Bitcoin exchange loses more than $60 million in digital heist

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by JGC2

Blockchain technology is the future and Bitcoin is only one of many options.

Cryptocurrency doesn't just exist on the internet. Decentralized servers and cold storage are actually more secure than any bank account in the event of a serious collapse because they aren't tied to a single corporation, government or insurance organization to redeem. Ethereum is a great example that incentivizes more owners by increasing its security as more people use it.

Bitcoin has increased in value 816% since this thread was started. If I'd have bought 100 of them in August 2016 for $56k, I'd be worth almost half a million dollars right now. If it's "criminal" to yield almost 300 times the return that stocks, bonds and savings packages shoot for then send the Pinkertons after me.

Currently Bitcoin is not nearly as useful as Visa or Mastercard, but to discredit the entire sector is a big mistake in my opinion. One of these tokens that is tied to a revolutionary tech will stick and change the way information is used across platforms worldwide.

And you could trade that for gold where?

[Gruntastic11]

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/bitc...crackdown.html

Well, China is about to ban and shutdown bitcoin exchanges. drop 7.34%

Looks like it will make a recovery though. I could see more countries following suit.

My question is, what happens to the valuation of bitcoin if for some reason the US Dollar or Euro tanks?

Is it backed by the gold of the various currencies or just the shear amount of "data" of people owning bitcoin?

[bblhead672]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

And you could trade that for gold where?

Exactly what I was thinking. So if have a half million dollars in bitcoins is there someone willing to exchange them for other currency such as gold, silver, platinum, US dollars?

[JGC2]

Originally Posted by bblhead672

Exactly what I was thinking. So if have a half million dollars in bitcoins is there someone willing to exchange them for other currency such as gold, silver, platinum, US dollars?

The same way you would convert any other currency, through an exchange. There are hundreds of options between online exchanges and apps, and from there you can take your USD and buy gold, silver, or whatever.

The question is, why would you want to do that? Bitcoin is steadily increasing in value whereas gold is not. It would only be in your best interest to exchange it if you thought its growth was near its apex.

[Team Sergeant]

China is about to end all cryptocurrency exchanges in their country and bitcoin is taking a hit.

I'll stick with trading in the tangible markets. Already lived through the dotcom insanity and I see bitcoin the same way. I think many are investing in bitcoin hoping it survives.

[JGC2]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

China is about to end all cryptocurrency exchanges in their country and bitcoin is taking a hit.

I'll stick with trading in the tangible markets. Already lived through the dotcom insanity and I see bitcoin the same way. I think many are investing in bitcoin hoping it survives.

I don't think we're gonna agree on this one. In terms of technology the dotcom insanity created never before seen wealth and people are still getting rich off of developments that came from it.

There are others on this site that know much more about cryptocurrency than me, but it's been very good to me thus far. Yes, China's recent announcement matters but it doesn't stop blockchain from filling a significant global market need.

Like I said, Bitcoin is only one of hundreds of available tech options to invest in. Many teams have learned from Satoshi's mistakes and many others are making new ones. Nonetheless a savvy investor has a much higher profit ceiling with blockchain than has ever been possible with precious metals, which is another sector I believe in despite my endorsement of blockchain here.

[Team Sergeant]

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says bitcoin is a fraud that will eventually blow up

•"It's worse than tulip bulbs. It won't end well. Someone is going to get killed," Dimon said.
•Bitcoin fell to trade around its session lows after Dimon's comments.
•Dimon's criticism comes at a time when some well-known figures on Wall Street are starting to embrace the cryptocurrency.

Fred Imbert | @foimbert
Published 2 Hours Ago | Updated 27 Mins Ago


JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon took a shot at bitcoin, saying the cryptocurrency "is a fraud."

"It's worse than tulip bulbs. It won't end well. Someone is going to get killed," Dimon said at a banking industry conference organized by Barclays. "Currencies have legal support. It will blow up."

Dimon also said he'd "fire in a second" any JPMorgan trader who was trading bitcoin, noting two reasons: "It's against our rules and they are stupid."


Bitcoin fell to its session lows after Dimon's comments. As of 3:01 p.m. in New York, bitcoin traded at $4,106.23, down 2 percent.

Dimon's criticism comes at a time when some of the most well-known figures on Wall Street are starting to embrace the cryptocurrency. Fundstrat's Tom Lee said he sees bitcoin surging to $6,000 next year and value investor Bill Miller reportedly owns bitcoin.

Even Dimon's own bank, JPMorgan, has reportedly begun a trial project using blockchain as it tries to cut trading costs. Blockchain is the technology behind bitcoin.

Bitcoin has already soared 315 percent this year.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dimon warned about further declines in trading revenue for the banking giant.

Dimon said third-quarter trading revenue will drop about 20 percent on a year-over-year basis. Dimon also said the bank may not give intra-quarter guidance in the future.

JPMorgan's stock fell off its session highs on the comments, but remained up 1.4 percent on the day.


https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/jpmo...d-quarter.html

[JGC2]

As Roger Ver has made clear, Bitcoin's long term value is dependent on its utility for purchases. In my opinion, it's doomed eventually because its transactions take way too long to process and traditional purchasing methods are still more convenient in almost every way.

Still doesn't mean you can't ride it for a while until a replacement emerges and definitely doesn't mean you should ignore the other tokens out there. Blockchain tech is the future, not Bitcoin. Ethereum isn't going anywhere any time soon, and other tokens will hit and stick. Being able to analyze and predict which ones will make alot of people alot of money in the near future.

[Flagg]

Originally Posted by JGC2

As Roger Ver has made clear, Bitcoin's long term value is dependent on its utility for purchases. In my opinion, it's doomed eventually because its transactions take way too long to process and traditional purchasing methods are still more convenient in almost every way.

