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The life and times of the Cryptocurrency markets


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Interesting article

 

http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-09-17-john-mcafee-accidentally-revealed-why-bitcoin-is-a-total-fraud-behold-the-logic-of-artificial-work.html?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fzen.yandex.com

 

"Natural News) In a recent CNBC interview thats being widely touted by self-deluded Bitcoin promoters as some kind of smack down of JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Bitcoin advocate John McAfee accidentally admitted why Bitcoin is a total fraud thats doomed to fail.

 

In answering Jamie Dimons recent declaration that Bitcoin is a fraud, McAfee replied: (see the video at The Daily Sheeple)

 

"However, sir you called Bitcoin a fraud. Im a Bitcoin miner. We create Bitcoins. It costs over one thousand dollars per coin to create a Bitcoin. What does it cost to create a U.S. dollar? Which one is the fraud? Because [the dollar] costs whatever the paper costs, but it costs me and other miners over a thousand dollars per coin its called proof of work.

 

Behold the logic of artificial work: How John McAfee just embraced Paul Krugmans ditch digging fable

 

The problem with John McAfees explanation, of course, is that it admits Bitcoins can only be created through the practice of computational wheel spinning operations where the difficulty and duration of such wheel spinning is artificially made needlessly complex by the Bitcoin algorithm. In a world where Bitcoins used to be created for less than one pennys worth of computational work, a single Bitcoin now requires over US$1,000 worth of artificial work to be achieved. A rational person must ask McAfee, Why did Bitcoins used to cost just a penny to create, and now they cost a thousand dollars? The 100,000 X increase in complexity for generating a Bitcoin, it turns out, is an artificial work algorithm known as computational difficulty in mining.

 

This admission should be shocking to all Bitcoin holders for the simple reason that if Bitcoin drops below $1,000, mining now becomes unprofitable, rendering a very large part of the entire Bitcoin mining infrastructure instantly obsolete. The only thing keeping Bitcoin mining profitable right now is the bubble pricing of Bitcoin itself, and because all bubbles eventually burst, Bitcoin mining will sooner or later reach a point where its not worth the investment of hardware, electricity and time. (Theres also the 21 million coin limit thats rapidly approaching, by the way, which will spell the end of Bitcoin mining as it is conducted today.)

 

Furthermore, the artificial work aspect of Bitcoin mining and its artificial computational complexity is the digital equivalent of paying people to dig ditches and fill them in again while claiming the activity boosts economic output. This idea, believe it or not, is the classic economic paradox routinely pushed by left-leaning economic myth-meisters like Paul Krugman. Those of you who follow economic news know that Krugman openly and wholeheartedly believes that government could boost the economy by literally paying millions of people to dig ditches and fill them in again. This artificial work generates real-world abundance, according to economic fools like Krugman. Thats why Zero Hedge rightly posts an article entitled, Why Paul Krugman Should Go Back To 5th Grade.

 

And yet Paul Krugmans ditch-digging artificial work is actually no different than John McAfees Bitcoin mining artificial work. In both cases, McAfee and Krugman ridiculously claims that work along has intrinsic value, even if little or nothing is actually accomplished in the real world. According to McAfee, computational expenditure automatically equals value, even when the notion is patently absurd to any rational person. If CPU cycles equaled wealth, then no one in the world would ever have to work again because people could just run computers all day and let the CPUs create wealth.

 

Any belief in such a system is, of course, irrational and absurd. There is no such thing as a perpetual wealth-generating machine unless you own the money supply itself and can hoodwink others into trading their effort for your currency. Thats what the Federal Reserve does, of course, and thats the entire con of the Bitcoin Ponzi scheme: To recruit as many people as possible into the Bitcoin scheme so that they pay you cash in exchange for your CPU cycles.

 

To produce artificial work, Bitcoin consumes enormous resources

 

Bitcoins proof of work, in other words, is nothing more than artificial work. Yet what is the real world result of such artificial work? While generating absolutely nothing thats real in the real world remember as Steve Quayle says, If you cant touch it, you dont own it the Bitcoin mining process consumes enormous amounts of electricity, computing hardware and time. Yet in the end, theres nothing to show for all that work except for carbon dioxide emissions and mercury pollution from the Chinese coal plants that power nearly a third of global Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin, in fact, has become one of the key vectors of environmental pollution thats causing hazardous air in Californias cities.

