Is Crypto the new contracting?

[northernladyuk]

No, I'm not against crypto, I see it as no different from stocks and shares really.

You could lose money on either.

Stocks and shares have an intrinsic economic value,
as they represent ownership of cava or potential productive capability. Crypto is in essence a number whose value depends on the willingness of a greater fool to buy it.

But well done to those of you who get out in time.

[TheGreenBastard]

Stocks and shares have an intrinsic economic value,
as they represent ownership of cava or potential productive capability. Crypto is in essence a number whose value depends on the willingness of a greater fool to buy it.

But well done to those of you who get out in time.

It could be argued the maintenance / guaranteed truthfulness of a distributed ledger that is unable to be subverted (assuming no flaws in implementation) has value.

Your GBP/EUR/USD is backed by nukes, guns and young lives - cryptocurrencies are cheap in comparison.

[BoggyMcCBoggyFace]

I looked at Crypto currency BITcoins etc but I didn't really fully understand it, all these other Crypto currencies mentioned I didn't even know about until I read this thread and the other one.

So coming from a dummy what I don't get is how these crypto currencies have such a value if the currencies can't easily be used I can't go Argos and buy something with BITcoins etc. Further to this if I struggle understanding them and I have a IT degree and am pretty switched on how can these crypto currencies be understood and utilised by the general population ? Is the increasing value of these crypto currencies based on them going 'mainstream' usage in a simple / easy to understand format at some point ?

I wish I had a dabble and made some £ on them but I didn't because I didn't really understand them and I had a perception that I couldn't actually easily spend these crypto currencies so how could they have a value.

Please enlighten me as I am genuinely interested.

[BlasterBates]

I looked at Crypto currency BITcoins etc but I didn't really fully understand it, all these other Crypto currencies mentioned I didn't even know about until I read this thread and the other one.

So coming from a dummy what I don't get is how these crypto currencies have such a value if the currencies can't easily be used I can't go Argos and buy something with BITcoins etc. Further to this if I struggle understanding them and I have a IT degree and am pretty switched on how can these crypto currencies be understood and utilised by the general population ? Is the increasing value of these crypto currencies based on them going 'mainstream' usage in a simple / easy to understand format at some point ?

I wish I had a dabble and made some £ on them but I didn't because I didn't really understand them and I had a perception that I couldn't actually easily spend these crypto currencies so how could they have a value.

Please enlighten me as I am genuinely interested.

There are exchanges where you can cash in your bitcoins, so they have value, i.e. you can sell them. It's a really weird phenomenon, but based on the fact that there is a limited pool of it. For example you couldn't do this with a word document with a text saying "Word currency" because the supply would be infinite. Anything in the real world also has value such as stones, dirt water or even air, so it it shouldn't be surprising that bitcoins do have value. The danger I see is inflation in that although the number of crypto currency "coins" are limited, I don't see a limit to the number of different currencies, so if the number of crypto currencies goes out of control so that they become in effect unlimited, then it will crash. Essentially the bitcoin is underwritten by money launderers who depend on it to hide their criminal activities, but how big is that market ?

I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole because you can't measure how much a bit coin is worth especially given that there are potentially an unlimited number of crypto currencies.

[Jog On]

I looked at Crypto currency BITcoins etc but I didn't really fully understand it, all these other Crypto currencies mentioned I didn't even know about until I read this thread and the other one.

So coming from a dummy what I don't get is how these crypto currencies have such a value if the currencies can't easily be used I can't go Argos and buy something with BITcoins etc. Further to this if I struggle understanding them and I have a IT degree and am pretty switched on how can these crypto currencies be understood and utilised by the general population ? Is the increasing value of these crypto currencies based on them going 'mainstream' usage in a simple / easy to understand format at some point ?

I wish I had a dabble and made some £ on them but I didn't because I didn't really understand them and I had a perception that I couldn't actually easily spend these crypto currencies so how could they have a value.

Please enlighten me as I am genuinely interested.

Think of it as being st the same stage as the Internet in 1995 - few tech savvy early adopters but too complex for the mainstream. It's a complicated minefield that non-tech savvy can't comprehend let alone use. I was transferring some crypto between wallet and exchange the other day and did something wrong and the error took me to a page of code with some 'nonce error'. There is no way in hell a standard user let alone an 80 year old granny will be using that any time soon.

