Crypto - Bitcoin XRP ETH DarkMoon NFTs

[neeneko]

It is all about the dream of reselling for huge sums later on. After people watched BTC go from pennies to nearly $70,000, there has been a strong demand for 'the next thing that will make you rich if you hold onto it'. Though really the only value produced is propping up crypto prices since you have to buy crypto in order to operate in the NFT space.

[neeneko]

Bitcoin plunges below $32,000 and Galaxy’s Mike Novogratz expects more volatility: CNBC Crypto World

Something I have been seeing in various threads but have no way to confirm is that big institutional investors have some kind of trigger value around either 30k or 25k, at which point they cut their losses and exit, which posters cite as a 'this will finally kill crypto' threshold.

[Gregg]

Big institutional investors had no business putting other people's money they were entrusted with into this ponzi scheme to begin with. More than a little of the pump part of pump and dump on this was because "legitimate big time banks and institutions" started trying to get in.

And the people who run those banks and institutions should have known better.

[sugar magnolia]

This generation's Beanie Babies.

[MN-Skeptic]

This generation's Beanie Babies.

x 100

[Gregg]

This generation's Beanie Babies.

x 100

Goldman Sachs never put anyone's pension into Beanie Babies.

[neeneko]

And the people who run those banks and institutions should have known better.

Well, they did know better, and are likely laughing all the way to the bank. There has already been one high profile case of a blockchain being 'undone' when wealthy owners demanded their losses be reversed.. it is a domain where people with money can make lots more money.

[Gregg]

and people still ask me how I can be a Socialist....

SMFH

[RTH10260]

Actual BYC image, which you can see for free, use for free, print and hang on your wall for whatever Walmart charges for it, but you don't get the Certificate of Authenticity.

You also cannot use it for commercial purposes but they difference between and NFT and just owning the rights to the image escapes me.

Anyhow, if you want the CofA, its on auction, current bid is $309,000 but two days left so bound to sell for more.

https://c.tenor.com/zbj3KOthXawAAAAd/bo ... -lo-fi.gif

IMHO in the long run it will boil down to copyright enforcement. Like you can get a painters copy of a Monet to show off to your friends at home, just not offer it to Gettys for exposition or to Christies to auction.

There is a fine line between scam and real value with NFTs. Real value is still a thing that has to develop in commerce. Eg to date one would buy a Audio CD off of Ebay but would not know if one gets a original (used) item or a Chinese rippoff. A music company could put the content up as NFT with as many copies they wish to sell. The buyer gets a legal copy either directly or "second hand".

I have also seen suggestions for use as membership cards or coupons which in their physical form can be counterfit.

[Gregg]

Bored Apes have been documented by the media as one of the more prominent NFTs. In December 2021, the Bored Ape Yacht Club overtook CryptoPunks as the highest-priced NFTs. Bored Apes, along with other character-based NFTs, would become "a status symbol for owners who regularly use their animated creatures as avatars on social media." Many Bored Ape NFT owners admitted to purchasing their Apes due to the potential marketing and branding projects that can be launched through owning the intellectual property of a Bored Ape NFT.

Like I said, I use a cribbed photo of Keef from Google, stolen from Getty Images who would sell me the rights for something approaching $10.

Or I could pay $344,000 for the cartoon, and I would own the cartoon.

[Suranis]

This article talks about how Tether, the "Stablecoin" that basically provides the Fiat money that allows Bitcoin and other currencies to work, is basically a gigantic scam. Like this is like the "Qualitative Easing" of the 2008 crash, that were supposed to provide insurance over trade, but becasue they were not actually called Insurance they were not required to hake the money on hand to pay out if every one of their clients filed a claim at once. And when large numbers of their clients did, they collapsed.

Essentially, from what I understand from reading this article, (and I could be very wrong on the details) Bitcoin trades are paid for with Tether and other "tablecoins", which are used instead of real money so traders can avoid taxes, Trading fees and too much scrutiny. They then cash out their Stablecoins from the company for real money again. But most will not as they chase the dream of more and more high on paper wealth. So their money stays in the system as Paper wealth. People who have looked at what Maddof was doing will see immediate parallels

Basically Tether is run by very shady characters who have a company worth on paper 78 billion who have avoided being properly audited. They claim they are backed 1 to 1 with American Dollars, which means they should have 78 billion in their accounts to back the Stablecoin being used to purchase Crypto trades, but there is very little evidence they have and even their own statements don't make sense. If everyone were to suddenly look for their money out of Tether, the company will collapse as they don't have the cash to pay out, and their leaders have been robbing what cash they have blind.

And if that company were to suddenly collapse the whole Crypto Trade system will go with it. There is no real system for using real cash in the Crypto space.

The Entire Crypto Market Is Built on Fraud & Deceit

How the world’s largest “stablecoin” transformed cryptocurrency into an industry of degeneracy

The world’s largest stablecoin with a shady origin story; Tether (USDT), has been one of the primary driving forces behind the crazy volume of money flowing through the cryptocurrency market.

If you’ve ever wondered why so many random cryptocurrency projects are worth such ludicrous sums of money —there’s an extremely good chance that Tether has something to do with it (at a very, very deep level).

Tether has provided investors with enormous liquidity by granting them a regulation-free safe haven for cash. Investors can use Tether to quickly purchase cryptocurrencies without having to withdraw their money into fiat dollars. This cuts out a lot of unnecessary exchange fees and any issues with taxation.

