The Answer to that is; no, it won't
Bitcoin has invoked an almost religious Fervor among its Supporters - but why won't it replace Fiat Currency?
It's Infrastructure is chronically unreliable....
Have you ever tried buying any?
There are many Companies where you can do this - except every one I've used, tried or signed up to is hopeless and unreliable.
There's one - where you can use your Visa Debit Card - which keeps getting declined when you do. Another, where you have to do it via Wire Transfer - which can take up to 8 Days and cost anything up to £25 in IBAN Fees, or you use one of these Merchants - who are hopelessly unreliable - and you spend days grappling with the Website, Errors, and the like - and Email Inquires that can also take days. Some, where you have to buy Euros before you even deposit, others that take anything up to an Hour before your Deposit reaches your Wallet Account, and Exchanges where you have to hope the other Guy is honest. Some charge exorbitant Fees - and then there's the Disparity between what you buy them for and sell them - anything up to a £200 or 25% Deficit. You lose almost that much on something you bought in a Shop as soon as you leave the Premises.
Then there are the myriad Scams involved - while all of it is a shambles run by People who don't seem to have any common sense.
Yeah, we all know that the current Financial System is flawed - and about the Bailouts a few years ago, the other things that go on in the Recesses of it all, the Subterfuge, but until someone creates an Alternative that doesn't give you Stomach Ulcers trying to use - or cause days of Stress and Aggravation - then Cryptocurrency will always be regarded as a sort of Monopoly Money that you can't even buy a plastic House with. We also know that Currency now isn't backed by any Gold or Silver Standard - and is just a Number whose Value could, and sometimes has plummeted.
I suggest a Vendor that does accept Visa Debit, and one that works, that is as quick as any Bureau de Change might be when you buy them, and where you can sell them either for the same Amount - or whatever the Exchange Rate might be. Who could email Coin to you rather than you having to wait an Hour before they arrive, and one that is discreet.
I have just been through a Process that took over a Week to have Documents verified, where Bitcoin went up by about £250 when that went on, only to find that a Dysfunction now exists with the Merchant you deposit with - via whom you buy your Coin from a Wallet Provider. Ironic considering they issue a Visa Debit Card - but you can't deposit with one. If it was set up properly it is instant, reliable and - above all - refundable in the Event of a Dispute.
Also, and this is the most crucial part, Bitcoin will stop being produced in about 2040, which limits the amount available to anyone, so while Fiat Currency can almost seem like it's being printed like there was no tomorrow - at least it's available.
So, until you can do everything from Busk for Bitcoin to buy and make a Transaction with it that doesn't mean the World goes into Metastasis while it grinds into action it will never become the mainstream Currency.
Throw in the Fact that most People are now afflicted by Windows 10 - not the most reliable OS Microsoft have produced - and the Variables for Error that yields - and this whole Internet Money thing won't replace something where you can phone or visit to remedy Problems. In the time I've been grappling with the Internet to try an make Money with it I'd have had more fun playing Monopoly. Yeah, it might only be a Board game - but at least buying Mayfair for £400 has some entertainment Value and no Stomach Ulcers.
ReplyDeleteOh, and no cleverly worded Nonsense that usually has 2 - and sometimes more - meanings. This Stuff only becomes real when you're withdrawing some of it at an ATM and buying things with it!
And no Fish!
Here's something that requires elaboration from the Crypto Companies concerned ......
ReplyDeleteAccess to your Device (PC, Laptop, Phone, iPad etc).
Has anyone noticed how - when you try to verify an Account, use "Contact us" etc - the App requests Access to your Camera or Contact List. This never used to happen as Verification only required Documents or an uploaded Photograph. If they suddenly obtain Access to your Camera does it disconnect once Verification has happened? Mark Zuckerberg tapes up the Camera on his Laptop for a Reason.
When you used "Contact us" you used to do it via your Account with the Company. Now it requires Access to your Contact List. Why? Does this disconnect once your Message has been sent, and what do they do with the Data? Sell it on to Marketing Companies? Exploit it to their own ends?
I had one of these scammy Israeli Investment Companies try to get me to visit a Website that acts as a Remote Control to your Computer. In the World of Cyber Crime that is called "Hacking". Suffice to say I was disinclined to acquiesce to their Request.
Meanwhile, does anyone else get those Emails from Crypto Vendors encouraging you to use your Account, or telling you about some new Feature they've added?
ReplyDeleteThis is usually concurrent with a BTC Price Update utilizing the recent Surge in value. If this isn't Hype then what is? How many might get one of these and respond by buying some Coin? What seems to happen is almost immediately after it the Value drops, although it has increased in the long term recently.
In March this year it was about £3500 while it peaked at around £9800 in recent days ........ only to drop back again to £8100 today. That's more than £1500! What it means is Bitcoin could be like owning Shares in 1929 and while you might have bought into it in the last Month or so prompted by those Emails, you could very easily see it plummet in Price in a very short time indeed. 2 years ago BTC was worth £15000, only to fall to less than £3000 in a matter of Weeks.
One thing I have to ask is who profits from this if you bought BTC during that period? Someone somewhere made about £12000 from you if you did! Similarly, if you bought some 48 hours ago they made £1600.
President Trump said a while ago that Cryptos weren't real Money. How much of this might be coming from the Federal Reserve is a Question for him but I was intrigued about this from Quora Digest.
ReplyDelete"What does this mean for traders? It means that when you buy low, you’ll get 200% pumps and when it arrives at 200%, you should sell most of it, because a massive dump will be incoming. We sold 40% of your stack at the peak of 25 sats on June 7th. We could have sold more, but hinsight is always 20/20."
I'm not sure if they're writing about a Crypto called Dent, or about what has been happening here recently.
"Pumps"? Does this relate to Mr Puncture I met the other day? "Massive Dump"? Should I ask a local Estate Agent about that one? "Hindsight is always 2020" does this refer to someone having an Eye Operation?
All a bit scammy considering you would buy Dent with your very real £$¥€¢ etc!
Is Bitcoin a Currency or a scammy Reality TV Show involving People reading the News outside Waitrose ("Oh Boy")?
ReplyDeleteIs Bitcoin linked to Property Development?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is.
All of a sudden a Development Company appears called "Roman Heights". This coincides with a persistent Article about how "Bitcoin Family is still on the Road", which is rather like a Song by Canned Heat, whose Vocalist was .....? Many of these so called Articles are by Shills working for the Cryptocurrency, so Collusion can't be ruled out.
We could elaborate and say how People might be afraid of Heights, a Condition known as Vertigo, which was a Song by U2.
'Roman Heights' appears on Google as an Advert, showing up if you do a Property Search.
Not only does this imply Bitcoin could be linked to the Property Industry, it could also be connected with the arbitrariness of Culture.
Here's a Thing ......
ReplyDeleteThere's an online Crypto-Currency Service called Youhodle. This translates as You Holder or something to that effect. The question is; are we running an Account for Bitcoin, Etherium, XRP, Litecoin and others, or listening to Slade Records?
Anything I had to do with Crypto-Currency always seemed to involve buying it with GBP, then ending up in some Scam or other, but never increasing the Crypto-Currency. The only time I owned any of it was when it appeared as a Number on a Computer Screen.
Maybe someone in the Crypto-Community would like to prove to me that it isn't just some sort of Monopoly Money used by Noddy and Big Ears and send me one of those Bitcoin Debit Cards with a few Bitcoins on it and we can go shopping.
And now, due to "big Investors" Bitcoin is valued at £16.298. The thing is, it seems to work rather like Wall Street did in 1929. In 2017 it spiked at about £15,000, then rapidly dropped in value in early 2018. People who had bought into it in December 2017 lost 1000's with its decline, while there must have been a Flurry of People trying to ditch their Coins during this just like Wall Street selling Stocks in 1929 while there was still something to sell.
ReplyDeleteWill this happen again?
What People have to remember is this;
Even if any Bitcoin they buy for £16,298 plummeted to nothing the Fiat Currency they bought it with won't. So whoever sold them the BTC still has £16,298 while they have nothing. At least when Wall Street crashed in 1929 everyone was affected.
Also, if someone A sold someone B a Thingame for 1 BTC (valued at £16,298), then the Value of BTC plummeted by half, someone A has to buy a new Batch of Thingame's from the Wholesaler with half the Money. In other words; he has lost rather than made Money. If he had sold Thingame's for £16,298 rather than Bitcoin he would still have £16,298. So I'm not sure how any Bitcoin Debit Purchase can be guaranteed with such Volatility. Mere Transactions - sending BTC to others takes up to an Hour. An absolute Age with a Currency that can gain or lose several Hundred Fiat Currency Units in 10 Minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is ......
ReplyDeleteBitcoin is at a reported £21,000. That's a lot of Money, a lot of Fiat Money that Cryptophiles tell us will be worthless. And it seems each Video on YouTube and each Article on Google shows it becoming worth even more of these "worthless" Fiat Currency Units.
So, why - if they are going to be worthless - do Cryptoexchanges want our Fiat Currency for Crypto at all? Are we not insulting them by giving them those horrible USDs, CADs, Yen, Yuan and GBPs, for their darling Currency?
As this continues (hyped up as a Bull Run) they are scooping up more and more "worthless" Currencies as People use their Life Savings to buy Crypto.
If Fiat is going to be so useless why not give them Goods to the Value instead? Sainsbury's were selling Doritos Crisps for 90p - which will be going back to £2 after the Christmas-New Year. Wow, that's 110% - so give them those. We all know what they would say to that and it wouldn't be very broadcastable.
Also, if there are only 21million Bitcoin in existence how is it going to be distributed around the 6 Billion People in the World when most of it is already owned? There are Trillions of Dollars in America but while you have a few very rich - you also have extreme and brutal Poverty. So if all that Fiat couldn't prevent it how would a paltry 21 Million Bitcoins? What are the implications for the rest of the World and how are these Crypto Utopianists going to make sure everyone in it will have some Money to buy Food, pay Rent, clothe themselves, look after Family etc?
Those already owning it want to see it increase in value, thus hyping it up does this because it increases the Demand. The few wealthy Fiat Owners are comparatively profligate compared to the considerably fewer Bitcoiners.
Those propagating it with their 'Candles' and "Bull Runs" only ever talk about how much Money it is worth. None of them explain it in terms of Socioeconomics. Society doesn't merit a Mention as they outdo each other to kiss it's Bottom so sweetly. Do those Hodlers pay any Tax on their Crypto-Millions I wonder so at least something ends up in Society? Would they give any of it away as People's Fiat Currencies become increasingly valueless?
No they wouldn't, so printing more Fiat Currency might not be the best thing to do, but it's certainly the human thing to do...... ensuring Benefits are paid and everyone has at least some of it.
How it works at the moment is how Binary Options did until the Regulators stepped in. What might start as a small Investment - or should that be called a Stake - of about £250 can quickly and easily escalate to 10s of 1000s of £s as they pester you with Tales of Riches if only you put more Money into it.
ReplyDeleteAs those very few People who own Bitcoins want them to increase in Value they flood YouTube with Shills telling you how much it will be worth in 2021 etc. People watch one Video after another and take a huge Gulp of Cool Aid. Next thing they do is buy this hyped up 'Coin' with 1000s of their Life Savings. Bitcoin could crash to half its 'Value' but the Exchange still has the Money you used to buy it.
How about the Plethora of Scams that saturate it? Unlike Fiat Currency Infrastructure there is no Recourse in Crypto Currency to get your Money back. Online Wallet Companies do nothing to help when you are scammed and neither do the Exchanges you bought the Coin from. So you give one of them Fiat Currency to buy 'Coin'. Then that 'Coin' is scammed by some HYIP or investment Program, and there's no mechanism to recover those Funds. Because of this you could be forgiven for thinking that they are all somehow complicit. After all, Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff - erm - made off with Millions by being as plausible as possible. One Coin, which was a Scam was made to look very respectable indeed.
As even some financial Institutions serve up Cool Aid by the Gallon remember that they also did with those 'Securities' and Mortgages in the early 2000's which caused the Meltdown in 2008 while their predecessors did same in the late 1920's.
And guess what, some of those who tottered and had to be bailed out are those telling us how Bitcoin could be worth $100s of 1000s this year. The Name Citibank springs to mind here, but there are some of the other usual Suspects.
ReplyDeleteThe Self-Contradictions .....
The above brings me to this .....
If only a few People own it and those few Institutions hype it, how is it not centralised? How is it not the same as the Federal Reserve or Bank of England?How much 'Coin' does Citibank own or control I wonder?
If or when you are scammed your online Wallet Company tells you they can't (or should that be won't) help you recover the Funds. They tell you it can't be traced once it has been sent.
Hmmm, but elsewhere I've been told that every Coin is accountable and the Blockchain is a huge Ledger recording every single Transaction. You can not send Bitcoin to anyone without it being recorded, so why, all of a sudden, can't it be traced? It's not like a Tenner you gave to someone - who then disappeared with it. They either can't be bothered or are somehow involved in the Scam. And remember, you never actually saw any Currency, unlike that Tenner, just a Number on a Screen.
As I mentioned before, there is also how - one Minute they tell you Fiat Currency will be worthless and urge you to invest in the new Wunder Coin, the next they want rather a lot of that apparently "worthless" Fiat Currency for their Wunder Coin.
And to add to the Negatives about a ridiculously over priced Bitcoin Pundits are now sounding like Goldfinger. Talk about it disrupting Gold and Currency sound horribly like the Bond Villain who wanted to render Fort Knox's Gold Supply off limits and blackmail the American/World Government. This is based on the Premise that a single Bitcoin will be worth $500,000.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, what happens if it does?
Each Coin is divisible by 100,000,000 Satoshi. The World's Supply of 21 Million Coins X 100,000,000 Satoshi ÷ 6 Billion People means 350,000 Satoshi each. At its current value 350,000 Satoshi is worth £74.50. Don't plan for your comfortable Crypto-Retirement yet because that is an 8 Hour days Income on the Minimum Wage. If the Pundits reach their Goal of 1btc = $500,000 which would be about £365,000, which is 17.38 X £21,000, that's 17.38 X £74.50 which is £1,294. Thus, the total Income for everyone on Earth would be the Satoshi equivalent of £1,294.
