Bitcoin - Yay or Nay
phongone
1,652 Posts
i think the idea of a virtual, independent currency untethered by any central authority or regulatory scheme is very compelling. But the collapse of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox and China's restrictions on the currency demonstrates that it is still very volatile. Anyone invest in bitcoin? Thoughts?
B/W - Value of single bitcoin is around $588 US$ today.
B/W - Value of single bitcoin is around $588 US$ today.
Comments
http://www.soulstrut.com/index.php?/forums/viewthread/70364/P0/
Each Bitcoin is backed by a complex unique ID which is hard to generate and requires a lot of CPU time. Typically, days.
Mining = generating a new Bitcoin ID with a box full of processors. More processors = more coins generated.
Obviously, leaving a box full of processors on 24/7 consumes power, so you have to offset the cost of power with how often you generate a valid ID.
One mate has spunked 2K sterling on a Bitcoin mining rig and reckoned he'd get his money back after 6 months.
But this was a while back in Bitcoin terms. The thing is, the ID depends on factoring in all the other IDs of Bitcoins already generated.
So, you really need to be shifting a lot of bits to extract coins these days. Everyday it will get harder.
If you liken this to a gold-rush, gone are the days of picking nuggets out of the stream, you need industrial, Channel-Tunnel-style plant to get deep into the mountain to get at those scraps. So the cost of entry to the goldrush is now very high, and not likely to get cheaper. Rocking up with a shovel is not an option.
However, if you learned anything from studying the Klondike, or putting in hours on Miner 2049er, you'll know that the men who sold shovels did very well out of it. As I don't have access to Winkelvoss-levels of capital for industrial rigs (yes, those rowing twins from The Social Network are big into the Bitcoin game), then that is what I would be doing, if I had any faith in it.
The thing is, as has been pointed out here, Bitcoins are a commodity that doesn't actually exist. They are only worth something because enough people say they are. They are like an "Emperor's New Clothes" currency.
And so, there's nothing to stop someone coming up to the emperor with some different invisible clothes, and getting the emperor to agree that his current sartorial selections are now worthless, and he should be sporting better invisible threads.
Can you say DOGECOINS? ...
isn't that true for every currency?
Money is a construct, dude. Like time.
I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods. I mean, like Jobim said, Brasil is not for beginners. So maybe your currency represents coffee shares, caipirinhas or butt-ogling time down Ipanema. I am a simple man; I could ride for that also.
No wonder you got the World Cup and the Olympics.
Spot on run down in my opinion. It's too late in the game to get into mining, at this point, IMO.
Dogecoins and Coinyes ftw....because they are hilarious.
I love the nefarious shit people can do (supposedly anonymously) with bitcoin. Did yall hear about cryptolocker? It's a fantastic bit of malware that will encrypt a users data (all data on their computer and all discoverable drives connected to said computer at the time of infection). You want the key to decrypt yo' shit, son? Well pay up...in bitcoin. My favorite part of the story...the dude's behind cryptolocker hired a legit 3rd party customer service phone company to assist infected users in how to pay up anonymously...think about that. "Fuck I've been infected...how do I pay up? Oh, apparently the hackers have set up customer fucking support to assist me with paying"....and apparently the customer support on the other end was quite helpful...and had no idea who they were working for, of course.
Back to the point...if anyone is just now wrapping their heads around bitcoin...stay away from it...you'll get buried.
EDIT: This just came to me via a newsfeed that I check on occasionally... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/business/apparent-theft-at-mt-gox-shakes-bitcoin-world.html?hp&_r=0 when the reliability/legitimacy/existence of a currency's most prominent/reliable exchange is called into question...it might be time to enact your 'escape with your pants on' plan.
I thought they made away with the gold thing back in the 50s. Isn't that what allows the US Fed to print money like crazy and call it Quantitative Easing? Brazil used to do that in the 80s, except they would change the name of the currency and slash three 0's off the value, so when an apple cost 5,000 Cruzados they would change the currency to Cruzado Novo and the apple would cost 5 of those. Maybe it's a bit more complicated than that, but it certainly left the feeling that money is fake, and having the current currency named Real doesn't help matters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system
Wow. See, now I'm conflicted. Brasil is defo not for beginners. But I am prepared to walk that mile with a cafe-au-lait girl in high-heeled shoes. It sounds a profound gas.
Just to be clear, she's wearing the shoes.
I'll have them flip-flops on.
I already have the girl and the flip-flops.
:lol:
:balla: :balla: :balla: :balla: :balla: :balla:
LOL
this just keeps getting better.
idiots.
Yes, the irony is delicious. But that is what happens when you entrust your "money" to a young Chris Farley.
http://valleywag.gawker.com/bitcoin-kingpin-admits-everyones-money-is-gone-1533315083
Seriously though, how the f*ck does $350M in virtual currency disappear?
Is it the 'virtual' part or the 'currency' part that had people convinced it was a good investment?
http://descrier.co.uk/world/2014/03/singapore-police-investigate-apparent-suicide-bitcoin-exchange-ceo-autumn-radtke/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=singapore-police-investigate-apparent-suicide-bitcoin-exchange-ceo-autumn-radtke
http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html
Interesting read. Not sure if it's him or if it matters at this point.
We should have bought.