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The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

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Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#21
Its not 'Bitcoin', its 'BlockChain'.

Acquire a mining company on the down low, and add 'BlockChain' to your Company name and announce it. That's all you gotta do.

Exhibit 1: Longfin. Shot up 2000% after an obsure FinTech company that IPO-ed at $5-ish shot up to over $126 after announcing 2 days after the IPO that it acquired a (shady) blockchain mining company.

Watch the CNBC reporter RIP the CEO apart here. They were selling their 'Ziddu' currency over HTTP.. (no SSL) => https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/12/18/small-cap-longfin-soar...

Exhibit 2: RIOT "Blockchain". a weak pharma company with a sketchy past, acquires a blockchain mining company and add "BlockChain" to it's name. Overnight, stock shoots up from $5 to $45 = 900% increase. See https://seekingalpha.com/article/4133208-kind-company-riot-b...

Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#22

Its not 'Bitcoin', its 'BlockChain'. Acquire a mining company on the down low, and add 'BlockChain' to your Company name and announce it. That's all you gotta do. Exhibit 1: Longfin. Shot up 2000% after an obsure FinTech company that IPO-ed at $5-ish shot up to over $126 after announcing 2 days after the IPO that it acquired a (shady) blockchain mining company. Watch the CNBC reporter RIP the CEO apart here. They wer…

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Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However, in '99/'00, even in '94-'96 there were many sorts of things one could say to a friend, "Hey look at this cool thing you can do on the web!" and your friend would say "Wow! Yeah that is cool!" What are the equivalents with cryptocurrencies/blockchains? I ask this all the time, no one seems to have an answer. The extent of the discussion around cryptocurrencies seems to be rambling on about things that either,…

What are the equivalents with cryptocurrencies/blockchains? They aren't nearly as tangible. The big innovation here is the blockchain tech itself -- a distributed, immutable, public ledger. It's a very specific innovation, and it mostly benefits big businesses, but it's an innovation nonetheless.

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Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However, in '99/'00, even in '94-'96 there were many sorts of things one could say to a friend, "Hey look at this cool thing you can do on the web!" and your friend would say "Wow! Yeah that is cool!" What are the equivalents with cryptocurrencies/blockchains? I ask this all the time, no one seems to have an answer. The extent of the discussion around cryptocurrencies seems to be rambling on about things that either,…

What are the equivalents with cryptocurrencies/blockchains? They aren't nearly as tangible. The big innovation here is the blockchain tech itself -- a distributed, immutable, public ledger. It's a very specific innovation, and it mostly benefits big businesses, but it's an innovation nonetheless.

Git (and similar) had that for ages. The technical innovation is in particular combination of proof-of-work with the hash chain.

But of course the social innovation might have been to make that long established technology cool and popular.

Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#25
post #18

It feels like the heady days of 1999, where anyone that could was "pivoting" to the web at ridiculous speed and IPO valuation. This isn't a dig on crypto itself though-- after the '00 bubble, it's not like the internet went away. I do wonder what crypto 2.0 will look like, a few years on from its bubble. Here's to hoping the pop comes early and quick, and the real progress can begin in earnest.

If you look longer term the 1999 is just a small blip, so what if bitcoin crashes, bitcoin will replace banks, which are crocked and make money out of nothing.

To make a prediction: bitcoin will only be successful as a currency, if we get fractional reserve bitcoins and other forms of book / paper bitcoins.

The futures market is one step in that direction. The balances held at exchanges are another one. See https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136283.Less_Than_Zero for a historic comparison.

Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent."

In other words, short sells are tools to use against failing companies, not against markets you think can't deliver real value. Markets are much bigger than companies and can make short work of your maintenance margin even if they're going to crash in the end. If you want to make a long term bet against a market, the best idea is to figure out who benefits when that market crashes and go long on them.

Shorts are also useful when you have private information the market doesn't have, yet. (As opposed to bad news the market already knows but chooses to ignore.)

Ie: dig up dirt on a company, short their stock, publish bad news, close out your short position.

Who wants to go long a company (ie invest in equity), should welcome the ability of others to short: it ensures you can buy for a fair price and that there's a smaller likelihood of skeletons hidden in their basement.

Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#27

Its not 'Bitcoin', its 'BlockChain'. Acquire a mining company on the down low, and add 'BlockChain' to your Company name and announce it. That's all you gotta do. Exhibit 1: Longfin. Shot up 2000% after an obsure FinTech company that IPO-ed at $5-ish shot up to over $126 after announcing 2 days after the IPO that it acquired a (shady) blockchain mining company. Watch the CNBC reporter RIP the CEO apart here. They wer…

Not to forget FTFT, "Future FinTech Group Inc", that despite the fancy name is a tiny fruit juice company. 'pivoted' to blockchain, stock shot up more than 200%. What a time to be alive!

Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, solutions to that class of problem have been around a while. BFT software for these type of faults are built into airplanes and other critical systems. Its use in blockchain is novel, and interesting, but not a brand new or first solution to obtainin Byzantine Agreement within a system or the associate algorithms involvedinvolved.

BTC was the first sybil-resistant distributed consensus algorithm in history. Airplanes don't need to worry about sybil attacks.

Neither do most people. Thus, blockchain's limited utility over something like what CT does.

Re: The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name

#29
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However, in '99/'00, even in '94-'96 there were many sorts of things one could say to a friend, "Hey look at this cool thing you can do on the web!" and your friend would say "Wow! Yeah that is cool!" What are the equivalents with cryptocurrencies/blockchains? I ask this all the time, no one seems to have an answer. The extent of the discussion around cryptocurrencies seems to be rambling on about things that either,…

> What are the equivalents with cryptocurrencies/blockchains? I ask this all the time, no one seems to have an answer. Pay off your mortgage in two years by speculating on bitcoin. It makes most adults go "Wow! Yeah that is cool!"

you guys know that deflation is bad right?
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