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Foxx

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another step in the institutional money front.

 

marketwatch.com article

Facebook working on cryptocurrency-based payments platform

Facebook Inc. is recruiting dozens of financial firms and online merchants to help launch a cryptocurrency-based payments system on the back of its gigantic social network.

 

The effort, should it succeed, threatens to upend the traditional, lucrative plumbing of e-commerce and would likely be the most mainstream application yet of cryptocurrency. It comes as the social-media giant is under intense pressure from regulators, users and shareholders to address privacy shortcomings.

 

At the heart of the initiative, under way for more than a year and code-named Project Libra, is a digital coin that its users could send to each other and use to make purchases both on Facebook and across the internet, according to people familiar with the matter. ...

 

source - WSJ (paywall):  Facebook Building Cryptocurrency-Based Payments System

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  • 2 weeks later...

BTC is currently up slightly over 100% from it's recent low in Dec '18. is the bear market in the rear view mirror? prolly not as there is certainly more volatility to come in the days ahead.

 

BITCOIN CROWNED ‘BEST INVESTMENT OF 2019’ BY MAINSTREAM PRESS

90 percent of all major asset classes posted positive dollar returns this April, with Bitcoin leading the way. What’s more surprising? That BTC rallied by more than 50 percent or that the Wall Street Journal recognized it as the biggest winner?


BITCOIN BEST INVESTMENT BY FAR

It wasn’t only Bitcoin that had a disastrous 2018. According to the WSJ, a record 87 percent of all assets plummeted by the close of the year. That includes stocks, commodities, bonds, and credit markets.

However, April 2019 saw a dramatic recovery almost entirely across the board. 90 percent of the 70 asset classes tracked by Deutsche Bank AG made a come back last month, including oil prices and global bonds. However: ...

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9 minutes ago, Augie said:

They just did a segment on bitcoin. From birth to current. I’m sure you can get it somewhere.  

yep, just looked it up on their site.

 

it is basically a Bitcoin 101 segment for the (m)asses/unaware. ETA: it has a few facts wrong. the portion about the mine in Iceland being one of the places that safeguard the records is a misnomer. i have a record of every single transaction ever on my hard drive here and it could be duplicated anywhere in the world if need be. this is called decentralization and a core component of the blockchain's value. the other single most important aspect is the trustless nature of it.

 

Bitcoin's wild ride

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Just trying to point out it was available. I don’t have a stated position on either side. It may be the future, but it may also be the financial doom of people not wise enough to navigate those waters.  

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thanks to Flexa, 15 major retailers now accept crypto currency as payment for merchandise and services.

 

Who accepts cryptocurrency? Whole Foods, Bed Bath & Beyond and Ulta among retailers

... Global payments network Flexa in its launch Monday announced partnerships with 15 retailers to accept cryptocurrency payments. Among the accepted currencies for shoppers who have the SPEDN app are bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and Gemini dollars.

 

Other retailers accepting cryptocurrency-based payments include Barnes & Noble, Baskin Robbins, Crate & Barrel, Express, GameStop, Lowe's, Nordstrom, Regal Cinemas and Ulta. The SPEDN app is so far limited to attendees of the Consensus cryptocurrency conference, but it will become more widely available by invitation in Apple's App Store next week. ...

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrKgkoZBIlw

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

Facebook announces Libra cryptocurrency: All you need to know

 

Facebook Libra

Facebook has finally revealed the details of its cryptocurrency, Libra, which will let you buy things or send money to people with nearly zero fees. You’ll pseudonymously buy or cash out your Libra online or at local exchange points like grocery stores, and spend it using interoperable third-party wallet apps or Facebook’s own Calibra wallet that will be built into WhatsApp, Messenger and its own app. Today Facebook released its white paper explaining Libra and its testnet for working out the kinks of its blockchain system before a public launch in the first half of 2020.

 

Facebook  won’t fully control Libra, but instead get just a single vote in its governance like other founding members of the Libra Association, including Visa, Uber and Andreessen Horowitz, which have invested at least $10 million each into the project’s operations. The association will promote the open-sourced Libra Blockchain and developer platform with its own Move programming language, plus sign up businesses to accept Libra for payment and even give customers discounts or rewards.

