Bitcoin splits

[Dewt]

buying at a point where it's doing shit and hasn't been in the news for ages, to sell when you hear some friend talk about it, seems like a decent bet too?

Probably, if it's money you can afford to lose if something unexpected happens.

[Barry Admin]

Is there anywhere (online) you can get these at the minute without needing photographic ID?

[Dewt]

You can arrange to meet people in real life and swap photo IDs (really bad idea especially right now)

The more realistic option is to use a P2P bitcoin marketplace (the equivalent of a big forum where you agree to buy some off a member there). I have no experience with these but I'm sure that it's also a minefield if you're not experienced with them.

If you trust me more, I can buy some on your behalf and send them to you. If you don't mind telling me how much you'd want to spend then I'll send some to your wallet right now and we'll figure out the payment later.

[Non Stop Dancer]

I think it's pretty clear by now that crypto is the mother of all scams.

[Dewt]

Is it?

[Non Stop Dancer]

It has no utility as a means of paying for things, and as soon as the markets tanked, it tanked with it. It's fucking bollocks mate.

[Dewt]

The first point is obviously not true and the second one doesn't make it a scam and shouldn't be that surprising. There are lots of reasons to criticise Bitcoin but that what you're saying is inaccurate and sensational.

[Bence Fekete]

If I'd been disciplined enough to keep my 6 bitcoins @ £250 I would have £31k by now.

But sure, total disaster. No future at all. 

[olliebean]

If I'd been disciplined enough to keep my 6 bitcoins @ £250 I would have £31k by now.

But sure, total disaster. No future at all.

And if I hadn't sold my 47 @ £250 I'd have nearly a quarter of a million. These things are sent to try us.

[peanutbutter]

In a capitalist system it honestly does have some kind of value as a decentralised gambling kind of thing, with the drug industry operating under it as a form of gold standard type thing.

[JesusAndYourBush]

I think it's pretty clear by now that crypto is the mother of all scams.

It's more of a pyramid scheme, insomuch as those who get in there earliest are able to reap the biggest rewards.

[Dewt]

That's not the main thing about pyramid schemes! Where's the pyramid bit? Who runs the scheme? You could say the same thing about stocks, or a watch on Antiques Roadshow that was originally bought for a fiver but is now worth 50 grand.

"I don't mind insults as long as they're accurate!"

[JesusAndYourBush]

Where's the pyramid bit?  The people who got into it first are on the top, they reap the highest rewards because they bought their bitcoins cheaply, or mined them easily.  Those getting into it later have to pay more for their bitcoins, or take longer to mine them.  That part of it couldn't be more like a pyramid scheme.  The only difference with a pyramid scheme is that at the point where people are deciding that getting into bitcoin isn't worthwile for them, the pyramid doesn't collapse but just kindof hangs there.  People still buy into it but it's a lot harder to make the kind of profits those early starters made.

[Dewt]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme here you go

[Non Stop Dancer]

Here's a question: what would be the benefit of buying bitcoin or any crypto today?

[Dewt]

Unless you have money to spare right now to gamble on a vague hope[nb]which nobody should even if they think they do[/nb] or if you have a specific thing you need to pay for that only accepts crypto then none, really

Some people seem to think that fiat currency will collapse entirely and in this reality that Bitcoin will somehow be useful but I doubt that

[Gurke and Hare]

In a capitalist system it honestly does have some kind of value as a decentralised gambling kind of thing, with the drug industry operating under it as a form of gold standard type thing.

How is the drug industry acting as a gold standard? The drugs are priced in fiat currency, and the bitcoin prices fluctuate wildly with the bitcoin price.

And it's quite right to say that it's not a pyramid scheme. It's a Ponzi scheme. The big money that anyone's made is the initial investors pocketing the money that subsequent "investors" have put in.

[Dewt]

I think that's inaccurate because their balance doesn't go up if somebody else buys. They benefit from the increase of trade at a high level, but again we're just describing deflation.

[WestHill]

Bitcoin seems to be on the up now after shaking off a lot of investors when the market crashed.

OXT Orchid is another crypto coin that I'm looking at which some think will take off soon. It's performing well at the moment.

[Dewt]

Wouldn't it fail entirely if nobody gives a shit about the service it's tied to, which seems to be a non-battle-tested Tor?

[Sebastian Cobb]

What's etherium like these days?

[Abnormal Palm]

A mate of mine from China made several million on Bitcoin. He also bet a lot of money on Trump to win the election a few years ago. Then he made a couple of million off some dodgy spoofing tech he designed before it got shut down. He's one of those libertarian anarchist bullshitter high risk reward type total cunts but he's got a good heart. Went to a Steiner school, got no qualifications and never had a proper job in his life. Fascinating guy, very unassuming. When I asked him for his thoughts on crypto a few years ago, he said build a time machine.

[WestHill]

Things are getting interesting now, with 11 days til the halving.