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Blockchain and Bitcoin

Beorn

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Anyone into this? I'm surprised we don't have a thread yet unless I missed it.

Like Andreas Antonopoulos I had the same experience as many people when exposed to this technology: "Pffffft nerd money" but then I learned about the underlying technology and realized how important it was. Unfortunately for me that first experience happened 6 years ago as I hung around lots of libertarians on the nets, but the second experience only happened 2 months ago.

I missed a lot of growth in Bitcoin and Etherium (the main cryptocurrencies). :(

Fortunately, right now I'm more interested in getting in on software development which is still in the very early stages so I feel less bad about all the fun and money I missed out on.

What's your interest in this technology?
 

Beorn

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Some beginner resources:

Andreas, mentioned above, is the best bitcoin advocate:


Unfortunately, Andreas under-appreciates enterprise blockchain technology.
Here's a good use-case for enterprise blockchain that's not necessarily connected to a cryptocurrency:
 

Forever

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Definitely consider trying out.

Unfortunately, it takes A LOT of memory. So I'll have to buy an external hard drive for sure or a computer with a lot of internal storage memory in the future when I upgrade.

It's the future. I hope it is. Also with this blockchain technology, even working at retail, it worries me that if everything is "safe" is what I serve. (If anyone actually pays attention to food training video lmao)


Although self-driving cars would probably mean that we'd have to re-do highways for sure.
 

Typh0n

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I have read Bitcoin: the Future of Money? by Dominic Frisby about six months ago. I had heard about it before but it seemed to me like some unstable object of speculation and nothing more.

I know Antonopoulos also has a book on Bitcoin but I haven't got around to reading that one yet.

I don't feel ready to open a Bitcoin wallet, feel like I need more info. While this is all very interesting, cryptocurrencies are still in their infancy, and aren't being used for much except illicit activities at this point. Still, the price seems only to be going up in the long-term so it's worth looking into.
 

Lark

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I'd thought about posting a thread about it, I did post another thread about investments which kind of took a derail into some guy ramping gold over and over.

The straight thing about bitcoin and blockchain is that if ask the crazies who attack so called fiat currency as a lie, they are able to accept bitcoin and blockchain alright, surprising, considering that the reasons they attack fiat currencies is largely the same issues with blockchain and bitcoin.

That's not my opinion though, I've not invested in either bitcoin or blockchain, dont know enough about them.
 

highlander

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I think bitcoin was created with good intentions but it has turned into some kind of pyramid scheme. Blockchain I just don't care for the idea of it that much but it does seem possible it will be a big deal with so much hype around it.
 

Lark

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I think bitcoin was created with good intentions but it has turned into some kind of pyramid scheme. Blockchain I just don't care for the idea of it that much but it does seem possible it will be a big deal with so much hype around it.

I thought that too about bitcoin, plus there's the terrible experience of the gamers who had a virtual currency, was it called parasite eve or am I wrong, I cant recall, anyway, there was serious time and money investment in this currency, talk that people had used it as a defacto means of payment in the black market economy (this still happens, bitcoin and block chain both got tarred with that brush but to be honest I've heard about amazon wishlists and other means being used in that manner too). Anyway, one day the designers just wrapped things up, took everyones accumulated funds and that was that.

I'm probably not even telling the story right but it was a big story on Cracked a while back, it was already a story before that but you know.
 

highlander

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Why do you say that?

Because normal currencies don't do this. It's indicative of speculation.

7XTSQcV.jpg
 

Typh0n

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Because normal currencies don't do this

7XTSQcV.jpg

I still don't see how the term pyramid scheme applies.

A pyramid scheme (commonly known as pyramid scams) is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products or services.

Pyramid scheme - Wikipedia

It is an unstable currency, sure, I don't think it's a scam for as much. Indeed to conceive of Bitcoin as a scam seems odd: it's completely decrentralized, so noone single person is doing the profiting, it cannot be traced back to one person (or group of persons). Bitcoin isn't a service, or a supposed service, so it's difficult to conceive of it as a scam.
 

highlander

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I still don't see how the term pyramid scheme applies.



