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I am definitely trying to get down with some little side money. Is 300 a decent start to fuck around with???

Please halp!

Copied from the other thread I made, now closed...

 

If anyone wants to start up with crypto, feel free to jump into the conversation or DM me. If you dont have an account to buy yet, here's a referal code where you get a free $10 ass soon as you add $100 (I also get a free $10). https://www.coinbase.com/join/5a2fec64cd1ae9019f6e3b7

 

Coinbase is a great way to get started and an easy way to convert from dollar to crypto and back again, but its not really a trading platform. But you do have to start somewhere and Coinbase is great for that.

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I am definitely trying to get down with some little side money. Is 300 a decent start to fuck around with???

Please halp!

 

Probably more than you need, but your question is very subjective as I have no idea what your financial situation is. Unless you start dumping into shit coins, my opinion is that its very unlikely you'd lose it. But that my opinion and not fact. I'd probably suggest you start with $100. Buy in and then transfer a small amount to a private wallet, destroy and recover your wallet. Transfer some to a friend after they've spotted you for lunch or a beer. Transfer to an exchange or two and then start buying / selling some bitcoin and altcoin. Sounds like a pain in the ass and jumping through hoops, but you'll learn a ton if you take the time to actually use it in various ways. While you're doing that, come back here and ask questions, skim the news headlines and look at some of the links others have posted in here for recommended sources.

 

Add to the discussion, speculate and ask questions. You'll dial it in.

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I feel what you’re saying, I’m only saying that the text book classic definition of the value of fiat, it’s relationship to the economy and it’s purchasing power really don’t line up with real life considering the extent to which it’s all been manipulated.

 

Just going back to this point, I certainly agree that crypto has a great deal more potential for increasing the power of Mr and Ms E. Joe in terms of currency, trading and transactions. I very much like the idea of removing banks from as much of life as we can.

 

That said, I still believe you're offering text book explanations that are hardly representative of the way the world is actually working today. People trust the USA because they're forced to do so. First with with our involvement in WW2 and later with the petro dollar. The USA having the global reserve currency puts us at an unfair advantage in the global economy and absolutely shelters us from many of the negative effects of the games played with money and economics. I'd argue that transparency in the USA is just about as bad as China. The Federal Reserve, being a privately held corporation has not been audited in decades. Few people have any idea what they are truly up to and especially not the American taxpayer. Fact that they dumped over $1 trillion into the stock market after the crash of 2008 shows that they can make up the rules as they go along... Expanding and contracting the monetary supply at their discretion in order to prop up their own ideas for the growth of our debt based economy. Having the full faith of your government to back your currency / wealth is only good until it isn't and running the types of deficits we do, even mainstream economists say not if, but when the country becomes insolvent. Its common knowledge that the government used social security like a ponzi scheme and that it's close to bankrupt. The Obama administration got a standing ovation at his second state of the union address when he proposed making a 401k's government backed so they could unlock billions more money that doesn't belong to them.

 

No argument from me here. Again, I'm not supporting what the USD is backed by or saying it's a good idea, just that it's backed by something. And in saying that, whilst I agree that there are inherent problems..., big problems, with the ES economy it is not comparable to China in terms of confidence. The US economy has existed as it is since WWII and lots of people have been able to invest in it securely and make lots of money. Yes, the Fed is no transparent but it is largely predictable..., largely. And it's that stability and predictability that makes it viable. People don't necessarily care so much for ethics and values such as that they prefer predictability more than anything when it comes to economies and the US does have that enough to be a sound investment.

 

As for the the US being the global standard, that gives the US a great deal of power in the world. It can unilaterally level sanctions against any country or organisation in the world given that if you trade you have to touch the US system in some shape or form. China is doing it's best to raise the RMB to a global standard, which will take a very long time but they are doing it starting with currency swaps and the like, so they can firstly, insulate themselves a bit from US economic power and secondly, to have that power themselves.

