What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

What kind of transactions were in your brothers' coinbase accounts? Other than gambling and silk road-esque type websites, I've not seen any place they are accepted. Person 2 Person obviously is accepted as well. But...that's a limited scope.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Another question I have is how would large online retailers like Amazon/Walmart protect themselves from market fluctuations? Apple and similar companies with large international sales have bemoaned the currency fluctuations both publicly and privately and that's between established currencies around the globe (dollar, euro, yuan, etc) But, those fluctuations I'd have to think pale in comparison to what bitcoin does. And, if there is a large dip in one currency, it's likely somewhat buoyed by a bounce in another....maybe, I'm no forex expert.

But, let's say Amazon accepts bitcoin. Its revenue is approaching $200B/year. Let's say 5% of that is bitcoin. $10B/year. Are they going to pay their vendors in bitcoin and/or force their vendors to accept it? Do they take in bitcoin and pay out in whatever currency the vendor wants? Does it get split contingent upon how people buy (eg, if a guy buys a birdhouse and pays with bitcoin, does the birdhouse seller have to receive bitcoin) Because if they just accept bitcoin and don't pass it out, they'll end up as a major holder of it and if the value drops another 50% or so, they end up losing a couple billion dollars. Which, sure, it's a small percentage but it's not nothing...

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Hoot45
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by Hoot45 »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:What kind of transactions were in your brothers' coinbase accounts? Other than gambling and silk road-esque type websites, I've not seen any place they are accepted. Person 2 Person obviously is accepted as well. But...that's a limited scope.
A lot of it was person to person for rent, beer, etc and some of it was gambling, as you guessed. So definitely limited in practicality. One of them pays his DISH bill in Bitcoin and uses gift card intermediaries like Purse to shop on Amazon or PizzaForCoins, but that seems unnecessary to me.

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Jocephus
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by Jocephus »

this is apparently the guy that created dogecoin, he has a long thread
https://gizmodo.com/dogecoin-creator-sa ... 1847292956

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IMADreamer
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

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Crypto is certainly embraced by libertarians and those types. There no doubt about that.

Agree it's utility right now is limited, other than a gamble/investment. However it is becoming available more and more, we are looking into accepting it with some of the things we do. It is a little tricky and especially where I live it's not well known.

I will say that Bitcoin definitely is used in some of the seedier parts of society. The adult industry for example. My wife actually holds several bitcoins that she was tipped back when she was a cam girl. She still has it because she still has that old laptop. We have since moved it to a secure wallet.

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vinsanity
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by vinsanity »

IMADreamer wrote:
July 15 21, 8:55 pm
Crypto is certainly embraced by libertarians and those types. There no doubt about that.

Agree it's utility right now is limited, other than a gamble/investment. However it is becoming available more and more, we are looking into accepting it with some of the things we do. It is a little tricky and especially where I live it's not well known.

I will say that Bitcoin definitely is used in some of the seedier parts of society. The adult industry for example. My wife actually holds several bitcoins that she was tipped back when she was a cam girl. She still has it because she still has that old laptop. We have since moved it to a secure wallet.
Great summary.

Crypto/blockchain is a super interesting technology.

Bitcoin/Doge etc are basically like buying Gold/Silver bars in case of an apocalypse. You can't eat it. You can't shoot it. If the power grid shuts down, what good is your bitcoin? Great for speculation right now. Funny story though, about five years ago I did see a coffee stand in San Francisco at Pier 39 that accepted bitcoin.

When you say seedier, do you mean illegal? Or just businesses people don't want on their credit card? I think the former is still dominated by cash given the nature of block chain but the anonymity of it is also fascinating. Like if I buy blow with a c-note, it can't really be tracked to me. But if I use a bitcoin, I can at least have a "receipt" with some anonymity.

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IMADreamer
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by IMADreamer »

vinsanity wrote:
July 17 21, 2:00 pm
IMADreamer wrote:
July 15 21, 8:55 pm
Crypto is certainly embraced by libertarians and those types. There no doubt about that.

