Author Topic: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion  (Read 402348 times)

phil22

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #550 on: November 21, 2017, 07:45:00 PM »
more snark.  how enlightening.

what if one was to hypothetically sell just enough of their crypto holdings to simply take a nice profit on their original fiat investment... and leave the rest of their crypto holdings intact?

in fact i sold a portion of my bitcoin a few years ago for a nice profit on the original fiat... now that the "fiat profit" aspect is taken care of i can let it ride and watch the fork drama and mudslinging from a comfortable position.  have any other holders here done this?

Tonyahu

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #551 on: November 22, 2017, 09:34:37 AM »
more snark.  how enlightening.

what if one was to hypothetically sell just enough of their crypto holdings to simply take a nice profit on their original fiat investment... and leave the rest of their crypto holdings intact?

in fact i sold a portion of my bitcoin a few years ago for a nice profit on the original fiat... now that the "fiat profit" aspect is taken care of i can let it ride and watch the fork drama and mudslinging from a comfortable position.  have any other holders here done this?

I plan to methodically pull out most of my holdings during the course of 2018 and allocate it to Real Estate. I will let the long term holds ride but lots of short / mid term position I plan to close.

Agreed.  When you're on a hot streak, the best thing to do is to keep gambling.  It never ends poorly.

I pity the fool that remains steadfast in his ignorance.

Hash Brown

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #552 on: November 22, 2017, 11:16:23 AM »
I want to point out that Bitcoin is up 296% since the original posting of this thread which was roughly 5 months ago.

Cheers to all who are in this market :]

You haven't made any money until you sell.  Bitcoin isn't a rental property or dividend stock. 



runbikerun

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #553 on: November 23, 2017, 05:02:42 AM »
I want to point out that Bitcoin is up 296% since the original posting of this thread which was roughly 5 months ago.

Cheers to all who are in this market :]

This isn't terrifying to bitcoin holders? A commodity you're holding is rising in price at a 700+% annualised rate? That's about 25 times as fast as Google's share price has grown since IPO, and that was before even Gmail existed. That isn't concerning at all?

GuitarStv

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #554 on: November 23, 2017, 07:42:27 AM »
I want to point out that Bitcoin is up 296% since the original posting of this thread which was roughly 5 months ago.

Cheers to all who are in this market :]

This isn't terrifying to bitcoin holders? A commodity you're holding is rising in price at a 700+% annualised rate? That's about 25 times as fast as Google's share price has grown since IPO, and that was before even Gmail existed. That isn't concerning at all?

Gamblers on a hot streak don't usually see potential down sides.

maizefolk

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #555 on: November 25, 2017, 08:47:37 PM »
Adding a quick update to the ZEC mining experiment.*



The price of ZEC is up 50% in the past little while, and as a result, my daily income is starting to tick back upwards (I'm currently averaging ~$5/day). I'm at -$564 vs the cost of my mining rig based on mining income only (assumes I sell all cryptocurrency income as it hits my account), so if things remains stable -- which is probably the one thing that certainly won't happen -- I'll break even in about another four months.

Now that said, I'm at +$4,950 if you include capital gains and forks/airdrops: other currencies you end up with (or able to get) just because you're holding bitcoin in a wallet where you control the private key. At this point my capital gains reflect ~$1,000 in bitcoin cash from when BTC and BCC forked, and ~$250 in bitcoin gold from when BTC and BTG forked in addition to the change in the price of bitcoin itself.

I'm curious how much more forking/airdropping is going to happen going forward. Bitcoin Gold is essentially a new altcoin, except that everyone who owned BTC received an equal amount of BTG and they kept the word "bitcoin" in the name. However unlike most newly launched altcoins BTG is already the 5th largest cryptocurrency by market cap and 8th largest currency by transaction volume. Given the success -- so far -- of both BCC and BTG, I imagine that many more groups are at least planning to try similar splits/airdrops in the future.

Important disclaimer: based on my original investment thesis, I still haven't broken even. In this case, I've been bailed out by the skyrocketing prices of the currencies I've been letting my mining earnings accumulate in, but if anything this should provide even more evidence that I'm terrible at predicting the future.