When I say total I mean that is it, not every Month or even year. So even if their Utopia is achieved I still wouldn't plan for a sumptuous Bitcoin Retirement yet.
Let's hope Goldfinger doesn't disrupt either Gold or Currency just yet huh!
This is just based on the Premise of each individual ownership, how Wealth might be distributed amongst the People. How are we going to fund social and fiscal Infrastructure, Administration, Health and Education and all the other things needed to run the World? There's a difference between individual Income and Business too as Business People keep them seperate, so what will fund Business?
ReplyDeleteSo what do the Advocates of Cryptocurrency suggest?
The first thing is another of those self-Contradictions.
Their Cool Aid Videos are based purely on individual Wealth, with no mention of Socioeconomics. They use Wealth as the Lure. But once Fiat Currency and Gold have been disrupted they're going to have to have a Communist Revolution so stringent to ensure everyone got their £1294 that the Hodlers would react against it. Bang goes their accrued Cryptowealth then as Crytoutopianists sieze and clear their Wallets.
Then there's the buying and selling of Goods .....
To ensure People's £1294 is enough to live on for their entire lives everyone from Amazon to the Push Cart Vendor would have to reduce the Cost of everything very very drastically.
The thing is, the complete opposite will happen as People hoard their Bitcoins which become so expensive no-one could afford to buy into it and there will only ever be 21million of them.
Thus a pure Cryptoworld where there is no Fiat Currency and Gold is severely devalued would redefine Poverty where People have no Money what so ever, and no chance of ever having any.
Someone who might have 500 Bitcoins that they bought 10 years ago for 1 Cent each (thus $5) is not going to voluntarily reduce their current Fortune to 350.000 Satoshi. While, for Billions of People there won't be any Money, not even a few Coins in a Begging Bowl. Hmmm, it looks like Crypto has ended Poverty - all the poor People have died. Horrible isn't it, and rather like The Billion Coin, whose advocates had restricted the buying and selling of to the Value the Coins Website set. Thus you couldn't negotiate a Price - while the Coin got more and more expensive. They closed Wallets of anyone they suspected of trading TBC elsewhere, thus it was completely centralised and cost prohibitive to most People. It's actual Value was negligible.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me to this .....
Bitcoin Wallet Companies are completely arbitrary. I had one that decided to change the Login Criteria and I couldn't access my Account. To contact their Support you had to be logged in so it was Catch 22. If a Fiat Bank did that with People it'd be illegal. If they decided not to recognise Passwords, or the Membership Number on a Whim it'd be like Banks locking their Doors like they did in the 1930's.
What that Crypto Wallet Company did was like shady Binary Options Companies suddenly blocking access to Accounts. People had accrued a healthy Balance then suddenly couldn't access the Account it was kept in.
These YouTube Videos hyping it all up are a very brutal firm of Supply and Demand. Hyping it up so more and more People want it increases the Demand and thus the Price and what I noticed was how - even with different search criteria - each Video was more or less the same.
It starts looking like a Pyramid Scheme because further and further down you get People who can afford it least while those at the top, who bought it cheap, make a huge Fortune..... and it continues to draw more People in. But the only way they can sustain it is to keep hyping up the Demand.
Those Videos aren't about your financial Security - it's about theirs!
And while those controlling the Pyramid continue the Hype People put their Life Savings into it in the belief that it can only go up in value. But while it rapidly becomes too expensive for many potential new Investors the Demand starts slacking off, thus it's Value starts to diminish. Because it was so expensive towards the end People stand to lose a lot of Money.
ReplyDeleteWhen it starts to creak People start to sell - until a Trickle of Sellers turns into a Torrent and the drop in Value becomes exponential with lack of demand. This is why you don't have the same thing happen with Fiat Currency. Even though the £ is strong against the $ right now - and even when there was a very close parity of 1 to 1 - you could never have what is happening with Bitcoin. The nearest historical Comparison is what happened with the Deutsch Mark in the 1920's compared to other Currencies. It was worthless against them, with DM1m Notes in circulation that were less valuable than the Wallet they were kept in. Thus other Currencies were like Bitcoin is now against them. The other comparison is the Share prices of some of those Banks in 2008. $45 had dropped to only $2.50.
Barclays ended their Relationship with Coinbase in August 2019. Maybe they should tell People why! This was where you could buy Coin, but whether BTC is now worth £1million or nothing Coinbase still have the Fiat Currency you used to pay them.
Someone somewhere is reading this, and maybe they were trying to be clever, and while I might admit to a Mistake, it merely reinforces what I said earlier .....
ReplyDeletePreviously I said how there were 6 Billion People on Earth.
There aren't, so the above figure with the adjustment to 7,800,000,000 People (7.8 Billion) would now be; 21million (Coins) X 100,000,000 Satoshi ÷ 7.8 Billion = 269,230 Satoshi each. That's £63.56 for every Man, Woman and Child - so that's actually less than a days Minimum Wage Salary.
What is sinister right now as BTC goes through £23,000 is how nothing on Google or YouTube (whose Presenters are either mainlining Espresso or Amphetamines) tells you who is manipulating or pumping it!
And who or whatever it is it's not natural organic Investment.
ReplyDeleteForget the Image of long lines of People queueing up to buy Bitcoin, broken Piggy Bank in Hand, that Coin Jar they put those £1 Coins in a few years ago. It isn't even People doing same with their Debit Card or Cheque Book.
Why?
It might have escaped People's Attention but we have had Lockdowns and Closures, Viruses and Unemoyment since March last year. 500,000 People applied for Universal Credit in 2 Weeks that Month. Businesses closed - initially temporarily, but now permanently. The amount of Cafes, Bars and Guest Houses that appeared on eBay last year was staggering as People sold their struggling business. People went on Furlough, except after so many Months many then went on to Benefits as there was no Job to go back to. You see closed Shops everywhere while other Services and Attractions have been shut for the last 10 Months. What the unemployment Figure is now is anyone's Guess.
People have been forced to live on Life Savings, not spend them on Crypto Fairy Dust, while others have it stashed as their Rainy Day Fund.
So how can this Flurry of Bitcoin be the result of organic Investing by regular People? Even in comparatively wealthy Times they would be skeptical.
It's obviously a few Institutions or Group of very wealthy Individuals pumping up Bitcoin and hiking up the Value.
So where are the Journalists asking Questions about what looks obviously like what someone at Forbes described as a Pump and Dump Scam?
ReplyDeleteWhile YouTube refuses to tell us who is manipulating Bitcoin, others won't even speculate, I remember something on the Web a few years ago indicating what to expect from it.
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember a piece of Autotrading Trash called Copy Buffet? This was an Autotrader that claimed to emulate the Strategies of legendary Investor Warren Buffett. Complete nonsense of course because how can a Computer Program know how he works, and if it did everyone would be using it.
There was a Discussion Forum about this and someone quite rightly mentioned how People were reporting it as a Scam.
The Shill who was promoting it dismissed them as "Haters".
Tell ya what Mr Shill. Why don't we get all those People who had been scammed together, whose Families suffered because of it, who maybe hoped their Lives could improve and you can tell them to their Face rather than you hide behind an Avatar on a Computer Screen!
The Flurry of Bitcoin mania in 2017 was completely manipulated. By a Process of Pump and Dump on Exchanges laundered through a "Stablecoin" called Tether they hiked up the Price. This and a shady big-time Investor - who bought and sold huge to fluctuate the Price and bring it to what it was by December that year.
ReplyDeleteThat's why this current Spike looks suspicious. It might be bigger than 2017, but the Interim is a long time in Crypto Currency. Thus, more People have got involved, more Institutions - more has been spent, and more have been mined.
Unlike Gold which really does have to be mined, not 'mined' on Super Computers (burning megawatts of Power) and even Wall Street which requires a lot of Research and Work, this Crypto Bubble requires no Work at all, with a ROI bigger than the biggest Wall Street Investment.
The ethical Problems are huge and very corrosive, while Bitcoins increasing Exclusivity makes it very elitist.
If it continues someone might do a Viz type Cartoon Strip called "Cryptoslobs" with Sluglike Creatures who don't do anything at all except continually watch their Phones to see how much they've 'made' in the last 10 Minutes. They go around buying everything, but do nothing and Society gradually grinds to a Halt as more and more People become them and nothing gets done.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, it isn't just Bitcoin.
How many Videos have been made and Articles written telling us that this or that Cryptocoin will "sky rocket next year", be worth 10s of 1000s, become the new Bitcoin, and all the other Hyperbole they attach to it.
This is the Pump - hoping People will fall for it and buy the Currency. They were doing this with XRP until it's Managers got busted by the SEC and it plummeted, while most Coins are nowhere near the supposed Value their Shills tell you they will be.
There's also a List of 100s of dead Coins. These are Coins that appeared, some to huge Fanfare, then collapsed or never had any Value at all, all now completely defunct.
A few, like Onecoin were complete Scams and some had supposed Airdrops of "free" Coins, except you had to buy others before you could sell any of them.
There must be millions of dead Banners on Social Media where People have acted as Affiliates for these things and haven't deleted them.
And then we have another Layer of Manipulation ......
ReplyDeleteIf there are only 18million Coins (and will only ever be 21 million) those ultra-wealthy Investors are buying up all the Coin. There is a Liquidity Crisis where the Miners can't produce enough Coin to satisfy the Market. The Supply can't provide to the Demand, thus the Price goes up.
This has been mentioned by myself and others skeptical of this meteoric Rise in Bitcoin 'Value'.
But I would add that while that Layer is at point of Production, how about that of Resale?
Once the Supply of Coin has been bought up, where can People who want in on all this obtain them?
From the People who bought them up and caused the Surge.
Not only have they made a lot of Money by owning the digital Asset, they then make even more by selling it to others hoping to profit by it. Basically, they have rigged the Price (Layer 1), then can decide how much they will sell it on for (Layer 2).
So what you have is Jobs for the Boys in an Elite of Bitcoin Owners operating in a Miazma of Manipulation.
It's probably been at Layer 2 Manipulation after the last freshly minted Bitcoin was sold and the Liquidity Crisis started.
ReplyDeleteThen what happens?
As point of Production demand on Electricity sky rockets as People buy and install 1000s of Mining Rigs. They want to be part of the Bit Rush and a desperate flurry starts to produce the last 3 Million Coins. The cost of the Equipment goes up too as Ant Miners are sold out everywhere.
Those who own the Coin form a Cartel ( if they haven't done so) to decide how much Bitcoin will be worth. They have to change the periodical Increments - and have an occasional Trough to offset the Peaks to make it look plausible. As long as they can make People think the Value will increase and they can generate a Profit in days.
But none of this has anything to do with Market Forces or even Neo-Liberalism. It works outside all of that, while Market Forces decide everything from the Cost of Food and Energy to how much you are paid and Property Prices.
Once the Cartel of Crypto-Owners decide how much it will be worth none of this applies. They can print their own Money. If someone thinks they can buy Coin for £25,000 today, and sell it for £30,000 next week they will do it. They might not know that they are in a Sandbox.
To understand what might be happening visit ......
https://cryptobuyersclub.co.uk/live-cryptocurrency-prices-gbp
Scroll to some of the lesser known Coins and see how they just chunder along rather like Fiat Currency. No Alpine sized Peaks, no Grand Canyon deep Troughs, but an occasional up, and occasional down. That's because they are subject to the same Forces USD might be against the £. No-one is manipulating them to boost Demand or create a Pump.
Contradiction #whatever .....
The Pundits tell you how volatile it all is, so how have their so called 'Predictions' been right? If you remade "Wall Street" Gordon Gecko wouldn't be being told how much something was going to be worth before he bought or sold a Stock would he? If he was the SEC would bust him for Insider Trading which is highly illegal. Are some, not all, of these People told how much Cryptos will be worth at any given time? In a Wall Street or City of London riding the Wave of Market Forces no-one is that right all of the time. Many were horribly wrong in 2007 while I'm sure Warren Buffet has gaffed a few times in his long illustrious Career.
There's a huge difference too between the Wealth Disparity in the World and that of Bitcoin ownership and the World.
ReplyDeleteNo-one knows how many People own Bitcoin but it's probably reasonable to say that it is less than 21 million. The Wealth Disparity of the 1% rich and the rest (99%) means that 78,000,000 People own about 44% of Wealth. That's considerably more than 21 Million, who own less than half of the Planets Wealth. So the rest (People with $0-1million) own about 66%.
The Wealth Disparity would be far worse with Bitcoin.
Also, while there are severe ethical and corrosive Problems with a Currency that pays an ROI far higher than Wall Street in only a few Days - or Hours - for not doing anything the Effect it's having on Social Media is nauseating.
YouTube is rapidly becoming the Greed Channel, while the rest of the Internet seems to be losing its Objectivity.
There are 90.4 Trillion Dollars in the World as opposed to 21 Million Bitcoin.
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, it is far easier to manipulate Bitcoin than USD because it would be impossible for a small Group of People to own, thus pump and push, the latter. Governments might add or subtract a 0.5% Interest Rate while the Federal Reserve prints more - and the Value ends the day a few Cents up or down, but that is it. At least there's enough to go around.
The actual Mechanics of Bitcoin make it impossible to create a smaller Denomination than a Satoshi. So, if these Investors see their Coin go to astronomic Levels the Wealth can only be distributed to a finite number of People.
Bitcoin didn't exactly get off to a good start either .....
Lousy with Scams - plagued by Money Laundering and the nefarious Silk Road - very very many People were injured by the pre-amble to all this. The Greed Channel Presenters don't look scathed at all and I often wonder which end of that scammy broken Bottle they were. That the Scams that went on for years - while HYIPs are still running - were how they got their Coins to start with.