 

McAfee claims that artificial work is actually proof of work. In reality, its proof of nothing more than the incredible stupidity of the mining infrastructure which is now burning more electricity than a city of one million people just to keep the Bitcoin blockchain from collapsing.

 

Surely theres some value in the work that we did to create the coin, McAfee stated. But actually, there isnt any real-world value in it at all. Bitcoin is a digital fiat currency backed by nothing, and all the work used to create Bitcoins is actually artificial work thats made artificially complex for no logical reason other than a crude mechanism for artificial scarcity. Yet even that scarcity is a complete failure, since any person can create and launch their own cryptocurrency alongside Bitcoin, instantly creating a massive new supply of crypto coins that flood the marketplace. (And many newer cryptos are vastly superior in design to Bitcoin. For example, Z-cash)

 

On top of all that, Bitcoin is clearly not a store of value, and recent research by Princeton scientists found that Bitcoin isnt anonymous, either. Bitcoin is also highly subject to government regulation, as the recent market plunges clearly demonstrated, following the announcement of Chinas largest Bitcoin exchanges closing their doors. Liquidations of Bitcoin by Chinese investors are already underway and will continue through September 30th.

 

One by one, all the promises we were told about Bitcoin have unraveled: It isnt anonymous, transactions arent instant, transactions arent free, Bitcoin isnt a reliable store of value, it isnt immune to government regulations and so on. Yet John McAfee, in his self-deluded cluelessness, points to artificial work and says, essentially, See? Were expending CPU cycles for all this! Doesnt that have value?

 

Actually, it doesnt, Mr. McAfee. It has no more value than the GPU calculations of a nine-year-old kid playing a first person shooter on a Saturday afternoon. Yeah, his rig is running all sorts of complex calculations, but at the end of the day, theres nothing to show for it other than Cheetos crumbs that fell between the cushions of the couch.

 

Computation does not automatically equal value

 

Computation alone does not equal real-world value. John McAfees attempt to conflate the two ideas only shows how deeply he has deluded himself about the future of Bitcoin. And those who falsely believe that computation equals value are only allowing themselves to be fooled by this non-logic for the simple reason that they all own Bitcoin i.e. Bix Weir and others and cant come to grip with reality without admitting they were wrong all along.

 

The bottom line? Bitcoin is headed for failure, but cryptocurrency is here to stay. The most likely long-term scenario in all this is that well see a cryptocurrency backed by JP Morgan and the government a blockchain with built-in NSA snooping and an identity layer so that all transactions can be tracked by the IRS to enable government confiscation and criminalization as deemed appropriate by the crooks in Washington.

 

Once this approved blockchain is rolled out, it wont be long before government finds a way to criminalize all unapproved blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.

 

And how hard is it for government to criminalize Bitcoin? Not hard at all: Its a simple matter to run a false flag dirty bomb operation the FBI already masterminds and executes terrorist plots every day across America then make sure the bad guys who are recruited into the sting operation are fully funded by Bitcoin.

 

A few hours later, the fake news New York Times will declare, CHICAGO DIRTY BOMB TERROR PLOT FUNDED BY BITCOIN. And the house of cards falls like dominoes. The entire media will be directed by the CIA to describe Bitcoin as a currency for terrorists, murderers and drug dealers, and Bitcoin will be targeted in exactly the same way the Silk Road was taken down. A few Bitcoin promoters will be imprisoned, the government will claim its fighting terrorism, and the clueless sheeple of society will applaud the news that they are being protected by authorities.

 

Seeing all this play out is as clear as day. And why is this so obvious? Because we are all living as slaves in a totalitarian society run by fake news, fake terrorism and fake authority.

 

Will that totalitarian regime allow all their central banks and government currencies to be made obsolete by a libertarian cryptocurrency they dont completely control? Of course not. And anyone who believes Bitcoin will overthrow the globalist money / debt cartels is naive and stupid. Trust me when I say a bunch of geeks arent going to overthrow centuries of globalist money domination that now rules our corrupt world."

Interesting article but I don't think it's accurate. It may well be that the current price to mine is $1000 but is this not dependant on the miners active at any given time? If there are less miners surely it then becomes less difficult to mine when there are fewer competitive miners? This should mean as price approaches cost, the drop in numbers of miners should reduce the cost floor to mine per coin.

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The bottom line? Bitcoin is headed for failure, but cryptocurrency is here to stay.

 

The most likely long-term scenario in all this is that well see a cryptocurrency backed by JP Morgan and the government a blockchain with built-in NSA snooping and an identity layer so that all transactions can be tracked by the IRS to enable government confiscation and criminalization as deemed appropriate by the crooks in Washington.

