yahoo search).

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially when your and their opinions on taxable assets differ.

Oppressive governments are essentially the only good reason to use bitcoin, since the usual financial system is far more efficient at storing and transmitting money. He's either evading taxes or speculating.

The usual financial system is far more efficient at converting your wealth for the use of the oligarchs. USD for example has lost almost 100% of its value since the institution of the Federal Reserve system. The wealth did not go away. It was merely transferred from the populace to the rentiers.

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that believing people are not criminals is the less extra ordinary case, considering how few people are criminals in the first place. There would have be something extraordinary about bitcoin or the way it was represented to society at large that attracted criminals.

You don't understand how the law works. You are a criminal. In the u.s., for example, that shining city on a hill, it is estimated that a typical adult commits three felonies on an average day.

Hit another nerve I guess. I am good at bringing out the lynch mobs. But it is true: https://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp...

As Anatole France observed: "In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread."

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use of the legal system is restricted to corporations and HNW individuals (who typically have multiple corporations, so....)

No, most banks will reverse illegitimate transactions for run of the mill customers.

I see, so the banks are the new judiciary?

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then he is going to get rekt. As the DAO debacle demonstrated, the attack surface is utterly baroque, and governance is for shite. Buterin literally said "Turing completeness is a red herring". Smartest thing I ever heard him say.

please take your shitposting back to /r/bitcoin.

Facts and logic, please.

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, most banks will reverse illegitimate transactions for run of the mill customers.

I see, so the banks are the new judiciary?

No, they are required by laws to do certain things and courts only have to come into it when they don't do them.

I didn't say "go to court", I said "a legal system".

Users of bitcoin can also use the legal system to do things. But then you are messing with bitcoin for what reason?

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see, so the banks are the new judiciary?

No, they are required by laws to do certain things and courts only have to come into it when they don't do them. I didn't say "go to court", I said "a legal system". Users of bitcoin can also use the legal system to do things. But then you are messing with bitcoin for what reason?

Because I want my grandchildren to be free humans, to live out their lives in productive, peaceful harmony (and yours). Debt-based currency and monitored, controlled transaction systems are fundamentally incompatible with this goal.

Re: Billionaire Mike Novogratz says 10% of his money is in Bitcoin and Ether

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they are required by laws to do certain things and courts only have to come into it when they don't do them. I didn't say "go to court", I said "a legal system". Users of bitcoin can also use the legal system to do things. But then you are messing with bitcoin for what reason?

Because I want my grandchildren to be free humans, to live out their lives in productive, peaceful harmony (and yours). Debt-based currency and monitored, controlled transaction systems are fundamentally incompatible with this goal.

It'd be interesting to construct a model of bitcoin as debt, the debt being the future energy costs needed to run the network (which is necessary for bitcoin to have any value today).
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