This Website was called Metrowynn Presents .... In homage to the Pioneers of the Film Industry. People like Louis B Mayer and Samuel Goldwyn - who established what we now know as the Entertainment Industry. Societies Outsiders many of them - who built a Life for themselves, in some instances from nothing.
ReplyDeleteBut even then, and despite their Glamour, the big Parties and Showbiz Schmaltz - they knew when things were appropriate and when they weren't. After 1929 Actresses like Clara Bow - unreformed Flappers from the roaring 20's - were inappropriate among the Hoovervilles and Souplines of 1930's America. She rapidly imploded, others like the lovely Coleen Moore retired discreetly, while Joan Crawford reinvented herself as a proto- Feminist Icon, doing herself huge favours in the Process.
It wasn't right to flaunt while America starved, went homeless, and unemployed. Even Al Capone ran his Soup Kitchens and Canteens.
Shame these People don't seem to realize any of this. Not once anywhere do they mention Society or the Socio in Economics after the last 10 Months. Particularly as their Wealthcoin had that nasty pre-amble of dirty Scams (some of which I got burned by when struggling to get off of Welfare). Wonder how some of them accrued their Coin. After the last 10 Months that started with half a Million Brits being made unemployed in a Fortnight.
Presumably they're going to pay Tax on this vast and sudden Wealth they've made. You know, put something into Society to help pay the Countries Welfare, Health, Education, Furlough and Pension Bill. Al Capone didn't and we all know what happened to him.
Even those People working and trading in the Square Mile in London or on Wall Street have paid their Capital Gains Tax.
Capital Gains are Profit, not the Money you put up as an Investment. If the ROI in conventional Trading is about 10% you pay Capital Gains Tax on that. If you're one of these Greed Merchants what was your ROI compared to the Investment starting in April last year? Probably up to about 80-90% - all of which is taxable when you fill out your Tax Returns this year. At least, that's if you do it honestly.
ReplyDeleteThey would become politically indefensible if Governments slacked off in this Process. Not only have they made an obscene amount of Money very quickly and not done anything to earn it, and maybe even running Scams to get their Seed Money, they stand to avoid paying any Tax at all when People have had to on any Interest on what might be left of their Savings.
What bothers me about it isn't just the Fact that it's completely manipulated in a Sandbox run by a very small Cartel of Owners it's also that pre-amble. The non-existant efforts by the Bitcoin Community and those Wallet and Exchange Providers to help you reclaim your Money from one or several of the Scammers in it. Their pathetic and inconsistent Excuses (mentioned previously) and their phoney Propaganda about how it's supposed to be a Force for financial Freedom etc.
ReplyDeleteSuch is the immorality of it, in one Article on the Subject a Writer lamented the demise of the HYIP "Industry", like it was a respectable Chamber of Trade or Guild or something, when Ponzi Scam, Racket, Embezzlement, Grift etc might have been more accurate. Which is why there's something quite odious about those Videos, some of which are reminiscent of the same promoting Binary Options Autotraders a while ago.
And I want to know what the Politicians are going to do about it.
ReplyDeleteThe Authorities weren't exactly dynamic about shutting down these Scams.
What is so blatant about it is how public it is. It's on the Internet for all to see. Imagine if Bruce Reynolds and Buster Edwards had done the Great Train Robbery so publicly.
I'm sure there are probably Millions of others, who paid Tax for years, who have had to live on their Savings during the Virus Crisis instead of retiring on them, others who have lost their Jobs, or the Families main Earner, would like to know too.
Until then Viz should have a new Character to go with the Fat Slags, Sid the Sexist and Luvie Darling......
Cryptoslobs who are like Goldfinger and Jabba the Hutt, who lounge around on their Android Internet all the time seeing the latest Tax free Crypto Gains, buying up everything while others who were complicit look like Weasels. Then in a few years they run a splinter Character, Cryptosnobs who are the Children of the Slobs and have as nauseating an Attitude as some of those disgusting Video Makers on the Greed Channel.
That's being polite.
I'd call them dirty Leeches who make no Contribution to anything - but who might end up owning everything.
But how did something that has no intrinsic Value make 700% Profit in 10 Months for the Individual?
ReplyDeleteIt isn't a House, a vintage Car, the Mona lisa or a pile of Gemstones? None of which would make that in less than 2 years.
Even Drugs sold on a buy for 1, sell for 2 Basis don't make that sort of Money. They might if they travel further and further down the pecking order, but not for the Individual. A Kingpin might make a lot on a Deal but they had to put up a lot in the first place.
Also, Crypto is a broken Bottle.
There's the broken end, lousy and full of Scams where you and I end up - with the Lacerations to prove it - then there's the end those People are at, who wallow in Crypto-Wealth and make nauseating Greed Inc Videos about it.
How about that Infrastructure?
I was going to deposit some Money into a Crypto-Account a year ago. Their Office was in London so I travelled there to do it. (pre-Covid19) I think they were a bit shocked that someone had walked off the Street to do it rather than do it online. No-one does that anymore they must have thought.
Heck, I'm not giving anyone my Money like this without seeing them, where it is and the Attitude there.
I got there, reported in to Reception and was kept waiting in the Lobby for about 20 Minutes. Smug Yipster type People used the adjacent Canteen. Then someone finally appeared. We chatted, I told them what I wanted to do and they apologized, telling me we couldn't do it there and then. They gave me some Website Instructions and that was it.
I protested that this was their registered Office, but was told that Accounts are run from the Ukraine.
Hmmm, and all this went on in the Lobby. They never took me into the Office. I remember something on TV when they did that. They then scammed him.
If I took Cash or a Cheque into a regular Bank and wanted to deposit or open an Account they don't tell me to go home and do it online! I would do it in front of them while they wore a Name Badge, I might meet the Manager or their Assistant - and know where all this happened!
How much Capital Gain?
ReplyDeleteOn whatever Search Engine type "BTC to (Currency)" and you will be shown a Graph with various time frames. 1hr, 1day, Month, Year, 5Years, Max. Select the 5Year Option and see how much Bitcoin sold for at the end of February-early March 2019. Here it was about £3000. Fast forward to now and that would be about 15% of its current Value. 85% of their current Wealth is pure Profit.
No-one honest makes that sort of Money in less than 2 years elsewhere. That's 700% ROI which is taxable Capital Gains ....... if you're honest.
You pay Tax on Cryptos if you turn them into Fiat Currency, but what if you don't, and use Bitcoin directly or a Bitcoin Debit Card?
Oh, and I wonder who made that Fella a Cup of Coffee in his Video? Wouldn't have been someone who made it with "Sulphuric Acid" in a Stranglers Song would it. Apparently, according to the Song "Ugly" it's only the Children who are wealthy who tend to be good looking.
Those "beautiful bullish Charts" huh, except maybe this proves my Point because the same Group did a Song extolling the Virtues of Heroin.
Maybe Crypto us full of Narco Money Launderers after all!
Maybe if I had opened one of those HYIP Accounts as Pablo Escobar or Kuhn Sah they might have paid me huh!
The thing is, if you sign up to a PTC Site (also not paying) and they have your IP Address do these HYIP Scammers have same, and decide who they pay and who they don't?
Then you had those 7 Congress People who wrote a Letter in support of Bitcoin.
Hmmm, wonder if they do the same for the struggling Tax payers in their Constituency's - the unemployed who declare their Income, the Health Workers struggling with Covid19 etc!
The Backlash against it could be immense.
When they had those Demos from Athens Greece to New York 12 years ago it was in protest against the conventional Finance Community - who do pay Capital Gains Tax. If they start the same against this shady new Crypto Economy - that doesn't - they might be joined by the latter!
Is Bitcoin and this current Trend sustainable?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Financier or Accountant, but I can realize how something with no intrinsic Value can't sustain the sort of Stuff we've seen in recent Weeks.
Firstly, they have to keep hyping it to sustain the public Interest. Then they have forced their own Paradox. Once any minted Coin is gone they can only sell their own Stock. When they do this at whatever Price is set at that moment they have less Coins to accrue Interest. So even if the Value continues to rise it no longer applies to them. That privilege belongs to whoever they sold them to. How can they hype something that is otherwise unavailable?
They have no choice but to sell enough of their own Coins to keep the public Interest.
Then, why have something that you can't do anything with? Who is it valuable to?
A House can be improved and lived in. a vintage Car can be displayed at Rallies and Exhibitions, hired to Film and Television. A work of Art can be displayed at a Gallery to paying Customers. Gemstones can be used or sold for Jewelry or even Industry.
What exactly can you do with Bitcoin apart from hype it up? At some point you are going to have to sell them because that's the only thing you can do with them. There are a few places you can use them like Currency but not many, while it's scarcity means it could never equal Fiat Currencies availability.
So, of course, Fiat Currency can be used everywhere so having a lot of it means it has instant usability.
And why are there more Birds in Bitcoin than an Avery?
ReplyDeleteShould we call it Irony Coin?
Or maybe the Peter Jackson Coin.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, so those scammed Coins are supposed to be "the Preciousssss" that was stolen by Thieves drone, blah? How disgusting, and here we are thinking that the nice(?) People at New Line Cinema were decent respectable Folk who would never be party to such malarkey.
Ooohhh look everybody, it's Frodo Doushbaggins!
Early Birds and those Worms and all that!
The thing is, I'd be more positive about Bitcoin if it didn't have that dirty Pre-Amble! Where it seemed we aren't here to prosper from it. We are here to fund the dirty Cabal of Scammers who are running it.
While you had those supposed 'Airdrops' of "Free Tokens" when there's an ICO (initial Coin Offering) - but there's a minimum to how many you can sell which is greater than the amount of "free" Tokens, there's also a Gambling Site called Freeco in.
ReplyDeleteExcept they do the same thing.
Rather like a hybrid of online Craps and a Slot Machine it gives you some free Coins to play with. You then gamble with these to see if a 5 figure Number is higher or lower than the current. You then click "Roll". The Numbers spin like a Slot Machine and wallah you have your 5 figure number.
"Gosh" you say excitedly, you've won. Except you gambled 2 and won One, so you haven't won anything.
Both of these are set up so you have to buy more Coin with your Fiat Currency!
So when all Bitcoin is owned as it reaches its Peak of 21 Million that's the end of Bitcoin. After that it becomes like something the public knows is there but has nothing to do with. No-one can buy any new Coins while those who own it won't part with it because it will knock holes in their Fortunes. They won't be able to recoup that either, if it stays at the same Value, and particularly if it goes up.
ReplyDeleteIf the latter applies it does to them what the above mentioned Website does, except this time they sell for less and buy for more. No one is going to do that unless they're daft, but who is going to invest in something that won't increase in value? After all, that's the Crux of the Sales Pitch on the Greed Channel isn't it.
Once all Bitcoin is owned that's it. People are stuck with something they can't sell because as soon as they do they can't replace them. It can't increase in value because they would have to buy replacement Coins for more so they no longer make Money, they start losing it.
ReplyDeletePyramid Schemes collapse when there are fewer People buying into it and the Revenue gained is less than that paid to others in the Scheme. This is how Ponzi Schemes unravel.
So even if it is all owned and the Cartel of Owners start to create an artificially increasing Value they begin to crumble and devour their own.
For example;
They set the Price at £25,000.
Someone sells a Coin for that
They then set the Price at £25,500
That someone would then have to pay £25,500.
So who is going to sell any Coin and reduce their Portfolio by £25,000? Once that £25,000 is turned into Fiat Currency it is spent on day to day expenditure.
Some of this happens now as many Exchanges have a higher Sell rate than a Buy one. Thus, you have to wait until the Value has increased more than the Difference.
For example;
Coinsrus sells for £25,000, but buys for £24,000.
Joe Bloggs has bought 1BTC from them. He then has to wait until the Value has increased enough, or Coinsrus are paying more than £25,000 to make any Money.
Bitcoin is only valuable while there is the potential for it to increase. This is based on the Demand, but as I've said, that can only be satiated with the prospect of new Coins.
ReplyDeleteBut apart from that what else is there?
Fiat Currencies might not be linked to any Gold Standard these days but they are to other things.
A Countries fiscal and human Resources, it's Economy, the Land itself and it's Sovereignty, just printing more of it. If it is rich in natural Resources it's Currency is in demand as People pay to access both. If a Countries Economy thrives it's Currency increases in Value. If it's Status in the World is powerful, so is its Currency. After all, how did the USD become the most prominent, even in Communist Russia? What does it represent? There's nothing more British than a £5 with Churchill on it, Scottish Currency and Robbie Burns, American Dollars and a President.
And how about that Gold?
Bitcoin has been hyped as "the new Gold" because of it's scarcity. But it's because of that it can't be. People are still prospecting for Gold, there's even the Chance of there being some in Wales, and there is always the chance that there might be some somewhere. Once 21 Million Bitcoins are 'mined' that's it, there isn't any more, while how can they further divide each Satoshi like there is a Quarter, Dime or Cent, a 50, 20, 10, 2 or 1p?
Bitcoins Critics called it a Ponzi Scheme and although it might not have been as blatant or obvious as one, it starts looking like it simply because of those very rules of Supply and Demand, how it will eat itself, and the current Trends very grubby, scammy Pre-Amble!
A scammy, grubby pre-amble that wasn't difficult to shut down.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need C.S.I Detectives or the latest Forensic Investigations to do so. Just Google "HYIP Monitor" and you will get probably about 15-20 Websites promoting 100's of HYIP Schemes. They might 'review' them, giving them up to 5 Star ratings, and tell you if they are "paying". The HYIPs give the Monitor Money to list them (sometimes about $200), and become affiliates of each other, thus earning Commissions, and that "Paying" might be the equivalent of about 20p. This is a Red Flag because HYIPs claim to pay much larger Amounts to investors - so these Payments can't be from the Monitor trying one of their Plans.
There you have a lot of rotten Eggs in one Basket and it can't be beyond the huge Internet Companies to detect and sanction them, while they must know what is happening.
But we are back to the Ethicism or Moral Compass of the Internet, or at least some of it. I mentioned the Writer lamenting the end of the HYIP "Industry" like they were a Chamber of Commerce or some Trade Guild. How much of that attitude exists in the Internet companies?
