Calach

He is the bubble. 

Seems like quite a reasonable thing for a bank to do, preventing people from getting into debt to speculate on such extremely volatile assets. 

2 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

55...your post proves u have no understanding of my post, nor risk management, nor what u are spouting off about...as that was exactly my point. High risk...extremely volatile...'just routine' for highly speculative, unstable bubble "investing". 

I do not misunderstand your post, it just is irrelevant. Risk management in a trading environment is not a complicated concept though, and a chart going up or down doesn't say anything about it.

Just now, lkn said:

The similarity to a ponzi scheme is that it is a zero-sum game.

 

The only way you can win on bitcoin is if someone else is losing, since no actual value is being created.

 

So if I bought in 2011 and sold in 2017, my gains would be paid for by those who bought in 2017, who in turn will need for the price to go up further and then sell to new investors, before they can cash out and achieve any gains from their investment.

 

So in that sense, new investors pay for old investors (cashing out), just like a ponzi scheme.

 

This is a bit far-fetched. It's the case with every trading market, in every trade there is always a winner and a loser. With stocks there are dividends (sometimes, and relatively small), but in Forex for instance each side makes a bet on the future direction of a currency chart. I doubt they think they'll own a share of the American gold or oil against their USD.

A) yes. For ledger it comes under the form of a Chrome app, that's pretty straightforward

no. It can store many cryptos (which ones depends on the wallet, the info is easily found online) but for the most exotic ones , you'll have to use software or exchanges. 

C) No wallet can store all cryptos, but ledger can store most ERC20 tokens running on the Ethereum blockchain.

Note: I just received a paper stating that the Ledger app could be vulnerable to malware that display receiving addresses that aren't the ones of the controlled by the ledger. This is fresh so no idea how serious that is, in any case if you're in crypto you should Fort Knox you're computer. https://www.docdroid.net/Jug5LX3/ledger-receive-address-attack.pdf

10 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

A lovely example of recent "risk management" 

55, you have no clue what you're talking about, do you :-) 

PS: that's just routine.

5 hours ago, Sakeopete said:

I see crypto as a ponzzi scheme. So asking online if you should invest is like asking drug dealers if you should take drugs.

Crypto may be a bubble, a pyramid (not more than any successful stock), a fraud, whatever, but I wonder why reasonable people would keep calling it a Ponzi, when Ponzi is a specific scam that doesn't correspond at all to anything cryptos could be blamed for, apart from very particular ones (such as Bitconnect).

Bitcoin isn't paying fake interests to early investors with the stake of later ones, it's just a speculative instrument that get valued according to supply and demand. 

Sovereign debts could be called Ponzi for instance, but cryptos, except maybe for the sake of using fancy world to make it look like one knows what they're talking about, nope. 

2 minutes ago, Dario said:

 

Thanks Calach. I haven't set up mine yet, as I'm a bit scared to use it, in the first place. So many people have lost coins sending to the wrong address.

I was anxious it would be tedious but it's actually very simple and convenient, definitely the safest and most practical way to handle your cryptos. You just need to do the set-up phase carefully, once, which isn't that complicated. 

On 28/01/2018 at 2:57 PM, how241 said:

Hello,  does anyone know where I could buy a bitcoin wallet in Pattaya ?  I recently read a story about a man who lost all his coins after buying a wallet off ebay so I was looking  to buy from a local, larger, safe retailer,  maybe at the mall or Powerbuy,  Big-C ? 

I do  Not want to order from Lazada or AliExpress for the above reasons. Thanks for any help.

The suppliers listed on Ledger nano website for Thailand are also on Lazada I think.

People get scammed because they receive Ledgers that are already setup, the scammer just has to use the passphrase on another ledger and wait for them to deposit some coins. As long as your ledger is not already set up (meaning you are prompted to note down the list of words and create a password, then you should be fine).

Several of these addresses would be exchanges and the bitcoins they contain their users'. So under that concentration they probably are tens of thousands of persons, probably more. 

The attitude of the judge and this organised lengthy public humiliation aimed at indulging the masses appetite for vengeance give quite a poor image of Justice and are unworthy of a modern democracy. 

And to the usual death penalty and Old Testament kind of justice advocates : it's not as much about whether he deserves that treatment or not as it is about the image it gives of the public and the justice system that are rejoicing and wallowing in a sadistic conception of punishment. 

Not much has evolved since angry villagers mobs, public stoning and execution pyres, apart from the modalities. 

2 hours ago, Brunolem said:

Can anyone see the total allegiance of all cryptos to the USD?

Isn't that strange that a system supposed to circumvent the actual official paper currencies, actually revolves around said currencies, with the USD at its center?

 

Why are all these cryptos valued in USD?

Why are so many speculators interested only in making a quick buck, and not a quick ethereum for example, while buying and selling cryptos?

Why are the happy owners of a large number of bitcoins considered as millionaires, or even billionaires, in USD?

 

Where is the independence in that?

 

If you are involved in transactions within, say, Thailand, you are going to buy and sell in Thai baht, without feeling the necessity to convert each transactions into USD, because unless you are an American planning to rapatriate the money, there is no point in doing that.

 

Yet, when it comes to cryptos, it's always about the USD.

 

As long as crypto supporters value their (potential) gains and losses with regards to the USD, these cryptos will remain vassals of the USD, which is exactly what they are not supposed to be.

