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Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.)


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1 hour ago, workswithseed said:

Like I said, Nixon really fucked up. From taking us off the gold standard and China. 

 

If he hadn't taken us off the gold standard, we still wouldn't have had any gold. We had printed too many dollars and any country with dollars could demand their gold for them, like the French did. We basically had kited a bunch of checks. If we had kept paying out gold, we would have hit zero, and then the dollar would have been Instant Confederate Money.

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22 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Seems like we've hit some decent price support at the new levels over the last week.

We're ~11 days since the Ethereum fork occurred. During that time, over 50K ETH has been burned.  Worth over $160M.  Now more ETH than that was created due to mining but that would have occurred anyway. 

What do you mean by “burned”?

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3 minutes ago, XYZ said:

What do you mean by “burned”?

Those coins are destroyed. The transactions still exist on the blockchain but those coin amounts were not transferred to a wallet.

More detail: Basically when you send ETH or ETH tokens, there is a transaction fee that goes to the miners in addition to the ETH that is created via mining. Starting 2 weeks ago, the transaction fee was split into 2 parts: the actual transaction fee plus a tip for the miner.  That transaction fee part is destroyed creating fewer ethereum coins out there. 

To get more technical, the early 2022 Ethereum upgrade will change the mining process completely. The ethereum coins mined (staking then) will be lower than the burn rate. Ethereum coins in circulation will slowly get less and less.  It has long been a criticism from Bitcoin people that Ethereum didn't have a coin circulation maximum like Bitcoin. While technically that will still be true, all models show Ethereum will reverse its coin growth in 2022 and start to contract.

All of the above should put pressure on the Ethereum price to grow. 

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41 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Those coins are destroyed. The transactions still exist on the blockchain but those coin amounts were not transferred to a wallet.

More detail: Basically when you send ETH or ETH tokens, there is a transaction fee that goes to the miners in addition to the ETH that is created via mining. Starting 2 weeks ago, the transaction fee was split into 2 parts: the actual transaction fee plus a tip for the miner.  That transaction fee part is destroyed creating fewer ethereum coins out there. 

To get more technical, the early 2022 Ethereum upgrade will change the mining process completely. The ethereum coins mined (staking then) will be lower than the burn rate. Ethereum coins in circulation will slowly get less and less.  It has long been a criticism from Bitcoin people that Ethereum didn't have a coin circulation maximum like Bitcoin. While technically that will still be true, all models show Ethereum will reverse its coin growth in 2022 and start to contract.

All of the above should put pressure on the Ethereum price to grow. 

Saw some interesting numbers on the ETh change and its effect on DeFi tokens. 

This makes sense to me. Might be selling my Snx and AAVE 

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I enjoy Ferguson’s pieces  

This key passage at the end sums things up pretty well IMO.

 

I feel in my bones that trying to compete with China to build the best central bank digital currency is a mug’s game. The American way is to let innovation rip. Avichal Garg of Electric Capital is right in thinking that the best strategy to preserve the dominance of the dollar is precisely to encourage the international adoption of dollar-linked stablecoins, rather than to stamp them out. As the internet of money grows, the dollar is well placed to be the preferred global on- and off-ramp, connecting the nascent “metaverse” to the physical world where we still pay our taxes in fiat.

If we have learned nothing else from the past half-century, it is surely that the best way to win a race with totalitarian rivals is not to copy them, but to out-innovate them. Make the wrong decision at this historic turning point, and we shall be interrupting a much bigger bonanza than Nixon did.
 

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Anyone else having issues with Coinbase?

Been going on almost 24 hours now.  I can't get into my portfolio page on the app.  I get an error message.  I can see my overall holdings and everything else; just not portfolio.  I've restarted my phone and logged out and back into the app to no avail.

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8 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Anyone else having issues with Coinbase?

Been going on almost 24 hours now.  I can't get into my portfolio page on the app.  I get an error message.  I can see my overall holdings and everything else; just not portfolio.  I've restarted my phone and logged out and back into the app to no avail.

I just logged on fine. 

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5 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Anyone else having issues with Coinbase?

Been going on almost 24 hours now.  I can't get into my portfolio page on the app.  I get an error message.  I can see my overall holdings and everything else; just not portfolio.  I've restarted my phone and logged out and back into the app to no avail.

I’m Experiencing the same issue right now. 

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This seems significant to me.

Quote

... As Seth For Privacy reports, “You can, today, swap Bitcoin <> Monero directly peer-to-peer, over Tor, with no custodian or trusted 3rd-party, no KYC (Know Your Customer) info, nothing.” And he should know, because he and an unknown bitcoiner were the first persons to ever do it. ...

More:  https://bitcoinist.com/confirmed-atomic-swaps-between-bitcoin-and-monero-are-a-go-heres-the-411/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=confirmed-atomic-swaps-between-bitcoin-and-monero-are-a-go-heres-the-411

I looked at the step by step instructions and the mechanism for enacting these trades are a bit rough at the moment, but the foundation is there for a more robust solution that Joe Sixpack can use.