Pyramid scheme - Wikipedia

It is an unstable currency, sure, I don't think it's a scam for as much. Indeed to conceive of Bitcoin as a scam seems odd: it's completely decrentralized, so noone single person is doing the profiting, it cannot be traced back to one person (or group of persons). Bitcoin isn't a service, or a supposed service, so it's difficult to conceive of it as a scam.

Yeah I'm not being completely accurate with my terminology so you're right about that. What will happen when the floor falls out though. How viable will it be perceived as a currency? It will implode and a lot of people will lose a lot of money.
 

Typh0n

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Yeah I'm not being completely accurate with my terminology so you're right about that. What will happen when the floor falls out though. How viable will it be perceived as a currency? It will implode and a lot of people will lose a lot of money.

I'm very curious to see where it all goes tbh. It may very well implode as you say. In any event, it will reveal alot about how currencies and economies actually function (which may or may not coincide with how today's economists think they function), which is why it's so fascinatiing imo.
 

BlackCat

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Cryptocurrencies are pretty decent to invest in. Bitcoin is a very slow and steady currency, and should be viewed as a long term investment, minimally holding it for a year or more to see significant gains. It can drop very suddenly, and just as suddenly shoot back up, so there will always be new chances to buy in and make an immediately noticeable profit. The cool thing about Bitcoin is that it goes up in value the more that it's used. The more value attributed to it, the higher it gets. So over time, it can only keep growing. Many people fear a sudden drop though.

Ethereum was extremely profitable if you managed to be able to purchase shares after it went up to ~$120. It got to a steady 80, then shot up to 120 and got super popular because the original investors made extremely good gains. I tried to buy in from 4 different sites, all of the servers I could find were totally overloaded with buyers. Nowadays Eth was up to a ~$300 high today, kicking myself for not being able to buy $1600 (would be around $2240 today) worth as I originally intended when it was at 120.

In my opinion it's safer to invest in ETF stocks if you are looking for long term investment options. They provide you one thing that a cryptocurrency cannot, and that is dividends; which are known to be good on ETF stocks.

It's fun to snipe cryptocurrencies and make some quick cash going from down-low to mainstream, but it's very hard to ride that current for multiple reasons... see my Eth experience.
 

Qlip

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This vid is about the scalability of Bitcoin/Blockchain, but it does a great job laying down the fundamentals and potential problems inherent in it:

 

Beorn

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crypto is speculation, blockchain is the future

THIS

However, I do think it's worth maintaining a diversified collection of cryptocurrencies as a smaller piece of one's portfolio. At least one will make it to a level of usability that early investment will payoff on a longer-term basis. Ofc, that cryptocurrency might not even exist yet.

Etherium in particular is exciting in that:
1. Major companies are becoming involved in development
2. The programmable aspect of the money and utilization of smart contracts
3. The move from proof of work to proof of stake which will enable much faster transactions.
 

Lark

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Beorn

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Interesting, and I'm inclined to agree. Blockchain without bitcoin is a fad with limited applicability.

Why 2017 Will Prove 'Blockchain' Was a Bad Idea - CoinDesk

Nahhhhh
The criticism of DLT and enterprise blockchain is ignorant and empty.
The answers to the questions he raises about it's applicability are out there and I'll provide specific answers with sources later.
What I will say right now is that just because Enterprise Blockchain is relatively boring and doesn't have the same revolutionary promise as cryptocurrency doesn't mean it's not significant in it's own right.
Frankly, I don't think they should be compared. They're different things. I think the only reason why they're being compared is because the first adopters of blockchain technology are the banks and the raison d'etra of cryptocurrency is to topple the banks. So most people in the cryptocurrency market are eager to claim some sort of victory over enterprise blockchain because they fail to see the broader possibilities that enterprise blockchain promises. Sure, it doesn't have the security of cryptocurrency and bitcoin in particular, but enterprise blockchain still offers a gain over current technologies and systems in industries where utilizing a public blockchain is not an option and will never be an option.
 
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