Crypto-currencies: The future is now

Post by **Laan Yaa Mo** » December 6, 2013, 7:51 pm

Thailand, for what it is worth, has banned bit coins.

Post by **jackspratt** » December 6, 2013, 7:57 pm

Please keep up at the back, Uncle.

That information was in the OP.

Post by **Laan Yaa Mo** » December 6, 2013, 7:59 pm

Whoops. 555+

Post by **leterry60614** » December 7, 2013, 10:37 pm

Bitcoin fell from a high of $1,079 to a low of $576 today. This is according to data from Mt. Gox. Also, this represents a breathtaking 46% crash.
Currently, Bitcoin is back to the $700 level. This is still down a whopping 35%.

Read more on http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin- ... z2mntepRJw

Post by **old-timer** » December 7, 2013, 10:59 pm

leterry60614 wrote:Bitcoin fell from a high of $1,079 to a low of $576 today. This is according to data from Mt. Gox. Also, this represents a breathtaking 46% crash.
Currently, Bitcoin is back to the $700 level. This is still down a whopping 35%.

Read more on http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin- ... z2mntepRJw

Crypto-crap by the looks of things.

OT............... $\:D/$

Post by **old-timer** » December 7, 2013, 11:27 pm

KHONDAHM wrote: China is the raging bull regarding BitCoin. China has been dumping the dollar ever more rapidly ever since Bush wielded it as a weapon of coercion after 9/11.

I could go on and on and mention that in the future doing business with China means doing business using BTC,"

Huffington Post reported today:

China's central bank shot a gigantic hole in that trade on Thursday by telling Chinese banks they couldn't use the untraceable digital currency, calling it "not a currency in the real meaning of the word."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/0 ... d=webmail2

Crypto-crap was an understatement

OT...................... $\:D/$

Post by **KHONDAHM** » December 8, 2013, 10:09 am

leterry60614 wrote:Bitcoin fell from a high of $1,079 to a low of $576 today. This is according to data from Mt. Gox. Also, this represents a breathtaking 46% crash.
Currently, Bitcoin is back to the $700 level. This is still down a whopping 35%.

Read more on http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin- ... z2mntepRJw

LOL! OR...

BitCoin was up over 1,000% on year. Now as I type this, it is up over 700% on the year.

People see what they want to see.

Post by **KHONDAHM** » December 10, 2013, 8:34 am

As I type this, BTC is $930+ after China officially corrected incorrect media report regarding it's position on BTC. China recognizes BTC as a medium of exchange, but doesn't want it's banks to do things like accept it as collateral and such. So, use it to trade for whatever one likes is A-OK. Just don't expect to list how many BTC you have on a loan application and expect to get the loan.

Post by **leterry60614** » December 10, 2013, 10:15 pm

Sweden just got It’s first bitcoin ”atm” in Stockholm!

Post by **leterry60614** » December 11, 2013, 10:12 pm

Scary, did you know this?

So, as of Dec. 3., using a price of $1,000 (which is basically where we are now), and assuming 12 million Bitcoins in circulation, here's the breakdown: 47 individuals own 28.9% of the approximately 12 million Bitcoins in existence so far. Another 880 own 21.5%, meaning 927 people control half of the entire market cap of the digital currency. Another 10,000 individuals control about a quarter. And the rest of us (around a million of us) get the crumbs (500,000 are out of circulation, whether through government seizure or people losing their passwords).

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/927-peop ... z2nBAvdRya

Post by **KHONDAHM** » December 12, 2013, 6:57 pm

I just read an interview with Bobby Lee, CEO of BTC China (#1 exchange), wherein it was speculated that 2 million BTC has been lost on old hard drives tossed out by early enthusiasts. It goes on to speculate up to 90% of BTC is in cold storage by folks waiting for it to increase in price even more.

LiteCoin, the #2 currency, is expected to explode within the next 3 months. The first ASIC LiteCoin miners will hit the market and I suppose the increase in mining difficulty will push the price up as it did BTC when ASIC miners hit the market en masse during October/November. In theory, LTC "should" be valued at @25% of BTC. BTC is hovering around $900. LTC is hovering around $35. LTC - due to its much faster transaction processing times (@2 min vs BTC's 10-20 min) - is rumored to become the coin of choice for small transactions. Gum at 7-11, for example. It doesn't hurt that Bobby Lee is also the brother of the creator of LTC, Charles Lee.

Do your own DD.

http://onbitcoin.com/2013/12/11/bobby-l ... -1-bitcoin

Post by **Laan Yaa Mo** » December 13, 2013, 11:15 pm

This is not to say Khondahm is wrong, as he has been over gold for the moment, it is just to curb his enthusiasm somewhat.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e15945518/

Post by **leterry60614** » December 14, 2013, 4:06 pm

Great line on Bitcoin from Justin Wolfers - "it's a brilliant technical solution looking for a problem"

Post by **leterry60614** » December 14, 2013, 4:16 pm

Bitcoin and democracy: how to make buying votes more efficient?

