Crypto Conversation

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Got a random out-of-the-blue group text this morning sent to about 10 people (none of whom I had contact info for, but most sharing my area code) from a Kevin [leaving off last name] saying he was a Duke Alum and wanted to alert me to the "horrible, criminal cryptocurrency platforms made through Duke's Endowment" and then a link to a 5 minute Youtube video.

In the video (pretty sensational) it looks like he recently hired some billboard trucks to be on campus around graduation with the same messaging.

His grievances mostly center around DUMAC's investment/involvement with Filecoin, something I'm unfamiliar with.

However, I'm almost certain this is the same situation referenced in a link months ago in this thread, which I can't find for the life of me without re-reading every page/post.

Curious if anyone else has been randomly contacted like this, or if you have the Post # handy from earlier.

I got the same text on August 6 to a group of about 10 numbers, none of which I knew. I did not click through.

[snowdenscold]

I got the same text on August 6 to a group of about 10 numbers, none of which I knew. I did not click through.

To clarify, I never click directly on links in unsolicited messages of any kind. I launched my youtube app and searched for it from there to find the video.

[fidel]

To clarify, I never click directly on links in unsolicited messages of any kind. I launched my youtube app and searched for it from there to find the video.

I got the text today. Like you, I don’t click hot links from random phone numbers. I have not had the chance to search YouTube.

[Kdogg]

Got a random out-of-the-blue group text this morning sent to about 10 people (none of whom I had contact info for, but most sharing my area code) from a Kevin [leaving off last name] saying he was a Duke Alum and wanted to alert me to the "horrible, criminal cryptocurrency platforms made through Duke's Endowment" and then a link to a 5 minute Youtube video.

In the video (pretty sensational) it looks like he recently hired some billboard trucks to be on campus around graduation with the same messaging.

His grievances mostly center around DUMAC's investment/involvement with Filecoin, something I'm unfamiliar with.

However, I'm almost certain this is the same situation referenced in a link months ago in this thread, which I can't find for the life of me without re-reading every page/post.

Curious if anyone else has been randomly contacted like this, or if you have the Post # handy from earlier.

I've never heard Filecoin until today. After looking into it I ask: Why? It's decentralized storage using rented unused hard drive space. I don't like that idea at all. There is a Duke engineer alum with that name who has some bonifides. I can't see an obvious angle for his claims.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

I've never heard Filecoin until today. After looking into it I ask: Why? It's decentralized storage using rented unused hard drive space. I don't like that idea at all. There is a Duke engineer alum with that name who has some bonifides. I can't see an obvious angle for his claims.

I looked into Filecoin a while back and liked the overall idea of a decentralized way to store an individual’s personal online data in a way that the personal data could only be accessed by the individual generating the data. (I did not invest).

Currently, most online data is in a centralized storage company, like AWS, a company controlled by one person, who could theoretically deny access to the data, spread personal data at will, or use the personal data in a way that an individual generating the data is not comfortable with.

At the end of the day, it’s another deep rabbit hole of digital identity questions, private key maintenance, what’s private data, what’s not?

Not enough hours in the day…

[snowdenscold]

Started doing some digging, and found this article helpful in understanding Filecoin and its relation to IPFS (both made by Protocol Labs I learned), and the pros/cons of both.

https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022...-storing-nfts/


(You'll have to ignore the fact that the writer is leading an NFT-based project, and thus opens with [writing in Jan 2022]: "As NFTs continue their march into the mainstream...", a phrase which I would push back on)


On a side note, I thought these quotes were interesting, given all the talk of crypto/web3 being touted as completely decentralized and trustless:

There are a lot of centralized points of failure here for a decentralized file storage system.

The current top NFT project... doesn’t even use IPFS but a centralized web server relying on centralized DNS and a centralized TLS certificate.

