The Cryptocurrency and blockchain thread

I got way carried away in the other finance thread, so we'll need to start fresh here. My apologies.
A lot of new people are interested in this technology and I can try my best to answer questions if anyone is interested.
I am not a trader or money guy, I have no idea why the price is so high or where it's going from here or where the ceiling is.
Should you invest in bitcoin or a cryptocurrency? Maybe. Should you dump your life savings into it? NO.
Whatever you are dollar cost averaging into now, maybe make crypto or bitcoin a small percentage of that investment. If you are not investing now, or don't know what dollar cost averaging is, then buying bitcoin is not a good idea. It is VERY risky and VERY volatile.
But I understand most of the fundamentals of how crytocurrency works. And it's very difficult to wrap your head around so I can attempt to answer questions.
The math and physics and works of bitcoin to me are fascinating.

Andreas is my absolute favorite personality in the bitcoin world and I suggesting watching his videos.
For a casual conversation his JRE appearances were great
He's on episodes #446, #581, and #844 and coming on again soon
Here's his intro to bitcoin talk that's pretty popular


Buying Bitcoins on Coinbase
www.coinbase.com and www.gdax.com (same company and login)
Using my referral code would be awesome. I believe we both get 10 bucks? Maybe? At least I get it ;)
https://www.coinbase.com/join/52c5b6300bfb61ebf300005d
To get started:
You'll probably need the google authenticator app for 2 factor authentication if you aren't using it already. I highly recommend using it for everything including gmail.
SMS 2 factor can get hijacked by someone calling your phone company and tricking them. Or if your PC displays text messages and they hijack your computer they can bypass it that way.
The authenticator app is one of the best solutions and I use it to protect all my online bitcoin dealings.
Other than that, if you buy bitcoin with coinbase, log onto www.gdax.com their sister site, all your coinbase stuff is there already. It's their advanced platform. Buy and Sell using limit orders is commission free. But just simple buy and sell LIMIT orders are free.
 
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My big boss wants us to find a way to use block chain tech somewhere in our info systems. This already a CIO buzzword, like AI. Subscribed
 
I wouldn't classify your enthusiasm as dickish.
And I'm also glad you made some money - much better than committing insurance fraud.

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I was at the local italian place last night, and the owner started picking my brain about bitcoin.
He wanted to use it to eliminate credit cards, and was interested in the international use without exchange fees.
He also was interested in the investment part - but mostly commerce.
 
Juggernaut said:
Yeah, but I bet they call it a distributed ledger.
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More about validating content and less financials. Thinking system to broker regulated content shared by enterprise and cloud based apps.

Anyone know about the security side of how btcs work?
 
fidodie said:
I wouldn't classify your enthusiasm as dickish.
And I'm also glad you made some money - much better than committing insurance fraud.

--
I was at the local italian place last night, and the owner started picking my brain about bitcoin.
He wanted to use it to eliminate credit cards, and was interested in the international use without exchange fees.
He also was interested in the investment part - but mostly commerce.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately right now bitcoin can't be used as currency. The recent boom crippled the infrastructure and the code isn't implemented yet to fix it.

I was thinking as I walked past a Salvation Army dude outside a store, that collection model must be totally screwed right now. Nobody has cash. Having a credit card reader with that guy seems totally weird and a horrible way to collect donations.
HOWEVER, if his little tip bucket had a QR code on it. I could scan it, and walk away and sit in my car and send a dollar with virtually no fees. In theory. The fees are currently broken like I mentioned before but the fix is coming.
 
I somehow screwed up this thread by moving a post in and it took over the 1st position. haha I can't figure out how to delete or move that post without it nuking the whole thread.
 
I updated the original post to add some more info, mostly about buying your first bitcoins with coinbase
 
was doing a little research earlier today and came away thinking I may buy some litecoin -LTC . I am more of a safe stock investor but I may take a small gamble on this cryptocurrency thing. Anyone's thoughts ?
 
I bought one Ether a month ago. Am I rich now? Can I buy drugs, or something?

I decided on Eth based on some recommendations from some people much more experienced than me. Seems like the most institutional (secure, low volatility) but lower upside. I bought to not totally miss the show and should probably have bought more but $315 seemed like a big enough gambled at the time.

Having a background in accounting and now the alternative investing realm, it's hard for me to really like cryptocurrency in its current format. One of my biggest gripes is there are no market hours for when it's exchanged. It goes 24/7/365 so a true trader is always working. It leaves no time for the market to digest geopolitical news or significant events that could change how to view the market.

Another issue is costody. There aren't any mainstream financial institutions that can custody it like they can with a stock which will hurt it's uptake in the institutional investment community. Can't have a $2B fund with all of its value sitting in cold storage in some 24years old pocket.

The wild ride is fun though!
 
hotsauce said:
I bought one Ether a month ago. Am I rich now? Can I buy drugs, or something?

I decided on Eth based on some recommendations from some people much more experienced than me. Seems like the most institutional (secure, low volatility) but lower upside. I bought to not totally miss the show and should probably have bought more but $315 seemed like a big enough gambled at the time.

Having a background in accounting and now the alternative investing realm, it's hard for me to really like cryptocurrency in its current format. One of my biggest gripes is there are no market hours for when it's exchanged. It goes 24/7/365 so a true trader is always working. It leaves no time for the market to digest geopolitical news or significant events that could change how to view the market.

Another issue is costody. There aren't any mainstream financial institutions that can custody it like they can with a stock which will hurt it's uptake in the institutional investment community. Can't have a $2B fund with all of its value sitting in cold storage in some 24years old pocket.

The wild ride is fun though!
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ETH is a good option.

coinbase actually offers the custody thing for financial institutions. And now I can't find a link to the article.
 
gtluke said:
coinbase actually offers the custody thin
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Lol at Coinbase. When institutions need 100% uptime, tweeting that they're having server trouble isn't going to keep them in the game when a Bank of New York or Northern Trust decides to step in.

The real play for anyone who missed the first home run, bet on the infrastructure. Just another reason to own Amazon stock: https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/coinbase/

Edit: I own Amazon stock but this is not investment advice etc etc. You know the normal disclaimer.
 
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hotsauce said:
Lol at Coinbase. When institutions need 100% uptime, tweeting that they're having server trouble isn't going to keep them in the game when a Bank of New York or Northern Trust decides to step in.

The real play for anyone who missed the first home run, bet on the infrastructure. Just another reason to own Amazon stock: https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/coinbase/

Edit: I own Amazon stock but this is not investment advice etc etc. You know the normal disclaimer.
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You asked about cold storage. That doesn't exist on servers so their website uptime doesn't matter.

And since it's bitcoin, it doesn't exist on anyone's server. It exists in the blockchain. They could tell you the private key over the phone with every one of their servers off and you'd have access to your bitcoin.
 
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