Bitcoin: no angel investors, only Faustian bargains

The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Bitcoin: no angel investors, only Faustian bargains

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Any speculation is always great in hindsight, when it pans out nicely.

You could have just bought some ES futures and have made a poo poo ton of money, all regulated and easy to cash out.

Buttcoin is just a speculative financial instrument at this point really, a real lovely one.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2017 12:07

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 00:18

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Ham Sandwiches posted:

Imagine fixating on a point in time and never being able to move past it. Like picking the moment the trading volume drops and deciding "oh wow thats great. Material for years!" or just recycling the "Magic Cards Magic Cards Magic Cards" poo poo on a forum for 6 years while being wrong the whole time

It turns out we don't have to imagine there's bitcoin threads

Dude your only argument is basically: I invested in a very risky financial instrument and it paid off, therefore I am a genius and everyone that said it was an insanely risky thing to invest in is wrong. That's not how math works :\.

Why bother using such a moronic instrument when you can just buy some options or futures or whatever. Could have just put everything on black, same thing, higher win rate probably, easy to cash out as well.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2017 19:34

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Yeah 20 minutes is kind of long, you have no idea the technical bullshit credit card processors go through to have transaction times of a couple of seconds max. There was a great post about this once, there's a poo poo ton of validation going on behind every transaction, it's really complicated stuff apparently and yet it works in seconds.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2017 20:04

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Return Of JimmyJars posted:

* You can EASILY convert it to dollars using Coinbase. You can see how much liquidity exists using the charts on gdax. This isn't rocket science.

Can you link these charts? Last year or so some journalist tried to cash out a small amount and in the end he had to meet a shady dude in a back alley IIRC.

Only thing I could find is this: https://www.gdax.com/trade/BTC-USD

# ¿ Oct 25, 2017 16:55

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Return Of JimmyJars posted:

Hit "Depth Chart" and you can see all the buy/sell limit orders.

Those are just orders on the exchange though, eventually you need to exchange the funny exchange dollars for real dollars. That's what we were talking about.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2017 19:30

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

QuarkJets posted:

Wash trading (accepting your own buy/sell orders to manipulate prices) is a thing that's actively done on Bitfinex, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges. It's one of the many reasons that Bitfinex no longer has any banking partners. Pro read here:

https://medium.com/@bitfinexed/wash-trading-bitcoin-how-bitfinex-benefits-from-fraudulent-trading-8bd66be73215

Haha, from that article, this was a response from a Bitfinex admin to the wash sale allegations:

quote:

People who have risen high enough on maslow's hierarchy need meaning. A huge source of meaning for humans is feeling indignant, angry, slighted, cheated, etc. Conspiracy equals meaning, even if it seems like a "negative" form of meaning.

I have a theory that crypto attracts hyper-vigilant types who tend to have overly active conspiracy glands (oxytocin, in my opinion) which often serves them well (it lead them to crypto), but can often misfire.

Anyways, people like the OP and bitfinexed are, whether most people agree with them or not, "adding liquidity to the meaning economy" by going on and on with nonsense like this. People have to get their dose of meaning somehow, and most in the crypto scene have a very specific appetite for the types of meaning they crave. To a lot of people, this hits the spot.

Most of what is polarizing, covered by popular media, or political are examples of culture games where people make/take liquidity in the economy of meaning.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/77s80n/in_case_you_had_any_doubts_this_rise_is_from_wash/doows0f/

# ¿ Oct 30, 2017 11:13

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

The bitcoin cash plus page states:

quote:

On Chain Scalability - Bitcoin Cash Plus follows the Nakamoto roadmap of global adoption with on-chain scaling. As a first step, the blocksize limit has been made adjustable, with an increased default of 8MB. Research is underway to allow massive future increases.

Which leads to: https://github.com/BitcoinUnlimited/BUIP/blob/master/065.mediawiki

quote:

The requested budget from BU is $150,000 per year. nChain has agreed to match BU funds 1:1, giving a project budget of $300,000 per year for five years ($1.5M total project budget). Approximately half of the budget is expected to be used to cover server costs, while the other half of the budget is expected to be paid out as wages for contractors, employees and students.