But they will - it may take 5-10 years for total adoption and easy 'paypal' type interface with transaction time and fees that outperform traditional payment methods - but it will happen. Every transaction will be logged (and taxed) transparently with no anonymity (except maybe with outlawed cryptos on the dark web - and something in place for the Panama papers club).

Also expect there to be far less coins/tokens than there are now with interledger (Ripple - XRP) type technology connecting the different blockchains in use. Right now there are about 2000 coins and ICOs coming out every day - we don't need a coin for every industry and several 'me too' versions doing the same thing.

Good place to start learning is here.

[Jog On]

There are exchanges where you can cash in your bitcoins, so they have value, i.e. you can sell them. It's a really weird phenomenon, but based on the fact that there is a limited pool of it. For example you couldn't do this with a word document with a text saying "Word currency" because the supply would be infinite. Anything in the real world also has value such as stones, dirt water or even air, so it it shouldn't be surprising that bitcoins do have value. The danger I see is inflation in that although the number of crypto currency "coins" are limited, I don't see a limit to the number of different currencies, so if the number of crypto currencies goes out of control so that they become in effect unlimited, then it will crash. Essentially the bitcoin is underwritten by money launderers who depend on it to hide their criminal activities, but how big is that market ?

I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole because you can't measure how much a bit coin is worth especially given that there are potentially an unlimited number of crypto currencies.

Where did you read that? And where do you get your information on market cap and how it affects price?

[BrilloPad]

But they will - it may take 5-10 years for total adoption and easy 'paypal' type interface with transaction time and fees that outperform traditional payment methods - but it will happen. Every transaction will be logged (and taxed) transparently with no anonymity

So why use those as opposed to paypal? And suppose paypal issues paypalcoin?

I have seen articles suggesting that blockchain is now 10 years old and done nothing except assist criminals.

Thoughts?

[northernladyuk]

Think of it as being st the same stage as the Internet in 1995 - few tech savvy early adopters but too complex for the mainstream. It's a complicated minefield that non-tech savvy can't comprehend let alone use. I was transferring some crypto between wallet and exchange the other day and did something wrong and the error took me to a page of code with some 'nonce error'. There is no way in hell a standard user let alone an 80 year old granny will be using that any time soon.

But they will - it may take 5-10 years for total adoption and easy 'paypal' type interface with transaction time and fees that outperform traditional payment methods - but it will happen. Every transaction will be logged (and taxed) transparently with no anonymity (except maybe with outlawed cryptos on the dark web - and something in place for the Panama papers club).

Also expect there to be far less coins/tokens than there are now with interledger (Ripple - XRP) type technology connecting the different blockchains in use. Right now there are about 2000 coins and ICOs coming out every day - we don't need a coin for every industry and several 'me too' versions doing the same thing.

Good place to start learning is here.

The complexity of the technology masks the lack of intrinsic economic value.

[clearedforlanding]

And here I am with my nerves shot, flying down to try and find a wallet that I created for the XRP giveaways on the 31/07/13, 01/06/2013 and 11/05/2013 and a lot more that I added when I had missed out on bitcoin. Lost interest and forgot about it.

Then if I find it I have the following challenge:

Encrypted DMG of Encrypted Filesystem with a Stickynote on the desktop containing the key.

[Jog On]

So why use those as opposed to paypal? And suppose paypal issues paypalcoin?

I have seen articles suggesting that blockchain is now 10 years old and done nothing except assist criminals.

Thoughts?

Paypal would have by now if they were going to. If/when they do partner with a crypto (Ripple?) that will be game changing. How old was the Internet by 1995?

The complexity of the technology masks the lack of intrinsic economic value.

Hasn't stopped the demand and value applied to it. This stuff is happening and people are buying in - and it's not going anywhere:

https://steemkr.com/cryptocurrency/@...ption-rolls-on

https://oracletimes.com/amazon-ripple-xrp-2018/

https://www.coindesk.com/ibms-stella...payments-rail/

These crypto bashing threads just keep going round and round with the same old tired arguments.

If you don't like it or trust it or want to get involved - then don't. Simples!

I'm up £2k today so whatever