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What Are Your Thoughts on Cryptocurrency?

Eric

By Eric
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gwalchmai Stressed Member

gwalchmai

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8 hours ago, Huaco Kid said:

"I've got five bars of gold!"

"I've got six .45's.  I don't want your gold.  But I'll take your food."

Male toddler: "I have one of THESE!"

Female toddler: "I have one of THESE!"

M: "Haha! Don't you wish you had one of these?"

F: "With one of these, I can get all of those I want."

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Brad Senior Member

Brad

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I've read a few articles about cryptocurrency and I must not be smart enough to quickly understand how I would use it in my life. I'm very interested in privacy, so by default I am interested in the topic.

Couple of random thoughts:

It has been around a while and I don't see obvious signs that I could use cryptocurrencies at Walmart or Kroger, or to pay any of the invoices I receive, so that doesn't seem like a good sign.

I saw an article a while back either at the National Review or WSJ (forgot which, and couldn't find it quickly) that argued that its main impact has been to help criminal activity. I don't know if that's true. I'm inclined to believe there's some truth to the statement because I noticed that one of the big recent ransom attacks was paid in a cryptocurrency.

Regarding investing in crypto: I'm a very boring index fund kinda guy, so there's no way in hell I would invest in crypto. With the level of volatility, that sounds like a good way to lose a lot of money fast. It sounds like gambling at best. I was reading an article the other day about one of the crypto trading exchanges having a computer issue that stopped investors from selling when they really, really needed to, and some lost big five-digit numbers of dollar equivalents. With a regular stock trading situation, they could've gotten help in recovering the dough. In this case, there was nobody to call. They were utterly screwed and the money was just gone. Sounds like something a swashbuckler would find fun. Not me.

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Eric BGH

Eric

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4 hours ago, Brad said:

Check it out. The first nation to adopt Bitcoin as its national currency.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-comes-to-el-salvador-first-country-to-adopt-crypto-as-national-currency-11631005200?st=168cyb1drbtuiir&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

I'm curious to see how that goes. If it fails, the crash will be spectacular. I think that a nation could probably make it work today, but it seems ill-advised for a country that disorganized, unstable and cash-strapped to be the one to give it a go. Maybe a nation should not take its financial advice from a guy wearing a hoodie. I wish them well though. That little country could use a bit of good fortune.

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Historian Crew Member

Historian

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On 8/27/2021 at 11:28 PM, Eric said:

He didn't talk to me again that night.

I just love those moments.  Its just a special feeling.

I once made an insurance agent cry.  That was a truly great day.  He told a number of us a lie...and i showed him the emails.

He cried.   It was wonderful.

One day I'll tell you about the lawyer i scared.

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Historian Crew Member

Historian

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On 8/28/2021 at 9:05 AM, Brad said:

It has been around a while and I don't see obvious signs that I could use cryptocurrencies at Walmart or Kroger, or to pay any of the invoices I receive, so that doesn't seem like a good sign.

I am no expert on Crypto...but do know a bit about Block Chain...and how hard that is to deal with and hack from a security stand point.  It's pretty solid.  And it's one of the technologies that drives Crypto.   

So when you have illegal organizations or nations moving Crypto....it's a hard thing to track.  This makes the FBI/CIA/FDC/etc....work a heck of a lot harder to find where criminal and financial activity meet.    It gets rather serious.   Let's just say I was a criminal mastermind and wanted to hide my money from James Bond while i swim with Ursula....i'd keep my money in Crypto.  

Anyway.  That's my main issue with it.  I try not to invest in places and things that...i object to.

At least our money is supposed to be backed by the full faith of our government.   At one time it was backed by gold...and it had meaning.  And i really regret we left the gold standard many years ago.   

https://fortune.com/2021/08/16/walmart-to-hire-crypto-expert-in-push-towards-digital-currency/

Walmart Inc. is looking to hire a cryptocurrency expert to develop a blockchain strategy, joining a growing number of major corporations exploring the viability of digital currencies such as Bitcoin.

https://www.inc.com/tor-constantino/why-amazon-will-likely-make-a-massive-move-into-crypto.html

There has been a lot of rumor and speculation circulating in the crypto and mainstream media recently regarding e-commerce giant Amazon moving into the crypto-space by accepting select cryptocurrencies as payment options. 

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NPTim Crew Member

NPTim

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8 minutes ago, Historian said:

I am no expert on Crypto...but do know a bit about Block Chain...and how hard that is to deal with and hack from a security stand point.  It's pretty solid.  And it's one of the technologies that drives Crypto.   

So when you have illegal organizations or nations moving Crypto....it's a hard thing to track.  This makes the FBI/CIA/FDC/etc....work a heck of a lot harder to find where criminal and financial activity meet.    It gets rather serious.   Let's just say I was a criminal mastermind and wanted to hide my money from James Bond while i swim with Ursula....i'd keep my money in Crypto.  

