bitcoin, the blockchain, and cryptocurrency

[96583UP]

I'm working under the theory that the big money is buying up BTC in preparation for the futures that are coming next week. Then they'll dump it all and buy it back again for cheap.

sounds reasonable

[BurtReynolds]

also I dont know what I'm talking about.

[simple schoolboy]

Per NPR's rampant speculation, a lot of BitCoin activity is in Japan and South Korea, which I don't get. It seems like a reasonable vehicle for Chinese to get their money out of the country, but I don't know why the Japanese and Koreans would use it for that.

Do Japan and South Korea have strict capital controls?

[BurtReynolds]

For all anyone knows, bitcoin originated in Japan, so that might be one reason.

But it's probably just because they are more tech obsessed there.

[BurtReynolds]

Someone help. I'm on the other side of the bookcase.

[96583UP]

15,000

if this were on an exchange it prob would have been shut down by now

[BurtReynolds]

Almost hit 16k right after.

Every time it passes another $1000 mark, there is a huge selloff and the exchange crashes. When it comes back it gets bought back up almost immediately.

This has been quite an experience.

[BurtReynolds]

OMG WHAT IS HAPPENING

[96583UP]

wow, you can buy this crap with a credit card?

this reeks of late 90s tech bubble

[Bi_3]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... the-market

"About 40 percent of bitcoin is held by perhaps 1,000 users... What’s more, the whales can coordinate their moves or preview them to a select few. Many of the large owners have known one another for years and stuck by bitcoin through the early days when it was derided, and they can potentially band together to tank or prop up the market."

Ya'll gettin' played.

[BurtReynolds]

Eight men control more money than half of the rest of the world. Who cares?

This isn't unknown info. Swimming in the whales wake is just part of the market. Pump and dumps are daily occurrences. Why bother regulating? Free market, mofos. Better than misplaced faith in regulations. And here you can see the money move around on chain.

Most of these people are true believers though. They'd have to be to stick with it through the mt. Gox thing.

[BurtReynolds]

And the various other coins are up front about how the coins are divided up in the ICOs (except for the shady ones), and there are usually vesting periods, so again, people know what they are getting.

[BurtReynolds]

Coinbase, the biggest bitcoin, eth and litecoin broker and exchange, is now the most downloaded app on Apple’s app store.

It currently stands above Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, and really any other app on your smartphone with everyone seemingly rushing to get their hands on some crypto.

Yikes. Not sure it's ready for prime time yet. And that exchange was crashing constantly yesterday. But still a lot of money coming in...

[EJ]

And the various other coins are up front about how the coins are divided up in the ICOs (except for the shady ones), and there are usually vesting periods, so again, people know what they are getting.

Have you gotten into any of the other cryptos? Litecoin, Ethereum, IOTA?

[E.H. Ruddock]

Onion headline:

Bitcoin On Path To Functioning Just Like Real Currency After Small Concentration Of People Acquire Majority Of It

[Norah]

[BurtReynolds]

And the various other coins are up front about how the coins are divided up in the ICOs (except for the shady ones), and there are usually vesting periods, so again, people know what they are getting.

Have you gotten into any of the other cryptos? Litecoin, Ethereum, IOTA?

I've messed around with some, but it's a total casino right now. It's all just speculation, and the price drops the minute Bitcoin starts moving again, up or down. People in chats are obsessed with them and think it's gonna make them rich, but they would all make more money if they just held bitcoin.

I like reading up on the projects though. IOTA sounds amazing, but maybe too good to be true. I'm not sure it will even work. Ethereum seems like kind of a mess right now. Litecoin might be huge. Modero, Dash and Powerledger might be good ones.

90% of them will go to zero, but the few that actually get traction will be the next Amazon/Facebooks IMO. But that's still a year or three away.

[Bi_3]

Eight men control more money than half of the rest of the world. Who cares?

This isn't unknown info. Swimming in the whales wake is just part of the market. Pump and dumps are daily occurrences. Why bother regulating? Free market, mofos. Better than misplaced faith in regulations. And here you can see the money move around on chain.

Most of these people are true believers though. They'd have to be to stick with it through the mt. Gox thing.

But bro, nearly half the world has less than 0 net worth, so any with a penny would be richer than half of humanity.

[BurtReynolds]

Sure, but the wealth distribution problem isn't a new thing here, and fiat currency and the global banking system arguably makes this problem worse. No one ever promised that crypto would better distribute wealth evenly to the masses (these aren't exactly communists here), only that it removes the corrupt middlemen and provide more transparency in how the money works.

I'm more worried about power centralizing with miners than who has the most bitcoins.

------

I'm fascinated by the scenarios that could play out in the next ten years.

How do you collect taxes when a completely anonymous, untraceable currency can be transported all over the world, nearly instant and free, and can't be shut down?

Are western countries going to invade 3rd world hellholes, not over oil, but because they drove their fiat currency into the ground and replaced it with crypto or just became incapable of stopping the population from using it? State backed crypto is probably a given at this point, but will it even matter?

What kind of draconian measures will governments resort to try to control internet traffic? Installing a watchdog on every internet capable device (which now includes refrigerators and toasters)? Direct control over ISPs? How will any of this work?

But whenever I try to talk about it, people default to "I can't buy coffee with this? Sounds dumb." Like, what?

[BurtReynolds]

I mean, none of this has anything to do with the current price action I admit. It's completely off the rails. It's probably a speculative bubble right now, but then again so were the railroads and internet at first. Early adopters are usually too early.