*Original details here on the first page of the thread. Details on power usage here on the second page.

maizefolk

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #556 on: November 25, 2017, 09:45:08 PM »
Definitely important advice, shadow.

I have to admit that so far I haven't swept either the BTG or BCC out of my BTC addresses because I have indeed been worried about the security of private keys. I will definitely move the BTC out first when I am actually ready to do so.

ketchup

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #557 on: November 26, 2017, 07:00:59 AM »
BTC is above $9000 now.  What's my best way (safe, low fees, etc) to sell some BTC (and BCH) for USD if I've got them in a BitGo wallet?

lifeanon269

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #558 on: November 26, 2017, 08:59:52 AM »
You probably already know this. Just a reminder for anyone else: if you plan to access your btg, move all your bitcoin variants into new addresses first, so you don't share private keys with btg. (https://bitcoingold.org/critical-warning-nov-26/). As an alternative, you can use coinomi.

I had been holding off on redeeming BTG since I didn't want to go through the hassel of moving my BTC to new private keys since my coins are split among a ton of addresses, so the fees would be pretty large for a transaction of that size. But, I recently just took the plunge and moved my BTC to a new SegWit enabled wallet. This freed me up to now move my BTG now that my old BTC wallet is empty.

Coincidentally I decided to use the Coinomi app and the Changelly exchange service. It was all pretty straightfoward, but I've haven't received the BTC yet. I'm guessing the delay is just because the BTC transactions need to go through and/or the Changelly service just takes a little while. At any rate, I'm at the mercy of the Changelly service right now. I did read on Twitter they had some issues over the holiday, but those have been resolved apparently.

Should be a nice bonus after it goes through. I wouldn't have guessed that BTG would be trading at ~$350, especially given its rocky start.


UPDATE: I just wanted to update this post to say that I did receive my BTG exchange for BTC through Coinomi/Changelly after a couple hours that same day. I didn't want to leave this post here making it seem like I was questioning the quality of their service. Everything was very smooth and easy to use.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2017, 06:39:33 AM by lifeanon269 »

CanuckExpat

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #559 on: November 28, 2017, 10:55:15 PM »
what if one was to hypothetically sell just enough of their crypto holdings to simply take a nice profit on their original fiat investment... and leave the rest of their crypto holdings intact?

in fact i sold a portion of my bitcoin a few years ago for a nice profit on the original fiat... now that the "fiat profit" aspect is taken care of i can let it ride and watch the fork drama and mudslinging from a comfortable position.  have any other holders here done this?

Probably psychologically satisfying, and I understand the desire to take such a position, but if you want to be "rational" with your decision making, you should probably realize this is a form of mental accounting.

What you purchased for is immaterial at this point for whether you should hold or not. You could immediately convert to fiat currency at the current values.
Your unrealized (opportunity) cost is the current fiat value, not what you originally paid.
If you wouldn't buy it, you should sell and all that.

The above all ignores transaction/taxes, but those should be relatively minor
(taxes more so of an issue, but you also don't want to to let the tax tail wag the decision making dog)

phil22

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #560 on: November 29, 2017, 05:16:01 PM »
Your unrealized (opportunity) cost is the current fiat value, not what you originally paid.
If you wouldn't buy it, you should sell and all that.

i agree it's probably wise to sell some portion of your holdings if you wouldn't take the same position again today.  but where do you draw the line?  sell half?  and how often do you repeat this exercise?  does this also apply to everything i own that could potentially be sold for fiat currency?

hasn't there been an opportunity cost in the coins i've sold in past years?

waltworks

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #561 on: November 29, 2017, 06:08:51 PM »
does this also apply to everything i own that could potentially be sold for fiat currency?

Yes. Everything you own is costing you money. All the time.

-W

arebelspy

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #562 on: November 30, 2017, 06:51:15 AM »
does this also apply to everything i own that could potentially be sold for fiat currency?

Yes. Everything you own is costing you money. All the time.

-W

I LOL'd.

And also nodded.

Of course it applies to everything. 

Opportunity cost is a bitch.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

talltexan

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #563 on: December 01, 2017, 08:10:01 AM »
With normal investing, I feel like checking it 4x a year and rebalancing is fine.