Agree it's utility right now is limited, other than a gamble/investment. However it is becoming available more and more, we are looking into accepting it with some of the things we do. It is a little tricky and especially where I live it's not well known.

I will say that Bitcoin definitely is used in some of the seedier parts of society. The adult industry for example. My wife actually holds several bitcoins that she was tipped back when she was a cam girl. She still has it because she still has that old laptop. We have since moved it to a secure wallet.
Great summary.

Crypto/blockchain is a super interesting technology.

Bitcoin/Doge etc are basically like buying Gold/Silver bars in case of an apocalypse. You can't eat it. You can't shoot it. If the power grid shuts down, what good is your bitcoin? Great for speculation right now. Funny story though, about five years ago I did see a coffee stand in San Francisco at Pier 39 that accepted bitcoin.

When you say seedier, do you mean illegal? Or just businesses people don't want on their credit card? I think the former is still dominated by cash given the nature of block chain but the anonymity of it is also fascinating. Like if I buy blow with a c-note, it can't really be tracked to me. But if I use a bitcoin, I can at least have a "receipt" with some anonymity.
The later I think. It seems like it's a lot of people who want to hide transactions from certainly people such as family, or their accountant. I think it's pretty popular for purchasing porn, sex, private sex shows, etc. However it is traceable, just not easily. As we saw recently with some big hacks bitcoin can be tracked by the FBI if they really want to.

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G. Keenan
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by G. Keenan »

What does the GRB hive mind think of this?

Gemini Earn

Not as a speculative crypto play, but as high-yielding savings safety net alternative to a cash savings account where .3% or .4% are the best interest rates around these days. The underlying coin is their Gemini Dollar, which is a stablecoin pegged to the USD.

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IMADreamer
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by IMADreamer »

G. Keenan wrote:
July 30 21, 10:55 am
What does the GRB hive mind think of this?

Gemini Earn

Not as a speculative crypto play, but as high-yielding savings safety net alternative to a cash savings account where .3% or .4% are the best interest rates around these days. The underlying coin is their Gemini Dollar, which is a stablecoin pegged to the USD.
I think it's interesting. I don't hold any Gemini though. I also like the idea of staking coins. I have most of my Etherium staked at the moment so it is earning me some interest as well. It was 6% but it's down the last couple months.

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G. Keenan
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Re: What the hell is (a) bitcoin?

Post by G. Keenan »

IMADreamer wrote:
August 2 21, 8:41 pm
G. Keenan wrote:
July 30 21, 10:55 am
What does the GRB hive mind think of this?

Gemini Earn

Not as a speculative crypto play, but as high-yielding savings safety net alternative to a cash savings account where .3% or .4% are the best interest rates around these days. The underlying coin is their Gemini Dollar, which is a stablecoin pegged to the USD.
I think it's interesting. I don't hold any Gemini though. I also like the idea of staking coins. I have most of my Etherium staked at the moment so it is earning me some interest as well. It was 6% but it's down the last couple months.
I'm kicking the idea around. I've got 6 months' worth of expenses as a safety net parked in cash earning .3% interest, one of the best savings account interest rates around right now. But this Gemini Dollar program is currently paying 7.4% interest. Unlike a bank which only has to hold like 10% in cash reserves relative to deposits, Gemini, if I'm not mistaken, has to maintain a 1:1 reserve ratio. So for every Gemini Dollar they create on the Ethereum block chain they have to hold an actual USD in reserve. That would make it seem like a fairly safe bet, though of course anything could happen to an individual company and the account is not FDIC insured, so the worst case scenario risk is definitely greater.

On the other hand, this is not an insignificant amount of cash, it's returning next to nothing at .3%. I could put it in super safe equities or bonds but that presents as much, or possibly more, risk to a "safety net" as this Gemini Dollar. Or at least that's what I'm trying to figure out.

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