Still doesn't mean you can't ride it for a while until a replacement emerges and definitely doesn't mean you should ignore the other tokens out there. Blockchain tech is the future, not Bitcoin. Ethereum isn't going anywhere any time soon, and other tokens will hit and stick. Being able to analyze and predict which ones will make alot of people alot of money in the near future.

I don't know if I would call Bitcoin as much "doomed" as I would call it a serendipitous experiment that can't scale with the demand. A victim of its success.

But I would agree, that it is extremely unlikely to be the last crytocoin standing.

Disclosure: I'm a fan of Ethereum and NEO, but not Bitcoin

A decent analog to Bitcoin might be Mosaic/Netscape Navigator from 20-25 years ago.

Of course JP Morgan will be aggressively trying to cut Bitcoin(et al) off at the knees, because cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain and smart contracts are a disruptive threat to destroying their income streams and financial franchises in the very long term.

In fact, Damon/JP Morgan are in direct competition with Bitcoin using a version of Ethereum called Quorum.

What's interesting is that Bitcoin was released right in the eye of the GFC storm in Jan, 2009. The same GFC where JP Morgan required a massive public bailout to survive, and where it had just paid $2 billion X3 in fines for its culpability in Enron, Worldcom, and Madoff fraud.

JP Morgan credibility risk and bias is considerable, to be diplomatic.

[JamesIkanov]

If the concept ever reaches such a point, it would be interesting to see blockchain currency values correlated directly to an amount of actual measurable "work", such as data processing, video rendering, or some other task that is both useful and takes some actual computing ability. In a strictly conceptual sense, a "work" standard is basically what all currency runs on nowadays anyway.


That said, the value of bitcoin is whatever the hell people are willing to pay for it. Not a whole lot different than any of the other wacky crap people are willing to pay lots and lots of money for. Just look at baseball cards, signed guitar picks, celebrity snot rags.....


anyway, FWIW, USD 100 bills have been the blackmarket currency of choice for decades and will likely continue to be... unless the 500 Euro note overtakes it. Bitcoin is small potatoes on that one.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business...ut-why/265518/

[PSM]

North Korean hackers targeting bitcoins to fund Kim Jong Un, report says: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/09...port-says.html

[JGC2]

Originally Posted by Flagg

What's interesting is that Bitcoin was released right in the eye of the GFC storm in Jan, 2009. The same GFC where JP Morgan required a massive public bailout to survive, and where it had just paid $2 billion X3 in fines for its culpability in Enron, Worldcom, and Madoff fraud.

JP Morgan credibility risk and bias is considerable, to be diplomatic.

Yeah, he's been getting roasted online for this, and as many have pointed out probably half his executives own Bitcoin. I don't know why he's so salty - the Fed will never bail out Bitcoin the way it continually has JP Morgan over the last 9 years.

I agree on ETH and NEO. I also like the pending DOVU concept backed by Jaguar. For the free market capitalists out there, it's the first blockchain concept that has prioritized defining data owners, data producers, and data consumers in the correct manner.

[Box]

Bitcoin is like any other gamble... its only worth what people want it to be worth.

I see it on the same level as baseball cards.
You can go on-line and find Rickey Henderson rookie cards being offered for as much as 14,000 dollars or as little as 7 bucks and to the unaided eye they look identical.
If you got one in 1980 it cost you 25 cents and you got 14 other cards and a piece of gum.

Then you can take that 14,007 dollars worth of Topps baseball cards into the bank and they will give you nothing more than a funny look when you try to cash them in.
Bit coin is the same type of money as Topps baseball cards - only valuable to the people that trade it.

Fold a 100 dollar bill in half... it is still worth 100 dollars.
Fold a 14,000 Rickey Henderson rookie card in half, it loses approximately 13,999.50 of its value.
...but people still trade baseball cards as though it is real money and they are speculating on the stock market.

That doesn't mean these things are bad investments... it just means that they are not legal tender for all debts public and private.

Buy 'em, sell 'em, tade 'em with your friends....

[Joker]

Originally Posted by Box

Bitcoin is like any other gamble... its only worth what people want it to be worth.

I see it on the same level as baseball cards.
You can go on-line and find Rickey Henderson rookie cards being offered for as much as 14,000 dollars or as little as 7 bucks and to the unaided eye they look identical.
If you got one in 1980 it cost you 25 cents and you got 14 other cards and a piece of gum.

Then you can take that 14,007 dollars worth of Topps baseball cards into the bank and they will give you nothing more than a funny look when you try to cash them in.
Bit coin is the same type of money as Topps baseball cards - only valuable to the people that trade it.

Fold a 100 dollar bill in half... it is still worth 100 dollars.
Fold a 14,000 Rickey Henderson rookie card in half, it loses approximately 13,999.50 of its value.
...but people still trade baseball cards as though it is real money and they are speculating on the stock market.

That doesn't mean these things are bad investments... it just means that they are not legal tender for all debts public and private.

Buy 'em, sell 'em, tade 'em with your friends....

Yes, but you cannot put the bitcoin on your bicycle with a clothespin and have an instant motorcycle...

[JGC2]

Yeah, the same should be said for any currency. Despite the gubment saying USD is legal tender, it only maintains its value as such as long as people agree it should.

I would agree with your baseball card analogy more if blockchain weren't a technology first and a "currency" second. Nothing about a Rickey Henderson card will change the way I get my groceries, fill my gas tank, or send data from point A to point B. Blockchain will change all those as well as thousands of other monotonous daily tasks.

Interestingly, Somaliland is making advances in blockchain-backed peer to peer payments. They collectively stopped recognizing the shilling as legal tender and started using phone-based payment services like Zaad and e-Habab. It's working because it's easy and convenient.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2017...-going-extinct