But Bitcoin (and, yes, the Bitcoin investment trust) change so rapidly that I could not imagine waiting three months to rebalance. Does anyone have a rule of thumb that's keeping him/her sane?

CanuckExpat

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #564 on: December 01, 2017, 09:49:56 PM »
i agree it's probably wise to sell some portion of your holdings if you wouldn't take the same position again today.  but where do you draw the line?  sell half?  and how often do you repeat this exercise?  does this also apply to everything i own that could potentially be sold for fiat currency?

Yes, with caveats.

Here's a perhaps related article: If You Wouldn’t Buy it, You Should Probably Sell it

The stuff you own exists on spectrum of how easily they can be sold, how accurately you can value them, and the transaction costs.

The clothes on your back, your car, your house (if you choose to own any of those), are all relatively hard to value to 100% accuracy until you find a willing buyer, and there is some legwork involved in selling them.

Stocks, bonds, currencies (including crypto), that you hold electronically can be sold at the click of a mouse. They are interchangeable with each other and you have very accurate pricing information.

Bicycle_B

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #565 on: December 03, 2017, 08:21:27 AM »

This is how I do it in the tax sheltered account since rebalance does not cause tax issues.

20% Total Market
20% Small Cap
20% Gold
20% Bitcoin
20% Long Term Treasury

5% swings trigger a rebalance.

When any one of these hits 25% I sell and buy the rest to get them back to 20%. Below 15% I do the same. My brokerage also does free trades on 3 of the 5 of these funds, and $4.95 for the rest so the costs are minimal. These assets have relatively low correlation so you buying low and selling high all the time.

@effigy98, how long have you been doing this with Bitcoin as one of the asset categories?  How much has converting Bitcoin to fiat increased the amount that is in the fiat-denominated categories?


CanuckExpat

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #566 on: December 03, 2017, 09:14:36 AM »
Small cap and not small cap value? Why in particular?

hgjjgkj

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #567 on: December 03, 2017, 07:24:25 PM »
How do people feel about Ripple?

Jeferson

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #568 on: December 04, 2017, 10:28:19 AM »
I don't know how about Ripple, but IOTA is currently doing exceptionally well. Let's see where it can go.

talltexan

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #569 on: December 05, 2017, 02:47:31 PM »
Why would cash be replaced with Bitcoin and not Long Term Bonds?

Tonyahu

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #570 on: December 06, 2017, 01:16:10 PM »

EXAMPLE:
Today on 10/04/2017: 1 Bitcoin is $4,800, 1 Monero is $91, 1 Ether is $292, 1 Lisk is $5.45, 1 LINK is $.39 and 1 ARDR is $.16.


Today on 12/06/2017: 1 Bitcoin is $13,400, 1 Monero is $282, 1 Ether is $430, 1 Lisk is $9.10 1 LINK is $.31 and 1 ARDR is $.55.

maizefolk

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #571 on: December 06, 2017, 01:24:36 PM »
It's interesting that the most recent run-up in bitcoin has been relatively isolated from the broader cryptocurrency economy, when previously the prices of the various cryptocurrencies in dollars tended to move more in concert with each other.

(Tonyahu your post brought this to mind, bitcoin and monero have essentially tripled, but looking through the data on coin market cap most others have less than doubled, with many gains "only" in the 30-50% range.)

If I were a paid commenter I'm sure I could come up with some elaborate story for what that pattern means.

Optimiser

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #572 on: December 06, 2017, 02:20:06 PM »
Quote
Unfortunately, there has been a security breach involving NiceHash website. We are currently investigating the nature of the incident and, as a result, we are stopping all operations for the next 24 hours.
Importantly, our payment system was compromised and the contents of the NiceHash Bitcoin wallet have been stolen. We are working to verify the precise number of BTC taken.
Clearly, this is a matter of deep concern and we are working hard to rectify the matter in the coming days. In addition to undertaking our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are co-operating with them as a matter of urgency.
We are fully committed to restoring the NiceHash service with the highest security measures at the earliest opportunity.
We would not exist without our devoted buyers and miners all around the globe. We understand that you will have a lot of questions, and we ask for patience and understanding while we investigate the causes and find the appropriate solutions for the future of the service. We will endeavour to update you at regular intervals.
While the full scope of what happened is not yet known, we recommend, as a precaution, that you change your online passwords.
We are truly sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused and are committing every resource towards solving this issue as soon as possible.