 

Fact is pretty much everything we call out or try to police around the world, we've already been doing ourselves for longer. Calling out China for manipulating its currency to be more competitive on the global market... Shit, we invented that racket. Still stand behind my statement that the dollar isn't backed by anything much more significant than the trust of the people. Sure we can point to the gold holdings nobody has been allowed to see for decades, the GDP, the overall health or growth of the national economy, but considering they've been playing with those numbers for decades, fact is its all smoke and mirrors. So far every single administration has changed the rules for how unemployment is reported. After the ACA, they still sat there trying to say that unemployment was barely affected and hovered at something like 6%. Reminds me of when you get caught doing graffiti... They literally watched you catch a tag, see paint on your hands, see the can at your feet, yet you still look the cops in the eye and say it wasn't you.

 

Yeah, for sure. However, when it comes to power, which every state is based upon, you're mistaken to involve values in any kind of analysis. States very rarely do things because they should, the do them because they can and because it benefits their interests. A lot of the time what benefits the state aligns wit what benefits the nation (social contract, etc.) but a lot of the time it doesn't, of course. And in international relations, honesty is not the currency. Supporting the national interest is the only game in town there and you're only banging your head against the wall if you focus on things like hypocrisy, duplicity and deceit as unfortunately these are the standard and the tools of the trade.

 

You admit that the USD has as much "worth" as a bitcoin does then?

 

Nope, never said that and don't know why you're making out that I did. All I've said is that the USD is an IOU or a share in the US economy/national wealth and it's potential and thus the USD is backed by something. I'm not saying if that is a good or bad fact or if it should be that way or not. I'm just saying that is a fact, and it is.

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Thanks dude. Can you post that link from the 12oz story line on the gram in here. I’m completely in the dark Man. I’m talkin like link for link steps . I can pm you if that could work also. Gladly trade off some stickers, art, or whatever in exchange for some extra assistance. I trust my 12oz peoples.. boats n hoes told me to holler on here.

Probably more than you need, but your question is very subjective as I have no idea what your financial situation is. Unless you start dumping into shit coins, my opinion is that its very unlikely you'd lose it. But that my opinion and not fact. I'd probably suggest you start with $100. Buy in and then transfer a small amount to a private wallet, destroy and recover your wallet. Transfer some to a friend after they've spotted you for lunch or a beer. Transfer to an exchange or two and then start buying / selling some bitcoin and altcoin. Sounds like a pain in the ass and jumping through hoops, but you'll learn a ton if you take the time to actually use it in various ways. While you're doing that, come back here and ask questions, skim the news headlines and look at some of the links others have posted in here for recommended sources.

 

Add to the discussion, speculate and ask questions. You'll dial it in.

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I assumed you'd start a "Post your lambo" thread since I remembered you talking about mining BTC way back when, I think pre MT Gox 2012ish.

 

Either way man good to se you post in here, been a long time.

 

You know I'd be Scrooge McDuckin' it, butt ass nekkid, tubesock on my pee pee, floppin' it to this song in a video

that exists in a permastickied thread on every subforum 12oz has (I'd buy 12oz)..

 

 

 

Ethereum is where it's at.

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That's usually the easiest way to start. You have to go through an ID process with Coinbase by giving them your ssn/dob and scanning a copy of your photo ID and sending it in. Takes about a week to get approved last time I checked. They good thing about Coinbase is they own GDAX, and the accounts are interchangeable. If you use GDAX correctly you don't have to worry about exchange fees.

 

Being in New York State, I only have "legal" access to 3 exchanges. Coinbase which has the highest fees, Followed by Gemini which is a little bit lower, then GDAX which is the lowest. Those are the only 3 gateways into/out of Fiat (USD) that I currently use. One of the reasons they're allowed to operate in New York State is they have to keep a certain amount of capitol in reserve, making them more trustworthy. Should the market tank, they "should" still be able to allow withdrawals, where some other exchanges are cutting it close, and will go down when and if the market tanks hard enough.

