Okay geniuses, what is cryptocurrency?

[Paul_G]

We have been hearing a lot about it, mostly known is Bitcoin. I know some people personally who have seen unimaginable gains recently, 1000%. So what is it? Any truth to it's legitimacy, or is it a pyramid scheme?

An article on it;

https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-cryptocurrency/

 

[1967coronet440]

Don’t know nothing about it really but it surged recently then crashed big league

 

[Richard Cranium]

I think it's an online version of Monopoly money.

 

[Ranger16]

What goes up must come down and the higher it goes, the harder it falls.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

We have been hearing a lot about it, mostly known is Bitcoin. I know some people personally who have seen unimaginable gains recently, 1000%. So what is it? Any truth to it's legitimacy, or is it a pyramid scheme?

An article on it;

https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-cryptocurrency/

I'm no genius...but in "a way" it IS a pyramid scheme just like all other money...stick close on this one. Many years ago, you used to be able to take your American dollars to a bank (I guess) and literally "cash them in" for real gold or silver.

Today, American dollars (& all other currency for that matter) cannot be "cashed in" for a pile of gold. It is only worth what people say it's worth & that value goes up & down. It' "supply & demand" for things like houses, inflation, the overall economy strength of the USA, etc. that affect this. All this factors in different countries affect the value of the American dollar too, say if you want to guy a pair of Italian shoes.

Also, if the USA went "bankrupt", then an American dollar would be worth $0......just like when the Confederate States of America lost the Civil War, their money became worthless. This is no joke. Just ask the politicians in Chicago how much their bonds are worth (another form of money) with their debt so high & their deficit spending so high. "Chicago money" (city bonds) aren't worth the paper they're printed on, so Chicago couldn't buy a loaf of bread.

Now back to "cryptocurrency". It is basically "money with no country's president printed on it". You can't cash it in for gold or silver. It's also worth what people say it's worth. No government runs it. It has become popular with drug dealers, North Korea, shady politicians & businessmen and smugglers. For example, no government is watching if you sell $1million dollars worth of nuclear weapons and buy $1million dollars worth of drugs with it.

The problem for you and me using cryptocurrency is that nobody is "required" to accept it for payment. If you want to buy a cheeseburger, McDonald's MUST accept American dollars, but they don't have to accept Mexican pesos or bitcoin if they don't want to.....they can, but they aren't REQUIRED to accept it. To be fair, I recently heard that Starbucks now accepts bitcoin, but I don't think they accept Discover card. They MUST accept American dollars (in the USA only) by law.

All this holds true for other countries, fyi. They don't have to accept American dollars in Germany (it's worth $0 there)

 

[GetX'd]

It was a good bet albeit very speculative when it started out. You had to go into it with throw away money and hope for the best - which happened. Bitcoin went up to almost $20k before coming down to around $15k. Now it’s really speculative - there are other crypto currencies out there besides bitcoin. Bitcoin is the best known and has had the most play. Nobody knows clearly how,these thing function - if you don’t thoroughly understand an investment don’t put your money in. Stock trading 101.

 

[WileE]

Cryptocurrency = Money exchanged by Gouls, ghosts, and goblins.

 

[Cranky]

Well....do ALL the research that you can on it and then when you still do not understand what the hell it is....do NOT invest in it!

 

[kiwigtx]

It always looks attractive when there is plenty of hype surrounding the investment idea. But boiled down , if it is set up to be untraceable and not responsible to any Government , then it is not something to be dealing in.
These deals are always portrayed to be financially sound (just like Pyramid Schemes were), and yet as soon as YOU put your money in, the arse falls out of it.

 

[Photon440]

Don’t know nothing about it really but it surged recently then crashed big league

It may have 'crashed', but at $13,154 right now, it's still about 20 times the value it had this time last year.

 

[Paul_G]

Well....do ALL the research that you can on it and then when you still do not understand what the hell it is....do NOT invest in it!

That is exactly where I am at right now. Trying to figure out what the hell it is. Is it really any different than U.S, money? I no longer use paper or coin, I use a card, online banking, automatic debit, etc., for 99% of my purchases.

