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Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

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Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#221

Does anyone else feel like: - they've missed an opportunity to get rich with minimal effort from crypto - still have absolutely no interest in jumping in at this point?

To make meaningful amounts of money on BTC, you'd need to invest a significant amount. My feeling is, yes, maybe it go up 50%, or double, or whatnot, but mostly it can go down to 0 any time. If you want to bet a tiny bit and hope it tentuples, you still won't be rich. I'm always tempted to make some kind of agent simulation, where all agents know they are in a bubble, but hope they can get out before everyone else. T…

ThemePark Corona edition.

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#222
post #78
post #26

I just wanted internet money, not a speculative financial instrument. :(

The only cryptocurrency that might one day become real “internet money” is nano , because it has no fees and transactions are almost instant.

I looked into nano because it kept getting mentioned. Seems like the only way to acquire it is to buy it from someone who already has it. Somehow, that isn't very motivating.

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, for the upteenth time: there is NO SUCH THING as "fundamental value". There is just one thing: supply and demand. The fact that demand might be powered by something some folks might consider "irrational" is completely irrelevant to the conversation.

It is not completely irrelevant: it is how you distinguish productive investment schemes from scammy Ponzi schemes.

>it is how you distinguish productive investment schemes from scammy Ponzi schemes.

That'd be true if economic actors were rational (and had total access to relevant information).

News at 11: they aren't (and they don't).

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except you can't spend it very well and would be crazy to borrow it. Imagine the disaster if there had been a large market for bitcoin loans a few years ago.

You cant spend it well? Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Circle are all supporting it.

Mastercard announced that they will be supporting "crypto" not necessarily bitcoin. Bitcoin itself doesn't have the capacity to support widespread adoption as a medium of exchange.

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except you can't spend it very well and would be crazy to borrow it. Imagine the disaster if there had been a large market for bitcoin loans a few years ago.

You cant spend it well? Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Circle are all supporting it.

Yes, but who's actually paying the $18 transaction fees to move some Bitcoin to Visa so they can spend Bitcoin instead of cash and incur a new taxable sale with every swipe of the credit card?

Has anyone confirmed that Mastercard is even going to support Bitcoin? Previous articles suggested it was stablecoins only.

In no way is spending Bitcoin as easy as spending regular old cash.

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That it is a hedge against inflation because of the network effect and vice versa.

Isn’t everything other than cash a hedge against inflation?

no, a car for example devaluates over time.

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#227
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Cryptocurrencies in general seem to have potential for being used in day-to-day transactions in the future, but Bitcoin itself mostly seem to be used to store value. The planned limit on the total amount of Bitcoin in circulation, transaction fees and long transaction times seem to be quite a blocker for using it to buy a cup of coffee.

Money has to be first established as a store of value, before it can be used as a medium of exchange. As Bitcoin finds a more stable price point, it will become more interesting as a medium of exchange and an unit of account.

You think people will use something with $28 transaction fees as a medium of exchange? Any other crypto currency would work just as well and not have that problem.

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still we could have used the same energy for other things that are currently running on non-renewable energy.

That would require transferring the renewable energy to the areas where non-renewable energy is consumed. Energy transmission is expensive, and this would only be economically feasible within certain geographic limits. Otherwise they are both independent economies; a rural hydroelectric dam that serves miners isn't taking anything away from population centers, given the appropriate distance.

Are you suggesting that all miners with renewable energy resources are located in the middle of a desert?

Even then, we could have used the equipment (solar panels, wind turbines, etc) for something else. Unless the world is running on 100% renewable energy it doesn't make sense to say that something that requires energy doesn't cost (the world) anything because it's running on renewables.

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#229

I have some satoshis and some ripple on an exchange, but the exchange seems to be gone?? I suppose I can write those off?

If it's not your private key, it's not your money. So yes, if the exchange doesn't come back up you can pretty much write it off.

Yeah, one of the problems with the BTC model. You either get convenience or security but not both. I had a similar problem where bter disappeared with 137k of doge[0] in my account.

[0] about $20 when I put it in IIRC.

Re: Bitcoin surpasses $50K as major companies jump into crypto

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you use BTC as unit of account then Bitcoin is the only thing that IS stable!

/s? That's a nonsensical statement. Use BTC to buy a car today, and then use it to buy the same value car in a year. BTC is, fundamentally, unstable at this point in time. Even when all BTC is mined and it is distributed across the globe to every human being and sentient AI and animal, it will likely continue to be highly unstable as a currency. Compare to the, relatively, stable USD as a currency. Prices for goods a…

things should be getting cheaper with innovation and technology growth
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