Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 08:37:20 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Cryptocurrency Thread

Started by QDRPHNC, February 04, 2021, 12:17:46 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Harry Badger

I used to use bitcoin for buying drugs off the Silk Road back when it was about £200 a coin. How I wish I'd held on to it then instead of spending it on some long-forgotten ecstacy binge. Last year I decided to start using Coinbase and putting a weekly standing order into Bitcoin. I don't see bitcoin as being a viable long-term holding because when all is said and done, it's a pyramid scheme, so I keep a minimum of £500 in there and withdraw every time there is a spike. That money then gets spent on silver.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

QuoteAnyone buying crypt should be prepared for that.

Yeah get whatever app you use to alert you if you have a jumping off limit.

Cuellar


Cuellar

Quote from: hamfist on February 04, 2021, 08:20:51 AM
Elon "Rocket Crasher" Musk has plugged Doge again and predictably it shot up.

Oh did he?! I missed that! I've got 400 DOGE!

Thanks daddy Elon! All is forgiven.

kittens

just got 52 cardanos and 0.01366 ethereums. seems like bit coins is very expensive right now. probably better not to buy it right now, right?

bgmnts

Instead of propping up the actual economy, which cunt musk probably could do, he just fucks around on something as stupid as cryptocurrency. 

Hope he's on a rocket that blows up in space.

kngen

Quote from: Zetetic on February 04, 2021, 09:26:45 AM
I've been a coward and shied away from giving an actual account of how (I think) blockchains work, which isn't very helpful. Sorry.




I think it relies on each 'block' of transactions being summarised using a cryptographic 'hash' - you can't change any of the transactions without changing the hash, but the hash is far smaller than the set of transactions.

The relevant clever bit[nb]As opposed to other clever bits about how you decide on a consensus across distributed ledgers or whatever.[/nb] is that you also include the last block's hash in the data you use to produce this block's hash.

That way, you only need to keep track of the last block's hash to calculate the next block, while still having a 'chain' to follow to verify that each block follows from the last.

In the past year I've probably edited over a dozen white papers [nb](for international think tanks, which is moderately terrifying as I could conceivably collapse the global economy by forgetting to put a comma in somewhere) [/nb]on blockchain and DLT, and even then - if someone were to ask me to explain what blockchain was - my brain would go into spinning pinwheel mode. But yeah, that's essentially it. No one can change the hash without that change being recorded on the hash therefore any attempts to duplicate or compromise the hash will already be encoded in it as a failsafe.

Bitcoin mining is an attempt to 'unearth' ever more complex hashes in that chain, which is why is requires exponentially more processing power to get them. This is known as a proof-of-work DLT, and the rate that Bitcoin is created decreases every four years.[nb]I'm presuming that, until quantum computing is accessible, we're pretty close to 'peak oil' on bitcoin, making it 'finite' for all intents and purposes at the moment, hence the price rises in recent months. Could be totally wrong on this. While I'm not an expert on blockchain, I'm DEFINITELY not an expert on crypto[/nb]

Ethereum uses a proof-of-stake DLT, which (I think) is what distinguishes it from Bitcoin, in that it can act far more like a normal currency unit. It can be mined, but it can be easily traded (your proof of stake) from the get go, and that seems to be why so many new cryptos are using Ethereum's blockchain (just to make it more confusing, Bitcoin and Ethereum are both currencies and blockchain models, but Ethereum was specifically designed to be an open source DLT model rather than just a currency).

To continue what we were talking about on the WSB thread:

Quote from: Zetetic on February 04, 2021, 12:21:31 AM
I don't understand why it would be any different to buying and selling non-digital renminbi.

I'm guessing that, unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum et al - which are permissonless open-node DLTs, CDEP will be a closed node and/or permissioned DLT, possibly even on a private blockchain, at least initially (how else could they keep it localised to Hong Kong?). Chinese fintech is about to take a quantum leap after massive amounts of state investment in AI and machine learning, so whatever they do, it's going to be pretty fucking huge, with potentially global consequences (or at least that's what the white paper badly translated from Mandarin I just read says.)

Zetetic

On the CDEP/DCEP "currency" - I suppose I meant that I can't see how the value of it will be distinct from CNY/renminbi. The aim seems to be to establish a different form of the same currency.

Quotepossibly even on a private blockchain, at least initially
I can't see any serious reason to decentralise control of the ledgers for either, no.

Shoulders?-Stomach!


mobias

I bought 30 quid of Dogecoin last week but sold it on CAB's advise. I'm never listening to this place again.

The question is what cryptocurrency is an obviously stoned Elon Musk going to promote next?

Bence Fekete

Elon Musk: Doge to moon!

Also Elon Musk:


kngen

Quote from: Zetetic on February 04, 2021, 12:23:32 PM
I can't see any serious reason to decentralise control of the ledgers for either, no.

Edit: Yeah, I guess we'll just have to see.

hamfist

I buy a tenner of Bitcoin, Stellar Lumen and Ripple every week automatically. It's effectively my petrol money I don't use any more as I am no longer commuting. It's pure speculation but feels better than lottery tickets in terms of being a gamble, and I am using Stellar for something at work so I kind of like that one in any case.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Thanks largely to ZRX I am well on target on Day 1 to average 50p a day of crypto win

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: PlanktonSideburns on February 04, 2021, 09:22:51 AM
so is there anywhere in the uk i can buy food for the weekly shop in crypto?

Do you reckon you could live for a week on cannabis edibles alone?

paruses

How come you all know how to buy this stuff and by extension how can i buy this stuff? I have a hundred quid I can afford to lose so would happily buy some to have it turn into at least 20 million in 5 years time. I would hate to miss out again like I did in 2006.

