Crypto Assets Tip Thread

[fatmansan]

I don't want to be too presumptuous starting this thread but I'm finding at the moment I'm looking at my Blockfolio app every 2 minutes. The vol on this stuff is incredible, it's exciting and it's still pretty early days in the main (although doesn't always feel like it).

So what do you have in your portfolio and what are you looking at next? I thought a conversation here might have less "mooning" and "hodling" than the majority of the other online forums that are available on this subject.

Here's my starter for 10 with weightings based on current market value.

BTC (3%)
Where I started. Cashed out once to buy a ski jacket (don't regret it, loves it). Back in because although market dominance has decreased massively in 2017, it's still the headline act and the only recognised currency anywhere (even if that's just Japan)

ETH (66%)
Got in later than I wished, but still going strong. 12-18 month position in my mind

FCT (27%)
Strong fundamentals with these guys; good investment history; solid team; product application options are significant

SC (2%)
Small sidey about 6 weeks ago that's come good. Despite problems with their wallet there is a product already out there. Potential upside on their own, combine with STORJ, or buy out from Dropbox/Amazon?

GNT (2%)
Compute for everyone. Love the idea.

Waiting on...

STORJ
Token sale has completed, just waiting on delivery.

I've also done a bunch of Ethereum names, all at 0.01 ETH each for things I like the idea of on the off chance they come good. At $2 a pop, who cares if they don't?!

[MCLARENSLR]

Have you got a link for the Ethereum names you mentioned in the last sentence please. I would be interested in taking a look at those.

[rufusgti]

I sold half my bitcoin last night. Sealing 267% growth in 6 months.
When I looked and realised they were worth double what they were 1 month ago, and the growth seems to have stopped over the last week. I thought it best to change my position.
I'm in a position now to either buy back in if a drop comes or withdraw into fiat.

I haven't ever looked into other cryptos. Bitcoin is stressful enough.

[Henrico]

The only problem with cashing out of Bitcoin before August is that when/if it forks you'll have to decide which fork to buy back into (if you want to buy back in)

I think Eth could run but not confident in it's current use case, think it is overpriced with a lot of people enjoying the ride but as soon as it dips there'll be a lot of uneducated bailers only in it for the good times.

Bullish in LTC as it has a good usecase as small payment coin as it has segwit and now BTC is almost useless as small payments system currenctly.

Edited by Henrico on Thursday 8th June 08:19

[fatmansan]

MCLARENSLR said:

Have you got a link for the Ethereum names you mentioned in the last sentence please. I would be interested in taking a look at those.

http://registrar.ens.domains/

Use Chrome and get the Metamask app. Deposit some ETH into that wallet and you're away.

[rufusgti]

Henrico said:

The only problem with cashing out of Bitcoin before August is that when/if it forks you'll have to decide which fork to buy back into (if you want to buy back in)

Edited by Henrico on Thursday 8th June 08:19

Could you go into a bit more detail on this fork business. What is happening, how will it effect the exchanges. What do I need to do. What will happen to price?

[bloomen]

All crypto is so irrational at present there's no way of tipping or predicting anything. Pretty much anything could happen to any of them.

[rufusgti]

Ok, thanks. So what will happen to those alt coins. Will they have a value. Sounds like a total unknown.
So if I keep my coins in a personal wallet, what happens to them. Do they still double or not.

Can you suggest a wallet to use.

[Behemoth]

Keep your crypto off the exchanges. Unless you trust them as much as your local bank (unlikely). Use exchanges as you would a bureau de change: only send coins when you need to transact. Just because you've gone through hoops of AML & KYC with them doesn't mean crypto exchanges are impregnable bastions of regulated fiscal security. They aren't

Virtually any wallet system is safer than leaving your coins at an exchange. You can use anything from paper wallets to a hardware device like a Trezor or Ledger Nano S. But all this hardware has a long wait list at the moment due to huge demand. Instead, there are also good software solutions, like Multibit. Just keep your private keys & passphrases secure & keep all the keys & phrases for them offline in case your pc or phone gets hacked.

[rufusgti]

Behemoth said:

Keep your crypto off the exchanges. Unless you trust them as much as your local bank (unlikely). Use exchanges as you would a bureau de change: only send coins when you need to transact. Just because you've gone through hoops of AML & KYC with them doesn't mean crypto exchanges are impregnable bastions of regulated fiscal security. They aren't

Virtually any wallet system is safer than leaving your coins at an exchange. You can use anything from paper wallets to a hardware device like a Trezor or Ledger Nano S. But all this hardware has a long wait list at the moment due to huge demand. Instead, there are also good software solutions, like Multibit. Just keep your private keys & passphrases secure & keep all the keys & phrases for them offline in case your pc or phone gets hacked.