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That's usually the easiest way to start. You have to go through an ID process with Coinbase by giving them your ssn/dob and scanning a copy of your photo ID and sending it in. Takes about a week to get approved last time I checked. They good thing about Coinbase is they own GDAX, and the accounts are interchangeable. If you use GDAX correctly you don't have to worry about exchange fees.

 

Being in New York State, I only have "legal" access to 3 exchanges. Coinbase which has the highest fees, Followed by Gemini which is a little bit lower, then GDAX which is the lowest. Those are the only 3 gateways into/out of Fiat (USD) that I currently use. One of the reasons they're allowed to operate in New York State is they have to keep a certain amount of capitol in reserve, making them more trustworthy. Should the market tank, they "should" still be able to allow withdrawals, where some other exchanges are cutting it close, and will go down when and if the market tanks hard enough.

 

 

Sounds like you're in it pretty deep.

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damn I didn’t know you had to worry about what state you were in!? Wtf. I got coinbase via ravens link and I for damn sure haven’t noticed them asking for all that stuff you mentioned. Is that what they’ll ask for when I try making my first transaction? Appreciate the responses also Man! I got myself a ProtonMail acct and coinbase so far. Loot ready to buy a little off my buddy in PayPal. Ethereum I guess. I’ve alsi been listening to this crypto 101 podcast that has been extremely informative for a noob level guy like myself.

That's usually the easiest way to start. You have to go through an ID process with Coinbase by giving them your ssn/dob and scanning a copy of your photo ID and sending it in. Takes about a week to get approved last time I checked. They good thing about Coinbase is they own GDAX, and the accounts are interchangeable. If you use GDAX correctly you don't have to worry about exchange fees.

 

Being in New York State, I only have "legal" access to 3 exchanges. Coinbase which has the highest fees, Followed by Gemini which is a little bit lower, then GDAX which is the lowest. Those are the only 3 gateways into/out of Fiat (USD) that I currently use. One of the reasons they're allowed to operate in New York State is they have to keep a certain amount of capitol in reserve, making them more trustworthy. Should the market tank, they "should" still be able to allow withdrawals, where some other exchanges are cutting it close, and will go down when and if the market tanks hard enough.

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Thanks dude. Can you post that link from the 12oz story line on the gram in here. I’m completely in the dark Man. I’m talkin like link for link steps . I can pm you if that could work also. Gladly trade off some stickers, art, or whatever in exchange for some extra assistance. I trust my 12oz peoples.. boats n hoes told me to holler on here.

 

Yeah man, here you go... This is what we sent to people in response to the last few WOBF tees. Its honestly as basic as it gets, but will earn you and (and myself) a free $10 on a referral once you fund it to $100. Seems all teh exchanges are cancelling the referral bonuses so no idea how much longer they'll keep giving away the 10%.

 

I also have a simple tutorial I sent to some close friends. If anyones interested in that, DM me.

 

---------------------

 

 

How to open a free crypto (Coinbase) account:

 

1. Go to Coinbase using our referral code - http://bit.ly/12ozCB and sign up. It’s fast and free. When you connect a credit card or bank account and add $100, you’ll get $10 free. You can always transfer the money back to your account.

 

2. Once you have an account and have added $100, purchase enough Bitcoin (BTC) to cover the cost of your order.

 

3. Hit us up for our private crypto address. You must send the cost of the shirt ($40 for short sleeve or $50 for long sleeve plus $6.50 for Priority 2 day shipping. Add your name, address and what your ordering to the notes when you send.

 

4. Email us that you’ve done it and we’ll email you back a confirmation and ship same day or the next day at latest.

 

5. Highly suggest going to the 12ozProphet forum and participate in the Crypto discussion to learn why this is a big deal… http://bit.ly/12ozCrypto

 

Peace,

 

12ozProphet

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Heard I was mentioned in this thread. I don't have much to say about crypto except these wise words "buy low, sell high" and "don't mortgage your house for crypto".

 

Also; no beef with any admin or mods.

 

Oh come on... Surely you have some wild tales of buying property and exotic sports cars in Monaco from early bitcoin riches?