I might be rather more supportive of Crypto-Currencies were it not for that grubby History.
And if this Early Bird Nonsense does allude to those Worms, be they Gollums Meal or Brad Dourif in those unfortunate Films might I suggest People read the Introduction to the "Fellowship of the Ring". If you do you will read Tolkien's Description of Hobbits and how they like everything to be "fair and square, without Contradictions". The complete opposite of all this which is anything but fair - as crooked as the Letter S - and completely riven with inconsistencies!
ReplyDeleteAnd when you do, continue to "Return of the King" - and see if you can find the non-existant Scene at Orthanc, which seems to have been put in those Films.
Meanwhile, here's another of those Contradictions .....
ReplyDeleteFirstly; they tell us that Bitcoin is a democratised, borderless Currency that is in the Domain of the People and not the Banks.
Then, when you Google to see what People are saying about its prospects you read how Institutions have bought up 100s of 1000,000 £s of it. Just one of them owns £563million worth, and at today's rate would be more than 22000 Coins. How is this in the Domain of the People, how typical is it, and how many others have hoarded that many?
They are quite probably responsible for the Pump and Dump that has gone on since 2017 - using that Wealth as leverage on the crypto-economy. This puts it well beyond regular People and if their Gloom and Doom Predictions for the rest of the Economy are correct then it's akin to the Lifeboats on a 1912 Ocean Liner.
So, if the Propaganda is to be believed, and it is a "decentralised", democratised Currency etc when is a Bank not a Bank? How many People have £563million sloshing around somewhere that they can dispose of on Crypto Money? You'd have to win the Euro-millions Lottery 6x to do so. And when they say £563million is that what they spent on it a few Months ago or how much their Bitcoins are worth now?
ReplyDeleteHave Banks rebranded and call themselves something else these days because of the Stigma of recent years? AIG were supposed to be an Insurance Company when they got bailed out in 2008.
The other thing is; if these Greed TV Presenters have been around Trading and the Markets that long where were they when we were being robbed blind by all those Scammers?
Bitcoin is looking like all those other manufactured Dissents......
55 years after all that Bob Dylan and the Beatles Bulshit and some of us want to know where their Hippie Utopia is. 45 years after Punk and we ask where theirs might be. All those other things, and while we were supposed to have the "be sensitive or else 90's" it's now 2021 - when does any of that start?
That it's just another "Jobs for the Boys" Cronyism, just like all those other things.
Maybe if I had joined a HYIP as Pablo Escobar I'd have got paid.
Not sure about some of these Videos on YouTube. Am I watching something made by someone miles away, or the Eagles doubling up for the Ramones? Maybe it's an Edition of "Rainbow" with Bungle, Zippy and GEORGE!
ReplyDeleteWhile we got inundated with Videos on the Greed Channel hyping up the Value of BTC, others trumpeting it's Price of about £30000 a while ago, not quite as many telling us how it has dropped by 25% in 12 days or why. Even Google seems a bit shy on Articles today about how this has happened.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, is Bitcoin just some Crap in a Sandbox - a Muse that prompts pseudo Stories in the Media?
ReplyDeleteHow the Greed Channel has those yabbering Arseholes, mainlining Espresso, prattling on about it with their Predictions and Hype is one Example. Another are the non-stories about it.
"Bitcoin suffers Mauling", "Is this the end for Crypto" etc; all as if Cryptocurrency is having its very own Wall Street Crash when in reality it's Value might have dropped a couple of 1000£. Proportionally this isn't very much because if it was still worth about £3-4000 that's only about £200. The complete loss of Proportion in the Crypto-Media is as symptomatic as the Greed that pervades it all. How these non-stories are put as Headlines obviously part of the manipulation Process meant to prompt you to Google for further Information.
Has anyone else noticed that there might be 100's of Cryptocurrencies but the only ones that seem to be increasing in Value are those that were already expensive? Those that were the subject of the 100s of Scams on the Internet before they became respectable. None of the others have done very much in the last 6 Months while Bitcoin and Etherium seem to. It's like whoever is selling and manipulating it all only want to make as much Money as possible while other Coins and Tokens which you could buy for a few Pence - and thus carry less Risk - won't increase very much at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I'm starting to wonder if Cryptocurrency is a real Economy.
In the 1920's Manipulation might have been rife (which prompted Joseph Kennedy becoming the first director of the SEC), but even then, whether your Money was in Manufacturing, Retail, Entertainment, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Finance or Food - the success of one affected the rest. The Prosperity Bubble went across the whole Spectrum of Economics.
On the Flip side, when a few Banks began to totter in 2007-8 the Effect was felt across the whole gamut of Economics - from Housing in America to AIG Insurance, the entire Icelandic Economy and even a Chinese Factory owner who went bust, closed his Factory and vanished in the night.
So why hasn't Bitcoin and Ethers Success been felt with the other Cryptocurrencies as BTC went up by about 1500% in a year that should have affected the others as People start to invest in them? But it didn't even if they are entry Level Currencies for People on Minimum Wages and the Dole.
Why hasn't this happened?
Would it be because those selling Cryptos wouldn't make very much if People started buying XRP at about 45p each instead of £42000 for Bitcoin, then watch as it goes up in value exponentially?
So is the World of Cryptocurrency a real, organic Economy, or are Bitcoins and Etherium grown in a speculative Sandbox full of Shills? A completely artificial Currency that is totally dependent on the Hype given it by People on the Internet and Greed Channel?
If a Minimum Wage Earner would have to spend more than 2 years Salary on a single Bitcoin which costs 10 times a years Universal Credit how can Cryptos democratise Money?
Also, as the Pundits start flinching at increasing Scrutiny by the SEC and FCA they seem to have forgotten why. That those Scams that went on for years did nothing for Cryptocurrency Rep. Quite a few lucrative and substantial Companies involved too, that could otherwise have formed a regulatory Organisation. Everyone from Coinbase to Blockchain might have made a substantial difference in the Battle against Scammers long before the Authorities got involved, except the Question here is; couldn't or wouldn't?
And while all this goes on, there is a Duplicity about Bitcoin ...... From the Banks!
ReplyDeleteBarclays ended their Relationship with Crypto-Exchange Coinbase, but never disclosed why. I remember trying to buy Bitcoin with my Barclays Visa Debit Card about a year ago and it wouldn't go through. I phoned them to ask and "Chris" from their Security Department blabbed on about "it being a Scam" and "have a look at the Internet" etc in a Scouse Accent. He then assured me my next Attempt would go through, but it didn't. This was when BTC was about £5500 so considerably cheaper than it is now.
Thanks "Chris" in Scouse!
A year later and all sorts of Banks and Finance Companies are buying into the "Scam" along with Billionaires like Bill Gates with their vast amounts of Money while they stopped the rest of us from doing the same thing when it was still affordable.
Meanwhile, there might be environment Issues with Bitcoin Mining but the same applies, while I would suggest Bitcoin Millionaires spend some of their Money on reducing the Carbon Footprint. Everything from investing in renewable Energy to Tree Planting might do something towards this rather like the Makers of "The Day after Tomorrow" worked to neutralise the Footprint made by their Film.
While "Chris" is telling me Bitcoin is "a Scam", what might he tell Mr Microsoft, Mr Virgin Media, Mr Tesla, and quite probably all the other People in the Bitcoin Billionaire Club?
ReplyDeleteWhen Bill Gates is on his Windows 10 Phone buying Bitcoin I wonder if his Transaction was declined like mine was. How about Mr Branson on his Virgin Media Internet, while Mr Tesla reported how he'd made more Money with Bitcoin than he did selling Tesla Cars.
And while there might be some with more Faces than Steve Marriot and Ian McClagan anyone else keep getting email about Teeka Tiwari and his next Trillion Dollar Coin? This is the Man who predicted Apple's 48000% rise in Value and Bitcoins Success.
ReplyDeleteThis is all very nice, but his Webinar was about a Week ago and considering his Stature in the World of Finance no-one has reported which "Coin" he might be on about. Nothing in Forbes, the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal. But you can attend these online Seminars for a Fee.
But no-one anywhere seems to review them.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the level of Coordination that goes on in the Bitcoin Community how can it not be manipulated by someone higher up? How is it that it wasn't until some of those big Institutions made their Involvement known the Authorities started clamping down on some of the Scams? Scams that had gone on for years. A conspiracy Theorist might surmise that some of those Institutions were behind the Scams, scooping up Coin like it was spare Change, but spare Change that would one day be very valuable. Many of those Scams are still active, and although I'm not a paid Investigator I can still discover how many of them use the same Infrastructure.
A Hosting Service in Phoenix Arizona seems to appear every time you do a Whois on any of them. There are others if you did a bit deeper, but the question is this;
If Buster Edwards and Bruce Reynolds were as public when they did the great Train Robbery - a Monitor is just a TV Screen after all and, thus an online Scam is like Robbery on CCTV - they'd have been arrested before they ever reached Ledderslade Farm. So why aren't the Scammers, and if large Chunks of the FBI became Homeland Security why hasn't the Phoenix Field Office subpoenaed the Hosting Company for its Database?
The horrible Irony is that while all this went on with the very People who could benefit from a Currency that finally empowers them against some if what happened in 2008, those that are had Money before - from Bill Gates to Banks. Those who were scammed were the former and not the latter.
Then there's the next Phase in the Scam .....
ReplyDeleteThe so called Reclamation Companies.
Go online and there are lots of them. Most seem to look very similar and so is the M.O. You send them Details about the Scam, they evaluate it all and decide if they can do it, you then pay them 10% before they start, and another 7-11% after.
Now, I realise that legal and accountancy Work costs Money while Investigators incur Expenses but a sweeping %age could be far more, particularly if the initial amount is huge.
Also their asking you for Money in advance is like one Scam I tussled with continually asking for "Tax" before they sent the ROI, while wanting Money first suggests they might not recoup yours at all. After all, a %age paid once they have covers you both.
They're a bit like someone bricking your Window at night and someone selling you 'Insurance' the following day. The Colloquialism for that is Protection. Some of those running them have acquired the same List of Victims from the original Scammers, while others are run by them. Nothing involving that sort of Money is a Coincidence and if 10btc is dangled in front of a Victim 10% of £430,000 is a lot of Money.
The Bitcoin Infrastructure People claim all transactions are anonymous and untraceable.
ReplyDeleteRubbish, every Satoshi sent in the Blockchain is recorded in the Ledger - a huge Database of Wallet Addresses and TX IDs that have sent and received Bitcoin. They also require Verification Documents if you reach a certain amount of Money transacted. Thus, if that amount has been sent or received not only is there a Record of it, it is also attributable to a verified individual. Bitcoin is not like Fiat Currency that disappears from the System once the Notes are put in a Wallet. Also, for legit Tax Purposes the Exchanges are required to submit Records of all Transactions every year so the HMRC can evaluate the Tax Liability of those receiving Coin.
So they know exactly who to and where Coins are going so they could just as easily mediate in a Dispute as PayPal can.
So why weren't they?
It seems Bitcoin has gone up to £46000!
ReplyDeleteSo what is this Wundercurrency putting up as Collateral against this Value?
Amazon Shares are what they are because it is the world's most successful Company, owned by its wealthiest Man. Except how long would I have to wait before they would increase in Value by 1000% like BTC has in just 13 Months?
Fiat Currencies are linked to the Value of the Countries they are issued by. If that countries Economy suffers so does the value of its Currency. Even the Euro is valued against the value of the Continent - from Portugal to Slovakia, Estonia to Italy.
National Economies are affected by everything from an Election to the Weather. Northern European and American Economies were vibrant because of the temperate Climate and stable Government. Elsewhere the lack of these things have caused the opposite.
People trading in the Markets have to monitor this continually. A Coup or Hurricane can devastate the Price of Stock relevant to them. A lot of Work goes into it. Research, continually responding to Events - Stress - and the Results still aren't 1000% in just over a year.
Even buying a House has intrinsic Value. Even if the Price collapses you still have a Building, somewhere to eat, sleep and recreate. A Garden, Land or a Yard.
But what is Bitcoin priced against as it increases in Value, hyped up on the Internet?
I notice XRP has also gone up since mentioning here how it hasn't. None of the others seem to, while the Predictions for XRP by some very respected Speculators fall well short of the £1.30 it's is worth today. That's starting to look like a manipulated Shill in an attempt to stave off any Questions or Criticism.
Also, today us the biggest in Coinbase's History since it was formed.
It will launch itself to the Public and issue Shares. Except there is no IPO option on their Website to People who have an Account with them. Nice to see how People who have made a Commitment to the Company are rewarded for their Loyalty and can invest in themselves huh!
And Bitcoin is up and down in Value more times than an Elevator on Steroids.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, so would Corn Flakes be in a Supermarket if they weren't selling as fast and the Manager reduces the Price, Sales Figures go up, then he gradually increases the Price.
Bitcoin hovered around the lower £40,000s but never broke through. Why? Because it was becoming too expensive and People were becoming cautious. After all, £45,000 is a lot of Money from someone's Life Savings or borrowed Cash.
What do those running it do?
Reduce the Price to boost Sales! But they can't do it suddenly like the Supermarket with their Corn Flakes, that'd look far too obvious. It'd also spook the Market and cause everyone to panic sell their Coins. So they do it gradually to make it look like it's a Market thing, concurrent with a few Stories (India bans ownership, Turkey stops Purchases, Nat West refuses Customers who accept Bitcoin, Biden increases Capital Gains Tax by 100% for Crypto Millionaires). People start buying it again and sure enough the Price starts going up.
Bitcoin is not a Currency, it's a Product. To buy anything with it you have to exchange it for Fiat Currency first. Intrinsically it is useless, while at the same time at the behest of those manipulating it. After all, the Greed of those who own many of them won't allow the Price to stagnate so they induce this Process of what Retail calls a Loss Leader to boost Sales and hopefully increase the Demand. Shops do it all the time and some succeed and open new Branches and expand. The Difference is they sell useful Stuff most of the time, but the Psychology is very similar.