Once this approved blockchain is rolled out, it wont be long before government finds a way to criminalize all unapproved blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.
==

> http://www.greenenergyinvestors.com/index.php?showtopic=21499&page=2

 

sounds nasty.

but we have seen usgov work that way before

the rapacious govt does not like competition for its money monopoly

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When Bitcoin got to $5000 it really seemed like a mania, so I would be very surprised if it quickly got back to $5000.

 

I think it seems more likely that we switch into a bear market. Cryptocurrency has exploded into the mainstream this year, which was the premise behind all my purchases earlier this year, but I reckon it's gone too far so we need to consolidate for a bit. Bitcoin went to $1200 then back down to $100 a few years back. I don't think we will see that style drop again, but I do think we should get down to $2000/$2250 mark at some point.

 

It's still very early days, Joe public is not in this trade, this is a revolutionary technology wrapped up in a lot of hype and speculation.

 

I definitely think this could be an interstellar market in coming years once we get more infrastructure in the space, more mainstream adoption etc.

 

 

 

 

Well I was WRONG to think the market wouldn't quickly get back to $5000. Bitcoin is now a shade off $8000. It really is quite remarkable. The marketcap for cryptocurrencies has gone from $18.3 billion at the start of the year, to $227 billion.

 

Cryptocurrency marketcap 2017 (from https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/);

 

943Jxzv.png

 

Cryptocurrency marketcap 2017 (excluding bitcoin);

 

l9XZgP9.png

 

Potential double top?

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You may be interested in this article that was posted on HPC in the The Bubbly Bitcoin Thread by Eddie_George on page 233. It discusses the Lightening Network that is working to increase throughput to millions of transactions per second. If they are successful then it looks like Bitcoin could successfully act as a means of exchange, whether or not people will want to use it for that is another question, but the capability should be there.

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I bought some.

But I'm still a fogey, since I hedged heavily

 

Impressive to see BTS at $10,800.

$10k looked to be resistance before it broke through

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ANOTHER SIGN of a topping formation?

 

360 Blockchain Expands Cryptocurrency Mining Operation
Previously announced proposed acquisition, SV CryptoLab, installs its first hardware-based Bitcoin mining rig

VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA (November 27th, 2017) – 360 Blockchain Inc. ("360" or the "Company") (CSE: CODE – FWB: C5B – OTC: BKLLF) announces that SV CryptoLab, the Company’s previously noted proposed acquisition, has expanded its cryptocurrency mining operation to include on-site Bitcoin mining. Cryptocurrency mining is the computationally intense process that allows Bitcoin transactions to be verified and added to the public ledger, called the blockchain, and which results in the release of new Bitcoins.

“At 360 we are moving quickly to invest capital, and our expertise, into blockchain technologies where our team has identified opportunities to scale operations,” said Mr. George Tsafalas, 360 President and CEO. “By initiating the Bitcoin mining operation on-site, our SV CryptoLab target is taking an important step, generating value as it will become a key contributor to the portfolio of early stage blockchain technology companies we are building,” added Mr. Tsafalas, 360’s President.

 

Silicon Valley-based SV CryptoLab has previously deployed a cloud-based cryptocurrency mining operation that is generating revenue. This new hardware consists of more than 370 ASIC microprocessors and will exclusively mine Bitcoin. The capacity for the mining operation will be substantially increased upon completion of the proposed acquisition by 360 Blockchain Inc.

 

Due diligence continues, the proposed acquisition of SV CryptoLab is expected to close in the coming weeks.

SV CryptoLab provides an adaptable tech environment. During working hours, it’s a cutting-edge facility that is part hacker and part social space and is open to the public - focusing on the development of blockchain technologies, the most promising of which will be funded going forward. On nights and weekends, the facility’s significant hardware is dedicated to mining cryptocurrency, a computationally intensive process that sits at the heart of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

About 360 Blockchain Inc.
Our Mission:
To empower blockchain technologies with capital and experience to create exponential value.

Company Description:

360 Blockchain Inc. has an all-round view to accelerate the development and application of revolutionary blockchain technologies by investing capital and expertise. We are founded on the belief that blockchain technology, essentially a distributed ledger which is transparent and incorruptible, has the potential to transform the way business is conducted, delivering security, cost savings and efficiency gains not seen before in our internet connected world. 360 Blockchain will be focused upon identifying and empowering blockchain technologies applying to crypto-currencies, smart contracts, eSports, data management, the internet of things, equity trading, privacy applications and beyond.