Tether & its secret “sibling” company, Bitfinex, have a completely insane backstory, and while they’ve always been surrounded by a mild haze of fear, uncertainty and doubt —we can no longer dismiss it as good old-fashioned FUD.

This time, it’s real.

Terrifyingly real.

In fact, it may just be one of the most elaborate and destructive financial scams in the history of modern human existence. Now, you might think that I’m over-exaggerating, but if you can finish this reading this story and not be even a little concerned about what hides behind the curtain, I’ll be incredibly impressed.

So, without further delay — let’s dig into what Tether is, how it’s supposed to work and where everything went wrong.

[Gregg]

The problem with that is, it would depend on Bitcoin (or whatever) being stable in value. Say they did put one real dollar in the bank for every dollar worth of bitcoin they backed, in say, 2014. Gee willikers dude, we put a dollar in for ever dollar we took! Of course, the BTC is now worth $39,000 instead of $300.

So yeah, even if they never intended it to be a scam, and they probably did, but even if, it would have ended up a disaster anyway.

[RTH10260]

Tesla offered to take bitcoins for their cars. Now that the bitcoin is (relatively) cheap do i get to buy a low priced vehicle, or did Tesla adjust the valuation in relation to the $ ?

[raison de arizona]

Tesla offered to take bitcoins for their cars. Now that the bitcoin is (relatively) cheap do i get to buy a low priced vehicle, or did Tesla adjust the valuation in relation to the $ ?

They quit accepting Bitcoin after a couple months.

But a few months later, in May 2021, Tesla indicated that it no longer accepted bitcoin as a means of payment. It cited as a reason that it wanted to preserve the environment since minting of bitcoins consumes enormous amounts of electricity.

According to a Nature study, if nothing is done, China's IT mines will produce 130.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2024, nearly the total annual greenhouse-gas emissions from greenhouses in Italy or Saudi Arabia.

https://www.thestreet.com/.amp/investin ... itcoin-bet
More info at the link, Tesla is down 15% on their 1.5B Bitcoin investment so far though.

[RTH10260]

H/T missed that detail.

[Suranis]

H/T nissed that detail.

Not your fault. Shockingly the Cryptobros are not quite as shouty about the bad things that happen to Bitcon.

[neeneko]

This article talks about how Tether, the "Stablecoin" that basically provides the Fiat money that allows Bitcoin and other currencies to work, is basically a gigantic scam.

yeah, Coffeezilla, a youtuber who investigates crypto scams, did a couple episodes on Tether a while back. Wild stuff, and something that could take down the market if the founders decide for a rug pull.

[MN-Skeptic]

#CryptoCrash is trending -



I saw a tweet with screen captures from the reddit forum for LUNA. People are actually committing suicide.

[Gregg]

We call that Darwinism.

[RTH10260]

Do not make speculative investments when you need collateral

[MN-Skeptic]

Some people put their entire savings into crypto.

Traditional companies have assets. They have breakup value. Crypto investments? Not so much.

[RTH10260]

As always only invest as much as you think is safe to lose, and do not put all your eggs in the same basket (i may have skewered some sayings along the path)

[RTH10260]

PS. now that the hype has passed and prices / valuation have tumbled one could think of purchasing selected cryptocurrencies at firesale prices. Await the next rally in a couple of years and realize your gain.

[Suranis]

PS. now that the hype has passed and prices / valuation have tumbled one could think of purchasing selected cryptocurrencies at firesale prices. Await the next rally in a couple of years and realize your gain.

There's literally over 14,000 Crypto currencies, and literally every single one of them is depending on people betting that they are getting in before everyone else for max profits. Which one of that morass of grunge are you going to select?

Plus, every blockchain needs a certain amount of computing power to function. Once it becomes non economical to "mine" i.e. run the Blockchain for a chance at receiving a bitcoin key, mining centers will start shutting down and then the whole thing will fractally unravel. In theory anyway.

[RTH10260]

PS. now that the hype has passed and prices / valuation have tumbled one could think of purchasing selected cryptocurrencies at firesale prices. Await the next rally in a couple of years and realize your gain.

There's literally over 14,000 Crypto currencies, and literally every single one of them is depending on people betting that they are getting in before everyone else for max profits. Which one of that morass of grunge are you going to select?

Many of those cryptocurrencies are for local makets. Don't remember the name but one such currency i stumbled over is mainly used in Indonesia and swaps over into select other South Asian countries. Then of course are all those "me too" operations that will never fly. My guess is that there are fewer than twenty viable options to chose from for commercial purpose.

Plus, every blockchain needs a certain amount of computing power to function. Once it becomes non economical to "mine" i.e. run the Blockchain for a chance at receiving a bitcoin key, mining centers will start shutting down and then the whole thing will fractally unravel. In theory anyway.

Mining new coins and running a cryptocurrency exchange are separate operations. The exchanges live off the fees. Mining new coins is only lucrative when the costs get paid as related to fiat currency. That will have stopped within seconds of the market crash. One can assume that mining required the hyped up prices to cover costs. No new coins will limit the market for future buyers, once the market dries up at some time in the future pricing will rise to a point where mining becomes viable again. To note that different cryptocurrencies have different algorithms, had different starting points in the past, so mining will not close down accross the whole ecosystem.