I wish the Financial Correspondents and Media would tell People this, but they don't seem to.
Even one of Bitcoins Creators said how it's turned into a Ponzi Scheme!
What this means is Bitcoin might not reach the hyped up Values some Pundits claimed a few Months ago. $70,000, $100,000, even $200,000 have been mooted as potential Prices but who is going to have that sort of Money sloshing about that could suddenly drop in Value? It'd probably climb to the mid 40,000s again then slow down as only a few People can afford it and they become cautious again. Then guess what, they drop the Price again to attract more buyers.
ReplyDeleteYou'll notice how those granduous Claims are somewhat muted these days.
Also, what if Crypto Currency Pundits were right and Fiat Currency collapsed? Would Crypto Currencies replace it? Probably not, while any Banks holding huge amounts of Coin would then have to use it to bolster their Fiat Reserves rather than have it expand their Wealth. There isn't enough Crypto to go around like there might be Fiat Currencies so a purely Crypto Economy would cause quite a few People to have no Money at all.
It's extremely dangerous to hope that that would happen, but that is exactly what Crypto Pseudo Utopianists are vying for!
Then they created an obviously Juxtapositional Coin called Moon Coin. Wonder if it plays the Drums in a 60's Mod Band?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Bitcoin Advocates hate me for writing this, but they had 12 years to put their Houses in order. Bitcoin Wallet Providers, the many Exchanges, the Trading Platforms, Companies like Freebitcoin could very easily have formed a Regulatory Body to monitor its use and act as somewhere People could turn to during a Dispute.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone sends Coin to a Scammer they have a TX ID and a Record of where it went. Those Organizations can very easily trace it to its Destination and request them to comply with whatever Agreement had been made or any Claim their Investment Program published. Every Satoshi of Bitcoin is easier to trace than Cash that had been withdrawn from a Bank so there was no excuse. Bitcoin is a very limited Commodity so you aren't dealing with an Ocean of Fiat Currency Units.
They did none of this and there are probably millions of People who got scammed in the 10 years before it became respectable and owned by big Finance Companies written about in mainstream Finance Media.
If they had done this Governments might have been more lenient than they are now. If they had used some of the Wealth to rehabilitate the Environment then People like President Biden might not be quite as critical of it.
If someone runs an Investment Scheme whose Website is online 24/7 they will be using an online Wallet Provider not one of those Hardware Ledgers or Trezors. All a Victim has to do is report the TXID to that or other Wallet Providers and they know exactly where it went, complete with verified ID and email Address.
ReplyDeleteThe Company could threaten to suspend or even close the Account if they failed to comply as described.
The Fact none of this happened tells you what their Motive is, and if it was what they claim, some altruistic Alternative to established Currencies, then it would, and would have been a Priority.
And now we have Proof that Bitcoin isn't a Currency. A Caribbean Island is about to become the World's first "Bitcoin Community" where they use BTC instead of "Money". You'll notice how they say "Money" instead of Fiat Currency, so Bitcoin isn't "Money" at all.
ReplyDeleteIf not, who decides how much it will be worth when Fiat Currency derives its Value from the Ebb and Flow of the vast global Economy. Bitcoin doesn't!
Also, who decides who will be in their cozy Bitcoin Club .... and who won't?
Because of the Volatility of Cryptocurrency anywhere that has a solely Crypto-Economy could face complete collapse should it's Value plummet. If everything and everyone is bought, sold and paid with BTC that also means that Communities Revenue Service, public Expenditure and Currency Reserves. If Bitcoin suffers anything up to the predicted 90% Correction in Price that Economy is diminished to 10% of its Value.
Even without that Correction Bitcoin dropped by nearly 25% in less than a Week very recently. I'm not sure I'd want to live in or run an Island Economy that has to import everything if that Economy could diminish by a Quarter that quickly.
And because of all the Scams that went unchecked for years and the disgusting Effect of its Inflation that turned YouTube into the Greed Channel Cryptocurrency will not mean that "Community" will be some altruistic Utopia. Quite the opposite, and also considering the illicit nature of large Parts of its use said "Communities" won't be Communities at all. More geographically proximated Groups of appropriative Scam Artists!
What's happening on eBay?
ReplyDeleteThere are Dozens of very obscure Cryptos on eBay at the moment. So called 'mining contracts' offering ludicrous amounts of Coins (Millions, Billions, even Trillions) that no-one has heard of and have no value at all on any of the Exchanges.
There are some that have very similar Names as those that do. Presumably hoping People will confuse them and buy into it. Moon Coin for example, has several Imitators - while so does BNB and XRP.
There are some supposed Contracts to mine Bitcoin where the apparent ROI is actually less than the Investment. One for example cost about £750 with a "guaranteed" ROI of 0.00003BTC every day for a year. Even with BTC at £41000 that's still only 12p, which after a Year is only £48. How many People are falling for this? To do the Calculous, just start at 1BTC = £40,000, then go down the Decimals, removing a 0 each time.
For Example; 1 = 40,000, 0.1 = 4000, 0.01 = 400, 0.001 = 40, 0.0001 = 4.
This works like a ready reckoner to determine how valuable something is in BTC without it hiding in all those Zeros!
And many of those supposed Cryptos are probably made up.
ReplyDeleteYou just find an Avatar that looks relevant, might be a bit cute, but no-one has seen before. Set up a Website using the Templates other Token Sites use - rather like HYIP scammers do - and there you have it, instant Crypto-coin that doesn't actually exist while it's 'value' is decided by its own Hype.
The most famous Example of this was TBC or The Billion Coin, which wasn't backed by anything other than what it's Creators said it was worth. It also went up in 'value' every day too, except when you watch the Volatility of the Crypto Market a 'Coin' that increases by the same Amount every 24 Hours is as impossible as a HYIP guaranteeing a similar Process. Seasoned Forex Traders can't do that with long established Currencies so how does a HYIP know how much BTC will be worth in 10 Minutes let alone a Day?
Now here's a thing ......
ReplyDeleteHave a look at this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184483757419?hash=item2af416bd6b:g:ONIAAOSwFtFfgrYe
Yep, if you copy and paste the URL for this eBay Listing it appears without any of the other Stuff you get on an eBay Page. No "Buy it now", "Make Offer" or "Watch" to click on, no "Contact Seller" for further Info, while you can't even report it to eBay. So what's it there for?
It looks like quite a good Deal. You pay £19 for a Mining Contract that yields 0.001BTC in 2 Hours. That's turning £19 into about £40, which is a good investment, while if you did it every 2 Hours using Multibuy it's Increase is exponential. 1 becomes 2 which becomes 4, becoming 16 and so on.
Except it seems to be a completely useless Listing that serves neither use of an Ornament!
So much for all the Hype ....
ReplyDeleteAs Bitcoin continues its downward Trajectory and Etherium does the same how many of those Greed Pedlars are quite as vociferous?
Where's the "£70,000", "£100,000", or even the "£200,000" BTC was supposed to be worth? As the current Trend continues many of them are sounding as hollow as badly clad Block of Flats. Spivery is an understatement as YouTube became a Greed Channel presented by People with Espresso on an IV Drip. It was horrible as the Delirium became extremely toxic.
The thing is, who in their right mind was going to pay £45,000 only a few weeks ago for something that is now £28.500? I pity anyone who did, then watched as it dropped by nearly £20,000. A 40% crunch on their Savings. Others say that it's only a temporary thing, a Consolidation Process before it rallies again. I'm not sure it is as many of the things that gave it it's surge last year have now happened.
Banks (yep, y'know - those apparent bogeymen the DeFiers hate) scooped it up, along with Billionaires like Bill Gates and Richard Branson and it became economically off-limits to those regular Folk they claim to represent.
I just disliked what it was turning People into.
I noticed the effect it was having.
For example; When I made Forays into reclaiming some Bitcoin scammed by a HYIP. I contacted a supposed Company who did this, who wanted a 10% up- front payment before anything. BTC was about £25,000 then - so that would have been a Payment of 10% on 10 BTC which would be £25,000. This was a lot of Money for no Guarantees of Success so I was reluctant, and also resentful at how there didn't seem to be any statutory Organisation that could do same for something so provable and traceable. As BTC went up, £30,000, £35,000, £40,000 that Company became a veritable nuisance, phoning 10 times a Day touting for Business. After all, 10BTC becoming £350-400,000 means a huge 10%.
If I had relented, giving them £40/45,000 - then got 10x£28,000 that's rather more than 10%.
This was when I started asking how it was being hyped up, and by whom?
Meanwhile, is there an Element of Eco-Hypocrisy about the current (no Pun intended) Hoo Hah regarding the amount of Electricity needed to produce Bitcoin?
ReplyDeleteHere are some Articles on the Subject ....
https://earth.org/are-cryptocurrencies-harming-the-environment/.
6th Feb 2020.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.co.uk/article/how-much-energy-does-bitcoin-mining-really-use/amp.
2nd December 2017.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/in-one-chart-heres-how-much-it-costs-to-mine-bitcoin-in-your-state-2017-12-15.
18th December 2017.
As you can see, one is from over a year ago, while others are as long ago as 2017. BTC was worth a lot less then, and was worth considerably more until very recently. I notice how all this happened after the latter, and after those Greed Merchants had sold their Portfolio of Coins for up to £45,000.
Why has Greenpeace only announced it will disable it's BTC donation Facility now when all this was common Knowledge years ago? So much for any ethical and thorough Research into the Subject.
This is rather like those Claddingate Developers who built dubious Blocks of Flats, selling them knowing they were a Fire Risk as long as the Price was right! Then Politicians getting on the Bandwagon in recent Months when they probably knew some of those Building Companies.
And did those People put any of their Cryptowealth into Eco-Projects like the Makers of "The Day after Tomorrow" did to make themselves Carbon Neutral?
ReplyDeleteThe Politicians who until a few Years ago schmoozed with the Developers, others who benefitted from how it all was during that, suddenly becoming holier than Thou Claddingate Tubthumpers and on it goes, but if Greenpeace in its current form and other Eco-Groups were that concerned about Cryptocurrencies Impact on the Environment they wouldn't have taken Crypto-Donations at all.
They're like the Yuppie Hippies we have now. All that Money slushing about must have Carbon Footprints all over it.
Micheal Jackson at the Brits in 1997, Peter Jackson's Styrofoam Rocks - even more Carbon Footprints!
ReplyDeleteYou can be a Yuppie or a Hippie, but you can't be both! I knew People a bit more genuine, and nicer than the Thugs in Indian Print you might meet in Portishead's Waitrose. They didn't drive BMWs and SUVs, own £350,000 Houses (among all the other they have) and shop in posh Supermarkets!
ReplyDeleteI often wonder how many Carbon Footprints and how much Military Industrial Complex is in the vast Money's wrapped up in Glampersbury every year!
Peter Jackson's Styrofoam Rocks and Claddingate Flats were all being built at about the same time weren't they.
ReplyDeleteWhen all that went on Swampy (legendary anti-Roads Campaigner and Eco-Activist) appeared in the Town, probably to investigate how many Trees and Hedgerows were being destroyed for the Yippie Dystopia, and all these 'Celeborns' and 'Galadriels' flounced about, looking at him like he was Vermin. That Bloke had done more to protect the Forests than any of those Marton and Orlando's, Miranda and Cates ever have. I got talking to him, went home, got some spare Clothes, made Sandwiches, a Flask of Tea, found some Cash, went back and gave it to him. That was how he lived, as he travelled the Country, throwing himself in front of Bulldozers and getting beaten up by Thugs working for the sort of People you met in those days.
I wonder how much Cryptocurrency Greenpeace and others might have sold in the last fortnight from the Donations of it they received. Then made the Announcement.
ReplyDeleteThe Dilemma now is; if they didn't know about the Eco-Impact of Cryptocurrencies - even though People were writing about it as long ago as 2017 - are they worth the Fiat Currencies they do take in Donations?
There are many inconsistencies in the Yuppie-Hippie Tryst.
I worked for one of those Fundraising Companies 15 years ago. Lots of Productivity Bonuses, Expense Claims, some rather nice Accommodation, but how much was being compromised in all that? Also, while they put People in the Streets talking about Landmines how about the Traps and Tripwires in their own Office?
(Groan) Yet another Article about how Etherium is "going to surpass Bitcoin" etc. This one by the Daily Express!
ReplyDeleteThe thing is Eth would have to go up to at least £30,000 before it does, or Bitcoin would have to further collapse. While the former seems unlikely as all Cryptos seem to have stalled after they crashed recently, the latter would send BTC Hodlers into apoplexy at further Losses.
As someone once said about XRP "If I got a $ every time I read how XRP Will be worth $100 I wouldn't have to invest!"
To show how duped mainstream, conventional Media can be with Cryptocurrencies the latest is DBIX or Dubaicoin.
ReplyDeleteThe Independent among several others ran Stories about this today saying how DBIX went up by 1000% despite other Cryptos plunging in Value.
The thing is, this doesn't tally with a Statement from the Dubai Government telling us it is a Scam and hasn't been approved by them or the States Finance Dept.
It's supposed Value doesn't appear on any of the established Exchanges. Coinbase says it is priced at $0.00 for example, while how on earth something so difficult to purchase could have any value at all.
It's like others.
Caizcoin claimed it was approaching $ each, but the Exchanges rated it at 0, while the infamous TBC (the Billion Coin) was worth $100s, then 1000s of 1000's according to TBCs own Website and the Coins Social Media Echo Chamber. Worthless everywhere else of course!
So when mainstream, professional Journalism takes huge Gulps of the Hyped up Crypto Cool Aid how can anyone else be blamed if they were?
And now the Daily Express are at the Bar buying the Dubaicoin Cool Aid by the Gallon. But against what previous Value has this "1000% increase" occured? Why does this Figure not even cause a Blip anywhere beyond the DBIX Echochamber? Rated at $0.00 on all the Exchanges where you might otherwise turn that "1000%" into a DBIX-Fiat Profit.
