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All PHBs I had the misfortune to meet had a very shaky grasp on logic and facts, or reality in general. Most of them thought that they could accomplish everything with hand waving and blurping out a stream of buzzwords.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
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CEO at Bitcoin Inc [^]
So I have an interest in cryptocurrency - either the biggest scam of all time or the best thing sliced bread - depends who you ask.
If you ask the guy in the link he'll tell you it's the best thing, etc. If I read his resume and education history... tells another story.
There was also an article in the DM yesterday talking about ICOs - China and SK have already outlawed them and the SEC has prosecuted a couple of companies in the US.
And everyone and their dog are getting into blockchain.
What to do, what to do... 
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When everyone and their aunt gets into stocks, it is usually time to get out
That is assuming a bubble; something where supply is larger than demand, but the supply of BC is limited. Demand is not finished growing.
Riscs exist; BC is forking, and you don't want to bet anything you don't want to loose.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Eddy Vluggen wrote: but the supply of BC is limited
That's just one cryptocurrency - there are over 1100 of the buggers. BitCoin is riding high right now but others are also well rated - LiteCoin, Ethereum amongst others.
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Exactly, which is why the banks will need to get involved to regulate it before it really becomes accepted. It'll happen though. Just a matter of time.
Jeremy Falcon
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: why the banks will need to get involved to regulate
But you know that the main point of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized, right?
The main point is that no one owns a particular cryptocurrency and therefore cannot affect its value.
It doesn't rely on any central authority and so no one can own it or really control it and that is an important part of the entire thing.
It's also why, if people decide they trust it then it will work and no one can really regulate it.
I learned this from reading:
Mastering Bitcoin: Programming the Open Blockchain 2nd Edition - o'Reilly pub - amazon link[^]
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raddevus wrote: and therefore cannot affect its value.
Which value? It is the result of a calculation: it has no value in itself.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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Just as the bank notes we have in our pockets have no value. They are just paper.
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Exactly. It has (or doesn't have) value all in relation to what the people who use it or don't use it believe. However, because management of cryptocurrencies are decentralized it _may_ allow them to have value that is _more_ based upon the actual people and not a particular authority (govt, bank, etc) suddenly says that it has a particular value. It's an interesting concept.
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A bit more than a number which is a result of a calculation. How much "42" and "1337" is worth a kilo of bread?
But hey, if people want to buy numbers, I think I have some unused ones to sell.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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That's mostly a problem of acceptance than value. I bet that if I pick a 100USD bill and go to the market and try to buy a bread, they won't sell me a bread that costs 1EUR. Why? Because only EUR is accepted in my country.
A smart cashier might put 1EUR from his pocket and let me take the bread, keeping the 100USD for him. But that's another story...
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ssoares wrote: Just as the bank notes we have in our pockets have no value.
First world currencies are far less volatile than crypto currencies in terms of valuation. This is both due to perception and reality that the respective country can and will make changes if the currency becomes too volatile. There is nothing at all like that for cryto currencies.
If anything crypto currencies seem to behave more like third world nations which can and do suffer from hyper inflation and deflation.
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raddevus wrote: But you know that the main point of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized, right?
Yup yup. But what I'm getting at is that they'll never be fully adopted as the defacto currency until the government and banks get involved. People with power tend not to give it up so easily.
raddevus wrote: It doesn't rely on any central authority and so no one can own it or really control it and that is an important part of the entire thing.
It's also why, if people decide they trust it then it will work and no one can really regulate it.
Totally, but it's like the Internet all over again. The more popular it gets the more the the government will get involved, which they've been doing with online matters more and more these days.
Jeremy Falcon
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I don't own any BitCoin, but I can see its value; the others may not adhere to the same principles and may not yield similar results. Also, there is the lesson learned from the Spanish conquest; if you drown the market with alternatives, all options will suffer. Looks like a strategy to me.
With "suffering" meaning it is now trading at more than 4750 euro's; and cryptocurrencies are by no means something that can be considered "mainstream" - there's not a lot of shops accepting those things.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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As we speak Bitcoin, Ethereum and LiteCoin are all down, Bitcoin -3.59%. It's nowt more than a gamble in a highly volatile market.
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R. Giskard Reventlov wrote: Bitcoin -3.59%. It's nowt more than a gamble in a highly volatile market.
..and how is the result based on its ten year performance? Anything that is traded in a volatile market moves up and down fast, but only BC keeps climbing as gold was expected to 
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Keep in mind I don't follow bitcoin... but I do follow real currencies. So just to pitch in... extreme volatility can be the result of a couple things... one of which is low volume. Bitcoin is the most popular one out there, so by virtue of that, even though it's volatile I would suspect it would be less volatile than the crypto-currencies that nobody knows about.
Volatility is a double-edged sword. If you know what you're doing you can make money quickly with it. If you don't, you can lose money quickly with it. Good fun.
Jeremy Falcon
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: I do follow real currencies.
You mean "official fiat" based currencies
Even pure bullshit does not loose a value of 2% annually 
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Eddy Vluggen wrote: how is the result based on its ten year performance
You mean apart from the fact it hasn't been around that long and most crypto-currencies are months old???
Eddy Vluggen wrote: Anything that is traded in a volatile market moves up and down fast, but only BC keeps climbing as gold was expected to
It's still subject to wild volatility and goes down as well as up.
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R. Giskard Reventlov wrote: You mean apart from the fact it hasn't been around that long and most crypto-currencies are months old???
The subject was BitCoin
R. Giskard Reventlov wrote: It's still subject to wild volatility and goes down as well as up.
Again, what is the long-term trend? 
Looks like it be going up from where I'm standing, even if it stumbles now and then.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Eddy Vluggen wrote: Looks like it be going up from where I'm standing, even if it stumbles now and then.
That is an overly optimistic view and I'm an optimist.
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Sounds more like you're confusing up with down.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Au contraire, I think you're getting right and left the wrong way round.
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What is this "up and down" of which you speak? Oh, right, you are interested in how much BitCoin is worth in terms of dollars... A lot of people are also interested in crypto-currency's technical characteristics; blockchain, security, how they get 'mined'.
To me I think the most interesting aspect in evaluating BitCoin is what can I buy with it, and how stable are those prices. I'm only a casual observer, but so far it seems like mostly I can buy illegal goods and pay off ransomware. If so, in this regard, I'd say BitCoin and all the rest are still useless (worthless?) to me.
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