Does anyone invest in Bitcoin?

MarathonMike

Diamond Member
Dec 30, 2014
43,814
58,768
3,645
The Southwestern Desert
I haven't looked into it, but I just saw that bitcoins are now worth more than an ounce of gold. If anyone owns them or understands how this "currency" works, please explain.
 
Years ago my employer gave me the option of getting part of my quarterly bonus in bitcoin. Around $10,000. I didn't know jack shit about bitcoin. Never heard of bitcoin. He explained why he invests in bitcoin. I'm a gambling man so I decided to take a gamble. I got lucky as hell. In months that gamble was worth six figures.

I wouldn't invest in bitcoin again though. My instincts told me to quit while I was ahead and not to play that game again.
 
ah i refused the risk.....we would have had millions or lost it all by now...bitcoins came about due to the silk road which has been closed..they were used for illegal activities and still are...they exist in a digital world only.....and can be taken quickly
 
I do. Have for years at this point. Mined it, bought it, hold it, trade it on exchanges.

I don't mine bitcoin any longer, however, as it isn't cost effective with the electricity burned costing more than it would to just buy them.

I mine/hold/trade Ethereum as well. Those miners are still running.


They both operate on distributed ledger systems, aka blockchain, whereby there's no need for a third party, such as a bank or brokerage, to verify transactions. They also perform a myriad of other functions, with new apps rolling out continuously.

Btc is a value store similar to money. Ethereum operates what are known as smart contracts, which allow various things to be coded into an agreement that no longer needs a clearinghouse or third part. This offers substantial potential savings in financial markets, and has many, many other applications as well in telecomm, pharma, supply chain management etc.

There are various other "coins" as well that serve one purpose or another. They are known as "alt-coins" or ""alts".

This is taking hold on a global level, with multi-conglomerate consortiums being formed working with ethereum, various private blockchain initiatives rolling out etc. Goverments, such as China, are experimenting with blockchain tech to digitize their currency. States and municipalities are working in implementing this tech to save money.

Many companies have formed what is called the ethereum alliance. Announced a few months ago it continues to grow in size. The article also discusses how they work.

Bigger than bitcoin? Enterprise Ethereum Alliance grows in size

"Corporate support for the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) is growing after 86 firms including State Street, Toyota, Merck, ING, Broadridge and Rabobank joined the collective that is seeking to use blockchain technology to run smart contracts at Fortune 500 companies."

"JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, CME Group, BNY Mellon and other large multinationals are already EEA members, having joined when it was established in February 2017.

In a statement, Julio Faura, chairman of the EEA and head of blockchain innovation at Banco Santander, said, "the enthusiasm around EEA is remarkable".

He added: "Our new members come from varying industries such as pharma, mobile, banking, automotive, management consulting, and hardware."



I posted something on these in the investments section, as price is utterly exploding, but got no takers....
 
I do. Have for years at this point. Mined it, bought it, hold it, trade it on exchanges.

I don't mine bitcoin any longer, however, as it isn't cost effective with the electricity burned costing more than it would to just buy them.

I mine/hold/trade Ethereum as well. Those miners are still running.


They both operate on distributed ledger systems, aka blockchain, whereby there's no need for a third party, such as a bank or brokerage, to verify transactions. They also perform a myriad of other functions, with new apps rolling out continuously.

Btc is a value store similar to money. Ethereum operates what are known as smart contracts, which allow various things to be coded into an agreement that no longer needs a clearinghouse or third part. This offers substantial potential savings in financial markets, and has many, many other applications as well in telecomm, pharma, supply chain management etc.

There are various other "coins" as well that serve one purpose or another. They are known as "alt-coins" or ""alts".

This is taking hold on a global level, with multi-conglomerate consortiums being formed working with ethereum, various private blockchain initiatives rolling out etc. Goverments, such as China, are experimenting with blockchain tech to digitize their currency. States and municipalities are working in implementing this tech to save money.

Many companies have formed what is called the ethereum alliance. Announced a few months ago it continues to grow in size. The article also discusses how they work.

Bigger than bitcoin? Enterprise Ethereum Alliance grows in size

"Corporate support for the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) is growing after 86 firms including State Street, Toyota, Merck, ING, Broadridge and Rabobank joined the collective that is seeking to use blockchain technology to run smart contracts at Fortune 500 companies."

"JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, CME Group, BNY Mellon and other large multinationals are already EEA members, having joined when it was established in February 2017.

In a statement, Julio Faura, chairman of the EEA and head of blockchain innovation at Banco Santander, said, "the enthusiasm around EEA is remarkable".

He added: "Our new members come from varying industries such as pharma, mobile, banking, automotive, management consulting, and hardware."



I posted something on these in the investments section, as price is utterly exploding, but got no takers....
Very interesting thanks.
 
I do. Have for years at this point. Mined it, bought it, hold it, trade it on exchanges.