So 150k per year for a couple of professors, contractors, university employees and some students. Yeah.

quote:

We may find that Visa-level transaction throughputs (~3,000 TPS) and gigabyte blocks are not possible with current technology, or that the scope of changes to BU to enable these throughput levels is so vast that we are unable to test up to 1 GB blocks in Year 1. It is also possible that we determine that blockchain technology is simply not suitable for a global payment network, and that scaling must be carried out on �second layers.� In such a scenario, the Gigablock Testnet Initiative would likely be terminated prematurely.

Perhaps do the research first then think about launching another butt.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2017 13:14

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Return Of JimmyJars posted:

You could do it all at once but it'd crash the market back down to $7000~

I mentioned this earlier: the fact that there's enough volume to sell the BTC for USD doesn't mean you have the USD on your bank account yet. It still sits as a virtual number on Coinbase.

How easy is it to actually withdraw your USD from Coinbase?

# ¿ Nov 20, 2017 13:53

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Hmm yes.

quote:

I withdrew from my euro wallet to my bank account which was already verified, 17 days have passed and the money just vanished, no money on my eur wallet nor on my bank account. Support is non existent. Can I sue these guys? It's called theft after all.

quote:

I am waiting for 23 days now. Contacted them through Reddit, Mail, Support portal and got one generic answer. Then I lost my nerve and raised a complaint with BBB and CFBP. Yesterday they responded me through BBB that they acknowledge my problem and will try to solve it, which I rejected and demanded the immediate solution. That is all I know and what I did.

quote:

It says pending and says that the withdrawal was supposed to occur in the 5th of august... I have done nothing wrong. I deposited 5 euros from my bank account tl verify it, I have verified every single thing they want etc. Still no reply from the support.

quote:

This is bullshit from their part. I did a second Withdrawal, using the same Coinbase EUR wallet and same Bank Account but only 1EUR. Surprise surprise, I got the 0.85 EUR (they kept 0.15 as fee) in my Bank account the next day... Looks like they keep into Pending only large amounts, not small ones

quote:

With the increased business Coinbase is seeing their payments department is severely bogged down. They issue a broad 3-5 business day return but almost everyone waits longer than this. I am still in the process of trying to receive my funds back and these are the steps I've taken: 1) File a complaint with Coinbase (Immediately) https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/emails/new 2) File Complaint with CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) (Wait 3-5 days from CB complaint..or not) CFPB P.O. Box 4503 Iowa City, Iowa 52244 Fax (855) 237-2392 (855) 411-CFPB (2372) http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ 3) File Complaint with BBB (Wait 3-5 days from CB complaint..or not) https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/get-started Other Resources: Coinbase Support Number - (888) 908�7930 They will not help with wire transfers just simply tell you it is "processing" by and large a waste of time Metropolitan Bank - (212)-365-6700 99 Park Avenue New York, NY Coinbase's Bank Info You'll Need -Sender -Sender Bank -IMAD number (Can retrieve from your bank or Metro number above) -Amount -Date Sent This can be very frustrating especially seeing the BTC price rise and watch unrealized gains flying out the window as your money sits in cyberspace. Hope this helps people in the same situation.

quote:

I can't be the only person who's getting the silent treatment from Coinbase with a greyed out sell button, can I?

They'll let me buy as much bitcoin as I want, but they won't let me sell not 1 of my 20+ bitcoins on my account. So, here I'm sitting with over $3K profit, trying to sell, and not only do they not allow me to sell, but there's no one around to give me an explanation. The chat feature isn't running and they won't answer email.

This is criminal if you ask me. I'm sure this bullshit is covered in their TOS (read: legalized criminality), but I don't care.

This is my money. When you tell me that I can't withdraw my bitcoins and I can't sell my bitcions...well then, that tells me that they aren't really my bitcoins. So what did I pay over $5K for? Some numbers on a screen?

I'm wondering if it will be convenient for coinbase if I sell when it's back down in the $200 ~ $250 range, or if they'll only allow me to buy "bitcoins" (if that's what they're really selling there) again.

