Crypto Conversation

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I agree with everything else, but I thought it an interesting time to make this point using Alex Jones, in particular. Alex Jones' version of chaos is $4.1 million less profitable as of late yesterday.

Agreed - I'm glad he is facing consequences for his actions. Unfortunately, at least for now, he seems to be the exception, not the rule, though some other cases are going through the system.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

….Where Wheat and others lose me is when they start going off about this giving power back to the people, discussions about how our current monetary system doesn't work, how the government is out to get them, or whatever else. These systems have worked really well for us for hundreds of years and I don't see why there is suddenly a problem. And I find it particularly ironic (or perhaps sad/frightening) that many of those who are screaming loudest about what is wrong with our basic institutions are those who have benefitted most from them in accumulating lots of wealth.

You are correct that the system has been pretty good, overall, looking through the lenses of a wealthy first world country like ours, for people, like me, who have attained assets, (like a house, stocks, property, gold, etc).

Where it fails is for the 60+% of Americans that live paycheck to paycheck. The system has created wealth inequality.

But, considering Bitcoin, zoom out for a minute, look beyond our privilege as citizens in a country with a strong banking system and property laws.

Much of the world has a weak banking system and property laws. Or non existent.

Bitcoin is fast becoming the best, and easiest to attain, digital property asset and store of value option for Billions of people who have a phone, and they are just now starting to realize that fact. People don’t have to depend on an unstable government, or anyone else for that matter to store and exchange their wealth.

That’s Bitcoin’s “power to the people” message I’m trying to get out.

[DukeDude]

You are correct that the system has been pretty good, overall, looking through the lenses of a wealthy first world country like ours, for people, like me, who have attained assets, (like a house, stocks, property, gold, etc).

Where it fails is for the 60+% of Americans that live paycheck to paycheck. The system has created wealth inequality.

How does crypto help with wealth inequality? A "store of value" isn't going to help someone living paycheck to paycheck. Crypto offers nothing to keep the rich from getting richer, or to keep unemployment or inflation low.

But, considering Bitcoin, zoom out for a minute, look beyond our privilege as citizens in a country with a strong banking system and property laws.

Much of the world has a weak banking system and property laws. Or non existent.

Bitcoin is fast becoming the best, and easiest to attain, digital property asset and store of value option for Billions of people who have a phone, and they are just now starting to realize that fact. People don’t have to depend on an unstable government, or anyone else for that matter to store and exchange their wealth.

That’s Bitcoin’s “power to the people” message I’m trying to get out.

Here is where I can see Crypto possibly bringing value. Creating a common currency for the less stable countries of the world could provide security for those people. It could help foreign companies do business in those parts of the world with poor banking systems and property laws.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Agreed - I'm glad he is facing consequences for his actions. Unfortunately, at least for now, he seems to be the exception, not the rule, though some other cases are going through the system.

Why does it feel like $4.1 million isn't nearly enough?

[OldPhiKap]

Why does it feel like $4.1 million isn't nearly enough?

That does not include possible punitive damages, which is currently under consideration.

[bundabergdevil]

Why does it feel like $4.1 million isn't nearly enough?

Because he’s someone who deserves corporal punishment?

[CrazyNotCrazie]

That does not include possible punitive damages, which is currently under consideration.

Plaintiff asked for $150 million, defense offered $270,000. I am personally more concerned with him rotting in a jail cell. There is a lot of evil out there but he is pretty close to the peak. What a sick human being. And there is a special place in hell for all of those who blindly follow him and enable him.

[budwom]

Plaintiff asked for $150 million, defense offered $270,000. I am personally more concerned with him rotting in a jail cell. There is a lot of evil out there but he is pretty close to the peak. What a sick human being. And there is a special place in hell for all of those who blindly follow him and enable him.

yes...and collecting will prove to be a challenge regardless of the verdict.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Plaintiff asked for $150 million, defense offered $270,000. I am personally more concerned with him rotting in a jail cell. There is a lot of evil out there but he is pretty close to the peak. What a sick human being. And there is a special place in hell for all of those who blindly follow him and enable him.

I'm far more judgmental of him than his followers. He knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it.

Nothing short of disgusting.

[acdevil]

Also, keep in mind that this is just for two of the families. There are several other lawsuits as well.

[bundabergdevil]

Add $45M to the total…

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Add $45M to the total…

That feels some better.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Just finished a really good, but long, in depth article from analyst Lynn Alden. Highly recommend if you're wanting to get deeper into understanding Bitcoin.

“The primary goal of this article is to examine the topic of how bitcoin has evolved as a medium of exchange, and more broadly to analyze the order in which new monetary assets can be accepted as a store of value and a medium of exchange.

