[Discussion] Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency! Either it's going to disrupt everything and usher in a new era of artistic and consumer freedom, or it'll hasten the climate apocalypse while largely benefitting a tiny number of investors. Let's yell about it!

Oh, duh. You are totally right. I missed that completely. I thought he removed his post!

Is there some party I'm not seeing in this thread who is saying Tether is good?

Aetius wrote:

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in crypto is assuming that all cryptocurrencies are essentially similar.

I feel this needs repeating. And the same goes for a particular thing like an NFT. Don't assume one particular use case on one particular ledger is representative of the whole concept.

Mr Crinkle wrote:

Is there some party I'm not seeing in this thread who is saying Tether is good?

Given it is ~80% of the stablecoin market and intrinisic to the price of BTC, I think the state of Tether is very important to Cryptocurrency discussion. And it is sh*t. So very, very sh*t.

Unbelievable.

The article wrote:

Between February 2020 and February 2021, the company mined nearly 1,186 bitcoin at a cost of $2,869 per bitcoin. Today, one bitcoin is trading at $57,475.

$65 million in one year if all sold today. While outrageously profitable now, this will resolve when the bottom falls out of the market.

And it dropped several thousand today after Tesla said they are no longer accepting Bitcoin for cars.

inVEsTmenT GrAdE!

Wow. I came here to ask whether Avira's new Crypto mining feature was a good idea, but you all seem to have answered *that* question... lol

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Lindsay Lohan NFT Fursona

Also, China told Crypto to get bent. We'll see how that shakes out.

Good primer on cyberpunk hell-tender.

I seriously just don't understand how and why these NFT's are all selling for such absurd amounts of money. I mean... do I just make a photo of myself making the "confused Boomer" face and put some ironic Doge-speak on it, convert that to an NFT, and see how high the auction goes? WTF.

I am officially an Old now. I'm shaking my digital cane and yelling at all these kids to get off my virtual lawn.

Money laundering?

Same reasons anyone gets involved in any other pyramid scheme, criminality or gullibility.

No, seriously, could J Random Citizen create an NFT and put it up for sale somewhere? Even the guy from Terminal Lance has a line of “collectible card” character NFTs for like $12 each…

Yes, but unless you’re an established artist or at the center of an online trend you won’t make any significant money off it, if you even make enough to cover the initial costs. Creating an NFT can cost anywhere from tens to hundreds of dollars.

halfwaywrong wrote:

Money laundering?

Money laundering.

NFT has me completely confused (disclaimer: it doesn't really take that much to confuse me, but still); so I 'own' a digital copy of something...

So? how is my 'original' copy any better than your downloaded copy? are my enneffteed' 1 and 0's crispier than yours?

Is this the epitome of bragging rights? Or is there something that I'm not seeing?

Hobbes2099 wrote:

Is this the epitome of bragging rights? Or is there something that I'm not seeing?

My understanding is that that's pretty much it. You "own" it, while everyone else just has perfect copies.

Do you copywrite it and then issue it with a “no copying” license?

Hind sight is 20/20 but I feel stupid at times for not having a small amount of money reserved for essentially absurd investing.

A 'I don't f*cking understand this but I can afford to lose # and if it explodes then great' fund.

NFT stuff is mind boggling. What I do like is Wu-Tang was already teasing it's validity back in 2015 and this recent article reminded me of it.

Wu-Tang Clan Album Once Owned By Martin Shkreli Sold By U.S. Government

* Here is that there's an actual physical thing being bought and sold so it wasn't a NFT but it could be argued that it was precursor to just dream up something you want to sell and let the market decide.

ruhk wrote:

Yes, but unless you’re an established artist or at the center of an online trend you won’t make any significant money off it, if you even make enough to cover the initial costs. Creating an NFT can cost anywhere from tens to hundreds of dollars.

Right but none of this stuff actually makes any sense. So dare to dream. I don't think anyone can really say what will and won't sell as a NFT. Already being an artist or attached to a trend will help your chances but who really knows. If you can create your own hype and marketing around a NFT that might be enough really.

I get it now. You take a digital object, weave it into a blockchain, then pay the cost for that process. After that, you can transfer it to another person for whatever price is agreed upon. The blockchain guarantees authenticity and uniqueness. But, really, only for those who care about it.

It’s like, I can go out and buy an Andy Warhol soup can print for like $10 and frame and hang it, but buying one that is signed and numbered might cost me tens of thousands. Why? Because of a few lines of ink added to the image.

Stengah wrote:
Hobbes2099 wrote:

Is this the epitome of bragging rights? Or is there something that I'm not seeing?

My understanding is that that's pretty much it. You "own" it, while everyone else just has perfect copies.

feels like the emperor's clothing or some self-convincing of sorts.

Robear wrote:

Do you copywrite it and then issue it with a “no copying” license?

exactly, exactly what rights do I have as owner? I believe Twitter's first tweet ever, posted by Jack Dorsey was NFT'd. What exactly do I own? what power do I have over it? Can I delete it? or prevent Twitter from deleting it?

You just get the ability to prove that you own the original. Like Robear said, that only really matters for the small group of people who would actually care. You can't do anything like destroy it or alter it, like you could with a physical original though. You're only options are to continue to own it or to sell it.
It reminds me a lot of the star naming scam, where you get a fancy certificate that no one else cares about.

Right, Once you put something in a blockchain, by design you can’t destroy it without obliterating the entire chain, and that would take actions that other users would not agree to, most likely.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/1gmSaPD.png)

Depends. Can the house appreciate 10x in value in a month?