 

Facebook is launching a subsidiary company also called Calibra that handles its crypto dealings and protects users’ privacy by never mingling your Libra payments with your Facebook data so it can’t be used for ad targeting. Your real identity won’t be tied to your publicly visible transactions. But Facebook/Calibra and other founding members of the Libra Association will earn interest on the money users cash in that is held in reserve to keep the value of Libra stable.

 

Facebook-Calibra.png?w=680

 

Facebook’s audacious bid to create a global digital currency that promotes financial inclusion for the unbanked actually has more privacy and decentralization built in than many expected. Instead of trying to dominate Libra’s future or squeeze tons of cash out of it immediately, Facebook is instead playing the long-game by pulling payments into its online domain. Facebook’s VP of blockchain, David Marcus, explained the company’s motive and the tie-in with its core revenue source during a briefing at San Francisco’s historic Mint building. “If more commerce happens, then more small businesses will sell more on and off platform, and they’ll want to buy more ads on the platform so it will be good for our ads business.”

The risk and reward of building the new PayPal ...

 

 

Facebook’s Libra currency draws instant response from regulators

 

Jim Cramer: How Facebook's Libra Can Bring Cryptocurrency to the Masses

 

White paper

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Libra: Facebook's Crypto Trojan Rabbit

... In short, Government ineptitude and/or fundamental evil created Bitcoin.

This is the essence of what Ms. Long talked about around the same time as that post in her Mises Weekend talk “Will Blockchain Free Us from Wall St.”

 

It’s a wonderful talk that focuses on the domestic reasons why the dollar is yet to collapse and why Bitcoin provides the framework in which we can craft money that isn’t controlled by a central issuing authority.

 

This is the key point that she mentions but doesn’t emphasize in her talk. For the first time in history we have been presented the option to choose money whose new units are not subject to the whims and corruption of humans.

 

That’s set by math. And math both determines the rate of inflation and the rate of trust developed by the money itself. This continues to be Bitcoin’s biggest advantage as long as the economic incentives to maintain the network remain positive and are not perverted.

 

A Farewell to Kings

 

It means no philosopher kings deciding the rate of inflation or deflation. It means minimizing rent-seeking behavior. It means an end to counterfeiting as we have experienced in the past.

 

But as I said earlier, things like off-chain settled futures contracts create ‘Paper Bitcoins’ which suppress its exchange rate versus the U.S. dollar. They are an attempt at counterfeiting through through leverage. So are stablecoins like Tether, if not managed properly and, don’t kid yourself, Libra. ...

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PAINpC9FVc

 

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4 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

Man, I never pulled the trigger on Bitcoin. Missed a great run this year.  Do you see this Facebook stuff hurting Bitcoin at all @Foxx

it does appear that we are now in a market reversal. does that mean we have left the bear market and are now firmly in a bull, dunno. one thing is certain though, we have roughly gained over 80% of the 2018 low.

 

kind of an odd phenomenon going on with crypto pairings though. back in '17 and '18 the crytpo pairing usually followed the fiat pairing. meaning that when the fiat price of coins (BTC/ETH/LTC/etc...) rose, so did the fiat value of tokens (PPP/PPT/VERI/etc...). now however, while the fiat value of coins is rising, the crypto coupling of a great amount of tokens seems to have become detached. the crypto pairing is declining as the fiat value of coins rises where the fiat value of tokens is remaining static. somewhat unanticipated.

 

 will Libra hurt the fiat value of Bitcoin, good question. in the video i posted above, Caitlin Long seems to think that there will be short term harm to the price of BTC but that in the long run it is going to benefitBTC. the reasoning she gives is that Libra is going to bring cryptos to the (m)asses. which will initially foster interest in Facebook's foray but ultimately backfire as people begin to understand the mechanics of the blockchain and the various coins.