Only crypto maximalists would think like that, apart from hardcore ideologues no one think Bitcoin will totally replace USD, which for the moment we still need to pay the rent and buy lambos. 

1 hour ago, 12DrinkMore said:

 

Although there is always the threat of abuse by TPTB, I think I am going to remain optimistic that the legal system and votes will keep them in check.......

 

 

This is not optimism, it's wishful thinking. 

I don't see why governments would need a blockchain currency btw, except to track every single transaction, but apart from some additional security the benefit for the public would be minimal compared to the current system. I personally don't think we will replace traditional national currencies, that are still the least bad option, by the technological dream of libertarian geeks, but beyond the insane speculation I find it a very interesting option, some sort of insurance policy against governments currency mismanagement, one for central banks to keep in mind before printing tons money. On the long-term at least, right now the frenzy, chaos and thousands currencies is maintaining a high level of confusion and tension over this space (even for those of us who live from crypto), but the dust will settle eventually. Perhaps in 1 year, perhaps in 10, even if crypto collapses ten times by then, the idea is here and won't go away, and we should fully grasp the real value of Bitcoin or whichever coin will prevail during the next financial crisis. Zimbabweans and Venezuelans have already. 

Last trades on Bithumb:

Kim Park

Kim Son

Kim Moon

Kim Park

Lim Park

Kim Lim

Park Moon

Kim Jeong

Kim Park

Kim Son

Park Son

Moon Kim

Moon Son

Kim Park

Kim Park

Sure they are, the vast majority of them at least.

But we're all going in to surf the wave hoping to cash out before everyone else stops keeping appearances. 

Poor plebs who FOMOed at all-time-high. 

This market sometimes...

If someone as some minimal skill in programming, let's create a HelloKitty Coin we'll be billionaires in no time. 

19 hours ago, davidst01 said:

THank god Im not american. The IRS is a nightmare. 

Me neither. I guess we're lucky our home countries' governments aren't powerful enough to impose their demands like the US' does. 

Problem is the US government demands info to foreign institutions on its citizens to tax their capital gains, that's why more and more are refusing American citizens recently as it's a giant administrative pain for them to comply. 

The only solution is to register on a trading platform abroad that accepts Americans (most have low KYC standards if you move less than 2 BTC a day, which leaves some margin), buy Bitcoins on coins.co.th or Localbitcoins, have them transferred to the platform and trade from there. When you want to cash out gains, convert them into Bitcoin and sell them on Localbitcoins.

I have never tried Localbitcoins but I heard it worked well as long as you make sure to choose a trusted seller or buyer. Other services allow you to get paid on Paypal but I heard fees could be high.

The only option I can think of is buying bitcoins on localbitcoins or coins.co.th (a little more expensive for the latter), and have the coins sent to any platform that accepts U.S. citizens to trade there. I think Binance and Bittrex, among the main ones are quite fast to register to and don't demand going through thorough KYC applications for accounts that move less than 2 BTC in and out of their platform.

1 minute ago, steelepulse said:

Something is still off with bx.  Currently on tradingview.com btc is 14650 usd  (476K),  while bx shows latest 544K.  What am I missing besides a huge gouge from bx and coins.co.th compared to other exchanges outside of TH?

Trading View is just a tool that allows watching different market places (including BX). 

It's not abnormal to see discrepancies between regional exchanges. BTC often trades 10-15% higher on Korean exchanges, even between GDAX/Coinbase and Bitfinex there are differences, as far as BX is concerned the price of BTC is just the one Thai traders give it. 

1 hour ago, steelepulse said:

What I can't understand is how they get away with their huge spreads?  Is there a barrier to entry so only the guys that run this exchange and coins.co.th are allowed to run?

 

Just checking right now, btc is around $15,500 which comes to 500K at 32.5 usd.  However, when checking coins.co.th they have a 31K spread, buy at 568K and sell at 537K.  From my math, you're already 6% down from getting in to getting out with these spreads.  

 

 

BX is a marketplace so the spread is just the one from the order book and only depends on what traders are offering. BX just takes 0.25% on each transaction, which is not the cheapest but still very decent for a local exchange (same as Bittrex). 

Coins.co.th does take a significant premium when selling bitcoin though, I wouldn't recommend buying there. 

I use them as my gateway to crypto, I don't trade on it except to convert THB into crypto which I then transfer to other platforms, then to convert my gains (transferred in crypto from other platforms) into THB which I have then transferred to my bank account. 

I have no complain whatsoever, on the contrary, only praises. Nothing particularly fancy or exceptional about it, except perhaps how fast they are to process KYC documentation and deposits & withdrawals, it works and works well, all the functions commonly needed are there and easily reached, It is simple, straightforward, they require all the verification you'd expect from a serious platform (KYC, 2FA), the fees are very decent and transparent. I haven't tried with very large amounts but up to 250K all my withdrawals were completed and credited on my bank account in less than one or two hours, even during the weekend.

So, very satisfied on my end. 

Finally the long due correction everyone was expecting since 6 months where it's been impossible to keep up with Bitcoin growth, even for people watching this space full-time. 

Hopefully that will cool off the masses that had just bought in on FOMO at unreasonable heights, delay mass adoption by a year or so and give us more time to accumulate in the mean time. But with this space you never know, previous bounces always were faster and stronger than expected.