It sounds like about $60 million USD worth of BTC was stolen. The price of BTC fell for a few minutes and then went right back up.

maizefolk

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #573 on: December 06, 2017, 02:27:21 PM »
Yikes! Thanks for posting that Optimiser. Nicehash was really quite convenient for mining one currency and getting paid in another.

Also this just popped up in my RSS feed.

Quote
As of today, Steam will no longer support Bitcoin as a payment method on our platform due to high fees and volatility in the value of Bitcoin.

In the past few months we've seen an increase in the volatility in the value of Bitcoin and a significant increase in the fees to process transactions on the Bitcoin network. For example, transaction fees that are charged to the customer by the Bitcoin network have skyrocketed this year, topping out at close to $20 a transaction last week (compared to roughly $0.20 when we initially enabled Bitcoin). Unfortunately, Valve has no control over the amount of the fee. These fees result in unreasonably high costs for purchasing games when paying with Bitcoin. The high transaction fees cause even greater problems when the value of Bitcoin itself drops dramatically.

Historically, the value of Bitcoin has been volatile, but the degree of volatility has become extreme in the last few months, losing as much as 25% in value over a period of days. This creates a problem for customers trying to purchase games with Bitcoin. When checking out on Steam, a customer will transfer x amount of Bitcoin for the cost of the game, plus y amount of Bitcoin to cover the transaction fee charged by the Bitcoin network. The value of Bitcoin is only guaranteed for a certain period of time so if the transaction doesn’t complete within that window of time, then the amount of Bitcoin needed to cover the transaction can change. The amount it can change has been increasing recently to a point where it can be significantly different.

The normal resolution for this is to either refund the original payment to the user, or ask the user to transfer additional funds to cover the remaining balance. In both these cases, the user is hit with the Bitcoin network transaction fee again. This year, we’ve seen increasing number of customers get into this state. With the transaction fee being so high right now, it is not feasible to refund or ask the customer to transfer the missing balance (which itself runs the risk of underpayment again, depending on how much the value of Bitcoin changes while the Bitcoin network processes the additional transfer).

At this point, it has become untenable to support Bitcoin as a payment option. We may re-evaluate whether Bitcoin makes sense for us and for the Steam community at a later date.

The part of cryptocurrency I don't care about (making money from rapid changes in price) is starting to significantly compromise the part I do care about (an interesting new way to make payments and move money around the world without having to worry about greedy payment processors or currency controls).

Edit: The good news there are lots of other cryptocurrencies which aren't experiencing the same issues. The downside is that right now none of them are accepted by nearly as many "real world" business, so I fear the current situation really may set back the adoption of payment processor free online transactions significantly.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 02:36:58 PM by maizeman »

thenextguy

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #574 on: December 06, 2017, 03:34:20 PM »
The Steam news is unfortunate. It just highlights the need to get these small transactions off chain. If anything, it is another kick in the pants for the solution to be completed.

They mention fees, but Steam wouldn't care about fees if that was the only problem. The customers paid the fees, it doesn't hurt Steam. The real problem is the massive volatility in Bitcoin of late.  If Steam is accepting payments and then the price changes +/- 20% in the time it takes to clear, that's a problem.

maizefolk

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #575 on: December 06, 2017, 09:08:42 PM »
Today the price of bitcoin increased $2,500. That's a one day gain greater than its entire value as recently as July.

Some of the coverage I read pointed to the fact that prices on coinbase (which is one of the more user friendly exchanges) have been up to $500 ahead of the average overall price on US exchanges, suggesting that the current spike in prices is being driven by bitcoin newbies who have been drawn in by recent news coverage of how fast the price of bitcoin is rising.