This is all starting to feel like centralized storage with extra expensive and complicated steps. The worst part is that people are putting huge amounts of money into NFTs thinking they’ll last a lifetime, when they are simply files on a file server somewhere that someone (not you) ultimately controls. NFT marketplaces sometimes even have a business incentive to remove your file from the directory

Right now, an NFT hosted using Filecoin has as good a chance as anything of sticking around. But, like everything else in this world, it comes down to trust. Do you trust that the entity that created your NFT has put the effort in to ensure reliable access? Do you trust that Filecoin won’t shut down?

[Kdogg]

Got a random out-of-the-blue group text this morning sent to about 10 people (none of whom I had contact info for, but most sharing my area code) from a Kevin [leaving off last name] saying he was a Duke Alum and wanted to alert me to the "horrible, criminal cryptocurrency platforms made through Duke's Endowment" and then a link to a 5 minute Youtube video.

In the video (pretty sensational) it looks like he recently hired some billboard trucks to be on campus around graduation with the same messaging.

His grievances mostly center around DUMAC's investment/involvement with Filecoin, something I'm unfamiliar with.

However, I'm almost certain this is the same situation referenced in a link months ago in this thread, which I can't find for the life of me without re-reading every page/post.

Curious if anyone else has been randomly contacted like this, or if you have the Post # handy from earlier.

Got hit with this today. One of the other numbers is actually a friend those name showed up instead of the phone number. The first three have area codes 773, +44 (International) and 312. The last seven are mixed 804 and 843. This doesn’t seems to be a shotgun approach. Trying to figure out where he got the numbers from. Only thing at Duke with my cell is the Alumni Association. The only other place that would be connected to Duke is my Facebook profile but that’s private and I don’t have the number listed on there anyway. No LinkedIn or any thing else.
Is he just going through the Alumni directory? My last name starts with J and my friend’s K.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Infrastructure is being laid slowly but surely for a future of using digital assets for payments worldwide….

“Yesterday Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach revealed on his personal Linkedin profile that the company is working with Binance.

“Miebach, in yesterday’s announcement, writes that it is possible to unlock the full potential of blockchain technology by making cryptocurrencies easier to use. One of the ways to do this is precisely to bring cryptocurrencies into everyday purchases.”

“That is the purpose of the collaboration with Binance, which is to enable cryptocurrency holders to use them to make purchases at more than 90 million stores around the world that accept Mastercard.”

“The project will start in Argentina, where the national currency inflation is at 71% given that the Argentine Peso (ARS) has been in free fall for a long time.”

A quiet, mostly behind the scenes battle is underway to decide the dominant payment rail system for digital assets as currency in the coming years.

Will entrenched centralized systems like Visa/MC lead as they continue to adopt digital assets?

Or will the growing, decentralized, open source and basically free Bitcoin Lightning Network take hold?

Nothing is clear, yet. But over the next five years there should be more clarity.

[OldPhiKap]

Forbes: nearly half of all Bitcoin trades are fake.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierp...ades-are-fake/

Snip:

One of the most common criticisms of bitcoin is pervasive wash trading (a form of fake volume) and poor surveillance across exchanges. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission defines wash trading as “entering into, or purporting to enter into, transactions to give the appearance that purchases and sales have been made, without incurring market risk or changing the trader's market position.” The reason why some traders engage in wash trading is to inflate the trading volume of an asset to give the appearance of rising popularity. In some cases trading bots execute these wash trades in tokens, increasing volume, while at the same time insiders reinforce the activity with bullish remarks, driving up the price in what is effectively a pump and dump scheme. Wash trading also benefits exchanges because it allows them to appear to have more volume than they actually do, potentially encouraging more legitimate trading.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Forbes: nearly half of all Bitcoin trades are fake.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierp...ades-are-fake/

Snip:

These unscrupulous traders are going to trade assets and speculate with every strategy possible, doing their best to take advantage of market conditions to make profits. When we have all these lightly regulated digital exchanges, the manipulation of their shady trades is magnified.