This is the bit I don't understand enough about. I had a multi bit wallet on a laptop but never used it as I always thought it could get hacked. I presume the exchanges to be safer than my own lack of computing knowledge, Even though I lost coins when mtgox went down.
When you say keep them offline, do you mean write them down?

[Behemoth]

rufusgti said:

This is the bit I don't understand enough about. I had a multi bit wallet on a laptop but never used it as I always thought it could get hacked. I presume the exchanges to be safer than my own lack of computing knowledge, Even though I lost coins when mtgox went down.
When you say keep them offline, do you mean write them down?

Yes, it can get hacked if you keep the programme on your laptop. All you need to do is delete the software. Your coins won't get deleted as they are connected to your wallet words. Multibit uses multiple pass words, called wallet words. You can set Multibit up, record your words somewhere really safe (definitely not on your devices) and then delete the software entirely. You could even remember the wallet words and not write them down at all (you'd have to be good at stuff like memory palaces to do this). It's beautiful. Effectively, your money is reduced to a bunch of words. Download and install Multibit on an entirely new machine in a different part of the world years later, plug in your wallet words and ta-da your coins will reappear. It is utterly safe unless you lose the words, in which case you are royally screwed with no hope of recovery. Your words literally become your cash. With a Trezor etc, you have to guard a tiny usb stick. Not so with Multibit. And it's free.

[fatmansan]

rufusgti said:

I haven't ever looked into other cryptos. Bitcoin is stressful enough.

I hear you. With vol like this, no wonder. However, it's revamped my commute and I'm enjoying researching some of these other alts and their different business ideas, enabled by the tech.

What the customer will want? We'll only know in time.

[Behemoth]

rufusgti said:

So if I keep my coins in a personal wallet, what happens to them. Do they still double or not.

Yes, you'd exist on each blockchain.

[MCLARENSLR]

fatmansan said:

http://registrar.ens.domains/

Use Chrome and get the Metamask app. Deposit some ETH into that wallet and you're away.

Thanks I will take a look.

[bmwmike]

For anyone considering holding crypto currencies longer term how do you feel about quantum computing... reportedly will break all current cryptography. IBM reckon they'll have 50 qubit computers in the next few years, so probably not that long term depending on resources etc. Thinking nation state initially.

[Henrico]

If quantum computing becomes mainstream and becomes a threat towards bitcoin then they may be able to up the difficulty on the hashing algorithm although I don't think quantum computers will be around that soon. The only problem is that we have the dream team of 100 core developers who are producing amazing software that everyone wants but the miners and certain others are blocking it for seemingly political reasons. It's really holding the whole technology back and it's a great shame.

[Behemoth]

bmwmike said:

For anyone considering holding crypto currencies longer term how do you feel about quantum computing... reportedly will break all current cryptography. IBM reckon they'll have 50 qubit computers in the next few years, so probably not that long term depending on resources etc. Thinking nation state initially.

It's a bit of a non issue. The Bitcoin protocol would be modified to accommodate a revised hash function. iirc Lamport has been mooted as a solution. An update in the protocol will secure the network.

[anonymous-user]

Not sure on sc, seems a pump and dump. The storage network is used by 1.6% utilisation but worth 400 million, and as price goes up so does storage cost, which is about 2 dollars a tb now.

Pluton is an interesting one, I own iconomi, edgeless, and mine a coin called Sib coin. I swap my other coins weekly.

[bmwmike]

Behemoth said:

bmwmike said:

For anyone considering holding crypto currencies longer term how do you feel about quantum computing... reportedly will break all current cryptography. IBM reckon they'll have 50 qubit computers in the next few years, so probably not that long term depending on resources etc. Thinking nation state initially.

It's a bit of a non issue. The Bitcoin protocol would be modified to accommodate a revised hash function. iirc Lamport has been mooted as a solution. An update in the protocol will secure the network.

Not sosure it's that simple tbh. The existing crypto and therefore wallets etc would be vulnerable wouldn't they. Saw a info security presentation yesterday which basically raised quantum computing as a direct threat to crypto and by extension cryptocurrencies with no know solution as yet. The way hash functions work so well on standard computers is exactly why they are so weak on so called quantum computers.

[Behemoth]

bmwmike said:

The existing crypto and therefore wallets etc would be vulnerable wouldn't they. Saw a info security presentation yesterday which basically raised quantum computing as a direct threat to crypto and by extension cryptocurrencies with no know solution as yet.

Yes, in the same way that not patching Windows leads to malware arriving in the NHS. It's one reason why I support software based wallets rather than paper or hardware ones. Eventually, the protocols underlying them will date whereas a software solution can always be upgraded.

I totally dispute that there's no known solution. It's simply not true. I suggest your presenters read up a little about Lamport signatures & Merkle trees. I'm no Alan Turing, but the basis is pretty clear. Crypto is always going to be a cat and mouse game between puzzle setters and solvers.