What a joke that place is. No wonder why bitcoin hasn't went mainstream yet, when the world's biggest bitcoin exchange blocks you from withdrawing or selling your "own" (again, I question this) bitcoin.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CoinBase/comments/6uo7o9/withdraw_taking_too_long/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CoinBase/comments/6nvjcd/for_those_of_you_in_line_to_get_support_if_its/

# ¿ Nov 20, 2017 14:10

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

quote:

How My $10,000 Gift Was Stolen From a Preschool�s Coinbase Account
If you are new to bitcoin or even if you are not, do you really want to do business with a company from which the theft of your bitcoin is this easy?

Here is my true story: A few weeks a go, my husband and I decided to make a $10,000 donation to a preschool in our town. His bitcoin investment was doing very well and we felt that we could afford the gift. Because of the way the tax rules work regarding donations to a nonprofit, donors can avoid capital gains taxes by directly giving property rather than selling the property and then donating cash. We contacted ****, the director of the preschool, and let her know that we wanted to make a donation of $10,000 worth of bitcoin. She was delighted, of course. But, as she was unfamiliar with bitcoin, and using online accounts in general, she asked some colleagues about which exchange to use to transfer the money into her bank account. She chose to open an account in her preschool�s name at Coinbase.

The process of opening an account, verifying the account, and connecting to a bank account at Coinbase is a long, painful process over many days and there are lots of reasons to want to have contact with Coinbase during the process. Unfortunately, Coinbase support is almost non-existent. However, I did not know this at the time. I assumed that a company as well known as Coinbase must have phone support. So I googled �coinbase phone support� and a number popped up. I gave this number to ****. It turns out that this number was a fraud. When **** called it, a man identified himself as a Coinbase support rep and asked her to go to a special Coinbase support website where he had **** enter her username, password, and the confirmation code texted to her phone.

Coinbase, by default, requires confirmation of the computer that is being used before allowing a login. They do this by sending a device confirmation email to the email address on file for the account holder. That email must be opened on the same device as that on which the browser is accessing Coinbase. At the moment, we still don�t know how the scammers managed to get around this requirement. The result is that the bitcoin is gone from ****�s preschool�s account and we are left puzzled about how this was possible given Coinbase security. The theft seems to be largely the fault of Coinbase for these reasons: Coinbase support is schockingly bad.

More funny poo poo here: https://www.bbb.org/greater-san-fra...ewtype=negative

# ¿ Nov 21, 2017 13:43

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

divabot posted:

it's ok! being your own financial institution chief security officer is totally easy and straightforward

quote:

Time-locked wallets
An interesting unconventional solution. The idea is to use time-lock contracts to create a wallet which cannot be spent from until a certain date. One possible use-case might be by a gambling addict who locks up money for paying bills for a month, after a month has passed and their time-lock wallet is opened they use that money for paying bills instead of gambling.

Yes, he will use it to pay the bills.

EVERY aspect of this thing seems thought through for about 75%, the rest is just hand-waving.

# ¿ Nov 22, 2017 12:07

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

quote:

100% Backed
Every tether is always backed 1-to-1, by traditional currency held in our reserves. So 1 USD₮ is always equivalent to 1 USD.

quote:

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF TETHERS: The Site is an environment for the purchase and redemption of Tethers. Once you have Tethers, you can trade them, keep them, or use them to pay persons that will accept your Tethers. However, Tethers are not money and are not monetary instruments. They are also not stored value or currency.
There is no contractual right or other right or legal claim against us to redeem or exchange your Tethers for money. We do not guarantee any right of redemption or exchange of Tethers by us for money. There is no guarantee against losses when you buy, trade, sell, or redeem Tethers.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2017 13:52

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3T4EutKWyc
Where's all my money? Where's all my money gone???

# ¿ Nov 30, 2017 13:09

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

# ¿ Dec 6, 2017 16:23

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Ohnonotme posted:

The platform I use (Etoro) allows you to set a "Stop Loss" price, if the value of your position hits that, it terminates the contract and you get the money equal to the value it was at when it hit your "stop loss". I keep it quite tight - normally about 30% for bitcoin.
And I only ever trade with 10x leverage - it's a lot more fun and profitable. Yes, I've been caught out a few times in the past, but so far this year (actually, 6 months) trading Bitcoin and stocks has made me 4x my annual salary.
All through the magic of CFDs. No wallets, no dodgy exchanges, no broker fees, BIG spreads (which can be a pain), plenty of money in the BANK, not in Bitcoin.