Aren't there service fees associated with buying and selling stuff that wipes out the minisucle gains of rapid trades?

PlanktonSideburns

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on February 04, 2021, 01:53:38 PM
Do you reckon you could live for a week on cannabis edibles alone?

i know for a fact that i cannot

JesusAndYourBush

One thing I don't understand about bitcoin, maybe someone can explain...
So to "mine" 'new' bitcoins you have to get your computer to perform calculations to discover new algorithms, like calculating values of pi or prime numbers or whatever, with it being more difficult to perform the calculations as more are discovered... so what if someone else 'discovers' the same algorithm as you, how do you know who owns the bitcoin?   Are they registered somewhere to say it already exists so someone else can't claim it?

MojoJojo

Quote from: paruses on February 04, 2021, 03:34:06 PM
How come you all know how to buy this stuff and by extension how can i buy this stuff? I have a hundred quid I can afford to lose so would happily buy some to have it turn into at least 20 million in 5 years time. I would hate to miss out again like I did in 2006.

Aren't there service fees associated with buying and selling stuff that wipes out the minisucle gains of rapid trades?

You can setup your own wallet in whatever currency you want to trade in. This seemed like too much of a faff to me - you have to be careful not to lose the keys and stuff - and there's still effectively some kind of commission as you have to pay someone to give you bit coin. Or you can use a something like coinbase, which holds the keys for you, which is what I'm doing. They do charge commission, which is around £1-2 on small trades and 2% on larger trades.

I didn't really look around much before choosing coinbase - I think they have a fairy good reputation but are expensive.

MojoJojo

Quote from: JesusAndYourBush on February 04, 2021, 04:40:21 PM
One thing I don't understand about bitcoin, maybe someone can explain...
So to "mine" 'new' bitcoins you have to get your computer to perform calculations to discover new algorithms, like calculating values of pi or prime numbers or whatever, with it being more difficult to perform the calculations as more are discovered... so what if someone else 'discovers' the same algorithm as you, how do you know who owns the bitcoin?   Are they registered somewhere to say it already exists so someone else can't claim it?

Each bit coin is record of transactions e.g. barry gave shelia 0.1 bitcoins at 12am, etc...
The hash that needs to be calculated is unique for that set of transactions. The final transaction in the bitcoin hash basically says "and ComputerTron gets the bitcoin for working out the hash". And it's the first hash solution found that counts, as decided by consensus of the bitcoin miners- with the motivation that they can start mining the next bitcoin if they agree with the consensus position quickly.

kngen

#50
Hope you all got on that tip about AAVE from the other thread. It's just leapt up by 50% since yesterday, and 25% in the last hour

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Can you only buy that with bitcoin? It isn't coming up and when I searched it recommends using Binance. Is that a better platform for this stuff? Revolut only seems to have a dozen available cryptos to trade.

kngen

Like MojoJojo, I use Coinbase (which wouldn't let me spunk my money on Doge or Ripple, so I'm eternally grateful for its guiding hand.) It's also the only one that actually let me register when Dogemania was swamping all the coin-trading sites. Seems legit enough for those reasons alone.

Edit: AAVE seems to have flattened out. I lumped everything on it then jumped off just as it started to dip. Think I'm about $40 up on the deal with $100 investment.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

#53
Loads of activity on ZRX which is 35% up in last 24hrs. Currently stand to make a cool, cool £2, don't all crowd round at once.

Edit, 43%

ZoyzaSorris

Jumped in and out of ZRX and AAVE around the peak and hopped off again, losing a few dollars. Starting to learn that if you dally at all before jumping on tips of bubbles you'll be too late, go in quick and get out quick...

Mortimer

Quote from: peanutbutter on February 04, 2021, 10:10:06 AM
That was it hitting a critical mass both in terms of public awareness and public accessibility. Pretty good chance it will have some kind of crash but losses around then appeared to be absolutely massive with everyone flooding into altcoins and abandoning them just as fast. Basically all the people involved now are both aware it could crash like that but also have the learned experience that most did recover so where people panic sold in 2018 they're a bit less likely to panic.

Ripple hit $3 back then

This, and institutional investors abandoning their 2017 cynicism and joining the club. That, however, comes with its own potential for massive swings.

peanutbutter

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on February 04, 2021, 01:53:38 PM
Do you reckon you could live for a week on cannabis edibles alone?
Just buy 50g of amphetamines and don't eat for the week at all

QDRPHNC


Bence Fekete

Taking a look at Cardano (ADA). Basically an alternative to Ether created by one of the co-founders, but tweaked to avoid some of the problems Ether keeps running into such as expensive fees and hackability. I've never been much of a Vitalik fan anyway.

Just listening to an interview now, Charles Hoskinson, reminds me of what I liked about BTC back in the day. Proselytising about the unbanked/oppressed and that being the ultimate goal we shouldn't lose sight of. He sounds alright. Promising graph. I'm ALL IN

Ferris

Quote from: Bence Fekete on February 05, 2021, 12:47:25 AM
Taking a look at Cardano (ADA). Basically an alternative to Ether created by one of the co-founders, but tweaked to avoid some of the problems Ether keeps running into such as expensive fees and hackability. I've never been much of a Vitalik fan anyway.

Just listening to an interview now, Charles Hoskinson, reminds me of what I liked about BTC back in the day. Proselytising about the unbanked/oppressed and that being the ultimate goal we shouldn't lose sight of. He sounds alright. Promising graph. I'm ALL IN

Right remind me to buy some of these in two days when wealthsimple confirms the additional $20 I wanted to move over on Thursday has actually "credited".