 

Tell me your personal assistant's, personal assistant is actually posting this on your behalf from your lux private helicopter?

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damn I didn’t know you had to worry about what state you were in!? Wtf. I got coinbase via ravens link and I for damn sure haven’t noticed them asking for all that stuff you mentioned. Is that what they’ll ask for when I try making my first transaction? Appreciate the responses also Man! I got myself a ProtonMail acct and coinbase so far. Loot ready to buy a little off my buddy in PayPal. Ethereum I guess. I’ve alsi been listening to this crypto 101 podcast that has been extremely informative for a noob level guy like myself.

 

Yeah the USA based exchanges ask for a bunch of personal info to register. Its mostly to track capital gains once you convert from crypto back into dollars. You dont get taxed (usually) on stuff you buy (at least by the IRS) though even that is a great area. In any case, the plan is to only start in coinbase. It's easy to buy BTC, ETH and LTC there. Plus the free $10 covers a fair bit of the transaction fees (though Coinbase is typically highger than other exchanges, its still very low compared to most financial transactions). Once you get started on there, shift your crypto around... Learn to send to yourself on a different exchange like Binance or Bittrex or to a private wallet. Learn to destroy and recover, buy, sell, trade and shape shift. Start with a $100 and then play with it a few dollars at a time until you learn whats it like and how it works. Once you get to this point, start researching altcoins... Learn who's behind them, what the origin and purpose of that particular coin is. Track its history and start comparing it to others. Start filtering news and watching how certain news and outlets affect the prices. Start buying / trading a few coins and look at the percentage of your wins / losses. Once you feel confident, start putting more money into it and develop a trading strategy that works for you. Never invest more than you can afford to lose and don't be greedy. Try to pull your investments out once you get rolling so if the entire situation goes to hell, you can at least say you arent any of your own money.

 

Asl questions, learn, give back.

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That's usually the easiest way to start. You have to go through an ID process with Coinbase by giving them your ssn/dob and scanning a copy of your photo ID and sending it in. Takes about a week to get approved last time I checked. They good thing about Coinbase is they own GDAX, and the accounts are interchangeable. If you use GDAX correctly you don't have to worry about exchange fees.

 

Being in New York State, I only have "legal" access to 3 exchanges. Coinbase which has the highest fees, Followed by Gemini which is a little bit lower, then GDAX which is the lowest. Those are the only 3 gateways into/out of Fiat (USD) that I currently use. One of the reasons they're allowed to operate in New York State is they have to keep a certain amount of capitol in reserve, making them more trustworthy. Should the market tank, they "should" still be able to allow withdrawals, where some other exchanges are cutting it close, and will go down when and if the market tanks hard enough.

 

No idea how they can possibly enforce this in any way. Suggest trading on the international exchanges and then buying silver / gold at http://www.jmbullion.com when you're ready to convert to start spending some of your gains or better yet stacking your savings. Obviously the international exchanges aren't backed by any government regulation, but then again, whats that really matter? I wouldn't leave my millions floating on them, but then again, not sure I'd leave my millions in a bank either.

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Fully agree, over 50% of my portfolio has been ETH since March. Basically the only one that has a real use case outside of speculation.

 

Passing on NEO, but have a small Hedge against ETH with EOS & Cardano holdings. Eggs/Basket rule.

 

Lot of news about NEO this weekend. Mainly an announcement about some clone of the lightning network or something allowing for easy, cheap and fast private transactions for NEO. Wish I'd gotten down with it a while ago but still thinking it's not too late.

 

That being said, there's definitely two ways to look at all this... The long term safe plays like buying blue chip stocks and being happy with the dividends or buying the shit coins and putting your chips down vegas style, LOL!

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at the risk of sounding even more n00b retarded than I already do, I gotta ask how the fuck is all this extra precaution and anonymity supposed to do any good if coinbase has ALL of your information?? It feels hella weird thinking about punching in my debit card info and giving my id to coinbase to sign up, (I'm almost fully registered). Did y'all open separate bank acts specifically for this purpose?? Is using your normal ass checking act normal? My buddy's agreed to sell me some ethereum. But Im on full standby atm. HALP. ME. UNDERSTANDS.