Whatever you think about the long term prospects of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies -- personally I remain optimistic -- to me the price movements we've seen since August remind me a lot of the 2013 bubble in bitcoin prices.

marty998

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #576 on: December 07, 2017, 03:23:18 AM »
It's just gone up $1000 in an hour :O

Just saw it at US$14,998    :O   :O   :O

lifeanon269

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #577 on: December 07, 2017, 05:58:01 AM »
Has anyone been following the recent happenings with Andreas Antonopoulos yesterday?

For those that don't know who he is, he is probably one of the most tireless educators for bitcoin and speak at countless conferences on the technology often without expenses covered. He literally wrote the book on bitcoin and offers that book for free on the internet.

Well the other day, Roger Ver called him out for receiving funds from individuals through a website called Patreon. He uses those funds to help him travel and offset the costs of going to conferences and such. Roger Ver (which this speaks to the type of character he is) said that if he had managed his finances better, he'd be a bitcoin millionaire already (https://twitter.com/rogerkver/status/938137951518773248). Not sure why someone would call out another's finances, especially over a public forum like twitter.

Andreas also wrote a more detailed response to his followers which you can read here which details his story a little more.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7hylea/andreas_antonopoulos_posted_this_response_to_a/

But what took place next has been pretty remarkable. The bitcoin community which loves Andreas rallied to his defense. Not only has everyone responded in kind to his amazing work that he's done over the years, but they've also flooded in massive amounts of donations to him.

Needless to say, he is now most certainly a bitcoin millionaire with over 100 bitcoin being donated to him from the community at large.
https://blockchain.info/address/1andreas3batLhQa2FawWjeyjCqyBzypd

As is typical for Andreas, he has been traveling while this was going on and after getting off the plane and taking his phone off airplane mode, he came to realize the reaction the community has had in such a short amount of time.

His response on twitter...

"Words are my craft but tonight I am speechless ... Processing"

https://twitter.com/aantonop/status/938518021106257920


I couldn't be happier for Andreas. He is truly a wonderful and humble person.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2017, 06:02:45 AM by lifeanon269 »

waltworks

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #578 on: December 07, 2017, 08:45:52 AM »
It's just gone up $1000 in an hour :O

Just saw it at US$14,998    :O   :O   :O

There are still lots of grandmas and fraternity brothers and strippers who are done with flipping condos waiting to get in, though, right?

I'm just glad the total amount of money involved (thus far) isn't enough to do any real damage to the actual economy when the crash comes.

-W

Roland of Gilead

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #579 on: December 07, 2017, 09:40:24 AM »
This recent runup in bitcoin has given me hope for the beanie babies I will inherit from my parents.

Apple_Tango

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #580 on: December 07, 2017, 09:47:14 AM »
Guys. I know we don't market time here. But I feel like Bitcoin isn't really an investment so I don't feel bad about it. I put about $180 ($200 with fees added) into Bitcoin back in September, and I told myself- "Self, when it reaches $1000 you will sell $750". I was expecting it to take years, but it happened today. The price of Bitcoin was over $19,000, my "investment" was over $1000, so I sold. And I chickened out a little and only sold $700. So with the fees taking a percentage,  I have $689 coming into my account in the next week. But. About 5 minutes after I sold the price dropped $3000. So I'm feeling quite lucky!!! Made my money back, and now the plan is to hold what I have for years and years to see what it does. I think my new instructions to "self" are to sell when my current $300 remaining in Bitcoin reaches $10,000. (I picked a crazy number on purpose). When it hits $10,000 I will sell $7000. Lol. Thank you, self.

GuitarStv

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #581 on: December 07, 2017, 10:07:20 AM »
Guys. I know we don't market time here. But I feel like Bitcoin isn't really an investment so I don't feel bad about it. I put about $180 ($200 with fees added) into Bitcoin back in September, and I told myself- "Self, when it reaches $1000 you will sell $750". I was expecting it to take years, but it happened today. The price of Bitcoin was over $19,000, my "investment" was over $1000, so I sold. And I chickened out a little and only sold $700. So with the fees taking a percentage,  I have $689 coming into my account in the next week. But. About 5 minutes after I sold the price dropped $3000. So I'm feeling quite lucky!!! Made my money back, and now the plan is to hold what I have for years and years to see what it does. I think my new instructions to "self" are to sell when my current $300 remaining in Bitcoin reaches $10,000. (I picked a crazy number on purpose). When it hits $10,000 I will sell $7000. Lol. Thank you, self.