Exchange regulations are coming to deal with this problem.

IMO, the core asset being traded, Bitcoin, is still solid and the best form of money/store of value the world has created to this point.

I’m continuing to buy and hold Bitcoin for the future. Investing, not trading.

Market stabilization will come over time as regulators enter and market cap grows.

[acdevil]

Wouldn’t it concern you that when regulation comes in, it will stabilize at a lower price if the current price is inflated due to half of trades being fictional?

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Wouldn’t it concern you that when regulation comes in, it will stabilize at a lower price if the current price is inflated due to half of trades being fictional?

No. I’m not too concerned about price right now. I’m confident price is only going up over time. Supply and demand.

The traders are currently taking advantage of the artificial volatility they are creating with the wash trading.

Exchange regulations, especially curbing all the excessive leverage trading, will help bring more confidence to investors in Bitcoin.

Look for some positive regulatory announcements soon…

[acdevil]

No. I’m not too concerned about price right now. I’m confident price is only going up over time. Supply and demand.

The traders are currently taking advantage of the artificial volatility they are creating with the wash trading.

Exchange regulations, especially curbing all the excessive leverage trading, will help bring more confidence to investors in Bitcoin.

Look for some positive regulatory announcements soon…

I’d kill for the ability to post the Inigo Montoya Gif.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

I’d kill for the ability to post the Inigo Montoya Gif.

No need for violence…best I could do.🙂

BE1EF48E-2BF7-4858-8092-64165CDBAD0A.jpg

[mpj96]

I think acdevil may be referring to the quote that starts with: you keep saying that word . . .

Interesting article from the Rolling Stone on cryptocurrency in El Salvador. Not pretty.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture...ukele-1388472/

[acdevil]

Bingo

[Wheat/"/"/"]

I think acdevil may be referring to the quote that starts with: you keep saying that word . . .

Interesting article from the Rolling Stone on cryptocurrency in El Salvador. Not pretty.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture...ukele-1388472/

Only time will tell the true story of El Salvador’s embrace of the Bitcoin Standard. It’s only been about 1 year.

There are political interests in portraying Bitcoin’s adoption in a negative light that have to be considered when we see articles like this.

My understanding is that since Bitcoin’s adoption, crime is way down, tourism is way up, and business development interest in the country is at an all time high. All this despite a world wide financial crisis.

I’m getting my info directly directly their president, who I follow on Twitter.

What’s true, or not….again, only some time will tell.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Only time will tell the true story of El Salvador’s embrace of the Bitcoin Standard. It’s only been about 1 year.

There are political interests in portraying Bitcoin’s adoption in a negative light that have to be considered when we see articles like this.

My understanding is that since Bitcoin’s adoption, crime is way down, tourism is way up, and business development interest in the country is at an all time high. All this despite a world wide financial crisis.

I’m getting my info directly directly their president, who I follow on Twitter.

What’s true, or not….again, only some time will tell.

Yes. Well, information directly from a president on Twitter can't possibly be biased.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

Yes. Well, information directly from a president on Twitter can't possibly be biased.

I’m sure it is somewhat biased, but that doesn’t necessarily mean what he says is not true.

[OldPhiKap]

NY Times on El Salvador and crypto:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/05/w...-currency.html

Lede:

Bitcoin was meant to transform El Salvador’s economy, catapulting the poor Central American nation into an unlikely harbinger of a financial revolution.

But nearly a year after the country’s president, Nayib Bukele, shocked the financial world by making its most popular digital coin a national currency, his bet appears to be backfiring, highlighting the gap between the utopian promises of cryptocurrency’s proponents and economic realities.

The government’s bitcoin holdings have lost about 60 percent of their presumed value during the recent market plunge. The use of bitcoin among Salvadorans has collapsed and the country is running out of cash after Mr. Bukele failed to raise fresh funds from cryptocurrency investors.