I don’t think you need a licence to set up a cryptocurrency. I fully expect there to be hundreds of new currencies around, many of which are just out and out rip off scams, likely like that kijijii one.
Cryptocurrencies
- Thread starter jc100
- Start date
I don’t think you need a licence to set up a cryptocurrency. I fully expect there to be hundreds of new currencies around, many of which are just out and out rip off scams, likely like that kijijii one.
Gotta love the pics. Cash lying around, gold watch & gold chain.
There's a fool born every minute.
I'll give a stab at this drawing from earlier iterations of what was similar to bitcoin.
Anyone remember the game Diablo 2? Diablo 2 was one of the very early video games that somehow spawned RMT (real money transactions.) RMT refers to trading real cash for virtual items. A quick Google shows that maximum known value of a traded item was around $1800 USD. This means accounts, in Diablo 2, containing a multitude of rare items could easily hit the 5 digit mark.
Diablo 2's success with RMT resulted in RMT becoming the future of nearly all video games. It also proved that people have no problem buying what the vast majority see as "zero value" but would likely have no problems selling it back. This has been going on for literally more than a decade: I had a World of Warcraft pentabox (5) setup and made $$$ to pay for university by farming virtual currency to sell for real $$$.
Eventually, game publishers had to start banning players for RMT. Why? Because RMT could often be used to exchange for virtual currency, which would inflate the in-game market, and literally **** everything up to the point where unless you did RMT, you could not afford anything (anyone who's played Final Fantasy XI will remember this.)
So where does bitcoin come in? Bitcoin is a decentralized currency where each "coin" has a transaction history and is far less prone to inflation due to the total # of coins being extremely limited and increasing at a ridiculously slow rate. Every transaction needs to be confirmed via miners, who are paid a fraction of a bitcoin for every transaction confirmed. This is what is known as "mining" (and for those who know more, I am not delving into low level details because GTAM's community/audience is not as tech savvy as, say, Reddit as a whole.)
Now we know investors are buying bitcoins, but who actually buys **** with BTC is likely what everyone is wondering....here's where we're gonna get really dark via the dark web.
The dark web consists primarily of illegal services, goods, or stuff that would get the FBI in front of your house. There are at least 3 sites (likely more) that included a list of names, with a # of bitcoins aside each name. Take a guess what the list is for (hint: it's not to drink tea with them).
There are also quite a few dark web locations that sell "questionable software" with user ratings. The payment method is BTC.
Aside from the dark web, BTC also serves as a far more stable currency than some other countries. I know people who have "invested" into BTC due to this. Long story short....there is no difference between virtual currency and actual currency (do you think a $1000 CAD bill is actually worth anything if we flew up to Mars, found some aliens, and tried to trade with them?) Value is derived from popular opinion or massive manipulation.
With all that said, I am honestly conflicted if BTC will crash, or simply level out. It is a far more trust-worthy currency than bank managed ones. However, because the value of BTC is entirely based on human speculation, this may also result in what I saw earlier with Final Fantasy XI and RMT.
P.S. I've said this before, but for any of you curious about the dark web and have no clue how to visit it...please don't unless you want the cops in front of you door.
Anyone remember the game Diablo 2? Diablo 2 was one of the very early video games that somehow spawned RMT (real money transactions.) RMT refers to trading real cash for virtual items. A quick Google shows that maximum known value of a traded item was around $1800 USD. This means accounts, in Diablo 2, containing a multitude of rare items could easily hit the 5 digit mark.
Diablo 2's success with RMT resulted in RMT becoming the future of nearly all video games. It also proved that people have no problem buying what the vast majority see as "zero value" but would likely have no problems selling it back. This has been going on for literally more than a decade: I had a World of Warcraft pentabox (5) setup and made $$$ to pay for university by farming virtual currency to sell for real $$$.
Eventually, game publishers had to start banning players for RMT. Why? Because RMT could often be used to exchange for virtual currency, which would inflate the in-game market, and literally **** everything up to the point where unless you did RMT, you could not afford anything (anyone who's played Final Fantasy XI will remember this.)
So where does bitcoin come in? Bitcoin is a decentralized currency where each "coin" has a transaction history and is far less prone to inflation due to the total # of coins being extremely limited and increasing at a ridiculously slow rate. Every transaction needs to be confirmed via miners, who are paid a fraction of a bitcoin for every transaction confirmed. This is what is known as "mining" (and for those who know more, I am not delving into low level details because GTAM's community/audience is not as tech savvy as, say, Reddit as a whole.)
Now we know investors are buying bitcoins, but who actually buys **** with BTC is likely what everyone is wondering....here's where we're gonna get really dark via the dark web.
The dark web consists primarily of illegal services, goods, or stuff that would get the FBI in front of your house. There are at least 3 sites (likely more) that included a list of names, with a # of bitcoins aside each name. Take a guess what the list is for (hint: it's not to drink tea with them).
There are also quite a few dark web locations that sell "questionable software" with user ratings. The payment method is BTC.