You gotta know when to hold 'em.  Know when to fold 'em.  Know when to walk away . . . and know when to run.

maizefolk

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #582 on: December 07, 2017, 10:44:27 AM »
Price divergence between different exchanges continuing to expand. Bitcoin prices at bitstamp and coinbase are now $1,000 off from each other. I don't understand why it's taking so long for prices to converge. Shouldn't it be easy for people to buy bitcoins at bitstamp, transfer them over to coinbase and sell for an instant profit? Or do the exchanges impose long wait times on bitcoin deposits?

ketchup

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #583 on: December 07, 2017, 10:48:22 AM »
Price divergence between different exchanges continuing to expand. Bitcoin prices at bitstamp and coinbase are now $1,000 off from each other. I don't understand why it's taking so long for prices to converge. Shouldn't it be easy for people to buy bitcoins at bitstamp, transfer them over to coinbase and sell for an instant profit? Or do the exchanges impose long wait times on bitcoin deposits?
Coinbase (and GDAX) have been a clusterfuck for the past hour.  My guess is once the exchanges have ironed things out so that this stops happening, there will be minimal price discrepancies between exchanges.

I'd hate to be in Coinbase's IT department today.

maizefolk

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #584 on: December 07, 2017, 11:38:39 AM »
Thanks Ketchup, that makes much more sense now.

I'd hate to be in Coinbase's IT department today.

+1

Quote
The number of people with Coinbase accounts has gone from 5.5 million in January to 13.3 million at the end of November, according to data from the Altana Digital Currency Fund. In late November, Coinbase was sometimes getting 100,000 new customers a day — leaving the company with more customers than Charles Schwab and E-Trade. 

....
Recently, every last inch of space has been pressed into action. The day after Bitcoin hit $10,000 last week, a training session for Coinbase managers was moved to the game room because the engineering team needed to set up an emergency war room in the regular conference room.

The engineering team was trying to get Coinbase back up after the company’s site was knocked offline, overwhelmed by a wave of incoming traffic. The number of visitors was double what it had been during the previous peak — two days earlier — and eight times what it had been in June, the peak until recently.

Full nytimes article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/technology/coinbase-bitcoin.html

Tonyahu

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #585 on: December 07, 2017, 02:01:50 PM »
I have been expecting a correction for some time now, I feel a healthy point is anywhere between $5K-$8K USD.

How does everyone else feel?

Fundamentally I am much more bullish on Ethereum in the mid and long term but never underestimate the uninformed public.

Hash Brown

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #586 on: December 07, 2017, 02:57:38 PM »
I have been expecting a correction for some time now, I feel a healthy point is anywhere between $5K-$8K USD.

How does everyone else feel?

Fundamentally I am much more bullish on Ethereum in the mid and long term but never underestimate the uninformed public.

I agree -- I think bitcoin is too replaceable.  Just like how if Uber disappeared 5 imitators could easily take its place in two months.  If Ethereum catches any momentum it's going to be way bigger and less replaceable. 

lifeanon269

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #587 on: December 07, 2017, 03:38:03 PM »
I have been expecting a correction for some time now, I feel a healthy point is anywhere between $5K-$8K USD.

How does everyone else feel?

Fundamentally I am much more bullish on Ethereum in the mid and long term but never underestimate the uninformed public.

I agree -- I think bitcoin is too replaceable.  Just like how if Uber disappeared 5 imitators could easily take its place in two months.  If Ethereum catches any momentum it's going to be way bigger and less replaceable.

