[SeaGypsy]

Millions of people owns trillions of gold certificates not backed by gold.

[vox_mundi]

Bitcoin Tops $19,000 on One Exchange, Surging More than $7,000 in Less than Two Days

- Bitcoin rocketed higher, crossing the $19,000 mark in less than two days after topping $12,000 for the first time.

- The digital currency's latest swing higher comes after a 20 percent plunge last week

- The overall pace of gains have accelerated in the last several weeks ahead of the launch of bitcoin futures by major exchanges

[KingM]

I have some smallish quantity of Bitcoin--I think I invested a hundred bucks or so several years ago--and have no idea what I own. I can't even remember if I bought two coins or two hundred. (Probably not 200, obviously, or I might have noticed before now.)

Most importantly, I can't remember my Bitcoin wallet password, and there doesn't seem to be a way to recover it.

[Cog]

If you don't have the password then those are lost. Sorry man.

[KingM]

If you don't have the password then those are lost. Sorry man.

That has occurred to me, and I'm not stressing about it overly much. It was worth nothing, and I, along with nearly everyone else in this world, assumed it would remain nothing, or I'd have put a lot more money into it back in the day. I paid roughly a hundred bucks for a lottery ticket that turned out to have the winning numbers. It helps that my other, more traditional income and investments have done well enough that I'm set already.

At the same time, you can bet I'm wracking my brains trying to remember what it could be, find some hidden scrap of paper with a cryptic note about my password, etc.

[GHung]

Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index

https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption

Just,,,, WOW!

[pstarr]

Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index

https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption

Just,,,, WOW!

Posted the same on the 'Capitalism' thread . It got no traction there, energy seems to be a distant distraction for folks on this board. I would dare say that all Americans are now living in a Trump-induced DisneyWorld

Electricity consumed per transaction (KWh)---240.00kwh

Number of U.S. households that could be powered by Bitcoin---3,014,975

Number of U.S. households powered for 1 day by the electricity consumed for a single transaction---8.12

For comparison, the Tesla 2017 Model S 100D has a 100kwh storage battery. (And as an aside, that 1,500 lb. battery will get you as far as 100 lb of gasoline).

[vox_mundi]

All is an illusion ...

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/wo ... ramid.html

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/fdic/fdic.html

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/us ... -2013.html

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/us ... _debt.html

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/us ... udget.html

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/us ... f_war.html

[Outcast_Searcher]

I have some smallish quantity of Bitcoin--I think I invested a hundred bucks or so several years ago--and have no idea what I own. I can't even remember if I bought two coins or two hundred. (Probably not 200, obviously, or I might have noticed before now.)

Most importantly, I can't remember my Bitcoin wallet password, and there doesn't seem to be a way to recover it.

This is one of the major reasons I don't like the concept of crypto (at least in its current, largely unregulated form) as a currency.

People can (and do) lose coins due to hacking, on some exchanges. Some aren't made whole. Is any exchange really safe? How do you know?

People can (and do, with you as an example) lose coins due to loss or mismanagement of credentials. I have enough risk with investing not to add that.

Inflation with normal currency is bad enough. Having currency wildly fluctuate is unacceptable for the definition of the currency of the land, IMO. (Precious metals have the same issue, over time).

I LIKE government regulation of financial instruments with things like the FDIC, SIPC, clearinghouses for regulated exchanges (which removes the risk that the counterparty to a transaction can't or won't pay), etc. I don't have any of that with crypto used as a currency, at least so far.

Taxing of bitcoin is generally the law, and this will be enforced as time goes on.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/ ... xable.aspx

...

And of course there's the open question of how long the tulip-style mania of crypto pricing lasts before it ends in tears for longs.

Congrats (re another post) on having secured yourself financially in other ways. Depending on crypto to do that currently begs for a new word to describe extremely risky, IMO.

[Narz]

KingM, I sent you a private message.

[careinke]

If you don't have the password then those are lost. Sorry man.

That has occurred to me, and I'm not stressing about it overly much. It was worth nothing, and I, along with nearly everyone else in this world, assumed it would remain nothing, or I'd have put a lot more money into it back in the day. I paid roughly a hundred bucks for a lottery ticket that turned out to have the winning numbers. It helps that my other, more traditional income and investments have done well enough that I'm set already.

At the same time, you can bet I'm wracking my brains trying to remember what it could be, find some hidden scrap of paper with a cryptic note about my password, etc.

How did you buy them? If you bought them on an exchange and did not move them, you may still be able to recover them. If you moved them to a wallet, you are probably out of luck. The private crypto key of a wallet is not something you make up, so your chances of remembering it are slim to none.

Good luck,

[SeaGypsy]

KingM has contributed to the value of bitcoin by losing his, well done.

[Revi]

It's a crazy think, but I think it will probably hit a peak some time soon and start to crash. Maybe it's not a great time to get into it now, but it's a great time to sell! Good luck King M!

[SeaGypsy]

Don't forget to pay your taxes.

[careinke]

Don't forget to pay your taxes.

I certainly plan on declaring my bitcoin gains (when I sell), the empire has a lot more force to use than me.

I'm hearing rumors we may have a "Fedcoin" soon. Not that I would ever buy any voluntaraly.

[Outcast_Searcher]

Don't forget to pay your taxes.

I certainly plan on declaring my bitcoin gains (when I sell), the empire has a lot more force to use than me.

I'm hearing rumors we may have a "Fedcoin" soon. Not that I would ever buy any voluntaraly.

If it is regulated, protected against hacking (i.e. insurance along the lines of FDIC or SIPC), has blockchain to provide an open book keeping system / audit trail, and solves the problems of bitcoin re scale and speed, a "Fedcoin" might be just the ticket.

If you're really going to pay your taxes on bitcoin gains, why would you care, if it were done right?

Of course, if it's done right, there shouldn't be nearly the wildly speculative price rise, and it should be far more stable. That's the part that I have no clue how long it would take people to calm down and stop speculating, to allow a reasonably stable price.

But unless you operate from the premise that ALL government is bad, why be automatically against it. I'd say the vast majority of people who like things like Social Security payments, medicare, FDIC insurance on bank deposits, SIPC insurance on brokerage accounts, food safety standards, etc. implicitly are saying they like at least SOME aspects of big government -- whether they realize it or not.

(Disclosure: I have no problem with government, as long as it is held to the same standards of competence and honesty and efficiency as liberals insist on for the corporate world).

[pstarr]

It's crashing! yikes! sell!

i am kidding of course. but . . . it will sooner rather than later. And if it is later than the loses will be greater. Does anyone in their right mind actually believe this crap? I mean really. yikes. Cryptos make as much sense as Teslas, and half billion dollar Leonardo sketches. It's all a con, a Fed induced mania. All is bubble.

[onlooker]

Yep it all now Bubblenomics

[pstarr]

Yep it all now Bubblenomics

It figures its outcaste promoting this bubble. He doesn't get energy.

[asg70]

It's all a con

And so you continue your devolution into StarvingLion.