It essentially opens the door for anyone to obfuscate their bitcoin holdings.  Move Bitcoin from known wallet to Monero to Bitcoin unknown wallet where the transactions don't depend upon a 3rd party exchange service.  It's not 100% clear, but from my understanding of how Monero works, there might not be an audit trail of the transactions either.

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2 hours ago, bernorange said:

This seems significant to me.

More:  https://bitcoinist.com/confirmed-atomic-swaps-between-bitcoin-and-monero-are-a-go-heres-the-411/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=confirmed-atomic-swaps-between-bitcoin-and-monero-are-a-go-heres-the-411

I looked at the step by step instructions and the mechanism for enacting these trades are a bit rough at the moment, but the foundation is there for a more robust solution that Joe Sixpack can use.

It essentially opens the door for anyone to obfuscate their bitcoin holdings.  Move Bitcoin from known wallet to Monero to Bitcoin unknown wallet where the transactions don't depend upon a 3rd party exchange service.  It's not 100% clear, but from my understanding of how Monero works, there might not be an audit trail of the transactions either.

Government agencies hate Monero and other privacy coins more than Bitcoin. Last year the IRS offered a $600K reward for anyone that can break Monero security. Given it's anonymity factor, there is an argument to put some funds in monero. However fewer and fewer exchanges will deal in it.

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This Coinbase news is pretty bullish stuff. 
 

Blog post here by Coinbase CFO. 
 

https://link.medium.com/M7ZRxHmvSib

“This means we will become the first publicly traded company to hold Ethereum, Proof of Stake assets, DeFi tokens, and many other crypto assets supported for trading on our platform, in addition to Bitcoin, on our balance sheet.”
 

It’s interesting to me that they are going to buy Defi tokens specifically. Those are the kind of tokens most in the crosshairs of the infrastructure bill and Treasury regulations. The CEO has met with Powell and Yellen before and has a big presence. If they feel it’s safe to hold those they must feel the regulatory thread is not as big as most. 
 

Also, their net income last Q was $1.6B. So 10% of that going forward is going to be fed into markets.

Edited by Muy Frio
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16 minutes ago, bernorange said:

They probably feel safe because they have pretty strong KYC systems in place already. 

Some of the proposed or rumored regs would put onerous requirements on users or validators of these defi protocols. Basically making them unusable for US residents. I see Coinbase purchases as suggestion that those threats are overblown.  

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Decided to take some Cardano profits. While I don't hold as much Cardano ADA as I do with BTC or ETH, I'm up over 15x from my initial ADA investment in 2018. Flipped the sale into a stablecoin and earning some decent interest. I still own a good chunk of Cardano so I'm still cheering it to go higher.

I also bought some Top Shot NFTs with the profit as well. I'm starting to understand more of how to set up future profits IF Top Shot continues to grow in the future. Previously I thought it was more luck but there is skill in the marketplace.

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15 minutes ago, Tailgate said:

Anyone storing their crypto offline? If so, what method? I’m considering the move as I’m a long-term investor and don’t need to access it anytime soon.

Of course. Not your keys, not your cheese. 
 

I’d encourage everyone that has more than a passing interest to take custody of their own coins. It’s meant to be permissionless and trust minimized. Leaving your coins on exchanges takes all of that away. Also,  moving coins into cold storage gives you some technical knowledge about how the tech operates. 
 

The three most common hardware wallets are Ledger, Trezor and the ColdCard. 
 

https://www.ledger.com/

https://trezor.io/
 

https://coldcardwallet.com/

Ledger and Trezor are pretty similar offerings. They support a lot of coins. I have a couple Nano S wallets from Ledger. The desktop interface is pretty slick and makes it pretty fool proof. 
 

The ColdCard is Bitcoin only and the most secure option. Can be set air gapped, but more tech savviness required.  
 

If you get past that level and want more security for Bitcoin specifically there are a couple companies that offer multisignature (multi-sig) options for Storage. I use Casa but I’ve heard good things about Unchained Capital. They’re based out of Austin and are really the driving force behind the Bitcoin scene that is growing quickly. 
 

https://keys.casa/
 

https://unchained-capital.com/
 

 

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3 hours ago, Muy Frio said:

Timely 

 

Via SIM Swaps etc. 

I found a couple short videos that explain a bit more about self custody. She’s easy on the eyes too. 
 

 

Happened to me. I moved about half of my crypto to my own wallet. But the other half that I had on coinbase pro is probably gone. Can’t get logged back into my account after it was hacked. Customer support is worthless…

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12 hours ago, 4HE said:

Happened to me. I moved about half of my crypto to my own wallet. But the other half that I had on coinbase pro is probably gone. Can’t get logged back into my account after it was hacked. Customer support is worthless…

Can you expand more on your Coinbase pro account being hacked? Can you not get in touch with the support group, or do they need something from you that you can't provide?