I don't think Bitcoin is easily replaceable. There are too many things that Bitcoin has that no other alt-coin from both a network and ecosystem perspective. The computing behind bitcoin dwarfs the computing behind all other alt-coins and that means more security and stability. That's actual vast amounts of capital that's a part of the bitcoin network. Sure there are other cryptos out there that use SHA256 that the hashrate could go to, but then those currencies also don't have the legitimacy that Bitcoin has from an ecosystem standpoint. That is much more irreplacable than anything else. Bitcoin has legitimacy now from numerous derivatives markets opening up. It is only a matter of time before an ETF is approved as well. The shear number of wallets, apps, exchanges, payment operators, etc that all support bitcoin dwarfs every other alt-coin by comparison. So I don't understand the argument that Bitcoin is easily replaceable. Looking at things strictly from one angle doesn't paint the whole picture of how entrenched Bitcoin is at the number one spot. Trying to get that entire ecosystem as a whole to suddenly switch and adopt another crypto-currency is going to be an extremely tough sell from the perspective of any individual company considering that their business is on the line. This is an enormous hurdle for other alt-coins to get over. I'm not saying that it is an impossible hurdle, but it is enough of a hurdle for me to be bearish on all but Bitcoin at the moment.

For example, I don't think Ethereum is any threat to Bitcoin. Rootstock was just released this month as a Bitcoin sidechain that will allow smart contracts backed by the Bitcoin blockchain. Rootstock will allow for the same smart contracts that Ethereum supports. So if you're a developer looking to develop for either Bitcoin or Ethereum, there will be a very large draw towards developing a smart contract solution that is backed by the largest and most secure blockchain network on the planet. Ethereum will be left with a large number of bogus ICOs whereas bitcoin can start fresh with a blank slate of new smart contract ideas under a now more tightly regulated ICO space. Ethereum wasn't designed as a store of value either, so the scarcity just isn't there.

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #588 on: December 08, 2017, 12:22:04 AM »
Hey all, glad the discussion is going well.

I want to let everyone know that IOTA is something you want to do some research on while the market cap is still under-valued.

Cheers!

Just noticed IOTA has climbed into the #4 slot in terms of cryptocurrency market cap (ahead of Ripple, right behind bitcoin cash) on extremely high trading volume since Dec 4th. Congrats on the prediction coming true, @Tonyahu.

Roland of Gilead

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #589 on: December 08, 2017, 08:35:29 AM »
Trying to get that entire ecosystem as a whole to suddenly switch and adopt another crypto-currency is going to be an extremely tough sell from the perspective of any individual company considering that their business is on the line.

Not really.  Imagine Amazon coming up with a crypto-currency, Amazoncoin or similar.  Bitcoin goes from $19,000 to $19 overnight.

JetBlast

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #590 on: December 08, 2017, 09:23:25 AM »
I have been expecting a correction for some time now, I feel a healthy point is anywhere between $5K-$8K USD.

How does everyone else feel?

$5k-$8k is healthy based on what? 

TheAnonOne

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #591 on: December 08, 2017, 09:51:52 AM »
Trying to get that entire ecosystem as a whole to suddenly switch and adopt another crypto-currency is going to be an extremely tough sell from the perspective of any individual company considering that their business is on the line.

Not really.  Imagine Amazon coming up with a crypto-currency, Amazoncoin or similar.  Bitcoin goes from $19,000 to $19 overnight.

I doubt it, coins don't share one pool of resources, you would likely see brand new money flow into AMAcoin. Also, BTC would be exchangeable whatnot.

I don't see it tumbling based on a single extra coin. In-fact BTC gets a lot of it's value by being agnostic in the first place.

mpg350

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #592 on: December 08, 2017, 02:34:04 PM »
I have been expecting a correction for some time now, I feel a healthy point is anywhere between $5K-$8K USD.


Looking at chart that seems low...I think support would kick in before that price....I think support would be around the 10-12k range.   Has short term support near $15k if it holds that for awhile thats a pretty bullish sign.

mpg350

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #593 on: December 08, 2017, 02:36:10 PM »
Trying to get that entire ecosystem as a whole to suddenly switch and adopt another crypto-currency is going to be an extremely tough sell from the perspective of any individual company considering that their business is on the line.

Not really.  Imagine Amazon coming up with a crypto-currency, Amazoncoin or similar.  Bitcoin goes from $19,000 to $19 overnight.

Why would Amazon go thru all the trouble and cost to make a currency, why would I put my dollars into amazoncoin just to use on amazon.   Atleast with bitcoin you can get a debt card and use it at other places. 

