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bitcoins

Eh, I think he's right, he simply posted an annoucement of Trump's action and opined that it would be good for Bitcoin. Similar to how I listed each of Trump's main policy claims in the 2024 thread, and speculated about how those policies would impact certain investments.
 
This is not meant to be political at all. I'm putting this here because I want to know how the crypto experts feel about this type of thing. I don't understand how crypto has any real value. I'm an admitted crypto skeptic. The content of this video is why. How is the crypto world not all a scam? How does anyone have any faith in this system that has become the crypto marketplace? What am I missing about crypto that makes normal people comfortable with "investing" in crypto?

 
Crypto exists on the perception of value.

That means it can go up or go down based upon perception of value. Because of that fact, people with a lot of influence can cause the value to change in large changes, profiting the people who have foreknowledge of the release of information. It's the ultimate expression of insider trading and all perfectly legal.
 
Climber said:
Crypto exists on the perception of value.

That means it can go up or go down based upon perception of value. Because of that fact, people with a lot of influence can cause the value to change in large changes, profiting the people who have foreknowledge of the release of information. It's the ultimate expression of insider trading and all perfectly legal.
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That is certainly the take away from the video! :laughing Coffiezilla basically gets insiders to admit exactly that. So, do people like me who are largely ignorant of the crypto world, not see the "scammy-ness" and invest anyway? Is the pool of crypto retail investors that big? I guess the scale of it all is what bewilders me most.
 
Bitcoin mining consumes energy and produces bits of data. Literally zero actual value :laughing
 
cheez said:
Fix't.
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Eghhhh, maybe some of it does? Also, kinda debatable that 1's and 0's in and of themselves really are that useful? Zero intrinsic usefulness but, if the 1's and 0's have the faith of users then maybe they have a useful purpose in facilitating trade. OK but, watch the video and tell me how someone like me can trust the system that has built up around crypto. Aghhh, seems a bit foolish honestly.

I think we need to dig a little deeper than, "the market put a price tag on it so it must have value." Ya know, like the tulip thing...
 
In my opinion, it’s all a scam and I’ll have nothing to do with that crap.
 
We have to admit the arbitrary nature of currency. Paper is meaningless and even gold is mostly meaningless. Throughout history gold only had value because it was shiny. Only in recent times does it have value in plating and dentistry.
 
I invest in a crypto index fund because there's obviously money to be made.

That being said, I think it's all ridiculous. A good investment means the "asset" will change in value, a good currency is stable. Something cannot be a good investment and a good currency at the same time. It reeks of pyramid scheme to me.

But I don't have to understand to make money from it.
 
byke said:
We have to admit the arbitrary nature of currency. Paper is meaningless and even gold is mostly meaningless. Throughout history gold only had value because it was shiny. Only in recent times does it have value in plating and dentistry.
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Right. I think i try to cop to that fact by saying "if we all agree to trust it, it can have value"

buuuuut....

boy the industry looks scammy as fuck to me soo how do we have trust in it? Catch 22 thing ya know?
 
Lights_Guy3 said:
I invest in a crypto indeed fund because there's obviously money to be made.

That being said, I think it's all ridiculous. A good investment means the "asset" will change in value, a good currency is stable. Something cannot be a good investment and a good currency at the same time. It reeks of pyramid scheme to me.

But I don't have to understand to make money from it.
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So in your mind, is an equivalent to crypto something like sports betting? We know sports betting is full of crooks and degenerates but, I can gamble here with "play" money because sometimes I make a few bux?
 
Mike95060 said:
So in your mind, is an equivalent to crypto something like sports betting? We know sports betting is full of crooks and degenerates but, I can gamble here with "play" money because sometimes I make a few bux?
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Not quite, because even gambling on the outcome of an event makes more sense to me: you're taking a chance based on a known set of outcomes, hopefully you pick the right one.

This is just more like I objectively see that people are making money off of it, and I like making money. I have exactly zero interest in reading about the nuances of the various currencies, so I have "experts" do it for me. The index fund aspect balances the risk better.

But when most of the conversation surrounding the "asset” is justification of why the asset exists and why the proverbial "you" would need to invest, that's the same spiel people have been going on about forever with pyramid schemes. Got to establish that strong base so the early adopters make a lot of money, right?

And also, anything where there's a bunch of people saying things like "come on man you got to get into this thing while it's still early, I'm already 'invested'", is something that I automatically pull away from.
 
Mike95060 said:
Right. I think i try to cop to that fact by saying "if we all agree to trust it, it can have value"

buuuuut....

boy the industry looks scammy as fuck to me soo how do we have trust in it? Catch 22 thing ya know?
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I bet both of those things hold true to cash, that if you trust it, it can have value, and that the industry looks scammy as fuck.
 
Lights_Guy3 said:
And also, anything where there's a bunch of people saying things like "come on man you got to get into this thing while it's still early, I'm already 'invested'", is something that I automatically pull away from.
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That was me in the build up to 2008 while my friends were all woooohoooo! One of my pals was sitting on four properties when it popped.
 
byke said:
I bet both of those things hold true to cash, that if you trust it, it can have value, and that the industry looks scammy as fuck.
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Fiat currency absolutely runs on trust. Be it paper or Tally Sticks we agree to believe in some medium of trade. Not quibbling there. Slightly debatable about the level of scammy-ness crypto compared to US Gov though. Slightly, :laughing

On the one hand, our government is us! We have the ability to make it super legit!!

On the other hand, look around.......... :facepalm
 
byke said:
That was me in the build up to 2008 while my friends were all woooohoooo! One of my pals was sitting on four properties when it popped.
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Highly leverage I'm guessing like my buddy who said that was what the "smart guys" were doing.

We were dumb and paid cash for our rentals.
 
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byke said:
We have to admit the arbitrary nature of currency. Paper is meaningless and even gold is mostly meaningless. Throughout history gold only had value because it was shiny. Only in recent times does it have value in plating and dentistry.
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Rarity had a lot to do with it. Aluminum is also shiny, and that used to be worth more than gold until it became easy to produce.
 
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