As a big part of that, I’ll include an analysis of the Lightning network, which is a small but fast-growing payments layer that is interwoven into the Bitcoin network.”

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Here’s an interesting development in the evolution of Bitcoin….Necessity the mother of invention, and all that….Africa leading the way.

Bitcoin without internet: SMS service allows sending BTC with a text.


“An innovation using the cellular network (GSM) could onboard millions of Bitcoin (BTC) users previously unreachable by the internet-dependent Bitcoin protocol.”

“A person literally without no internet access can go from having no Bitcoin to having Bitcoin and then go to spending Bitcoin,” Kgothatso Ngako explains.

[Kdogg]

I'm sure this a trial balloon. I don't understand the calculus behind announcing it on twittter.

Iran cheerfully admits using cryptocurrency to pay for imports

"This week, the first official import order was successfully placed with cryptocurrency worth ten million dollars. By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widespread in foreign trade with target countries."

https://gizmodo.com/iran-crypto-impo...ons-1849389297

It’s likely the largest publicized crypto transaction of this scale made by any one nation. It may also be the first transaction of many that would bypass U.S. sanctions on the country, and—as Reuters put it—trade with similarly sanctioned countries such as Russia. The U.S.’ sanctions on Iran include practically all imports.

Putin is publicly anti-crypto but I don't know any other country that Iran would do this with. I mean North Korea doesn't offer anything and China doesn't care able the sanctions.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

More positive news today.

Making lemonade out of lemons, renewable Bitcoin mining using Methane coming soon to a dump near you….

“Vespene utilizes micro-turbines installed at municipal landfills to convert excess or wasted methane gas into electricity which is then fed to bitcoin mining data centers. As Vespene provides this infrastructure, the municipalities have a completely hands-off experience which enables a completely new revenue stream with zero cost to the municipality.

“Our goal is to mitigate a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and help fuel the transition to a renewable energy future by using bitcoin mining to turn landfill methane streams into revenue streams for our customers,” said Vespene Energy co-founder and CEO Adam Wright.”

“And because our sites require no connection to the grid or pipeline buildout, we can turn otherwise harmful and wasted landfill methane into a clean power source for carbon-negative Bitcoin mining in about six months,” said Wright.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

BlackRock Launches a Bitcoin Trust for institutional investors.

“Institutions have struggled to access cryptocurrencies, but BlackRock’s partnership with Coinbase (COIN) would appear to create an institutional on-ramp that has the potential to bring crypto into the mainstream,” wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Michael Cyprys.

“BlackRock’s view on digital assets has shifted materially over the last six to nine months, Cyprys added — from “skepticism, to acceptance, to investment.”

BlackRock manages over 10 trillion dollars in assets.

[PackMan97]

More positive news today.

Making lemonade out of lemons, renewable Bitcoin mining using Methane coming soon to a dump near you….

“Vespene utilizes micro-turbines installed at municipal landfills to convert excess or wasted methane gas into electricity which is then fed to bitcoin mining data centers. As Vespene provides this infrastructure, the municipalities have a completely hands-off experience which enables a completely new revenue stream with zero cost to the municipality.

“Our goal is to mitigate a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and help fuel the transition to a renewable energy future by using bitcoin mining to turn landfill methane streams into revenue streams for our customers,” said Vespene Energy co-founder and CEO Adam Wright.”

“And because our sites require no connection to the grid or pipeline buildout, we can turn otherwise harmful and wasted landfill methane into a clean power source for carbon-negative Bitcoin mining in about six months,” said Wright.

.. Or they could have used that power for powering the local community.

This is the fallacy of green crypto... It's really just shifting dirty energy somewhere else.

[Phredd3]

.. Or they could have used that power for powering the local community.

This is the fallacy of green crypto... It's really just shifting dirty energy somewhere else.

This is the tragedy of the commons problem as a whole. Energy is always valuable. If you build renewables, non-renewables will still have demand. There are always uses for energy, and the world will never have "too much" available supply. It's a much bigger problem than crypto.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

.. Or they could have used that power for powering the local community.

This is the fallacy of green crypto... It's really just shifting dirty energy somewhere else.

Bitcoin miners found a way to use wasted energy contained in a landfill’s Methane gas, and are now powering a secure, sound money and store of value network for the world with it. And creating a revenue stream for the local community in the process.

They should be congratulated.

And as a reminder, the Bitcoin uses too much energy narrative has been disproven time and again.
BTC uses less than .05% of the world’s energy requirements, with over 60% BTC energy use now clean and renewable.

The .05% total energy use represents a rounding error of world energy use. Meaning if Bitcoin disappeared tomorrow, there would be no noticeable impact.

Try again. 🙂