Crypto Currency Thread

[Behemoth]

Banks aren't going to disappear (though some famous names might). They will adapt and change, as they have always done. There will always be markets for custodial and lending services.

[DanGPR]

Condi said:

Oh, Dimots, remember that swop we have, Im short/you're long BitCoin at $6700. Not looking good for you...

The market is very thin on the sell side at these price levels, with _only_ 7m dollars of buying required on CBPro (GDAX) to take it back past $6700.
When does your deal mature? I'd hope it was in less than 48hrs in your boots.

https://twitter.com/bitmexrekt

A lot of money has been lost to BTC shorts.

[Condi]

DanGPR said:

The market is very thin on the sell side at these price levels, with _only_ 7m dollars of buying required on CBPro (GDAX) to take it back past $6700.
When does your deal mature? I'd hope it was in less than 48hrs in your boots.

https://twitter.com/bitmexrekt

A lot of money has been lost to BTC shorts.

And a lot of money has been lost to BTC longs..... considering the 12m high is 20k, the floor price is 0 and spot is $6100 more potential profit has been lost by the longs than the shorts

[ringram]

Had to laugh at this one..

"Here is my bank instalment related to the loan I took to invest in crypto," the user wrote. "Still three-and-a-half years to go until I'm freed. Until then, I'm working for nothing and I'm at 85 per cent loss. I hope it gives you a lesson."

He said he bought Neo, Stellar, Litecoin, Ethereum "and some stcoins that lost 95 per cent of their value already".

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.c...

[Guvernator]

Behemoth said:

Condi said:

How many people do you know storing their life savings under their beds? Nobody. Nobody does that because individuals would rather hand their money to a trusted and insured institution.

I certainly do know people who store their wealth outside the banking system because they don't trust it. You don't seem to know anyone in the second or third worlds. Most of the planet does not look like the British high street.

Lol I know people in Britain who do the very same thing, in fact most people I know have some sort of wealth stored outside the banking system for emergencies. Might not be life savings but lots of people have precious metals, jewels, money etc stored outside of the banking system. It used to happen years ago, my parents generation ALWAYS did this, then people began to trust banks more and more so this practice decreased for several decades but now people have realised that even big banks are fallible, many people have a backup plan which involves some wealth stored elsewhere.

[bloomen]

ringram said:

Had to laugh at this one..

"Here is my bank instalment related to the loan I took to invest in crypto," the user wrote. "Still three-and-a-half years to go until I'm freed. Until then, I'm working for nothing and I'm at 85 per cent loss. I hope it gives you a lesson."

He said he bought Neo, Stellar, Litecoin, Ethereum "and some stcoins that lost 95 per cent of their value already".

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.c...

No sympathy. None.

And that's no doubt why many banks stopped credit card buying of crypto too.

[Behemoth]

bloomen said:

No sympathy. None.

And that's no doubt why many banks stopped credit card buying of crypto too.

Yes indeed. Such stories are evidence of IQ arbitrage

[Sochaux]

Is LTC ever going to go back up?! Crypto is dead.

[skinnyman]

ringram said:

Had to laugh at this one..

"Here is my bank instalment related to the loan I took to invest in crypto," the user wrote. "Still three-and-a-half years to go until I'm freed. Until then, I'm working for nothing and I'm at 85 per cent loss. I hope it gives you a lesson."

He said he bought Neo, Stellar, Litecoin, Ethereum "and some stcoins that lost 95 per cent of their value already".

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.c...

Most of my holdings are 85-95% down on what I paid, but because I'm not a tard I only invested 'throwaway' money, if I lose it all I won't also lose my house.

[PWeston]

Sochaux said:

Is LTC ever going to go back up?! Crypto is dead.

Yes - be patient. Crypto isn't dead. Look at what is being created behind the scenes, DYOR, the cryptocurrency infrastructure has never looked better. Crypto is certainly not a get rich quick scheme but if you research and buy the right coins then patience will be rewarded (3-5 years min).

[Guvernator]

ETC being listed on Coinbase at 5pm PST so around 1am tomorrow morning UK time. Rumours are there is going to be a huge pump and dump. Anyone brave enough to take a punt?

[bloomen]

zubzob said:

I'm a bit confused.

What functionality does bitcoin offer that existing fin tech couldn't offer?

What's to stop HSBC setting up their own blockchain transaction system?

If China or USA really put their minds to it, could they not shut down BTC overnight if they wanted? Surely banning all exchanges/card transactions would do that in a matter of hours?

Is bitcoin becoming more regulated over time? If so, is a reverse in that trend compulsory, to see high BTC prices?

Bitcoin is trustless and permissionless. Bitcoin can't be faked, blocked, reversed, inflated or corrupted. It's under no one entity's control. Anyone can check the code and know what they're committing to. It takes a huge level of agreement from everyone to change it. You don't sign up to anything. You just download it and start using it.