 

many different schools of thought obviously but i still am of the opinion (and it would take something seismic to change my opinion) that BTC will always be the daddy of all cryptos, as it currently is. it has the benefit of being the first created cryptocurrency and as such enjoys great benefits that other coins of the same construct do not enjoy. BTC is slow and cumbersome, it is not designed to be an everyday conveyance of value, other coins are better suited to do that. however, because it was the first and because it is deflationary in nature (finite amount), it holds a special place. in it's pure form (no derivatives), it can not be manipulated. it is for that reason that i have been continually pounding the table that it will become an international settlement vehicle (this has already come to fruition to a small degree with at least three nation states having agreed to do this). nation states are going to like that it can not be inflated by the mere wave of the hand to bring more into existence, which would ultimately devalue their holdings like can be done with USD fiat.

 

this is a very deep subject and i could go on and on but i will leave it at this for now.

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Anyone with a 401k who is interested in Bitcoin but doesn’t want to sign up on an exchange like coinbase can invest with Greyscale Bitcoin Trust. Symbol is GBTC. You pay a bit of a premium but it simplifies things for anyone who wants to get in on Bitcoin. 

 

This is turning out to be a good year. Next year should look amazing in the crypto world. 

Facebook’s Calibra should accelerate crypto adoption. Personally I will stay away from Calibra. I will stick with Bitcoin, GBTC and a few other things.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing this thread having more activity as the crypto space grows.  Very exciting time to be alive. 

 

Btw crypto market cap just hit $300 Billion today.  So much growth to come.

Edited by Pilsner
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2 hours ago, Pilsner said:

Anyone with a 401k who is interested in Bitcoin but doesn’t want to sign up on an exchange like coinbase can invest with Greyscale Bitcoin Trust. Symbol is GBTC. You pay a bit of a premium but it simplifies things for anyone who wants to get in on Bitcoin. 

 

This is turning out to be a good year. Next year should look amazing in the crypto world. 

Facebook’s Calibra should accelerate crypto adoption. Personally I will stay away from Calibra. I will stick with Bitcoin, GBTC and a few other things.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing this thread having more activity as the crypto space grows.  Very exciting time to be alive. 

 

Btw crypto market cap just hit $300 Billion today.  So much growth to come.

this thread should be bouncing off the walls today. BTC broke the $10K plateau for the first time since March 8th 2018. BTC has now recovered over 200% of it's low, in this cycle, of $3206 on Dec 14, 2018.

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16 hours ago, Foxx said:

want to see a good sign? look at the bottom of this chart and look at the volume being traded daily. it is an order of magnitude higher than the end of '17/beginning of '18, our last ATH.

 

?

 

Indeed, that is nice volume. If everyone here plays their crypto cards right we could turn into the wealthiest NFL fan base.

 

Keep stacking those Satoshis.

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19 hours ago, Foxx said:

want to see a good sign? look at the bottom of this chart and look at the volume being traded daily. it is an order of magnitude higher than the end of '17/beginning of '18, our last ATH.

 

?

 

 

Volume and some level of predictability remain important to the future of bitcoin. It is interesting to watch a non government sponsored fiat currency. It is the definition of free market. One dies have to question though, is it tulip bulbs all over again?

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3 hours ago, Pilsner said:

 

Indeed, that is nice volume. If everyone here plays their crypto cards right we could turn into the wealthiest NFL fan base.

 

Keep stacking those Satoshis.

you know what is equally impressive,? with that volume, the mempool is not backlogged like it was back in late '17/early'18. transactions are clearing in a reasonable amount (for BTC anyways) of time.

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1 hour ago, BuffaloBill said:

 

 

Volume and some level of predictability remain important to the future of bitcoin. ...

yes and no. right now it, in it's infancy, is going through bubble phases. what we are experiencing now may be the beginning of the fourth/fifth bubble or.... it may be setting itself up for the thrashing of completing the third bubble. if, as i suspect, we are still in the completion phase of the third/fourth bubble, we have two more to go before it ultimately settles into state sponsored levels of stability. each of the next two successive bubble is going to set mind jarring new all time highs before retreating into a correction mode. the correction mode for this next bubble when it crashes will be $20k. i have my opinions of what the ATH's will be but, perhaps for another post. lets just say though that the previous three/four bubbles have each been, respectively, two digit, three digit, four digit and five digit price points before their correction phases. i think you can see where i am going with the progression here.