ReplyDeleteWhether the Increase is 10% or 1000,000% a Million X 0.00 is still 0.00!
The latest Hype from Freebitco-in
ReplyDelete"Bitcoin can hit $288.000 in 2024" That "Hodling" (stupid Word) is the best Strategy. Except isn't this just meant to stop People selling their Coins and causing a further downslide and trying to prevent recriminations from those who bought into the "70,-100-200,000" Hype when BTC was worth more?
How many bought it when it was £30,000-45,000 because of this, only to see up to £20,000 wiped off the Value, which has yet to recover?
The Problem it has is this ....
ReplyDeleteIf it ever did get to $288,000 who are you going to sell it to that might have that much Money to risk? Even if you sold it to an Exchange - who always pay less than the Market Value - who are they going to sell it to? The only reason People were buying it is because it might increase in Value. This means it would have to continually increase to attract new Investors well beyond $288,000! But how can it, it's Fans, guarantee that?
Wonder how that Island which was going to be a Crypto only Economy felt when a Trillion $ were wiped off of its Value?Probably not so enthusiastic as it would still have to import everything, from Medical Supplies to Consumer Goods, Food to Resources for Industry - paying at Fiat Currency Prices!
ReplyDeleteWriting as a former Journalist I wish current ones would get a Sense of Perspective.
ReplyDeleteThe Independent (again) is slaughtering itself on the Alter of Bitcoin by sacrificing it's Credibility with Non- News about Bitcoin being "Bullish" etc. An apparent "6%" increase drone, blah, except every time you see these Stories, then refer to any Crypto-valuation Site you see that it's all just make believe. No huge Increases, no sudden Rally.
The Fact is, they are probably getting desperate after hyping it up a few Months ago, the Price goes on a Hike, People buy into it believing their £40,000 Investment will be worth the King's Ransom the Merchants of Hype told them it would be, only to see it all come crashing down and not show any signs of Recovery.
ReplyDeleteI should imagine Charles Ponzi must have felt something similar as People lined up to cash out on his Securities Exchange Company Scam when there wasn't any Money to back it up, or those who bought his Charpon Development Land Deals only to find they'd bought useless, partially submerged Swamp
And here's something that merely compounds the Miasma.
ReplyDeleteThe latest Directive from Xapo.
They are relaunching their App, thus the previous one won't work. This new one will "guarantee" Deposits of €100,000 and act as a "virtual asset Service Provider" it says here. It also says how they are regulated by the Gibraltar Finance Services Commission - which is a bit weird as they are headquartered in Zurich, but based in Hong Kong.
The thing is, they've done this before and some People suddenly found their Funds off-limits in Accounts they could no longer access.
What suggests this might be more of the same is this .....
Quote: "That means that we’ll no longer support the current Xapo app from July 31st, 2021. By this date, you’ll need to either successfully apply for a new account if you’re selected, or withdraw your funds and close your account."
Let's hope that everyone with Money in a Xapo Account gets, and reads, this Email before that date because if they don't the same will happen as did before!
And now The Sun are quaffing at the Cool Aid as the Great Crypto Swindle becomes a Dwindle, desperately writing how certain currencies "surge" and "look bullish" etc. Another Bovine Reference springs to mind here, more to do with Poo than Profits - and Winnie was a Bear.
ReplyDeleteThis sort of Journalism ought to be condemned for not telling it's Readers a Truth that might have prevented them losing 10s of 1000's in the ridiculous Hype that turned everything toxic only a few Months ago!
Every time any of them do that here's a useful Utility that you can use to fact-check the Nonsense and sift through the Bulcrap .....
ReplyDeletehttps://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ADA-GBP?p=ADA-GBP&.tsrc=fin-srch
The Dystopianists are at it again ....
ReplyDeleteThis time it's the El Salvador Government.
Bitcoinists are salivating at how the Currency will be adopted as legal Tender by the Latin American Country and how it will generate Jobs and a Culture of Inclusion.
They criticise the traditional Economy of excluding 1000's of People who don't have access to Bank Accounts. The thing is, you can have as many Bank Accounts you like, if there's no Money in any of them they're just useless Numbers.
You can open as many Crypto-Wallet Accounts you like, but if you have no Money in them the same applies. Will the Government be giving their People free Coins to put in those Accounts as alternatives to traditional Finance?
If the Answer is yes, then that's better than nothing and the Country has something resembling a Universal Basic Income. If it's no then they are creating false hope for People who fall for the Myth that Bitcoin is some Magic Currency, like Diagon Alley Money in a Harry Potter Story. They need Fiat Currency to buy Cryptos in the first place. That or a small Power Station to mine them.
Also, having seen the dramatic Drop in Value in the last Month which could happen again the lessons of the 1930's have not been learned. The poorest Dirt Farmers in America's mid-west saw any Money they did have wiped out by a Depression that was caused by the sort of steroid Speculation in 1929 that went on with Bitcoin in 2021. By making El Salvadors poorest vulnerable to that they aren't doing them any favours.
Which brings me to this....
Anonymous have blamed Elon Musk for destroying People's Crypto Lives with his Tweets.
The People who did that were those who lured them into it in the first place. With unsubstantiated Claims that investing in it would yield huge, get rich quick, Profits was irresponsible and ignored many People's Advice urging Caution. How People were spending huge Chunks of their Life Savings on it, only to see it cut by nearly 50% was because of that, and the pervasive Propaganda on YouTube by quite horrible People was what destroyed Lives. Elon Musk did more People a Favour in the long term by showing how dangerously susceptible it is. This is what happened in the pre-amble to the Crash of 1929, as powerful Individuals drove Stock Prices up and down on a Whim, and also that of 2007-8 with Property and Mortgages.
If Elon Musk hadn't done what they claim how many more People might have put £50,000, £55,000, £60,000, £65,000 and so on into it? At least he helped stop the Madness where People's Advice didn't seem to!
ReplyDeleteThe Potential in El Salvador is horrible ....
ReplyDeleteJuan and Juanita have done blue Collar Work in and around San Salvador for the last 25 years and have raised a Family. During all that they have put a few Dollars away a Month. Suddenly the Government lures them into a false sense of Security about Bitcoin so they buy it with those Savings.
Either that or Juan decides to open a Crypto-Wallet Account and expects it to magically fill up with Money!
It won't, and even a Magician who conjors Coins from nowhere had them hidden up their Sleeve!
If the Cryptoverse is as utopian as they claim Coinbtc and other HYIPs would have paid up because the Crypto-Community would have insisted they did. When I went through all that I had spent many years trapped on Benefits and was living on £73 PW Job Seekers Allowance or Universal Credit. Not sure the same can be said for a Network with the Skills and Tech to hack into anything.
I found the Sink or Swim Economics of Crypto-Finance to be even more brutal and indifferent than the Monetarist Capitalists of the 1980s.
Juan and Juanita might get scammed and there is nothing to help them get their Money back. 25 years of Savings derived from hard Work and Dilligence are gone.
What if they had got caught up in the Spin recently? They put their Savings into it and are pummeled by the Hype on the Greed Channel. They then decide to remortgage their Home or borrow to buy yet more BTC at £50,000, maybe £55,000, £60,000 even, after all, the Government have endorsed it so it must be secure - then it collapses!
And why did it collapse?
Because of all the different things that happened - from India's banning of Cryptocurrencies to Turkey not allowing Crypto-Purchases, and President Bidens Concerns about Crypto-Capital Gains and eco-damage caused in its Production. All the other Controversies attached to it and People like Elon Musk showing you how vulnerable it all is anyway.
Besides which, as I've mentioned, every time BTC went up, what does it put up as Collateral against that supposed Value? Land? Property? Gold? Mineral or Human Resources? At least a House provides Shelter and maybe some Land to produce Food and a means to an Income, even if it's supposed Value collapses.
When would it reach that Point where Bitcoins Value can't go up anymore? That it becomes too expensive for Juan and Juanita to buy at all, and the Exchanges no longer have Customers who can pay the prohibitive Cost?
And former President Trump has weighed in by calling Crypto-Currencies a "Scam". They might or might not be, but the impression I have is Bitcoin was started as an Alternative to conventional Currency, but got turned into what is now by others.
ReplyDeleteThere have always been Alternatives to conventional Business or Economics. Co-operatives, Communes, a System of Barter, Credit Unions, NFPO's - so maybe Bitcoin was another of these, a 'Currency' that you could create at home without being arrested for Counterfeiting which has a Value within a Group of Enthusiasts.
It's when others started hyping it, pumping and dumping like any other Commodity that it became problematic. Because it operated outside the System the Scammers found it easy Prey for their Malarkey and now it has become very toxic. Plus, how the Difficulty in Mining it has also increased put it in the eco-firing Line didn't help.
Once that Idea has germinated it starts spawning blatant Scams like HYIPs, fake Mining Platforms and Scamcoins which have more to do with Doublespeak than something you might pay the Rent with.
Now, the Term Crypto-Currency seems to have as much to do with Superman's Nemesis and a 90's Rock Band featuring someone called Speedo as it does a type of digital Specie!
And here's someone who has finally caught on. Took them long enough as this was published 10 Hours ago.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/diyinvesting/article-9664613/amp/Dont-lose-shirt-Crypto-Casino-Bitcoin-crashes-half.html
And some of us were saying this Month's ago!
Except, why are all those HYIPs still online?
Even a Sceptic like me didn't realise just how widespread the Crypto Virus was. 2019-20 was the Year of Covid19, 2020-21 will be that of Crypto-Crashes and Cladding Gate. The amount of People who put their, and their loved ones, Lives into this Nightmare is Heart wrenching. People who have gambled their Life Savings on it, some their Children's Education and Inheritances is horrible and intolerable. Prevention was far better than cure here and I can only comment as someone who tried it a few years ago and realised how arbitrary and scammy it was, how indifferent it is and how damaging it could have been.
ReplyDeleteWhen I tried investing with it 0.1 BTC was only £100, which was a lot to someone on JSA or Universal Credit, but still only £100. In April that would have been £4500, and still £2500 today, which averages at about a years Social Housing Rent. A Bitcoin was the equivalent of about 1 and a half Months Income, not the year and a half's Salary of someone on a Minimum Wage.
Those People who were hyping this up a few Months ago to boost their own Cache of Coins should be brought to account to justify the ridiculous and unsubstantiated Claims they were making. Even the most bullish of Speculators are now saying it might never get beyond £40-45,000.
All those Merchants of Hype were doing was creating a Demand on the Supply, and everyone knows what that means in terms of Cost.
I can only hope some People read this a few Months ago and didn't sink their Life Savings into the Crypto-Casino.
And while the Independent sacrifices it's Integrity on the Altar of Cryptodeity the Daily Express have probably had to self isolate as it shows all the Symptoms of the Crypto-Virus. Merely Hours ago it tells us that "Bitcoin soars" as El Salvador adopts it as legal Tender. Except it hasn't, and is still stalled at about £25,000. If anything it has decreased in Value since Midnight.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, how many other times have the Media said this in recent Weeks?
Here's a way of making Money .....
Every time they do send them your Payment Details so they pay you a £10er. You won't have to rely on the very flakey Value of Bitcoin to become rich!
What is horrible is how Juan and Juanita might read those dubious Claims and lose everything at Crypto-Roulette!
What if that Caribbean Island had gone Bitcoin on or around 15th April?
ReplyDeleteBTC was 'worth' £45,000. Within 10 days it had dropped to £35,000, then plummeted by another £10,000 in a month so, by May 25th it was only 'worth' £25,000. That means the entire Island Economy is 'worth' about 45% less in less than a Month and a half.
The question is, what would have happened with any Transactions it made on 15th April when Bitcoin was at £45,000?
Would Creditors accept BTC as Payment, or would they have to convert it to Fiat first? After all, theirs aren't Bitcoin Economies. If they took Bitcoin at the Rate it was then then whatever Money they acquired has also plummeted by nearly half.
If the Island Economy exchanged all its supply of Fiat for Bitcoin on that Date it is worth far less now in a World where everything costs the same as it did in April.
The El Salvador Government have announced they will be using geothermal Energy to mine Bitcoin.
ReplyDeleteShame they don't use it for all the other things a Country needs Electricity for instead.
And even if they did use renewable Energy to produce Bitcoin, it's still the same Coin that has both plummeted in Value and was used in the pump and dump Ponzi Scheme!
ReplyDeleteIt's like when you have a Product Recall, whichever Shop you bought it!
I sometimes wonder if any of these things even exist. That they're just Doublespeak Fodder for People to juxtapose in fake Stories on the Internet. After all, any Coin that I have ever owned was nothing more than a bunch of Numerals on a Screen. You might have a few Shills who appear to get rich on it but for all any of us know they might have been paid in Fiat Currency to pretend they have!
ReplyDeleteHeck, even Robert Redford and Paul Newman had to set up a fake Bookmaker, complete with Ticker Tape Broadcasts, supposed Punters who might 'win' or 'lose', fully stocked Bar and bankrolled Stake in the Card Game Preamble in "The Sting".
Except there's nothing at all lovable about these Rogues who don't target very wealthy People like Lonnigan. The whole Pitch is aimed at the economically vulnerable. This is why People in El Salvador, many of whom are, should be very sceptical of the Government's Motives. Who's to say they aren't Shills now as Crypto made a lot of Money for those selling it, now looking for a respectable Front?
I say those selling it, meaning the Exchanges who sold you Bitcoin at £45,000 on April 15th this year. It might have lost £20,000 in value since, but they aren't going to refund you, even though the £ Sterling you gave them is still worth £45,000!
It's like Binary Options ....
ReplyDeleteSold like you were buying Shares in a Company, but you aren't. All you're doing is putting Money in whether one Currency will be more or less valuable against another. It could be Fiat Currency or Crypto, while the Scammers running it call it "Trading".
It isn't. It's gambling and whether you put Money on Currencies or Horses it's nothing more than a heavilly rigged Casino!
