Bitcoin

[burrocrat]

i use cash. two dolla bills. it is funny to watch folks scrunch their noses at cash, especially a full strap of two's. my bank hates me, i walk in and they see me coming, i make them get the cashier (different from a teller) and go into the vault. yep, that's right, 100 two dolla bills, get it.

 

[1965Vintage]

When I am researching Digital Currency and also when I am trying to explain it to my friends I always think of this scene in "Oh' Brother where art thou" where he talks about the "brave new world" and everybody being "hooked up to a grid. "A veritable age of reason!" Always makes me laugh.

 

[k0nkuzh0n]

Based on what? How exactly do calculate the value of a bitcoin today, let alone at years end?

Realistic target $7,000 to $9,000 by year end. $5,000 minimum by year end.

 

[mikekellyonline]

It drives me nuts how people respond to using cash as if it's an inconvenience to them. Why not just swipe your debit card? It's the same as cash anyway. I may play games like giving extra money to get even change. When they realize they have to subtract they often times look at me like a deer in the headlights. It's quite fun. I'm evil, too. I'll literally wait for them to figure it out. (*insert common core rhetoric)

 

[burrocrat]

ha, counting change is a lost art. if it costs $18.68 then you say "and here's 0.02 makes seventy, 5 cents is 75, a quarter is 18, clink, one and two make twenty". and have them beels lined heads up. nobody does that anymore.

 

[burrocrat]

 

[PessOptimist]

It drives me nuts how people respond to using cash as if it's an inconvenience to them. Why not just swipe your debit card? It's the same as cash anyway. I may play games like giving extra money to get even change. When they realize they have to subtract they often times look at me like a deer in the headlights. It's quite fun. I'm evil, too. I'll literally wait for them to figure it out. (*insert common core rhetoric)

Using a debit card at any establishment around here is like giving someone a pipe to your checking account. Same goes for using a credit card. Before you get back home you will have phone calls from your financial institution. Credit cards you can deny the transaction but debit card is usually “too bad so sad”. I used to play that even change game but it just messes with a person who is at least employed. Just hand them the cash, take the change the register computes and go on about your business.

ha, counting change is a lost art. if it costs $18.68 then you say "and here's 0.02 makes seventy, 5 cents is 75, a quarter is 18, clink, one and two make twenty". and have them beels lined heads up. nobody does that anymore.

Yeah, see above about screwing with someone who is employed. Apparently it is a lost art. You are trying to screw yourself out of a buck. Just give them a $20 and take the $1.32 the register computes. You seem to be giving up $2.32 for an $18.68 purchase just to get change for a $20 dollar bill out of what? A $50? No one around here will take a $50.

Based on what? How exactly do calculate the value of a bitcoin today, let alone at years end?

That’s a good question. Is there anyone here actually using bitcoin to receive money or pay bills? Is this all speculation on a possible future currency?

 

[burrocrat]

therein lies the rub... if they can't count then it is easy to tease out another dollar...

 

[k0nkuzh0n]

People think 2 decimal places is hard to calculate change... bitcoin has 8 decimal places. 1 Satoshi is 0.00000001 bitcoins

Oh you gave me 1 bit coin for your 0.00228006 coffee*? Here's 997 millibitcoin, 719 microbitcoin, and 94 Satoshi in change... You get all that? :laugh:

*$5 coffee at current exchange rate of 2192.92 bitcoin = $1.

ha, counting change is a lost art. if it costs $18.68 then you say "and here's 0.02 makes seventy, 5 cents is 75, a quarter is 18, clink, one and two make twenty". and have them beels lined heads up. nobody does that anymore.

 

[tsptalk]

Yeah, that is a little weird, but at least it's all electronic and no change would have to be made by the millennials.

But yeah, things will have to be priced in dollars and converted (similar to foreign currencies) because the decimals will make it tough to determine price. Although a monthly subscription to TSP Talk Plus would only be 0.0083 bitcoin. Practically giving it away.

 

[tsptalk]

That’s a good question. Is there anyone here actually using bitcoin to receive money or pay bills? Is this all speculation on a possible future currency?

I haven't paid for anything myself yet. I'm more in the hording phase right now. But I know there are bitcoin ATM's out there (https://coinatmradar.com/) and multiplying and if I wanted to send anyone bitcoin, they need to have a wallet set up, in which case it would take seconds to make the transfer.

As I mentioned in another post, I could set up bitcoin as a payment option here at TSP Talk, but there doesn't seem to be an interest yet. Soon, however.

It's the blockchain technology that makes it so attractive. No more Visa / Amex fees, or Paypal fees to buy / sell something. Just person to person without a third party / bank in between. No checks clearing in 3 to 5 business days, etc. This is what is exciting the tech geeks.