Yeah man, here you go... This is what we sent to people in response to the last few WOBF tees. Its honestly as basic as it gets, but will earn you and (and myself) a free $10 on a referral once you fund it to $100. Seems all teh exchanges are cancelling the referral bonuses so no idea how much longer they'll keep giving away the 10%.

 

I also have a simple tutorial I sent to some close friends. If anyones interested in that, DM me.

 

---------------------

 

 

How to open a free crypto (Coinbase) account:

 

1. Go to Coinbase using our referral code - http://bit.ly/12ozCB and sign up. It’s fast and free. When you connect a credit card or bank account and add $100, you’ll get $10 free. You can always transfer the money back to your account.

 

2. Once you have an account and have added $100, purchase enough Bitcoin (BTC) to cover the cost of your order.

 

3. Hit us up for our private crypto address. You must send the cost of the shirt ($40 for short sleeve or $50 for long sleeve plus $6.50 for Priority 2 day shipping. Add your name, address and what your ordering to the notes when you send.

 

4. Email us that you’ve done it and we’ll email you back a confirmation and ship same day or the next day at latest.

 

5. Highly suggest going to the 12ozProphet forum and participate in the Crypto discussion to learn why this is a big deal… http://bit.ly/12ozCrypto

 

Peace,

 

12ozProphet

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at the risk of sounding even more n00b retarded than I already do, I gotta ask how the fuck is all this extra precaution and anonymity supposed to do any good if coinbase has ALL of your information?? It feels hella weird thinking about punching in my debit card info and giving my id to coinbase to sign up, (I'm almost fully registered). Did y'all open separate bank acts specifically for this purpose?? Is using your normal ass checking act normal? My buddy's agreed to sell me some ethereum. But Im on full standby atm. HALP. ME. UNDERSTANDS.

 

Doesn’t really matter what you spend. They focus on the money you make. Obviously if your spending wildly outweighs your income, they’d wonder what the deal was and come ask. That said, dropping money every so often buying crypto isn’t going to raise any interest. Converting your crypto back into dollars is what they want to know, especially if more dollars come out of it then when you put in (capital gains).

 

As mentioned, drop a $100 or whatever you can afford. Learn how it works, transfer it off Coinbase. Once it’s off their exchange, it’s gone for all intents and purposes. You could have shot it to a dozen friends to cover coffee and beers since verifying that fact is a waste of time, considering the dollar amount and complexity of tracing it.

 

Once you’re doing big things, it most likely won’t be on Coinbase. Also by that point, you won’t have questions like this, so don’t sweat it. Buy some crypto, mess with it. Like I mantioned, transfer a few bucks to a private wallet. Try and destroy it and then restore it back. Send a dollars worth to a friend. Send half to yourself on an international exchange. Trade it for some altcoins. Just start using it. Learn.

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Now I'm starting to think instead of Casek, AOD was the guy that had Symbols beef and was mining bitcoin 2012ish??? Not sure though. I distinctly remember some sort of crossfire snafu where "fuck this I'm mining bitcoin" was mentioned. Had to be one of the libertarian leaning guys, It's bothering me now.

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George Soros From Davos: Bitcoin Is A 'Typical Bubble'

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gurufocus/2018/01/25/george-soros-from-davos-bitcoin-is-a-typical-bubble/#32857b5f29d0

 

Legendary investor George Soros joined a chorus of well-known investors calling bitcoin a bubble this week, making his remarks in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Thursday.

 

“Cryptocurrency is a misnomer and is a typical bubble, which is always based on some kind of misunderstanding,” the financier and founder of the $26 billion Soros Fund Management said.

 

“Bitcoin is not a currency because a currency is supposed to be a stable store of value and the currency that can fluctuate 25% in a day can’t be used for instance to pay wages because wages drop by 25% in a day. It’s a speculation. Based on a misunderstanding,” he added.