I don't mine bitcoin any longer, however, as it isn't cost effective with the electricity burned costing more than it would to just buy them.

I mine/hold/trade Ethereum as well. Those miners are still running.


They both operate on distributed ledger systems, aka blockchain, whereby there's no need for a third party, such as a bank or brokerage, to verify transactions. They also perform a myriad of other functions, with new apps rolling out continuously.

Btc is a value store similar to money. Ethereum operates what are known as smart contracts, which allow various things to be coded into an agreement that no longer needs a clearinghouse or third part. This offers substantial potential savings in financial markets, and has many, many other applications as well in telecomm, pharma, supply chain management etc.

There are various other "coins" as well that serve one purpose or another. They are known as "alt-coins" or ""alts".

This is taking hold on a global level, with multi-conglomerate consortiums being formed working with ethereum, various private blockchain initiatives rolling out etc. Goverments, such as China, are experimenting with blockchain tech to digitize their currency. States and municipalities are working in implementing this tech to save money.

Many companies have formed what is called the ethereum alliance. Announced a few months ago it continues to grow in size. The article also discusses how they work.

Bigger than bitcoin? Enterprise Ethereum Alliance grows in size

"Corporate support for the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) is growing after 86 firms including State Street, Toyota, Merck, ING, Broadridge and Rabobank joined the collective that is seeking to use blockchain technology to run smart contracts at Fortune 500 companies."

"JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, CME Group, BNY Mellon and other large multinationals are already EEA members, having joined when it was established in February 2017.

In a statement, Julio Faura, chairman of the EEA and head of blockchain innovation at Banco Santander, said, "the enthusiasm around EEA is remarkable".

He added: "Our new members come from varying industries such as pharma, mobile, banking, automotive, management consulting, and hardware."



I posted something on these in the investments section, as price is utterly exploding, but got no takers....
Very interesting thanks.


Sure, no problem. Happy to talk shop.

you can see coindesk.com for crypto news also.

Prices are sky high right now and there are rumblings that a bubble is forming there, which is likely the case. How high it goes before it plummets, or if it will fall hard, is anyone's guess, of course.

Markets down a little today off the all time highs of the last week or so, when bitcoin was running at 2700 and Ethereum hit 210, so we're in a correction at a minimum right now.....
 
People are expecting an announcement from China that they're loosening controls on some they exchanges, so that's driving price somewhat, as a lot of investment/market action comes from China.

Bitcoin has been working through scaling issues to speed up transaction times and may have finally resolved it. That may also be pushing BTC price up.

Ethereum looks like a juggernaut. It will be a while before that ecosystem takes hold and actually starts to function to the point where the market value is more in keeping with price, so a lot/most of the rise there is due to speculation.

Early tests in commodities markets, however, have been highly favorable.

ING has been running an Ethereum-based oil trading platform that is whipping ass:

More Banks to Sign Up for ING's Ethereum Oil Trading Platform - CoinDesk

"In the live trial, the average time it took for one of the banks to complete its role in the transaction dropped from about three hours using traditional analogue solution to 25 minutes on a distributed ledger. For traders, efficiency increased 33%, according to the company.

With the cost savings as a result of these efficiencies estimated by Mercuria to be as high as 30%, the potential margins available to platform providers is immense."
 
Something big is going on, that is for sure. It's interesting how little coverage Bitcoin or Ethereum gets in the MSM.


yep,right now it is "THE THING". Globally huge corporations and governments are hopping on in droves.

It's not getting a ton of MSM coverage yet, but that's starting to change. We're seeing it in financial sites, such as CSNBC, The WSJ, NASDAQ etc. Right now it's an investment vehicle for some and not something people in general are seeing as part of their daily lives, so they don't know, don't care and the MSM isn't picking it up because most people couldn't care less.

At some point it will be part of people's daily lives if it keeps on the path it's on and yet some people still may or may not even realize it.

For instance, do people think about what happens when they swipe a credit card in terms of the systems underpinning it? Do they consider the systems involved in energy distribution, data networks, stock exchanges etc. For the most part, no.

These are just things humming along in the background that most people pay little, if any, attention to. These sorts of things will be much the same in those same areas and most people won't even notice a change as, to them, there won't be one.
 
Something big is going on, that is for sure. It's interesting how little coverage Bitcoin or Ethereum gets in the MSM.


yep,right now it is "THE THING". Globally huge corporations and governments are hopping on in droves.

It's not getting a ton of MSM coverage yet, but that's starting to change. We're seeing it in financial sites, such as CSNBC, The WSJ, NASDAQ etc. Right now it's an investment vehicle for some and not something people in general are seeing as part of their daily lives, so they don't know, don't care and the MSM isn't picking it up because most people couldn't care less.

At some point it will be part of people's daily lives if it keeps on the path it's on and yet some people still may or may not even realize it.

For instance, do people think about what happens when they swipe a credit card in terms of the systems underpinning it? Do they consider the systems involved in energy distribution, data networks, stock exchanges etc. For the most part, no.