I opened a Crypto Account recently because they had a Debit Card you could use like you would Visa or Capital One.
ReplyDeleteBefore I deposited anything into it I wanted to see where I was putting my Money. After all, if you do same with a Bank you usually do so on their Premises. Then you can gauge the Staff, the Manager and everything else. Their Office was in London, so I travelled there. I think they were a bit shocked that someone would, but why would I give Money of any substance to a Website? It was all very new-agey, lots of health Food in the Cafe, Beardies with trendy and expensive Mountain Bikes - the sort of People you might see at Glampersbury every year.
After being kept waiting for at least 20 Minutes someone finally appeared, but after a brief Chat it turned out I couldn't make a Deposit there and then. I still had to do it online, and any Transaction is processed in the Ukraine.
Even if this had happened, and I had their Debit Card I would still have to pay a monthly Fee to keep it active. No Problem, just deduct it from the Bitcoin Balance Inthe Account. Except they don't. To do this you have to pay the Fee in Fiat Currency.
Oh, so - so much for the viability and reliability of Crypto-Currency then.
The Fee wasn't very much, but £5 is still worth £5, while it's BTC equivalent would now be £2.80!
So if the People running Crypto know that it is unreliable and won't take Payments in it, why should we? While this reinforces what I've said about the Exchanges, making Fortunes in Fiat Currency while selling you Steroids!
ReplyDeleteNot to be distracted by fake Text Messages about supposed Parcels from apparent "Industrial Products" Companies! Wonder if that was from "George" at Instant Cloud Mining!
ReplyDeleteNot sure if I should post this here, or in "Don't believe the HYIP" but, apparently, Freebitco-in have got a "triple treat" for me!
ReplyDeleteOoohh, spooky, and is this another of "George's" dodgy Crypto things?
And while even conventional Media run Stories in Cryptocurrencies and Billionaire Celebs comment on it what might be happening in Iraq in recent years, Syria, Yemen, north Africa?
ReplyDeleteSheesh, it seems Bitcoin has more "Surges" because of El Salvador, except this apparent Flurry is a measly 4%.
ReplyDeleteAnd while the Express published yet another waste of Column Inches Piece about those Bitcoin "Surges" that are nothing but a damp Squib, "George" at Instant Scam Mining sends us yet another of his Communiqués. Purely abstract of course, until his Website does what it claims, but the Idea is to create a bogus ICM Community, like we're all in this together!
ReplyDeleteI've figured out how his "Mining" Program has little or no Impact on the Environment. It doesn't 'mine' at all, it just steals Money from People!
Here's something for all you Conspiracy Theorists .....
ReplyDeleteLet's create a Crypto-Coin. We'll call it the DivertoCoin or DVC.
It'll be released as an ICO and the usual Stuff will happen with it. We'll publish all sorts of very technical Articles about it, and tweak and twiddle it so it's Value attracts more and more Attention. We'll flood the Internet with supposed Investment Programs and Mining Websites that will operate with total Impunity. We'll pay a few Shills with USD to pretend they made Millions with it. While this goes on the Value increases.
Then we'll make it respectable and big Finance Companies will start buying it en masse. The Value starts going ballistic, or at least the Greed Channel tells us.
People start clamouring to own some of this WunderCoin. Established Journalism whips the Top to make it spin even faster. What began as a few Complaints about some of these scammy Investment Schemes becomes a Torrent as People feel they have lost out on this apparent Bonanza. After all, that 10BTC that was only worth about £10,000 in 2017 would now sell for £450,000. It all becomes very very seductive and the Craze becomes a Pandemic.
And guess what, while more and more People speculate, lie, hype, winge, fight, write and reflect about this DivertoCoin no-one is writing about Iraq and Syria, Chilcot and Levesen, Election Fraud or any of the other things they might otherwise be doing!
Will the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up .....
ReplyDeleteStrange isn't it, that a supposed 'Japanese' Computer Genius, Mathematics Prodigy and Tech Supremo has done all of this anonymously. Even before digital Photography no one in the Land of Nikon Cameras ever got a Photograph of him. At University in Japan - surrounded by all those tech savvy Nerds - no one snapped a digital Pic of him. Tomorrow's World (80's BBC Tech Program) would show Judith Hahn or Maggie Philbin demonstrate the latest in Asian Media Equipment, while Japanese had Cameraphones before anyone else, but no one has a Photo of him at a Tokyo Sushi Bar or sipping Sake outside an Osaka Cafe.
He hasn't left any digital Fingerprint anywhere, or IP Address, no Mobile Phone usage or SMS Text?
Maybe he doesn't exist!
And if he doesn't, maybe his supposed Currency doesn't either.
Elon Musk might own a Company called Tesla but everyone knew who the real Nicola Tesla - a reclusive Genius who gave us Alternating Current Electricity - was, even though he wasn't as famous as his Rival, Thomas Edison. And the only mass Media then was the fledgling Film Industry and print Journalism. No Internet, no Mobile Phones, no TV, no Satellites, no Radio, very few Landlines.
Even in the comparatively primitive 1980's the Paparazzi snapped People on remote Mediterranean Islands and deepest Countryside.
It starts to look like he was created as the Genesis of these supposed Currencies. How many People, seduced by the apparent Promise of Wealth haven't blogged about Iraq as they do battle to acquire the 'Coins' that will change their Lives?
Equally intriguing is how no one in the Political Establishment has spoken out about it, apart from former President Trump. But then, while everyone is preoccupied with these Craptocyrrencies they aren't raising awkward Questions about the Foibles of their Politicians. Even though he might now be a failed one, even London Mayor Candidate Brian Rose continues to send Communiqués about DeFi. Wonder if the same applies to Sadiq Kahn!
There's a thing .....
ReplyDeleteClarke Kent hasn't been doing his Job properly because he was distracted by Cryptonite!
And what happens when you buy these supposed Currencies?
ReplyDeleteWho's to say they don't use the same Technology those online Computer Games use when you buy Credits, Gold, Gems, Powers etc? The Figures might change on your Games Console Dashboard like they do your online Wallet Account. Some allow you to send Credits, Gold etc to other online Players like you would 'Coins'.
Then you might have those offline Ledgers like Trezors - but then a Computer Game stores all the above, and Points etc when you exit, while you can transfer Music, Images, Text Documents and entire Software Programs onto and via a USB Device anyway.
'Paper' Wallets are nothing more than a hard Copy Print of each encoded 'Coin' but you could print up, then later re-enter bits of HTML like you would have to those to exchange or send them. Even if they are scanned a Bar or QR Code is just that, whether it's 'Coin' or Groceries!
And now everyone is falling over each other and themselves to try and convince us about renewables in the Production of Toxic Coin.
ReplyDeleteEverything from the usual Wind and Solar Energy Systems to Bovine Poo is being put forward as 'alternatives' that could be used in the mining of this wretched Currency.
Isn't it a Shame that the same Vigour couldn't be applied in supplying essentials like Hospitals and Infrastructure instead? That El Salvadors Autocrat President is quite prepared to build Geothermal Power Plants to mine Bitcoin and create Tax Havens for Crypto-Millionaires but not supply affordable Energy to a developing Countries Population?
The Energy Crisis has been reported for Decades now, but why isn't it until GreedCoin came along all these pseudo-environmentalists began banging on about it?
And it isn't just developing Latin Americans affected by the Crisis as we all know. We are seeing increases in domestic Energy Costs supplying our Homes that might be helped if the same Enthusiasm was channeled into supplying it as it is this horrible Currency.
My Energy Costs have increased by 100% in less than a year, from approximately £650 on a pre-pay Tariff to about £1250.
ReplyDeleteHow much of that is because of the Increase in Demand caused by Crypto-Mining? In some Countries Crypto-Mining has caused Power Cuts, while in China the Government had to curb the Process to stave off a similar Problem.
Maybe there should be a UN Directive saying that the World can't do both. It can't provide Electricity for essential use and mine Cryptos.
The Psuedo-Environmentalists aren't at all interested in the former, and are completely wrapped up in the latter. They want to create renewables to exclusively mine Crypto, not provide Energy to much needed Systems.
ReplyDeleteNyeeb Bukele ought to be building geothermal Power Stations to supply affordable Energy to a Population fleeing the Country due to Poverty, not create an increasingly exclusive Currency that fills the Wallets of a Caste of People who will turn areas of El Salvador into Yuppie Theme Parks!
And while India backtracks on its previous anti-crypto Stance the World's second most populated Country needs to remember what an Indian Demand for Crypto will do to that Energy Distribution. Elon Musk is starting to revise his recent Position on it - but when would we reach that 'either-or' Scenario with his Cars? That the spiralling Energy Demand for Crypto-Mining will affect People charging their Tesla Vehicles.
ReplyDeletePeople should start to fight this, forming Pressure Groups lobbying Legislators and the UN to ensure valuable Energy resources are used for essentials and not this growing Greed Consumption.
In Countries where Cryoto-Mining caused Power Cuts People could neither mine Currency, or charge up their Tesla Vehicles! A few years ago I did some Calculous about what would happen if Countries like India or China had the same Ratio of Vehicle ownership as we do in Britain. We have an estimated 30 million Vehicles here, which is approximately 2 People to each. What if those Countries had similar and the Ramifications for Fuel Consumption and Pollution? So how about we translate that into Crypto-Production?
ReplyDeleteHow can we do that AND charge up our trendy new Tesla Cars?
We really have been here before ....
ReplyDeleteBush and Blair sold us a Dream. An outdated, outmoded Consumerist Dystopia like it was the 1950's or 60's. But how were they going to fuel it all? There begins the convoluted Miasma that led to the illegal War in Iraq. Back home People are quenching those thirsty 4x4s, while the rolling News Show told us about those liberated Iraqis - who very soon began an Insurgency against their 'Liberators'! Fortifications went up around Iraqi Oil Installations, once owned by Iraq, and we know the rest.
Perish the thought anyone should oppose this and while Mr and Mrs Waitrose parked the SUV and piled the Trolley to the Rafters, when they weren't flouncing around like Marton and Cate, here's the 'have it's Cake and eat it' Ecoism of Peter Jackson.
What might the Implications be for World Peace when growing Demand for Crypto-Mining starts having the same Effect? After all, that Electricity will have to come from somewhere!
A Crypto-Conjourer will have to have a Power Station hidden up their Sleeve so they can produce those Coins! As those Coins become more valuable (or should that be expensive?) more and more People will start buying Mining Rigs to acquire this WunderCoin they hope will change their Lives.
ReplyDeleteAnd with that you get a growth in Mining Scams, the selling of bogus or useless Equipment and a plethora of other negative Things associated with it. At the moment it is alleged that mining Cryptos uses more Electricity than Argentina, and this can only increase with the Proliferation and Demand.
ReplyDeleteWhat the bogus Eco-Cryptos have also shown is that it always was possible to produce renewable Energy, but before this it wouldn't have been used to mine Crypto. It proves that the production of renewable Energy has been deliberately kept behind until it looked like you could make Money from it. Energy is a valuable Resource in a growing World Population and its production and use ought to be prioritised.
Struggling El Salvadorians who have barely been able to pay their Utilities Bills must be disappointed at the sudden Enthusiasm of their Government to produce more Energy just to mine Bitcoin.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be some Progress .....
ReplyDeleteBritish Government Regulations aimed at Google, dissuading them from displaying scammy Ads looks like they night have worked.
If you copy and paste this into your Chrome Browser ......
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj8kd-uuJnxAhVVmdUKHUokB2sYABAEGgJ3cw&ae=2&sig=AOD64_2RMti_6d6iTKwqMgBbwXU31qj0Iw&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwiStNeuuJnxAhV85-AKHRNtClwQ0Qx6BAgFEAE
...... You'll get the standard Google Home Page.
There are several others this happens with so even though they might appear with your Search Results they won't display if you click on them.
Heres a frightening Statistic .....
ReplyDeleteIf the current (no Pun intended) Electricity usage mining Cryptocurrency would power up Argentina, their Population is 44 Million. India - who have been quite robust about Cryptos since March - has a Population of 1.366 Billion. If they and other Governments caved completely on this the amount of Electricity used could increase from 0.55% of the total World's Supply to a staggering 17%!!!!!
It's already happening in some Countries.....
ReplyDeleteAbkhazia for example, where Russian Business People have set up Mining Farms because Electricity is cheap. It's causing Utilities to occasionally shut down. They sometimes have a Choice - Water (pumped by Electricity) or Power, but not both. Generators belching out Diesel Fumes compensate for the loss, causing Pollution.
Other Countries now host Bitcoin Mining Farms - using the cheaper Electricity, whose Populations endure similar things.
We have the inevitable Collision of Interests .....
Elon Musk is one of the better known Manufacturers of the growing Trend in Electric Cars. We have 2 Charging Stations in a small Town like Portishead. The Government has introduced a very useful ebike incentive Scheme, but when will this collide with the Demand to mine Cryptos?
The concurrent Increase in both electric Vehicles and Crypto-Mining will become chronically unsustainable. China are developing eCars while they sell millions of ebikes via Ali Baba.
ReplyDeleteWe are starting to see a 21st Century Phenomenon you could call Crypto-Colonialism where People from wealthy Countries set up Mining Companies in developing ones. The Abkhazia Government is powerless to stop it, and so will many others be. The Populations suffer while the Countries Elite prospers on Kickbacks.
You have to ask who is working Mr Bukele in El Salvador. Which Company will get the Contract to build the Geothermal Power Station and who will install the Mining Rigs? All this concurrent with creating a Tax Haven for foreign Crypto-Millionaires!
These Crypto-Millionaires won't be paying into the El Salvador Treasury via Inland Revenue, thus regular El Salvadorians won't benefit via any Boost to public Expenditure. The former will probably live in secluded gated Communities like they were perpetual Tourists with minimal Integration with the Natives.
ReplyDeleteOne thing is certain. Both the Currency and the Electricity to mine it will be beyond the fiscal Means of most El Salvadorians.