 

[uscfanhawaii]

Those of you on this thread....I am just curious.....what is your current investment in Bitcoin? $1,000? $10,000?
I am thinking of getting on board, but, darnit, it keeps going up $100 per day!!

 

[tsptalk]

I own just 2.3 bitcoin at an average price of $955 per coin.

FYI, it just dropped $200 off its intraday high near $2300. Currently about $2140.

 

[tsptalk]

Uh, oh... CNBC is talking about bitcoin and uscfanhawaii is now considering buying. Could that be the sign of a top?

j/k :laugh:

... but it is down 10% from this morning's peak.

Source: Stock Market Sentiment Research - sentimenTrader

 

[burrocrat]

so i read an article on cnbc and it said if i had bought $100 of bitcoin 7 years ago that i would have $75 million now.

just exactly how would i go about monetizing that $75 million and getting it into a bank and buy my rock star party bus? how many digital wallets would i need? how would i keep two dozen 30 digit hexadecimal cryptokeys straight? how i would i make this into real money?

that is the part i don't understand. my computer regularly locks up and crashes, prolly cause all the porn i sometimes watch. what to do about that? ain't gonna quit watchin porn i can tell you that much.

 

[1965Vintage]

Based on what? How exactly do calculate the value of a bitcoin today, let alone at years end?

I am a slow typer so I can't write down everything I have learned in the past few months of researching Bitcoin and Blockchain.

But here is what I know:

There is a limit to how many Bitcoin that can be mined. It's 21 million.
There are 16.9 million now.
There are 7+ Billion people in this world. (You can do all kinds of math with that)

Japan recognized BTC as a legal currency. They even Insure it in bank deposits now.
July 1 Australia is going to do the same thing.
That is just two countries out of how many? What are there, like 800 countries? I have no idea but it's a lot. And as each one starts using Bitcoin for transactions, and they will they price will rise. Why? Because there are only ever going to be 21 million.

The more people that buy Bitcoin, the more the price goes up.
Bill Gates believes it will be a million before it levels out and is in use by the majority of the world for financial transactions. I do too.

Here: Do a little reading up on what it is and what it is capable of.
Why use bitcoin? - CoinDesk

Right now you and I are discussing it. All over the world the same thing is going on. But so far only about 10% of the entire world population has even even heard of Bitcoin. Only 2% are using it so far. Imagine what will happen as those numbers grow! It is going to be unlike anything the world has ever seen. Bigger than any one invention.
It gives the people back power over their own finances.
These are exciting times.

Of course to understand what makes all this work you need to understand Blockchain.

But you don't have to understand it to use it. And one day you will use it. Just like we use Paypal now. And Credit Cards. We will all use Bitcoin. By the time the majority of people are using it the price will be more stable and likely in the hundreds of thousands. Of course to those people the price wont matter because it will be stable.

But those of us who learn about it early and buy some early and just hold it. Well, we are going to be sitting pretty! Even a few hundred dollars invested now could and should be worth a heck of a lot in 10 or 15 years when it is mainstream and has reached its stable price.

Oh, and don't listen to the people saying the banks are going to "stop it". They cant. That's the genius of it. This is a "Bank killer!"
Bitcoin gives people back the power over their money. Once everyone figures that out. Everyone will want to use it for their transactions.
And it is starting now.

So how do I value it? How do I think $7,000 to $9,000 is possible by years end? Because I fully expect the "he told two friends, and they told two friends" system to work and drive the price that high by then. But it is just a guess. But a lot of people a whole lot smarter than me think the same thing.

Like Bill Gates.

 

[burrocrat]

ha! so it is like digital iron pyrite then? fool's gold?

and the commercial was for breck shampoo "she told two friends and they told two friends" the blonde 1980's girls just kept multiplying on the cathode ray tube. now between breck shampoo and the jc penney xmas catalog, that is how i pretty much learned sex education. which probably explains a lot, but i'm not getting into that part of the equation. i still don't understand the day to day practical use of it, it is not something you can have and hold? that takes a lot of faith. nobody even knows who really invented it?

 

[1965Vintage]

 

[uscfanhawaii]

OK, so I watched the Bitcoin video. Looks like it was from 2016, and its prediction for 2017 is already coming true.
The video said a Bitcoin ETF would be out soon. Has it already come out? Is that the best way to buy Bitcoin? :scratchchin:

 

[tsptalk]

The SEC rejected the bitcoin ETF. The government doesn't really care for bitcoin.

https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welco....google.com/&referrer=https://www.google.com/

As 1965Vintage mentioned, you can buy GBTC and get some bang for your buck based on the price of bitcoin.