 

Soros earned a reputation for making masterful calls based on macroeconomic conditions over several decades through his storied Quantum Fund, which produced average annual returns of 20% through its history. Seth Klarman, founder of the Baupost Group, also deemed bitcoin a bubble Thursday, calling cryptocurrencies “tulip bulbs for the digital age” in a fourth-quarter letter. Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, called the bitcoin a bubble in an interview with CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

 

Other high-profile investors have taken the opposite position. Bill Miller, chief investment officer of the Miller Value Partners hedge fund, told Consuelo Mack in a WealthTrack podcast that he had about 50% of the fund in bitcoin in December.

 

Soros went on to comment on blockchain technology and the crash of bitcoin during his speech:

 

“There’s also as very innovative blockchain technology, which can be used for positive or negative purposes. Currently it’s used mostly for tax evasion and for people and the rulers and dictatorships to build a nest egg abroad,” he said.

 

So recently there was a just now a … conference where instead of discussing conditions in Russia they mainly discussed bitcoin because that’s what the rulers were interested in. So this will have a big effect on the valuation of bitcoin. Normally when you have parabolic eventually it has very sharp break but in this case as long as you have got dictatorships on the rise you will have a different ending because the rulers in those countries are going to turn to bitoin to build their nest egg abroad. So I expect instead of an abrupt break to have a rather flat top over.

 

But it’s nevertheless a bubble typical which is always based on a misunderstanding like the tulip mania. But the blockchain technology can be put to positive use and we use it actually in helping migrants to communicate with their families and to keep their money safe and carry it with themselves."

 

 

 

....aaaaaaaaaaaaand GO!!

 

pbrU.gif

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George Soros From Davos: Bitcoin Is A 'Typical Bubble'

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gurufocus/2018/01/25/george-soros-from-davos-bitcoin-is-a-typical-bubble/#32857b5f29d0

 

Legendary investor George Soros joined a chorus of well-known investors calling bitcoin a bubble this week, making his remarks in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Thursday.

 

“Cryptocurrency is a misnomer and is a typical bubble, which is always based on some kind of misunderstanding,” the financier and founder of the $26 billion Soros Fund Management said.

 

“Bitcoin is not a currency because a currency is supposed to be a stable store of value and the currency that can fluctuate 25% in a day can’t be used for instance to pay wages because wages drop by 25% in a day. It’s a speculation. Based on a misunderstanding,” he added.

 

Soros earned a reputation for making masterful calls based on macroeconomic conditions over several decades through his storied Quantum Fund, which produced average annual returns of 20% through its history. Seth Klarman, founder of the Baupost Group, also deemed bitcoin a bubble Thursday, calling cryptocurrencies “tulip bulbs for the digital age” in a fourth-quarter letter. Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, called the bitcoin a bubble in an interview with CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

 

Other high-profile investors have taken the opposite position. Bill Miller, chief investment officer of the Miller Value Partners hedge fund, told Consuelo Mack in a WealthTrack podcast that he had about 50% of the fund in bitcoin in December.

 

Soros went on to comment on blockchain technology and the crash of bitcoin during his speech:

 

“There’s also as very innovative blockchain technology, which can be used for positive or negative purposes. Currently it’s used mostly for tax evasion and for people and the rulers and dictatorships to build a nest egg abroad,” he said.

 

So recently there was a just now a … conference where instead of discussing conditions in Russia they mainly discussed bitcoin because that’s what the rulers were interested in. So this will have a big effect on the valuation of bitcoin. Normally when you have parabolic eventually it has very sharp break but in this case as long as you have got dictatorships on the rise you will have a different ending because the rulers in those countries are going to turn to bitoin to build their nest egg abroad. So I expect instead of an abrupt break to have a rather flat top over.

 

But it’s nevertheless a bubble typical which is always based on a misunderstanding like the tulip mania. But the blockchain technology can be put to positive use and we use it actually in helping migrants to communicate with their families and to keep their money safe and carry it with themselves."