 

now, in it's infancy is when generational wealth can be derived. of course whether that is true or not is up to you to do your own diligent research and of course, as always, time will tell the tale. there is an awful lot of money to be made in a volatile market. price direction doesn't much matter if one recognizes patterns and trends. the spread is where the action is at.

 

 

1 hour ago, BuffaloBill said:

 

 

.... It is the definition of free market. One dies have to question though, is it tulip bulbs all over again?

BTC in it's pure form (non derivative) is absolutely the definition of a free market. however, you have all these fractional markets popping up and it does manipulate the price. with that being said, right now, it probably is the freest financial market there is. an important thing to remember here is, if you do not have your crypto in a wallet that you have the private keys to, while you may own it, you do not actually have possession of your property. it is well known that all of the BTC traded on all the exchanges in the world far exceeds the actual amount of BTC in existence. ever hear of Mt. Gox? if not i suggest anyone with an interest, do some reading on it and what occurred. essentially the lesson to be taken from that nasty event is that you should only leave with a custodian what you can afford to lose.

 

the tulip question has been continually brought up with regard, as well as the dotcom crash. in the early days of Crypto (2010/2015_ it was a valid question/concern. today, not so much. there is pretty much a consensual opinion that cryptocurrency is the future. in a way, that future is already here as the fiat USD is already nothing more than 1's and 0's on the central bank's ledger and has been for a number of years. as each year passes, the move to electronic transactions increases. 

 

what is holding back GUS (Gov US) and the rest of the world's govs from sanctioning and implementing its state sanctioned crypto? ways to prevent money laundering, terrorist funding and proliferation financing. they must preserve their (ahem) ways before sanctioning them to the (m)asses.

 

to these ends... it just so happens that as we speak/type many things are happening to address these (ahem) concerns. just yesterday the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded it's third and last plenary meeting under the US presidency (China is the next presidency). to which, they addressed these concerns and came up with a number of recommendations that are expected to go to protecting the integrity of the financial system. you can read the initiatives here: Outcomes FATF Plenary, 16-21 June 2019

 

prior to this latest from the FATF, the G20 had pledged to align with standards for anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the funding of terrorism (CTF) that was to be finalized at this last meeting. additionally, as per FATF recommendations, KYC rules for exchanges are set to get a lot tougher in the very near days ahead.

 

of course, these are all trial runs right now. they are setting standards and will await the technology catching up to those standards and have the current guinea pigs test the system out as they have done all along to this point. at some future point, they will assess, make revisions and stress the system for vulnerabilities. it is going to happen, it is a natural evolution if you look at it logically. in the interim, there is a ***** of a lot of fiat to be made.

 

https://twitter.com/FATFNews/status/1141739509429755907

 

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On 6/22/2019 at 12:33 PM, Foxx said:

you know what is equally impressive,? with that volume, the mempool is not backlogged like it was back in late '17/early'18. transactions are clearing in a reasonable amount (for BTC anyways) of time.

I expect a similar trend to late 2017 with a all time high set in Q4 of 2019 followed by a healthy correction.  The only question is, where to take profits.

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1 hour ago, Jauronimo said:

Just fired past $13k up $13,300 a minute ago.

there are those who follow the Elliot Wave theory, that say that wave 2 can start @ $13425.00. we have zoomed past that as of now and if the wave theory is correct, we could see $4300 before wave 3 begins. this could take weeks or months but as long as support holds, the theory says that $65K or even my anticipated high of 6 figures is in play.

 

exciting times.

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1 minute ago, Foxx said:

there are those who follow the Elliot Wave theory, that say that wave 2 can start @ $13425.00. we have zoomed past that as of now and if the wave theory is correct, we could see $4300 before wave 3 begins. this could take weeks or months but as long as support holds, the theory says that $65K or even my anticipated high of 6 figures is in play.

 

exciting times.

damn..i have not heard the term elliiot wave in so long..good stuff!!1

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