Anyway.  That's my main issue with it.  I try not to invest in places and things that...i object to.

At least our money is supposed to be backed by the full faith of our government.   At one time it was backed by gold...and it had meaning.  And i really regret we left the gold standard many years ago.   

https://fortune.com/2021/08/16/walmart-to-hire-crypto-expert-in-push-towards-digital-currency/

Walmart Inc. is looking to hire a cryptocurrency expert to develop a blockchain strategy, joining a growing number of major corporations exploring the viability of digital currencies such as Bitcoin.

https://www.inc.com/tor-constantino/why-amazon-will-likely-make-a-massive-move-into-crypto.html

There has been a lot of rumor and speculation circulating in the crypto and mainstream media recently regarding e-commerce giant Amazon moving into the crypto-space by accepting select cryptocurrencies as payment options. 

Does anybody have faith in our overlords (government) anymore?

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Historian Crew Member

Historian

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3 minutes ago, NPTim said:

Does anybody have faith in our overlords (government) anymore?

Yeah.  And that's why I think Crypto was a logical extreme. 

I see it as bartering.  It's not backed by anything and could be blown away tomorrow by law and regulation. 

People say its worth something.  Ok, well i guess....

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Eric BGH

Eric

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3 hours ago, Historian said:

Yeah.  And that's why I think Crypto was a logical extreme. 

I see it as bartering.  It's not backed by anything and could be blown away tomorrow by law and regulation. 

People say its worth something.  Ok, well i guess....

There was a time when people were paid in salt. Of course, there was a real need for salt and many of those people used ground up lead as a seasoning on their food. 

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Historian Crew Member

Historian

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22 minutes ago, Eric said:

There was a time when people were paid in salt. Of course, there was a real need for salt and many of those people used ground up lead as a seasoning on their food. 

There is a fantastic book on the history of salt.   It is the king of seasoning....you can't live without it.  Roman soldiers were paid in it.    

 

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Eric BGH

Eric

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33 minutes ago, Historian said:

There is a fantastic book on the history of salt.   It is the king of seasoning....you can't live without it.  Roman soldiers were paid in it.    

 

Yep, that is where the word salary comes from. And it was wealthy Romans who seasoned their food with lead. It’s supposed to have a sweet taste.  If you use enough of it, it will cure all known diseases as well. :supergrin:

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crockett Bored Member

crockett

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I got a pretty big primer stash ever since the shortage around 2014. According to GunBroker that stash is now worth 7 to 8 times as much. Might be my best investment ever. The direction we are heading I see myself buying meat and bread with primers one day. One of those little shits should be worth half a cow, 6 chickens, and a good looking daughter!

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Historian Crew Member

Historian

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9 hours ago, Eric said:

Yep, that is where the word salary comes from. And it was wealthy Romans who seasoned their food with lead. It’s supposed to have a sweet taste.  If you use enough of it, it will cure all known diseases as well. :supergrin:

They also had vomitoriums, Eric.   Places to go and force yourself to puke so you could go back to the party at eat some more.

They were odd people.

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Huaco Kid Stressed Member

Huaco Kid

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On 9/7/2021 at 4:14 PM, Historian said:

I just love those moments.  Its just a special feeling.

I once made an insurance agent cry.  That was a truly great day.  He told a number of us a lie...and i showed him the emails.

He cried.   It was wonderful.

One day I'll tell you about the lawyer i scared.

A very large company I worked at took us all to a laser-tag place,  as a teambuilding thing (shoot your co-worker! great idea!)

The first round,  I tried to be tactical.  I had never done it before.  A bunch of the other guys were "pros".  I was the only real "gun guy" in the whole place, as far as I knew.

I came in, I don't remember,  about 20th place in "kills".  Six or seven.  huh.

For the second round,  I just went Rambo,  blasting every shadow I saw.  My rifle quickly stopped working. 

I went to a "referee" and he explained that that part was for "expert" games.  If your rifle stops flashing and making noise,  you're out of ammo.  You had to go to a special "reload" location.  But this was a beginner's game.  My rifle quit flashing and making noise,  but it had endless ammo.

Nice.

So I just crawled  under a table-nook at the intersection of two long hallways and shot 470,000,000 gazillion shots. The trigger, itself, was probably smoking.  It was a bloodbath.  People started freaking,  not knowing where it was coming from,  and just freezing or running back and forth.

I came in first place with, like, 400 kills.  Second place was, like, 12.

A lot of people in the office avoided me forever after that.

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NPTim Crew Member

NPTim

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23 hours ago, Eric said:

Yep, that is where the word salary comes from. And it was wealthy Romans who seasoned their food with lead. It’s supposed to have a sweet taste.  If you use enough of it, it will cure all known diseases as well. :supergrin:

Death does indeed cure all diseases.

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