Aside from the dark web, BTC also serves as a far more stable currency than some other countries. I know people who have "invested" into BTC due to this. Long story short....there is no difference between virtual currency and actual currency (do you think a $1000 CAD bill is actually worth anything if we flew up to Mars, found some aliens, and tried to trade with them?) Value is derived from popular opinion or massive manipulation.
With all that said, I am honestly conflicted if BTC will crash, or simply level out. It is a far more trust-worthy currency than bank managed ones. However, because the value of BTC is entirely based on human speculation, this may also result in what I saw earlier with Final Fantasy XI and RMT.
P.S. I've said this before, but for any of you curious about the dark web and have no clue how to visit it...please don't unless you want the cops in front of you door.
Have you heard of doge?
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/
Somebody made a coin out of this meme and the value of the coin has gone up significantly since the cryptocurrency boom. Considering that dogecoin is supposed to be a parody/joke........I'm not sure if the guys investing in the coin are retarded or not.
Also I had a friend approach me recently to ask if I could help him make some digital currency; I suggested to him to do some research before even asking me.
Riceburner
Well-known member
So. How do you get onto the dark web?
The most simple method...
Just use Tor and google for some addresses.
The more secure method...
VPN and Tor
The paranoid method...
Contact or create a VPN host that will hijack (legally or illegally lol) other connections so that any requests have to jump throughout the world, literally, resulting in the origin of the request being nearly impossible to trace back.
EDIT: I'm pretty sure duckduckgo has a tor version of their search engine. You can use that to find more tor sites once you get your tor browsing setup.
If any of the mods want me to stay away from this topic let me know as I understand it is ridiculously grey and everyone assumes dark web browsers are looking for child porn...(are you hiding something Riceburner? lol)
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油井緋色;2539795 said:
I can't see what you posted being a problem. You haven't provided any more than "if you want a hooker look near parliament street". If you provided actual addresses the mods may need to intervene as I am sure Paul isn't interested in dealing with law enforcement attention/requests.
48Connor
Well-known member
油井緋色;2539785 said:Have you heard of doge?
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/
Somebody made a coin out of this meme and the value of the coin has gone up significantly since the cryptocurrency boom. Considering that dogecoin is supposed to be a parody/joke........I'm not sure if the guys investing in the coin are retarded or not.
Also I had a friend approach me recently to ask if I could help him make some digital currency; I suggested to him to do some research before even asking me.
I bought a Dogecoin shirt back in 2015 (maybe 2014? idr) to help sponsor a Nascar car for $50k. I remember being given dogecoin and it being worth so little I would never open up an account. Looks like that few thousand I had been given is worth a few bucks now, but still not worth a whole lot.
油井緋色;2539785 said:Have you heard of doge?
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/
Somebody made a coin out of this meme and the value of the coin has gone up significantly since the cryptocurrency boom. Considering that dogecoin is supposed to be a parody/joke........I'm not sure if the guys investing in the coin are retarded or not.
Also I had a friend approach me recently to ask if I could help him make some digital currency; I suggested to him to do some research before even asking me.
...and this is the issue. Obviously a small minority of people find value in this and some may readily accept fiat currency in exchange for this virtual currency but to me this reeks of an elaborate snake oil sales technique wrapped up in the semi respectable veneer of alternate banking. I can see how in-game currency took off (great explanation by the way) because to the players in the game there was some “value” attributed to buying objects that enabled further achievement in the game. But what does bitcoin and others like it do for the owner? It has zero purpose except as a method of anonymous currency exchange for what used to be mainly nefarious means. It’s not linked to anything tangible at all. I don’t see that there’s anything stopping me from naming a new cryptocurrency, however, I need to convince people to invest in it to make money for me. It’s the ultimate confidence scam.
I read recently that all cryptocurrency in the world is currently the 60th most valued currency in the world just below the Romanian lei. However, this is only because of the recent boom in the trading price. Next week it could be below the 100th most valued currency. However, because of this volatility cryptocurrency is not a stable investment at all. If the Dow Jones index changed at the current rate of cryptocurrency (+/- 8% or more a day) it would spell disaster. I also read about how many heists of crytocurrency there have been with owners having next to zero recourse of getting their cash back. Add to that the “bankruptcies” etc outlined above and I figure you either have to be a lucky fool or a genius to get something out of this bubble. I feel that most people making a mint from this are exaggerating their returns in order to increase hype and get others in to prop up the valuations. Those that are making serious money are in the minority I feel.
it appears to have doubled in value... i keep meaning to buy $5 worth of that coin. if it takes off, yay. if not. c'est la vie
Total pyramid scheme. But, I did put some money in via Coinbase a couple months ago. BTC, ETH and LTC. I switched over to Quadriga and I pulled out my initial investment plus a fair chunk of transaction costs last week.
Just letting house money sit there now. AFAIC waaay too unstable. I may pull the rest out and just buy some cobalt stocks, less risky.