El Salvadorians ought to send a Delegation to Countries like Abkhazia to see what intensive Bitcoin Mining has done to their Power Supply and Standard of Living.
ReplyDeleteThe awful Irony is how, despite Pollution induced Drought, mass Deforestation and even Desertification the Government are intent on producing something that you can't even make Ornaments with, and something that could plunge in Value very quickly. In the Context of what is really happening there Mr Bukele could start looking like Bond Villain Dominic Greene!
...... And it isn't just the El Salvador President who could start looking like the psuedo-ethical faux eco-Boss of the Quantum Organisation.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as an ethical or eco friendly Crypto Currency.
Even if they only used heaps of Cow Shit to make it that is a Technology and Electricity that might have been used for something more useful. It might even have helped keep those increasingly expensive Energy Costs down. As Coal fired Power Stations and older Nuclear Facilities are decommissioned these alternatives are meant to replace them. The thing is, instead of doing that, continuing where closing Facilities left off they are fueling an extra Burden on the Supply.
To argue that using only renewables to produce Bitcoin is like saying we won't provide you with any more Food which is becoming increasingly scarce, and whose established Production will diminish, while we will establish new Stuff that you also can't have because that is going into something else.
It's a bit like depriving an Area of paid Work and only creating new Jobs for new Arrivals, not those who have become increasingly unemployed.
By all means develop new Sources of Energy - but make sure they are used for what is already there.
The Comparisons to Dominic Greene could become even more apparent. El Salvador, like several other Countries in the Region, has suffered 5 consecutive Years of Drought. 1.4 Million People have sought Food Assistance in recent years while 35% of the Countries Power comes from Hydroelectricity. One of the Causes of Power Cuts in Iran was Crypto-Mining draining Electricity made scarce by a Drought reducing production by their Hydroelectric Systems.
The World Bank has decided not to assist El Salvadors Program to mine Bitcoin. In a Statement earlier they made their Decision because of Environment and Transparency Concerns. The latter probably implies that Bukele isn't being as open about who else might be involved as he could be. That there might be some rather shady Characters behind the Program.
ReplyDeleteThis might certainly be true if he wants to turn the Country into a Theme Park for Crypto Wealthy who could quite easily become the dominant force in the Country. They will make no Contribution to the Public Economy and thus, El Salvador won't benefit with Money for Health and Public Works Programs.
As I said, there is a Danger of Crypto Colonialism where wealthy Entrepreneurs could exploit developing Countries to produce Cryptos and also buy them up as their Wealth can afford sought after Property beyond the fiscal Means of the People.
So it looks like the World Bank have made a stand for Justice.
In the end the sudden dash to create renewable Energy just to mine Bitcoin shows that the Potential was there all the time, which could have been used anyway for more crucial things. Prompting Questions about why it wasn't done years ago when the Fuel and Energy Crises were becoming apparent?
ReplyDeleteTo do it now, just to produce Crypto-Currency is to ignore the Problems that existed before. The Crypto-Elite thus far haven't exactly exuded an ethical or particularly benificient Conduct, while the Scams and Schemers involved suggest something rather more sinister.
The World Bank couldn't support this while Juan and Juanita were fiscally and socially kept out of the subsequent elitist Enclaves created by Mr Bukeles Crypto-Millionaire Club. Or while the Region's Infrastructure shut down due to Crypto caused Power Cuts.
I recommend everyone watch "Quantum of Solace" for a very appropriate Analogy!
ReplyDeleteAnd while the World Bank have decided against financing Mr Bukeles misguided (or even cynical) Jaunt into Crypto-Currency how about some of these supposedly 'ethical' funding Companies?
ReplyDeleteI had a Chat with one recently who fund renewable Energy (it says here) but it seemed bound up with some of the exploitative Nonsense that had been happening in Culture via a vis the Town of Portishead in recent years.
Suffice to say I have decided against doing anything with those People.
Now, it seems, the UN have gulped a huge Glass of Naivete.
ReplyDeleteThey have said how Blockchain Technology could ensure Money gets to those who need it most, without the arbitrariness of a local Bank. Except, what are they doing sending Aid via Banks at all? When you received Fiat Money you decided which Bank you would deposit it with, not the Bank. Admittedly Money is wired to Bank Accounts all the time but the recipient nominates which one to send it to.
Then there's the Problem of where in the Blockchain do you send it? A Recipient recieving and keeping it on a Trezor might as well stuff a Mattress with Banknotes, so where will they keep any significant amount of Coin where it won't get stolen or even lost?
How many Stories have heard about People losing those USB Ledgers, accidentally throwing out Hard Drives with Coin on them or simply forgetting the Passwords? These are People living in the sophisticated and organised West, so how much more likely could this happen in developing Countries?
Then they (the UN) would have to force Compliance from the online Wallet Providers to ensure Access to these Funds, and a viable recovery System in the Event if a Failure. I've mentioned how Xapo arbitrarily change their login Criteria, which gradually makes more and more Funds inaccessible. This is with comparatively strong Customers in developed Economies - so what chance would People who aren't have?
To say they could use renewable Energy for this is hokum because they could use it for established Structures anyway. We could start to question any previous Commitment that might have been deliberately kept dormant. Some Regions of the World are struggling to provide enough Energy as it is, without adding Crypto-Production to the List of Demands.
They should be scrutinising existing Banks (who aren't going to go away any time soon) and putting Pressure on Energy Providers supplying what we have now, not falling for the dystopic and dubious Motives of Crypto-Enthusiasts.
As for ensuring Money gets to those it's supposed to see relevent Posts on this Site to see how that doesn't happen!
The Perfect Scam ...... ?
ReplyDeleteNow, it seems, Freebitco.in are doing a Wheel of Fortune. Which might be a Wheelie, or even a crappy Pop Tune by her from "Neighbours". It could even be a Fortune Teller.
Either way it's just another Facet of a World that us becoming increasingly mired in Sleaze, Scams and Corruption.
Trying not to laugh .....
ReplyDeleteThe latest Rubbish from Doublespeak Cryptoland is a so called App called Crypto Tab Farm. It claims you can 'Mine' (groan, crap - not again) Crapto on your Windows and Mac Devices. You might have about 10 years ago as People could mine Bitcoin on a Laptop in the Basement - anything up to 50 a day was claimed, but this would probably use more Money on Electricity than you would ever make in Profit. That's if it mined anything at all and wasn't like many of those supposed Miners that are just Computer Generated Animation with a bit of Interactivity.
No matter how "permanent" it might be!
And now we're all supposed to say "gosh", "gasp" and "crikey" because George Soros has somehow engaged with Crypto causing a Record breaking day for Etherium, except Ether is dropping according to the latest Figures.
ReplyDeleteIf they aren't careful Crypto won't die because of any financial or legal Reasons - it'll expire because people either got bored of it or exhausted at what is looking like attempts to hype up another Spike like we had a few months ago. After all, those responsible have thousands of People who lost 45% of their Investment earlier this year!
Scoring about -10 on the Goshometer is the estimated Profit from Cryptotab. A huge, GDP altering Sum where ultimately, you can earn about $0.07 per day, which turns out to $2.10 per month and $25 per year. That wouldn't even cover the Electricity Bill to run the Devices you use to mine it.
ReplyDeleteYet more Bulshit about Crapto Coins.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Holly etc are confusing Canine with Crypto, as long as those Coins "behave" huh!
The latest, and I must say disgusting, Communique from Xapo
ReplyDelete"Hi,
We reached out last month to make you aware of Xapo’s new direction. As mentioned, you’ll need to take one of the following actions by July 31st, 2021:
Withdraw your funds and close your account
Apply for a Xapo Bank account if we inform you that you’re eligible to do so
We’ll end support for your existing account on this date, so please ensure that you take action at your earliest convenience.
Note: if you’ve already onboarded to Xapo Bank, you can safely disregard this email.
If you don’t take action by July 31st, we’ll close your account, and charge an account closure fee of up to $50 (or currency equivalent in any of your Xapo accounts). This means that you’ll lose access to your existing account, and your funds will be reduced or entirely removed by the fee.
Not holding any funds in your account? You don’t need to do anything else. We’ll close your account automatically at the end of July.
What's next?
We’ll notify you in July if you’ve been selected to apply for a Xapo Bank account. If you don’t hear from us, please withdraw your funds and close your account.
We’ll close your account automatically (without charge) if the balance reaches zero before July 31st.
If your balances across accounts have a combined value of $50 or less on July 31st, we’ll automatically debit the remaining funds to cover the account closure fee and close your account."
Who ever heard of being charged for less Service, while how many People might not even receive this email? It is so arbitrary and must be illegal. I pity anyone who won't read the above but have substantial Funds in their Account. This isn't the first time they've done this either, having changed the login Criteria so People suddenly could access their Account.
It does prompt several Questions ....
ReplyDeleteOne being how much Money will disappear once this happens as maybe quite a few Customers haven't or couldn't withdraw it?
Another is how much will Xapo make from the "Fee" they will be charging People?
Then there's what will happen with that Money after July. To show that this isn't just some Appropriation exercise will they be donating it to Charity?
Will there be an independent Auditor, engaged to supervise the Transition and account for those Monies?
And here's something ......
ReplyDeleteAbout a Month ago an Article appeared in the Independent about the dramatic Gains made by a Coin called the Tiger King Coin. Apparently linked to a TV Series by someone called Joe Exotic it had increased in Value by a supposed 1000% in just days.
The thing is, while we see once serious Newspapers like the Indie falling into the Crypto Abyss how about the Coin itself?
While it was called Tiger King could it also be a King Tiger? In other Words a Pzkpfw Vl Tank? How about a PZKPFW V Panther or even a PanzerJaeger?
Maybe somewhere out there as a Counter there is a T34 Coin or a MkIV Sherman.
We could rename a Game of Tiddlywinks played with them and call it "Stalingrad" or "Battle of the Bulge".
I notice how the same thing is happening that did before.....
ReplyDeleteBTC is increasing in Price, but Etherium seems to increase, then retreat in value. The other, cheaper Coins don't seem to be doing very much at all. Thus, you can be part of the Crypto Boom as long as you buy what is expensive to start with, not what you might call entry level and affordable Stuff.
Is this natural Economics?
The Fortune of the modern capitalist West became increasingly linked with that of America. As America boomed the rest of the capitalist World gained. Similarly, as it didn't that was felt elsewhere with non-USD Economies.
The great Depression of the 1930's, felt everywhere, started with the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The Crunch of 2007 started with the unsustainable Securities Economy in America and the Mortgage Scandal of Countrywide Finance. Germany's Economy might have been a Mess in the 1920's with hyper-inflation but America's Prosperity guaranteed the rest of the World.
Intriguingly, the only Economies that didn't seem to be affected by the Crash were anomalies. The Communist Soviet Economy and the Fascist Italian Economy of Benito Mussolini. Americans even went to work in the Soviet Union in the 1930's because of this.
Does this suggest something similarly anomalous about Bitcoin in the Crypto-Economy whose other Currencies don't seem affected by its apparent Prosperity?
Does it suggest some form of Manipulation, while People part with more Money to buy into it than they might other Currencies?
ReplyDeleteWhat also seems a bit scammy about it is how you never sell Bitcoin at its current Value. If you want to sell some Coin to an Exchange you always get less. Shame we can't buy it at the same Rate huh, while People might see the Value of their Coins increase - which is then decreased when they sell them.
And here's something that confirms what I said about the recent move in El Salvador, the Policy of mainstreaming Bitcoin......
ReplyDeletehttps://inews.co.uk/news/world/nayib-bukele-el-salvador-dictator-bitcoin-economic-turmoil-1211846/amp
It also confirms a Theory I have had that these Cryptos are a deliberate Distraction with these mythical Benefits (as long as it works of course) that means you spend your time chasing that instead of asking about other things like Wars in Iraq - or in this instance Mr Bukele's Dictatorship!
And while understandably irked El Salvadorians wage War on the Bitcoin Infrastructure, seeing it as nothing more than a Lifestyle Subsidy for the Elite and Scammers who made their Fortunes from it, here is an Article that echoes what I said a few Months ago about Crypto Colonialism .....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.independent.co.uk/voices/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-poverty-el-salvador-b1923446.html?amp
The Banker might have the last Laugh.
ReplyDeleteIn March this Year President Biden signed an Executive Order instructing the Research and Development of a new Digital Dollar. This, according to some, will be meant to replace the USD as the main default Currency.
They tell us that it could become as sinister as the eYuan in China, which the Government can remove, switch on, switch off and manipulate at whim. They can monitor all Purchases and Travel, Political and Charity Donations and every other Transaction. They can penalise you if you bought the wrong Product, donated to the wrong Charity or Party, travelled anywhere they deem you shouldn't and everything else. Either they switch off your Money, or remove it.
The thing is, would we have to use it?
From 1837-66 America had the Free Banking Act, which meant anyone could issue their own Currency as long as you got a Charter from your State Legislature. Banks across the Country issued their own Banknotes which had similar Value to each other rather like Bank of England and Bank of Scotland Pounds do now.
So if the High Street Banks feel this new Spyware Currency is anathema to their Interests what's stopping them from doing the same? That they do it like they did in America from 1837-66, independent of any Bank of England or Federal Reserve?
We're not obliged to use these Currencies and can opt for alternatives.
Who knows, if they decide to do this the much maligned Banker might become the Friend you never thought you had.
Why would the Banks surrender their Autonomy within the Economy? Why would they sacrifice their Choice to support a Candidate in an Election, what they might invest in, and where?
ReplyDeleteAlso, wouldn't they be worried that Customers fearing their Money could be seized or frozen might withdraw en-masse? Subsequently, they would have to assure them that this wouldn't happen, and offer to turn it into their own Currency independent of any Government Money. Just like their 1837-66 Predecessors.
Also, Banks profit by investing the Money People deposit with them, so why would they willingly accept a System that could reduce or switch off that Money? Suddenly huge amounts of it become useless.
So if there were Plans by Governments to develop Spyware Currencies Banks might be the first to resist them.