Crypto Conversation

[Jeffrey]

Well, he is a Dead Head, so I guess, yes?

Absolutely, OPK will always be a card carrying member of the highest power!

[OldPhiKap]

[snowdenscold]

I find the comparisons to the art market not really all that compelling - it's pretty apples and oranges, IMO.

You're talking about a very niche space which only a tiny tiny percentage of the world's population has ever been involved in, vs. technologies (Bitcoin, NFT's, etc.) that their proponents expect to take on near-universal adoption. So yeah, every NFT pitch I hear that analogizes it to fine art (which are seemingly most of them) I pretty much just roll my eyes at. The fact that they're using it as their comparison to me highlights the fact they can't find something better and more relevant.


In regards to the cult-like beliefs of certain adherents*, here's a couple pieces I've come across, but I've read tons more on this, I just don't happen to recall or have the links handy. Spend any amount of time on crypto-twitter (or just follow the /r/buttcoin subreddit for the mocking summaries) and you'll see plenty of it. Or just read anything by Michael Saylor.

Financial Times - A Sceptic's Guide to Crypto (5 Part Series):
Episode 1: Boom and bust
Episode 2: The ‘smart’ money
Episode 3: NFT Mania
Episode 4: The Church of Bitcoin
Episode 5: The Crypto Wild West

Bitcoin myths: immutability, decentralisation, and the cult of “21 million”
(and linked post early on to this conspiracy theory economics article)

* There's a bunch of different crypto types out there, and obviously many are not cult-like. The below list is by no means exhaustive (and certain ones sometimes overlap though not always), but I've seen all of the following:
1) The true extreme libertarian / anarcho-capitalist types
2) The people who are generally distrustful of government and have libertarian-leaning tendencies, and find that a convenient anchor on which to justify trying to make a ton of money speculating on crypto
3) People who don't care about any particular ideology and just want to get-rich-quick no matter what it takes... may use whatever language/message they feel is needed, whether they believe it or not
4) Technocrats who mistakenly think technology can solve all political, social, and cultural problems
5) Those who don't want to miss out on a potential "next big thing", put in some money, and then are somewhat committed to hoping for its success

[MChambers]

On the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Gemini, Genesis, etc.

https://newsletter.mollywhite.net/p/...trust-the-free

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I still think there is absolutely no basis for this change but I felt that it was fair to note that Bitcoin is up over 39% YTD to over $23,000. I'm still not buying it but there you have it.

[Kdogg]

I still think there is absolutely no basis for this change but I felt that it was fair to note that Bitcoin is up over 39% YTD to over $23,000. I'm still not buying it but there you have it.

In this case I believe it's a mix of no news is good news, risk-on and wash sales. There has been a marked increase in trading volume which seems suspect. It seems the Feds have paused (stopped?) rate hikes which probably helps.

[budwom]

In this case I believe it's a mix of no news is good news, risk-on and wash sales. There has been a marked increase in trading volume which seems suspect. It seems the Feds have paused (stopped?) rate hikes which probably helps.

I think the value rises every time we go thru five days where a Crypto King isn't arrested. They're on a roll.

[MChambers]

https://cointelegraph.com/news/tesla...t-loss-in-2022

Mods, feel free to move this to the Tesla thread or the Fate of Twitter thread!

[Lord Ash]

Hi all!

Newbie question here… I have a friend who is excited about XRP. Anyone have any thoughts on it? Thanks!

[Kdogg]

Hi all!

Newbie question here… I have a friend who is excited about XRP. Anyone have any thoughts on it? Thanks!

This is not advise. Please don't take crypto investment advise from randos on the internet.

Do you know why he's excited about Ripple? Is it because it's cheap or because he sees a future use case. I haven't been paying attention to it as of late. If I remember, it was being promoted for quick and cheap transactions between banks (and maybe institutions). It's not designed for individual peer-to-peer transactions but I don't see why you can't use it for that. Any upside will be dependent on how many banks adopt and use it to bypass the current infrastructure. I have no idea how XRP derives its value though. Ripple (the company) gets a very low percentage of each transaction that is processed on the network which is paid in XRP. Ripple is also the only source for XRP. It's not mined or staked. It's issued out of thin air. It's supposed to have a fixed supple but that's not hard coded nor is XRP particular scarce. I do also remember that it's defined as a security and the SEC has some sort of case against it. I guess if it wins the case and banks start using it there could be upside. Of course almost all crypto has had large gains since the first of the year.