Doge, Ripple and another I can't recall atm are the next pump and dumps.
Just letting house money sit there now. AFAIC waaay too unstable. I may pull the rest out and just buy some cobalt stocks, less risky.
Doge, Ripple and another I can't recall atm are the next pump and dumps.
If I were to play the crypto game (which I am not planning on doing now), I would put a loseable amount in (normally 10,000 as with less money the transaction costs eat most of your profit) and use the daily swings to ratchet it up (I did this with potash years ago and was averaging about 1% a day). With the swings in crypto, you should be able to average 2.5% a day or better. This doubles your money in ~30 days. Pull out your original investment and continue to play the game with the money that's left. After that, either pull out profit every time you double or let it all ride and hope to retire. Don't consider anything in this trading account actual money until it is converted back to a fiat currency. Obviously if the big crash comes before you pull out your original investment you lost huge.
People keep bringing up a bitcoin transaction from a 2010 where someone bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. That's $176,000,000 at today's valuation.
It is absolutely possible to make money off BTC (or any cryptocurrency) due to how currency works.
Lets strip away indices, laws, and all that ****. Look at what currency, at its core, is. Physical money is literally a worthless piece of paper that some random people with too much money put value on. Everyone else agrees with this value and actual physical goods, require for survival, are traded using currency.
When BTC first came out it was worth a few cents. Everyone laughed at the idea of digital currency. BTC was worth nearly nothing. A while later, tech-savvy guys decided to look into BTC, how it works (the code is open-source), and it started to gain traction because they bought some. BTC, or digital currency, was created to directly tackle the problems with centralized banking and inflation. Whether or not it solves these problems is open to debate but clearly quite a few people thought it did.
BTC really took off some while later because more people started assigning value to it. This is literally the same thing as anything on the public stock market. Nothing is stopping you from going to Starbucks and asking to purchase a cup of coffee in exchange for x shares for y company at z value.
With regards to the security, scamming, and what you can actually buy with this stuff...I admittedly have not looked too far into this. However, like the 2000 dot com crash, we know that people can be incredibly stupid and invest into things that don't actually have any value (or frankly have any idea about). As an example, look at Long Island Iced Tea Corp. They changed their name to Long Blockchain Corp a week or two ago. The price of the stock went up 300%. I LTEA, counting on the idiots who invested in it to realize the company has NOTHING to do with cryptocurrency...and it's dropped from $7 to $4.5.
The instability of BTC really only shows one for sure thing: no one agrees how much a BTC is worth yet. Like real currency, BTC's value is assigned by people. There are definitely some incredibly stupid people trying to make a quick buck out of this and getting burned due to not knowing the rules (honestly I don't know them either), but there are also a lot of people who agree with the problem Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of BTC and no one knows who he is still, tried to solve with BTC.
You are right, by the way, regarding infinite crptocurrencies spawning as a possibility. You can just copy the source code, and make a new currency:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin
........Hell, I'm gonna go look at the source code now lol
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Fiat currency has stability from either the central banks that administer it or from precious metal reserves such as gold (which has valuable real world uses). Cryptocurrencies have no stable backing though. There are instances where the central banks lose stability (Greece, some African nations, and a while ago some Eastern European countries) but these are relatively rare and when they do happen the countries themselves have an interest is regaining stability in their national currency or they would face political consequences (civil unrest etc). It’s also rare that the average citizen could lose everything on a fiat currency. Cryptocurrencies have none of these mechanisms in place and I’m not sure they ever will. In fact, I think the current traders like the extreme volatility as it enables them to make a literal “quick buck”.
This video sums it up pretty well...https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g-zIbVEjVpQ
Love it.
I have trouble understanding how bitcoin works in the non cyber world.
Example:
If I was down and out I know a neighbour would pay me $20 CDN to clear his driveway.
I do so and he gives me a greenish papery piece of plastic with the picture of the queen on it.
I put it in my pocket
I take the piece of papery plastic to the store and they give me food to eat and a different coloured piece of plastic and some metal round things.
If the neighbour said "I'm paying you in bitcoin" what happens?
Iceman
Well-known member
If he pays you in bitcoin you shovel his driveway in the cyber virtual world. There has to be a shovelling simulator out there.
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Wait 24-48 hrs for transaction to clear, pay 10-15% in tx fees, and hope the value the next day is more than $20 and it doesn't drop to $15....ask for your money, pay % transaction fee...wait 24-60hrs for $ to show up...
I think I got it right...?
and for the love of all that is holy don't lose your digital wallet!
That is what I find the strangest about all of these cryptocurrencies. They are so heavily reliant on physical possession of something (either personally or stored by someone else).
You would think if you were starting from scratch you would make something that required authentication each time so theft couldn't happen. Assuming good authentication, the coins could exist in many places (cloud style) as they are useless without authentication. I thought virtual currencies were headed this way, but with all of the thefts and people storing coins on physical wallets than can be lost it obviously went very wrong.