I think we feel safe with U.S. dollars because we are creatures of habit, and we trust it. But just what do we have with the dollar? It is no longer backed by gold. It gets killed routinely on the global market. We get hit with inflation, cant even keep up with inflation on secure investments today. Is the dollar any different than monopoly money in reality when the government can manipulate it's value?

Truthfully I am unsure of cryptocurrency. But is it the future? Crypto is global, it is not reliant on any one government.

The dollar is backed by the U.S. government, which I do not trust. They have played political games with the dollar in recent years which puts it on the brink of loosing it's global monetary standard. Which it probably will loose eventually.

 

[kiwigtx]

It may have 'crashed', but at $13,154 right now, it's still about 20 times the value it had this time last year.

What it's 'worth' now and how easy it is to cash out are two entirely different fish.

 

[1967coronet440]

Look into forex trading, it’s trading currencies. Hard but a lot of opportunity there

 

[WileE]

But is it the future? Crypto is global, it is not reliant on any one government.

The dollar is backed by the U.S. government, which I do not trust. They have played political games with the dollar in recent years which puts it on the brink of loosing it's global monetary standard. Which it probably will loose eventually.

And I trust any and all other governments even less.

 

[Lets Roll]

Yeah, I remember reading about Bitcoin in 1998. I told my then (now ex-wife) I was gonna buy $20 worth at about .05 a Bitcoin she thought I was stupid.. Of course the computer I bought them on is now long gone so the B was right. ha ha

 

[ws23jrt]

What it's 'worth' now and how easy it is to cash out are two entirely different fish.

Kinda like with our hobby cars.
All pyramids are built with value/effort/contributions etc. When a time comes to cash out where are the buyers?
Could this be sold for the value of the input effort?
At least this pile of "value" can be seen and touched.

 

[GetX'd]

There are companies that you can cash out through - most notably Coinbase - probably the biggest and most sophisticated. There are name brand companies that will accept Bitcoin as a currency - Microsoft for one. The Wigglevoss twins of Facebook fame bought bitcoin when it was at $120 and put $11m into it. They’re now Bitcoin billionaires. Early bird gets the worm. Too late for my taste. I enjoy watching it but wouldn’t put my hard earned money into it at these levels.

 

[ws23jrt]

There are companies that you can cash out through - most notably Coinbase - probably the biggest and most sophisticated. There are name brand companies that will accept Bitcoin as a currency - Microsoft for one. The Wigglevoss twins of Facebook fame bought bitcoin when it was at $120 and put $11m into it. They’re now Bitcoin billionaires. Early bird gets the worm. Too late for my taste. I enjoy watching it but wouldn’t put my hard earned money into it at these levels.

I wonder what would happen if the "Bitcoin billionaires" decided to pull their "value" out of the cloud in order to realize the gains from initial investments?
Is the increased "value" from early investing only something to have in concept and not to be actually spent?

 

[PurpleBeeper]

Yeah, I remember reading about Bitcoin in 1998. I told my then (now ex-wife) I was gonna buy $20 worth at about .05 a Bitcoin she thought I was stupid.. Of course the computer I bought them on is now long gone so the B was right. ha ha

Holy Crap..... $20/5-cents = 400 bitcoins x $13,000 is OVER A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS dude....seriously, I'd be trying to verify I owned them & I am not BS'ing. You hit the lottery, lost the ticket & are like "oh, well"... wow

 

[PurpleBeeper]

I wonder what would happen if the "Bitcoin billionaires" decided to pull their "value" out of the cloud in order to realize the gains from initial investments?
Is the increased "value" from early investing only something to have in concept and not to be actually spent?

Good question. All I've heard is that there is a limited supply of bitcoin. You cannot print more like we do with American dollars. In a way, that makes them much more stable than American dollars....BUT for sure it was a good idea when they cost 5-cents and really hard to say if they're still a good idea when the cost $13,000+ unless you're smuggling nuclear weapons or drugs or a human slave trafficker