If we put crypto in tiers it would be: Tier 1: Bitcoin, Tier 2: Ethereneum, Tier 3: Ripple, Caraono, Dogecoin, Polygon Tier 4: Solana, Polkadot Avalance.

[OldPhiKap]

“Crypto exchange Binance will suspend U.S. dollar transfers”

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/06/bina...transfers.html

Binance US, a unit of the company that’s regulated by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), said in a tweet that it’s not impacted by the suspension. Thus, the move applies only to non-U.S. customers who transfer money to or from bank accounts in dollars.

Impact or import, if any?

[YmoBeThere]

“Crypto exchange Binance will suspend U.S. dollar transfers”

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/06/bina...transfers.html



Impact or import, if any?

Go long the Bolivian Boliviano!

[Jeffrey]

“A top Fed official just compared ‘speculative’ crypto to baseball cards and had a stark warning for owners: ‘Don’t expect taxpayers to socialize your losses’.”

IMO, this is a sincere warning since the Feds have basically kept crypto out of traditional banking.

https://apple.news/AKL26OjiOSqy77C6buJt7Kg

[PackMan97]

“A top Fed official just compared ‘speculative’ crypto to baseball cards and had a stark warning for owners: ‘Don’t expect taxpayers to socialize your losses’.”

IMO, this is a sincere warning since the Feds have basically kept crypto out of traditional banking.

https://apple.news/AKL26OjiOSqy77C6buJt7Kg

At the end of the day, I don't think those in power really give a flip about crypto speculators. I'm just surprised the house of cards hasn't crashed yet.

I will say this, at some point, the Greens are going to go after Crypto for their energy use. Regardless of how small as a total % it might be, they'll target everything they can and I doubt crypto miners will get any support from the general population.

[Skydog]

At the end of the day, I don't think those in power really give a flip about crypto speculators. I'm just surprised the house of cards hasn't crashed yet.

I will say this, at some point, the Greens are going to go after Crypto for their energy use. Regardless of how small as a total % it might be, they'll target everything they can and I doubt crypto miners will get any support from the general population.

As they should be. I refuse to believe the only way to make a viable alternative currency is to burn massive amounts of energy. They should make miners plant new trees to create a new coin. As more coins are created the # of trees that have to be planted per coin goes up exponentially.

[Jeffrey]

It’s hard to imagine Larry David is not a great source for investment advice.

“Tallying the losses after last year’s Super Bowl crypto-advertising bonanza.”

https://apple.news/AscbfPOvbRoKZhQ_oeVf82g

[OldPhiKap]

It’s hard to imagine Larry David is not a great source for investment advice.

“Tallying the losses after last year’s Super Bowl crypto-advertising bonanza.”

https://apple.news/AscbfPOvbRoKZhQ_oeVf82g

Next you’ll tell me that I shouldn’t have done that reverse mortgage that Fred Thompson told me about. (Or done that payday loan at The Money Store that Phil Rizzuto hawked back in the day in the NYC media market).

[Jeffrey]

Next you’ll tell me that I shouldn’t have done that reverse mortgage that Fred Thompson told me about. (Or done that payday loan at The Money Store that Phil Rizzuto hawked back in the day in the NYC media market).

Like I told you, what I said, steal your face right off your head!

[OldPhiKap]

Like I told you, what I said, steal your face right off your head!

I can see the purple lighting from Candice now.

[budwom]

At the end of the day, I don't think those in power really give a flip about crypto speculators. I'm just surprised the house of cards hasn't crashed yet.

I will say this, at some point, the Greens are going to go after Crypto for their energy use. Regardless of how small as a total % it might be, they'll target everything they can and I doubt crypto miners will get any support from the general population.

Crypto miners have already screwed up some upstate NY electric markets and they are being justifiably criticized for it . Locals forced to pay greatly increased rates.