Read more at http://www.stockhouse.com/news/newswire/2017/11/27/new-cryptocurrency-mining-operations-expansion#hipfP7P7zoLi177s.99
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I hereby declare an interim top in the cryptocurrency markets.

 

Crazy spike today in many cryptoassets bears hallmarks of a top. Bitcoin was $11000, now $9700.

 

Wow.

I tried to add to my short - but had a glinch

I am essentially fully hedged, ie my Long = my Short

 

Here's the chart I put together, seeking a Top ... update

 

MZLSOat.png

 

in edit - AFTER

GECVlhG.png

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Wow.

I tried to add to my short - but had a glinch

I am essentially fully hedged

John McAfee has upped his 2020 bitcoin forecast from $500K to $1 million. Another sign.

 

http://www.newsbtc.com/2017/11/29/john-mcafee-ups-2020-prediction-1000000-btc/

 

How'd you get on with your short? Who are you shorting with?

 

Earlier this year I sold some crypto leaving me at a 2 : 1 ratio of crypto to cash.

 

The ratio is now 6 : 1 due to the parabolic rise in the cryptocurrency marketcap.

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How'd you get on with your short? Who are you shorting with?

 

BTC - 10d : 2mos : 32-months

: all-data :

WExWHgr.png

 

 

BTS ... update

M7ScG9Y.png

 

Net Position x $BTS = $Value
BTC 0.3530 x $10800 = $3,813 : before $11,000+ peak
BTC 0.3941 x $ 9,760 = $3,846 : After $11,000+ peak
DETAIL:
Wallet Bal. : 0.8520 = x $10800 = $9,202
Wallet Bal. : 0.8520 = x $9,760 = $8,315 : chg.-$ 887
Unrealized : 0.4579 :: Loss on BTC shorts : was bigger at $10.800
Net Value : 0.3941

Because of my BTC short, I made $33, instead of losing $887

I am using BITMEX.com, based in HK

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Bitcoin or Broke: Dutch Man Sells House in Hope of Cryptocurrency Boom

 

By Anthony Cuthbertson On 10/11/17 at 11:26 AM

 

A Dutch man is betting everything he owns on bitcoin, selling his house and other possessions and moving to a campsite as he awaits a hoped-for boom in the value of cryptocurrency that will make him rich.

Didi Taihuttu, a 39-year-old father of three from the Netherlands, sold his house, car, bikes and other valuable possessions in order to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

“At first my wife doubted the decision, wondering if it was the right decision for our kids—as did my brother and sister,” Taihuttu tells Newsweek. “But they are now supportive of the plan.

 

“We are luckily an adventurous family and we follow our feelings. We just hope that this feeling of being part of the monetary revolution is the right feeling.”

At the time he sold his house, one bitcoin was valued at around $3,700. Bitcoin’s value has since increased by a third, and now one bitcoin is worth almost $4,800.

bitcoin-invest-didi-taihuttu-gamble.jpg Didi Taihuttu and his family pose for a picture on a beach in Southeast Asia in 2017. Didi Taihuttu/ Facebook

 

Taihuttu first began mining bitcoin in 2010 after a friend told him about the virtual currency. After his father died in 2016, he decided to sell his company and begin traveling with his wife and children.

The decision to sell his house and possessions and invest in cryptocurrency came when he returned to the Netherlands after nine months.

Taihuttu says his family will continue the experiment until 2020, with plans to sell more possessions and use the money raised to invest in bitcoin. The possessions that remain include a television, a laptop, clothes, a drum and “some household stuff.”

. . .

If bitcoin does continue to rise, Taihuttu says his goal would be to help people in poorer countries, and to spread the word about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to the countries he visits. And if bitcoin crashes and his dream ends?

“If we end up with nothing anymore, I guess we’ll just have to start over,” Taihuttu says. “But then at least we tried.”

==

> more: http://www.newsweek.com/bitcoin-man-sells-house-possessions-cryptocurrency-682459

 

#31.

Maybe he should have sold everything, and put it on Number 31 at the Casino instead

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BTC - 10d : 2mos : 32-months

: all-data :

WExWHgr.png

 

Bill Still has been a bull on Cryptos for a long time

Why is Bitcoin Hitting $10,000?

 

Bitcoing futures (on the CME) are said to be LAUNCHING in December

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