I'm not saying that you've done anything like this but I know of a few people that cheated a security process and it eventually came back to bite them. They wanted to avoid tax reporting so they originally provided 100% fake identity info. Then when the exchange switched to KYC, they were screwed because they can't prove they're John Smith from Boise, Idaho.

Or in a related manner, they couldn't use an exchange as a US citizen. Via a VPN they tricked the exchange by making it seem that they lived in the UK. Now they can't prove they're John Smith in London.

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13 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Can you expand more on your Coinbase pro account being hacked? Can you not get in touch with the support group, or do they need something from you that you can't provide?

I'm not saying that you've done anything like this but I know of a few people that cheated a security process and it eventually came back to bite them. They wanted to avoid tax reporting so they originally provided 100% fake identity info. Then when the exchange switched to KYC, they were screwed because they can't prove they're John Smith from Boise, Idaho.

Or in a related manner, they couldn't use an exchange as a US citizen. Via a VPN they tricked the exchange by making it seem that they lived in the UK. Now they can't prove they're John Smith in London.

Got a text alert in the middle of the night that my password had been. Changed. Called the next morning to lock the account. Have gone through their reset process multiple times and I never get the account reset email from them. Checked spam or blocked messages. Nothing. 

 Account is under my name. They won’t throw you in jail for an error on your taxes. They will for avoidance so I don’t play that game. 

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20 hours ago, Muy Frio said:

Timely 

 

Via SIM Swaps etc. 

I found a couple short videos that explain a bit more about self custody. She’s easy on the eyes too. 
 

 

When I posted my question I was just reading about this.

I have a ledger and will be working through loading it this weekend.

Questions:

1. couldn’t the ledger thumb drive potentially fail? Is there a way to retrieve if so?

2. Do any banks let you park and insure crypto?

Appreciate y’all’s expertise in this space.

 

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1 minute ago, Tailgate said:

When I posted my question I was just reading about this.

I have a ledger and will be working through loading it this weekend.

Questions:

1. couldn’t the ledger thumb drive potentially fail? Is there a way to retrieve if so?

2. Do any banks let you park and insure crypto?

Appreciate y’all’s expertise in this space.

 

1- you’ll see when you do the setup, but the vital part of your setup will be recording the seed phrase and storing it somewhere very secure. Do not write it down on your notes in your iPhone or computer. Hard copy somewhere secure. If you lose your ledger or it craps out you can buy a new one and enter your seed phrase and it will all be pulled up on the new device. 
 

2- Banks are starting to dip into it. Currently just high net worth clients. They offer access and the company NYDIG handles the custody seamlessly (to the clients) on the back end. 
 

This is just from today. 

Eventually the same setup will be with smaller, local banks and customers. 
 

 

Sorry for the deluge of links, but it’s coming down the pipe.
 

 

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22 minutes ago, Tailgate said:

When I posted my question I was just reading about this.

I have a ledger and will be working through loading it this weekend.

Questions:

1. couldn’t the ledger thumb drive potentially fail? Is there a way to retrieve if so?

2. Do any banks let you park and insure crypto?

Appreciate y’all’s expertise in this space.

 

Just want to make sure you didn’t buy the ledger second hand. If so they can have malware that can compromise your private keys. I bought directly from Ledger. 

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24 minutes ago, Tailgate said:

When I posted my question I was just reading about this.

I have a ledger and will be working through loading it this weekend.

Questions:

1. couldn’t the ledger thumb drive potentially fail? Is there a way to retrieve if so?

2. Do any banks let you park and insure crypto?

Appreciate y’all’s expertise in this space.

 

I'm sure you know but the ledger only manages the keys for your wallet. The coins and your ownership of them are maintained on the blockchain. You can have the ledger stolen, smashed with a hammer, or fail. As Muy Frio wrote, you are safe as long as you have maintained your seed phrase.

I've been using crypto for 2+ years and I still (incorrectly) get in the headspace that the coins are "on" the ledger device. If my Ledger failed or was stolen, I would be double-timing it to get a replacement ledger so I could restore the wallet. 

As far as crypto custodians, there is an Austin firm in this space. https://unchained-capital.com/ I have nothing to do with them, and please do not consider this an endorsement. I do believe it will be a game-changer when known financial institutions move into custodian services. 

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9 minutes ago, XYZ said:

So there is a gift tax and an inheritance tax, but how does the tax man deal with families passing wealth from one generation to the next via crypto? It seems that they would be able to bypass these taxes…

If you had non KYC’d crypto then theoretically yes. That doesn’t really bug me obviously. It’s almost like passing down an expensive collection precious metals or jewelry. It’s also a lot harder to do today than you might think given the rhetoric surrounding crypto. 

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