Post by **old-timer** » December 15, 2013, 12:56 am

After reading an article in this months esquire magazine about digital currencies and not ignoring all the fuss about bitcoin OT decided to buy some "Ripple" as recommended by the author of the article as a better alternative for reasons I couldn't understand except it was quicker.
Anyway, I went on to register for ripple, however I was unable because their database didn't recognise my home UK address, so I emailed them (ripple) asking why and they replied, telling me it was only available in the US for now and I can register now for the EU version ready for its launch. God knows why the article was even in this months middle east esquire magazine without mentioning this point.
KD may be onto something or not, Bitcoin may end up like the old betamax video before VHS came along or it may end up being what its hyped up to be. Time will tell.

Articles like this don't help bitcoin although there are plenty of others to the contrary:

http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/gre ... 3?page=0,0

OT.............................. $\:D/$

Post by **KHONDAHM** » December 15, 2013, 10:24 am

I, quite frankly, don't give a hoot if people in this forum buy or not. "What you eat does not make me sht.", so to speak. There wasn't any discussion on this forum at all before my post, but hopefully it wakes some up to what's happening outside their bubble.

Post by **parrot** » December 15, 2013, 7:37 pm

kd, you invited the discussion.......you shouldn't be offended if people don't see things the same way you do. A fair share of forum posters have no confidence in using 'the cloud' or insist on using a VPN to conduct their daily business or worry about NSA surveillance yet they still use a mobile phone with GPS and 3G. Some won't shop on-line because they're afraid to enter credit card info on-line. It shouldn't be a surprise that people don't understand how crypto-currencies work.....I certainly don't.....and given the non-transparency of how they work, I'll probably continue to be a skeptic for some time to come.
My older brother and I shook our heads at the outrageous IPO price of google......$80 (I think). Stupid us......but that's life. I come from the Peter Lynch school of investing......buy, hold, and let the money grow slowly. Anything that purports bearing fruit overnight is out of my league. Good luck with your investments.

Post by **parrot** » December 18, 2013, 10:28 pm

Can a crypto-currency like bitcoin survive without a major player like China playing along?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/busin ... osits.html

Post by **old-timer** » December 19, 2013, 12:54 am

China has blocked the country’s Bitcoin exchanges from accepting new inflows of cash, a move that imperils the much-hyped virtual currency in its biggest market.
The head of BTCChina, the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange by trading volume, said he had received word at midday on Wednesday that his platform would no longer be able to accept renminbi from would-be Bitcoin

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6707013a-67af ... z2nqjbul8P

KHONDAHM wrote:As I type this, BTC is $930+ after China officially corrected incorrect media report regarding it's position on BTC. China recognizes BTC as a medium of exchange, but doesn't want it's banks to do things like accept it as collateral and such. So, use it to trade for whatever one likes is A-OK. Just don't expect to list how many BTC you have on a loan application and expect to get the loan.

As I type this, BTC is $380 after China officially bans new bitcoin deposits.

OT.................... $\:D/$

Post by **KHONDAHM** » December 19, 2013, 4:42 am

This is quite the drama. For those following along:

A cartel of payment providers (Paypal, Western Union, Visa?, etc.) had a chat with Chinese leadership on Monday. Right after that, the government banned fiat deposits to BTC China, the world's largest BTC exchange. Those payment providers obviously acknowledged the threat to their business models which BTC posed, so they are have effectively asked the government to hold it underwater until it drowns.

Well, Bobby Lee, CEO of BTC China, was left with just one option: Use only third parties as doing so has been deemed ok. They just can't use financial institutions such as banks. On Monday, BTC China had just one third party partner. Today it has 3 and Bobby is saying BTC in China ain't done, yet.

The 2 new parties have not been announced yet, but I am thinking since they need over-the-counter service, the gold shops would be the best partners. The infrastructure they have is already exactly what BTC China needs. BTC China need only get them trained and setup with accounts. They could login via the BTC China site, accept cash at the counter, and conduct buys, sells, and transfers just like any other user.

This is just the latest of a series of moves by governments and financial institutions to kill BTC and the threat it poses to the established fiat financial systems. They are either trying to drown it or cast it off into the wilderness before it matures. As an immature alternative currency, BTC users are still heavily dependent on the ability to convert BTC to/from cash. It has not yet been able to stand fully on its own. These latest moves are forcing BTC to do exactly that. If it cannot, then it will fail. If it can, then those payment providers who sat down on Monday with Chinese officials (and fiat in general) are in real danger of becoming obsolete a lot faster than previously thought.

The saga continues!

As I write this, BTC is at $558.