Every other bit of fin tech in the world can freeze you, deny you, boot you out, debase the value you have stored with it or hand it over to whoever orders them to.

There's nothing to stop anyone setting up their own blockchain. An existing financial institution really doesn't need a blockchain. Blockchains are painfully inefficient. A 'bank coin' would be no different from an existing dollar, they wouldn't give up all the control they currently have, so there's no reason to create one.

China already have banned all exchanges. P2P is doing fine there. If all governments banned interactions with local currencies most people would chip, but some would choose to stick around. No one can shut down Bitcoin itself. It runs on thousands of machines around the world and would continue to slip through the cracks.

Bitcoin itself can't be regulated. How you interact with it with your local currency certainly can be. No doubt there'll be more regulation surrounding that.

Edited by bloomen on Thursday 16th August 11:53

[dimots]

zubzob said:

Okay. But if gov regulates transfer to local currency, for all purposes I can imagine, it effectively is regulated?

Even if you earn in bitcoin, you would still have to pay income taxes and CGT on btc gains in local currency. As a store of value? You still need to convert it back at some point. You will never be able to buy a house with unregulated currency for eg, due to anti- laundering regs.

The only real situation I can imagine BTC being useful is a full on systemic collapse of the finance industry. In which case I'd rather own a gun than a zip drive.

You clearly don't have much of an imagination.

Plus there is no way that governments could stop you converting it to cash because it is borderless, so you could simply send it to a third party in an unregulated jurisdiction who could covert it for you and send it back to you as dollars or pounds.

[anonymous-user]

PWeston said:

buy the right coins then patience will be rewarded (3-5 years min).

3 years ago yes but now returns are much much lower for a lot more risk of loss.

[MWM3]

dimots said:

You clearly don't have much of an imagination.

Plus there is no way that governments could stop you converting it to cash because it is borderless, so you could simply send it to a third party in an unregulated jurisdiction who could covert it for you and send it back to you as dollars or pounds.

Hmmmm...so trusting someone in a far off unregulated country to 'clean' your money and then transfer it back.... can't see any problems here.

[Condi]

dimots said:

Plus there is no way that governments could stop you converting it to cash because it is borderless, so you could simply send it to a third party in an unregulated jurisdiction who could covert it for you and send it back to you as dollars or pounds.

Clearly you have no idea how the international finance system works. The system of due diligence, and accountability undertaken by banks is extensive and cross border. It would be very easy for banks to block transactions from 3rd parties known to be transferring BitCoin to cash, especially for individuals without the benefit of having shell companies in tax havens to transfer it through. And dont forget that the US finance laws cover US dollar use anywhere in the world, so if someone really wanted to clamp down it is certainly possible.

The only people who need bitcoin are those who are unable to use the normal banking system, and there are only a few reasons why that is.

[bloomen]

Condi said:

The only people who need bitcoin are those who are unable to use the normal banking system, and there are only a few reasons why that is.

There are billions of people in this world who have internet access but zero access to banking as we know it.

I don't really know why money laundering popped up as a 'use case'. It's bleedin' hopeless for that.

[Condi]

bloomen said:

There are billions of people in this world who have internet access but zero access to banking as we know it.

There are? Where?

There maybe those who are far from a physical bank, but there are very few people who are unable to access banking of any description.

[Behemoth]

zubzob said:

Okay. But if gov regulates transfer to local currency, for all purposes I can imagine, it effectively is regulated?

Even if you earn in bitcoin, you would still have to pay income taxes and CGT on btc gains in local currency. As a store of value? You still need to convert it back at some point. You will never be able to buy a house with unregulated currency for eg, due to anti- laundering regs.

The only real situation I can imagine BTC being useful is a full on systemic collapse of the finance industry. In which case I'd rather own a gun than a zip drive.

Zip drive? Seriously? Does anyone still use these?

It's far too late for a government to successfully ban bitcoin. Gold held as store of value by individuals was banned in the US from the 30s to the 70s. It didn't really work. Modi tried similar in India recently. Unlike gold, it's trivial to send bitcoin across the world in an instant. Also unlike gold, you can chop bitcoin up into extraordinarily small pieces and still prove its purity. You can do this yourself. You don't need to send bitcoin to an assay office to verify its quality.

Edited by Behemoth on Thursday 16th August 22:36

[CryptoSuperDave]

Condi said:

There are? Where?

There maybe those who are far from a physical bank, but there are very few people who are unable to access banking of any description.

it doesnt just have to be about physical banking though (let's 'ignore' the African countries that do actually need this..) what about the millions of migrants working/slaving their arses off to send money home?(eg Indian national in construction in dubai etc)
.. sure they could send their earnings home to help family via western union.. but at what cost ?.. 5 days & 10% ? .. or maybe they could send their money straight home in 30 seconds via BCH/LTC etc for 5p or less...

sadly us westerners are fking ignorant of the rest of the world...

one love.