raison de arizona wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:58 pm Have always heard that to stimulate the economy, you put money in the pockets of poor people. Because they'll spend it, unlike rich people, who will hoard it. Only one of those things stimulates the economy.
John Maynard Keynes speculated once that a government could stimulate a depressed economy just by burying a bunch of money in a huge hole and then walking away. The first round of stimulus (public) is the government paying laborers to move a bunch of dirt to and fro. The next round (private) is some bunch of entrepreneurs calculating the ROI on a dinning-up operation to retrieve the buried money.noblepa wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:29 pm Yeah, I've never understood where the bitcoin (or any other cryptocurrency) "ore" that they are mining is supposed to be. […]
So, as someone who knows a little about computers, it always seemed to me that the "mining" of cryptocurrencies really meant "we went through a very complex and time-consuming process of making them up out of thin air". I think that, in the beginning, the complexity was there to prevent every Tom, Dick and Harry from simply creating his own bitcoins. But, in the last few years, enough people have learned how to do it, and are willing to spend the time and money, every Tom and Dick (Harry is still working on it) has done just that.
"Mining" was and is marketed "finding" coins in your hard drive. IN REALITY, its actually running the Transactions of Bitcoin, updating the Individual coin Databases as they are used to "pay" for stuff, and pass back and forth between people. Kinda like SETI uses peoples idle computers to analyze radio signals.noblepa wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:29 pmYeah, I've never understood where the bitcoin (or any other cryptocurrency) "ore" that they are mining is supposed to be. Real-world mining is easy to understand. Someone goes out, digs a hole, brings up some rocks, melts them down and extracts whatever mineral they are looking for. The iron, gold, silver, lithium or whatever was there all along. The miners just have to find it, bring it out and convert it to a useable form. Where are the unmined bitcoins to be found?
So, as someone who knows a little about computers, it always seemed to me that the "mining" of cryptocurrencies really meant "we went through a very complex and time-consuming process of making them up out of thin air". I think that, in the beginning, the complexity was there to prevent every Tom, Dick and Harry from simply creating his own bitcoins. But, in the last few years, enough people have learned how to do it, and are willing to spend the time and money, every Tom and Dick (Harry is still working on it) has done just that.
damn- no crocodile emojiFormer FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in Bahamas, charged with wire fraud and conspiracy in U.S.
BY JORDAN FREIMAN
UPDATED ON: DECEMBER 13, 2022 / 9:59 AM / CBS NEWS
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested Monday in the Bahamas, based on charges filed in the U.S. The federal charges, unsealed Tuesday morning, include multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange.
Bankman-Fried's arrest "followed receipt of formal notification from the United States that it has filed criminal charges against SBF and is likely to request his extradition," the Office of the Attorney General of the Bahamas said in a statement Monday.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed Bankman-Fried was in custody, saying that the arrest was made based on a sealed indictment. "We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time," the SDNY said.
The grand jury indictment charged Bankman-Fried — widely known by his initials, SBF — with seven counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against lenders and customers, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and violations of campaign finance laws.
Federal regulators and the Justice Department had been investigating whether FTX used customer funds to back risky bets at Bankman-Fried's hedge fund, Alameda Research.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said following news of the arrest that it had "authorized separate charges relating to [Bankman-Fried's] violations of securities laws." The SEC complaint alleges that Bankman-Fried diverted diverted customer funds from FTX to Alameda Research and used that money for "fraudulent" purposes, including real estate purchases and big political donations.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sam-bankma ... d-charges/
Binance Withdrawals Surge as Concerns About Its Reserve Report Spook Traders
Binance endured $902 million of net outflows in the past 24 hours, according to data by Nansen.
By Krisztian Sandor
AccessTimeIconDec 13, 2022 at 1:20 a.m. Updated Dec 13, 2022 at 4:56 p.m.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, endured a wave of withdrawals on Monday amid concerns about its proof of reserve report.
Net outflows, the difference between the value of assets arriving and leaving the exchange, hit $902 million in the past 24 hours, according to data by blockchain intelligence platform Nansen.
Binance’s net outflow has surpassed those of all other centralized exchanges’ in the last 24 hours, and is almost nine times larger than the second largest outflow.
The outflow was the highest for Binance since Nov. 13, two days after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection, according to data provided by blockchain data platform Arkham Intelligence.
However, the outflow “doesn’t seem notably anomalous,” an Arkham analyst wrote in a Telegram chat, given that there are ostensibly $64 billions of assets on Binance.
Withdrawals rose following a string of concerning news reports about Binance, and as investors have become increasingly cautious about their funds on centralized exchange. The swift collapse of rival exchange FTX, piled on other industry debacles, has prompted other exchanges to prove that they are safeguarding customers’ assets.
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/1 ... k-traders/
Exclusive: U.S. Justice Dept is split over charging Binance as crypto world falters
By Angus Berwick, Dan Levine and Tom Wilson
December 12, 20226:05 PM GMT+1 Last Updated a day ago
SummaryWASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Splits between U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors are delaying the conclusion of a long-running criminal investigation into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, four people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.
- Some DOJ prosecutors believe evidence justifies filing charges against executives including CEO Zhao
DOJ officials have discussed possible plea deals with Binance's attorneys
Binance is under investigation for possible money laundering and criminal sanctions violations
Binance says it has no insight into the "inner workings of the US Justice Department"
The investigation began in 2018 and is focused on Binance's compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering laws and sanctions, these people said. Some of the at least half dozen federal prosecutors involved in the case believe the evidence already gathered justifies moving aggressively against the exchange and filing criminal charges against individual executives including founder Changpeng Zhao, said two of the sources. Others have argued taking time to review more evidence, the sources said.