These are just things humming along in the background that most people pay little, if any, attention to. These sorts of things will be much the same in those same areas and most people won't even notice a change as, to them, there won't be one.
I've heard that it is easier to get cold hard cash from bitcoins than it used to be. They're more liquid. For instance I've heard of companies taking bitcoins for gold and silver bullion.

Is there any truth to that?
 
Something big is going on, that is for sure. It's interesting how little coverage Bitcoin or Ethereum gets in the MSM.


yep,right now it is "THE THING". Globally huge corporations and governments are hopping on in droves.

It's not getting a ton of MSM coverage yet, but that's starting to change. We're seeing it in financial sites, such as CSNBC, The WSJ, NASDAQ etc. Right now it's an investment vehicle for some and not something people in general are seeing as part of their daily lives, so they don't know, don't care and the MSM isn't picking it up because most people couldn't care less.

At some point it will be part of people's daily lives if it keeps on the path it's on and yet some people still may or may not even realize it.

For instance, do people think about what happens when they swipe a credit card in terms of the systems underpinning it? Do they consider the systems involved in energy distribution, data networks, stock exchanges etc. For the most part, no.

These are just things humming along in the background that most people pay little, if any, attention to. These sorts of things will be much the same in those same areas and most people won't even notice a change as, to them, there won't be one.
I've heard that it is easier to get cold hard cash from bitcoins than it used to be. They're more liquid. For instance I've heard of companies taking bitcoins for gold and silver bullion.

Is there any truth to that?


yep, much more fungible now.

you can buy and sell directly to and from your bank account via coinbase, or set up an account at one of a number of exchanges and buy and sell with USD there, etc.

and, yes, you can buy gold, silver, whatever with BTC. you can also buy VISA giftcards and spend it that way, and right now they're rolling out a debit card you can load with crypto and swipe it just like any other debit card.
 
Years ago my employer gave me the option of getting part of my quarterly bonus in bitcoin. Around $10,000. I didn't know jack shit about bitcoin. Never heard of bitcoin. He explained why he invests in bitcoin. I'm a gambling man so I decided to take a gamble. I got lucky as hell. In months that gamble was worth six figures.

I wouldn't invest in bitcoin again though. My instincts told me to quit while I was ahead and not to play that game again.

What employer would offer a bonus in bitcoin? That is just bizarre....but good job holding on to that and selling when you thought you should.
 
Years ago my employer gave me the option of getting part of my quarterly bonus in bitcoin. Around $10,000. I didn't know jack shit about bitcoin. Never heard of bitcoin. He explained why he invests in bitcoin. I'm a gambling man so I decided to take a gamble. I got lucky as hell. In months that gamble was worth six figures.

I wouldn't invest in bitcoin again though. My instincts told me to quit while I was ahead and not to play that game again.

What employer would offer a bonus in bitcoin? That is just bizarre....but good job holding on to that and selling when you thought you should.
One who is convinced they will go up in value.

But like I mentioned before, I would not gamble on bitcoins again. I'm smart enough to know when I just got lucky and it had nothing to do with my financial acumen.

It was luck, not skill.
 
Something big is going on, that is for sure. It's interesting how little coverage Bitcoin or Ethereum gets in the MSM.


yep,right now it is "THE THING". Globally huge corporations and governments are hopping on in droves.

It's not getting a ton of MSM coverage yet, but that's starting to change. We're seeing it in financial sites, such as CSNBC, The WSJ, NASDAQ etc. Right now it's an investment vehicle for some and not something people in general are seeing as part of their daily lives, so they don't know, don't care and the MSM isn't picking it up because most people couldn't care less.

At some point it will be part of people's daily lives if it keeps on the path it's on and yet some people still may or may not even realize it.

For instance, do people think about what happens when they swipe a credit card in terms of the systems underpinning it? Do they consider the systems involved in energy distribution, data networks, stock exchanges etc. For the most part, no.

These are just things humming along in the background that most people pay little, if any, attention to. These sorts of things will be much the same in those same areas and most people won't even notice a change as, to them, there won't be one.
I've heard that it is easier to get cold hard cash from bitcoins than it used to be. They're more liquid. For instance I've heard of companies taking bitcoins for gold and silver bullion.

Is there any truth to that?


yep, much more fungible now.

you can buy and sell directly to and from your bank account via coinbase, or set up an account at one of a number of exchanges and buy and sell with USD there, etc.

and, yes, you can buy gold, silver, whatever with BTC. you can also buy VISA giftcards and spend it that way, and right now they're rolling out a debit card you can load with crypto and swipe it just like any other debit card.
Ok I've been reading about this all day. I'm convinced this is the real deal. Just created my coinbase account. From what I read, this technology has all sorts of applications even things like electronic voting. Really interesting!
 
Price bubbles popped. Anyone looking for an entry point, this could be it.
 

New Topics

Forum List

Back
Top