My biggest issue with bitcoin is transaction cost they need to get that low to near a credit card level or lower for world wide acceptance.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2017, 02:37:58 PM by mpg350 »

phil22

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #594 on: December 08, 2017, 05:07:39 PM »
I have been expecting a correction for some time now, I feel a healthy point is anywhere between $5K-$8K USD.


Looking at chart that seems low...I think support would kick in before that price....I think support would be around the 10-12k range.   Has short term support near $15k if it holds that for awhile thats a pretty bullish sign.

it's a big "if," but if there's a big prolonged correction (like a 50%+ fall that lasts weeks/months) then you could see miners abandon the main chain for bitcoin cash.  this happened briefly in November where 60+% of miners showed they are willing to simply mine the more profitable fork at any given time.

depending on how prices/difficulty oscillate between bitcoin and bitcoin cash at that point, the market could get very spooked.

i agree, except for a crisis like that i don't think prices would fall much below a 50% correction which would be in that $5-8k range.

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #595 on: December 11, 2017, 08:50:39 AM »
This market is messed up by the "systemic risk" argument. Since the big banks won't let you margin up buying BTC, there isn't much systemic risk. But its worse, most retail brokers won't even let you short the BTC futures.  So the dumb money is going long because its the only thing they can do.

 The smart money is buying BTC and selling over priced futures contracts. They will close the near contract and open the next.  This will keep a buying pressure on actual bitcoin for the next few months at least.  sure you have capital holding costs and some MESSY transaction costs, but there is over a 1300 spread between a coin now on coinbase and a January 17th coin on the CBOE.

I don't see a correction for a few months at a minimum.

jorjor

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #596 on: December 11, 2017, 11:58:50 AM »
Back to the discussion of portfolios...

Anyone holding LTC? I've been following the recent rise. Any chance it actually makes it to 0.25 BTC down the road? Or hell, even 0.1 BTC (it is just over 0.01 BTC now)?

lifeanon269

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #597 on: December 11, 2017, 12:48:25 PM »
The smart money is buying BTC and selling over priced futures contracts. They will close the near contract and open the next.  This will keep a buying pressure on actual bitcoin for the next few months at least.  sure you have capital holding costs and some MESSY transaction costs, but there is over a 1300 spread between a coin now on coinbase and a January 17th coin on the CBOE.

^^This

I don't see a correction for quite some time. This cash-and-carry arbitrage between the underlying and the futures price is going to give the underlying bitcoin steady buying pressure. There are no storage costs to holding the underlying bitcoin asset and the transactions fees are negligible. You could even take out a low interest loan and hold the underlying without any risk and still make a locked-in profit in either direction. There will be plenty of traders looking to take this easy profit and this is going to create a bottom support that will prevent bitcoin from falling much from where it is now.

Tonyahu

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #598 on: December 11, 2017, 01:55:45 PM »
Hey all, glad the discussion is going well.

I want to let everyone know that IOTA is something you want to do some research on while the market cap is still under-valued.

Cheers!

Just noticed IOTA has climbed into the #4 slot in terms of cryptocurrency market cap (ahead of Ripple, right behind bitcoin cash) on extremely high trading volume since Dec 4th. Congrats on the prediction coming true, @Tonyahu.

Thank you brotha!

Everyone should take a look at Ardor as well.

Based on NXT which was the first Proof of Stake system and the first Alt-Coin coded completely from scratch. Ardor has taken this and how allowed for scalability with Child Chains and Pruning.

Cheers to all buyers, sellers, traders and hodlers!

thenextguy

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Re: OFFICIAL: Blockchain / Crypto-Currency Portfolios and Discussion
« Reply #599 on: December 11, 2017, 02:49:29 PM »
Trying to get that entire ecosystem as a whole to suddenly switch and adopt another crypto-currency is going to be an extremely tough sell from the perspective of any individual company considering that their business is on the line.

Not really.  Imagine Amazon coming up with a crypto-currency, Amazoncoin or similar.  Bitcoin goes from $19,000 to $19 overnight.

This post demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of where cryptocurrencies derive value from. What would be the point of a centralized coin by Amazon? And if it's not centralized, then why would it appeal to anyone over the other cryptocurrencies?