The inquiry involves prosecutors at three Justice Department offices: the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, known as MLARS, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington in Seattle and the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. Justice Department regulations say that money laundering charges against a financial institution must be approved by the MLARS chief. Leaders from the other two offices, along with higher-level DOJ officials, would likely also have to sign off on any action against Binance, three of the sources said.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-j ... 022-12-12/
Gupwalla wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:04 pmYou can be slightly more upbeat by also including “that which the issuing government uses to pay its debt obligations” to the list.
Governments pay salaries and issue contracts for work, which is also part of what underpins the ultimate value of money. And from the standpoint of the government - spending creates money, taxation destroys it.
And I have spent several years wondering what wisdom I am missing as to why that won't happen. (The total number of BTC is capped, I dunno how close we are to the last one being created). Someone, anyone, tell me how this does not end at zero.Suranis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:24 pm
Since the supply of Bitcoin is steadily increasing, the overall pressure on pricing is down. And there will come a point where the price will drop below even economics of scale will mean its not profitable to "mine," people will stop doing it and Bitcoin will stop updating its transactions, going into a collapse.
Okay, so I had to look it up. The cap is 21 million bitcoins. Supposedly, there are currently 19,231,918.75 bitcoins in existence. This article says it will happen about 2140.Gregg wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 5:03 amAnd I have spent several years wondering what wisdom I am missing as to why that won't happen. (The total number of BTC is capped, I dunno how close we are to the last one being created). Someone, anyone, tell me how this does not end at zero.Suranis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:24 pm
Since the supply of Bitcoin is steadily increasing, the overall pressure on pricing is down. And there will come a point where the price will drop below even economics of scale will mean its not profitable to "mine," people will stop doing it and Bitcoin will stop updating its transactions, going into a collapse.
The last BTC will be minded in 2140, so yeah, it will eventually drop to zero. However, miners also get a cut of the transaction fee. In theory you can transfer BTC for free, but in practice if you go the free route, it will never go through, so you pay an optional amount to encourage miners to process your transaction. So miner profitability is really tied to how much people are willing to spend to guarantee their transfer happens.
Yes. I knew about the fees.neeneko wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 6:17 amThe last BTC will be minded in 2140, so yeah, it will eventually drop to zero. However, miners also get a cut of the transaction fee. In theory you can transfer BTC for free, but in practice if you go the free route, it will never go through, so you pay an optional amount to encourage miners to process your transaction. So miner profitability is really tied to how much people are willing to spend to guarantee their transfer happens.
Funny how 'revolution' tends to be more about replacing the leadership with something worse while not delivering on anything to the public.
noblepa wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:55 pm Gregg, correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that individual banks don't create money so much as the banking system creates money.
I deposit $1,000 in my bank account. The bank deposits a small (5%?) portion of that with the Fed. My bank then loans the remaining $950 to someone, who deposits it in his bank (or spends it at a store, whose owner deposits it in HIS bank). That bank then deposits 5% with the Fed and loans out the remaining amount. And so on.
The upshot is that my $1,000 does the work of several thousand dollars.
This is why, when we are recovering from a recession or depression, economists want us to spend our money, not just hoard it in a bank, or pay down bills.
I've heard this referred to as the "velocity" of money. The faster it is spent, the more work it does in the economy.
I realize that this is a massive over simplification of the process.
I remember in 1974, I was a young programmer for a large Cleveland bank. I was assigned the duty to receive phone calls from the computer operations department, when the DDA system (checking accounts) crashed. This was before VPN or even significant dial-up capability, so I had to drive in to the data center. One night, I was sitting there at 3:00am, with a cup of coffee and a hexadecimal calculator, when it hit me: I was playing with a couple of billion dollars of someone else's money. There was no vault or safe where this wealth sat and my computer was simply keeping track of it. Those computer files WERE the wealth. I had to stop and take a walk and catch my breath.
Both work in theory. Money hoarded, if it's not in a mattress, is still money in the economy but it's indirect so slower and less efficient.raison de arizona wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:58 pm Have always heard that to stimulate the economy, you put money in the pockets of poor people. Because they'll spend it, unlike rich people, who will hoard it. Only one of those things stimulates the economy.
Thats very insightful.Gupwalla wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 8:45 pm Just saw a clip of Rep. Sherman 0n MTP, who said something that floored me - because it is etymologically true, and also very apt:
“Cryptocurrency means hidden currency.”
And that is true - “crypto” is from the Greek “kryptos,” which means “hidden.”
The context was Sherman’s belief that the correct legislative approach to crypto was not to ban it, but to bring the anti-money laundering laws to full force against it. If crypto cannot be used to move laundered money and evade financial regulation, it will die on its own.
Sherman also said that cryptocurrency is not really a currency, but “an electronic pet rock.”
That's pretty much all there is. The rest of the article is breathlessly reporting that Binance did not give full financial reports to the Authorities, while at the end pointing out that as a private company it does not have to.Binance's former chief financial officer did not have access to the company's full accounts during his three-year tenure, report says
Morgan Chittum
Dec. 19, 2022, 11:29 AM
Binance's former CFO did not have full access to the company's financial accounts, Reuters reported on Monday.
Binance's former Chief Financial Officer Wei Zhou did not have access to the company's full financial accounts during his nearly three-year tenure, Reuters reported, citing two people who worked with him.
Zhou, who left the Binance in 2021, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
at the news.