 

 

 

....aaaaaaaaaaaaand GO!!

 

pbrU.gif

 

Dudes like him will be part of the set that loses from something like this. Granted he has enough money for a thousand lifetimes anyways, but crypto is the biggest threat to the establishment in many millennia.

 

Soros is a complete sack of shit. World will be a better place when that dude is rotting in the ground, though seems he already has his son well into the training stage to continue.

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When you've been deep in crypto as long as I have you start to see patterns. Remember, this is a huge threat to people who have profited the most from legacy financial systems. Even if they actually understood how cryptocurrencies worked, they'd never endorse them or encourage their popularity.

 

George Soros From Davos: Bitcoin Is A 'Typical Bubble'

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gurufocus/2018/01/25/george-soros-from-davos-bitcoin-is-a-typical-bubble/#32857b5f29d0

 

Legendary investor George Soros joined a chorus of well-known investors calling bitcoin a bubble this week, making his remarks in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Thursday.

 

“Cryptocurrency is a misnomer and is a typical bubble, which is always based on some kind of misunderstanding,” the financier and founder of the $26 billion Soros Fund Management said.

 

“Bitcoin is not a currency because a currency is supposed to be a stable store of value and the currency that can fluctuate 25% in a day can’t be used for instance to pay wages because wages drop by 25% in a day. It’s a speculation. Based on a misunderstanding,” he added.pbrU.gif

 

Anyone who calls Bitcoin "a bubble" is usually just parroting someone else who's made the same mistake. Many people unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies try to understand this new financial asset by drawing comparisons to something they already understand. It's human nature, when someone sees a person that looks/dresses a certain way, they naturally make assumptions about the person based on past experiences with others that looked or dressed in a similar fashion. This false comparison to tulip mania, or other bubbles is favored mainly by people who do have a deep understanding of existing financial assets, and economics, but very little understanding of cryptography, and computer science.

 

Sure, bitcoin is a bubble, one day it will be worth "nothing". The real question is when that will happen. Tomorrow, next week, In a couple of years, a few generations from now?. As someone who has a better grasp on how it works, the needs it can fill, and the actual forces behind it's exponential growth in popularity, I feel it will be worth "something" much longer than the US dollar, the Euro, the Yen, and other legacy Fiat currencies.

 

The actual worth of a financial asset is driven by a shared mass hallucination. Gold isn't worth anything. If you're cold, hungry, or need shelter, gold won't keep you warm, feed you, or keep you out of the wind and rain. Outside of some minor industrial applications in an advanced economy, It's only value is that it facilitates trade. Sure, it's shiny, and makes for catchy jewelry, but no more so that costume jewelry with almost no financial value. Without the mass hallucination that gives it a universally accepted value, it's worth less than salt, or even fire wood by weight. The same can be said for all precious metals, the currencies that are backed by them, and other financial assets like fiat, stocks, bonds etc.

 

The Mona Lisa might keep you warm for a short period of time, if it's broken up into small pieces and burned. That's it only real value without shared mass hallucination. As human beings, almost all of us share the same thought patterns when it comes to things like great works of art, that will almost universally lead to a priceless valuation of a Da Vinci painting, once the human understands exactly what makes the painting important.

 

To deny bitcoin's value as a financial asset, while ignoring the same forces that give other "worthless" financial assets their value merely shows a lack of understanding. Once someone understands the combination of cryptography, computer science, and economics that gives bitcoin it's value, and have lead to it's meteoric rise, they usually don't make the mistake of calling it a bubble, ponzi, or a fraud.

 

Unlike cash, and other existing financial assets decentralised cryptocurrency cannot be seized or confiscated without direct compliance by it's holder. It's uncounterfitable, the transactions are immutable & irreversible, and it's use cannot be stopped without shutting down the internet on a global scale. These advantages have never been achieved by any other financial asset. They are based in fact, and some of the main driving forces behind it's adoption. It will become more stable with scale, and adoption, it's still under 1 trillion.

 

Soros earned a reputation for making masterful calls based on macroeconomic conditions over several decades through his storied Quantum Fund, which produced average annual returns of 20% through its history. Seth Klarman, founder of the Baupost Group, also deemed bitcoin a bubble Thursday, calling cryptocurrencies “tulip bulbs for the digital age” in a fourth-quarter letter. Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, called the bitcoin a bubble in an interview with CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

 

Other high-profile investors have taken the opposite position. Bill Miller, chief investment officer of the Miller Value Partners hedge fund, told Consuelo Mack in a WealthTrack podcast that he had about 50% of the fund in bitcoin in December.

 

Soros went on to comment on blockchain technology and the crash of bitcoin during his speech:

 

“There’s also as very innovative blockchain technology, which can be used for positive or negative purposes. Currently it’s used mostly for tax evasion and for people and the rulers and dictatorships to build a nest egg abroad,” he said.

 

Soros's line of bitcoin denial went out of fashion sometime in 2016. The thing with tax evasion, money laundering, dark web applications is: yes, there's a small kernel of truth there. There are a minority of cryptocurrency users that are use it for nefarious purposes. At the same time, there are even more people using cash for those purposes. It would be just as ridiculous to say we should ban the use of cash because (fact) the vast majority of drug dealers on earth still use cash. Terrorism was funded through the use of banks, do we call for the ban on banks? It would be harmful overall to get rid of systems like banks, cash etc. just to stop bad actors that would inevitably use other means.

 

Addressing the common misconception that "blockchain is a great technology, but bitcoin isn't" is even easier. Again, only shows a clear lack of understanding by the person making the statement. There are great advantages in using the legacy technologies that currently run our financial systems. Most of those advantages have to do with appeal to authority. Banks can reverse fraudulent transactions, governments can freeze, or confiscate ill gotten funds. None of those advantages are compatible with blockchain technology. If one wanted to create a State/Establishment endorsed financial asset by using an immutable ledger, they would lose 100% of those advantages. They might as well just use bitcoin itself, it's way more secure because it's got a massive amount of computing already power behind it. I'm not going to waste a bunch of time explaining this point further, but think about it. If you wanted a digital currency that had some sort of central control, the last thing you'd want to use is any form of immutable ledger.

 

So recently there was a just now a … conference where instead of discussing conditions in Russia they mainly discussed bitcoin because that’s what the rulers were interested in. So this will have a big effect on the valuation of bitcoin. Normally when you have parabolic eventually it has very sharp break but in this case as long as you have got dictatorships on the rise you will have a different ending because the rulers in those countries are going to turn to bitoin to build their nest egg abroad. So I expect instead of an abrupt break to have a rather flat top over.

 

But it’s nevertheless a bubble typical which is always based on a misunderstanding like the tulip mania. But the blockchain technology can be put to positive use and we use it actually in helping migrants to communicate with their families and to keep their money safe and carry it with themselves."

 

 

 

 

....aaaaaaaaaaaaand GO!!

 

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Large governments have already tried banning it with very limited success. They might be able to affect the price, and shut down public institutions dealing with it like exchanges, but they don't have enough control to stop it's adoption. I've struggled with understanding this until I watched what China was doing over the last couple of years.

 

Besides, governments are sluggish when it comes to adopting, and understanding new technology. If you do enough business with government agencies in 2018, you still might need things like fax machines because that's how they are. Adaptation, and advancement get slower the larger a government is. Small local governments can evolve almost at the pace of a large business (if properly run), State/Provincial governments are much slower at adaptation, and by the time it scales to a Federal government in countries large enough for international influence, adaptation in most cases essentially grinds to a stop compared to the rest of society. By the time governments large enough for international influence start working together internationally to stop the advancement of cryptocurrency, my money is literally betting it will be too late. We might even be there already.

 

Never forget the motivations of Satoshi and why he invented bitcoin. It's doing exactly what it was designed to do.

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