Let me just quote myself:

amotea posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3T4EutKWyc
Where's all my money? Where's all my money gone???

# ¿ Dec 6, 2017 22:57

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

# ¿ Dec 6, 2017 23:11

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Ohnonotme posted:

That's an exchange, where you are buying bitcoin. I use Etoro, where you are placing a Contract For Difference - you don't "own" anything. They make their money on the huge spread between buying and selling prices. Regulated by the FCA in the UK.

Okay mate.

quote:

Our CFDs are not listed on any exchange. CFDs involve greater risk than investing in on-exchange
products, as market liquidity cannot be guaranteed and it may be more difficult to liquidate an existing
position.

quote:

To limit losses, we require you to choose �stop loss� limits. These set limits to automatically close your
position when it reaches a price limit of your choice. There are however circumstances in which a �stop
loss� limit is not fully effective � for example, where there are rapid price movements, or market closure.

# ¿ Dec 6, 2017 23:19

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Ohnonotme posted:

Nope, I am not him - this is the only account I have ever had on SA. I'm just posting my experiences because there is so much bullshit out there. And it's looking like Bitcoin may hit $14k soon - or it might collapse down to �6000.
Just look at the coindesk chart - that is ALL today. Up over 16%. https://www.coindesk.com/price/
I could cash out now and be happy, but I am a greedy, unpleasant man - so will just set my stop loss at about -30%, go to bed, and see what the morning brings.

TBH I kinda like this guy's style.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2017 00:27

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

How did they transfer the tulips out of Nicehash when the unconfirmed transactions keep going up?

https://blockchain.info/unconfirmed-transactions

# ¿ Dec 8, 2017 00:09

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

# ¿ Dec 8, 2017 13:34

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Can you cancel a transaction to unfuck yourself when e.g. you've accidentally tried to transfer all your funds with 0 fee?

# ¿ Dec 8, 2017 15:12

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Here's something I've been working on for a while, check it out: bitcoin ---> bitcon

# ¿ Dec 9, 2017 14:52

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

# ¿ Dec 11, 2017 16:27

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

# ¿ Dec 12, 2017 12:51

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Sekenr posted:

Hot drat, the guy who created vk.com apparently bought 2000 bitcoins 2 years ago at 750$ (paid 1.5 million dollars) now it worth over 35 million dollars. How he plans to cash out or if he even does plan to cash out is anyone's guess.

I don't know what vk.com is, but just lol at paying 1.5m dollars when it was at an alltime high.

# ¿ Dec 13, 2017 10:49

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

punk rebel ecks posted:

It's basically Russian facebook, except that you can also search videos people post, usually movies, tv shows, etc. It's a good place to find quality porn. The Bing of Social Media� as you will.

Thanks! I like to Bing it every now and then.

# ¿ Dec 13, 2017 10:59

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

What the gently caress is this poo poo: https://patientory.com/

quote:

Blockchain technology has been used successfully in the financial services industry. It is the most secure way of preventing your patients� sensitive health information from cyber attacks. Using the blockchain, patient medical record files are shredded and encrypted and spread across the blockchain network until you�re ready to use it again, making data breaches nearly impossible.

quote:

Our patent worthy technology ensures your personal health information is safe, easy to use and HIPAA compliant.

Let's look at the team, hmm some lovely business people... but wait there is in fact a technical person, the lead developer (from his LinkedIn):

quote:

As Proverbs 16:9 says, �we can make our plans, but Jehovah, Yahweh, Yeshua Hamashiach, Jesus Christ, The, Great I AM determines our steps." With God�s timing and blessings M360DEGREES has experienced marvelous beginnings. As a firm that believes in you, we are so honored to serve many wonderful loyal partners and clients, some fortune 1000 companies, small and medium sized businesses, schools and universities, healthcare organizations, a few A-list celebrities and professional ball players, but most importantly, always good hard working people who �believe�, �dream�, and need a trusted software partner along the way.

Deuteronomy 5:33: Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

And look at this major dick:

'Growth hacking'???!

# ¿ Dec 13, 2017 11:24

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

divabot posted:

looking at the puffery on their tech page, if they're using "blockchain" at all, it's as a database. This is Blockchain(tm), not blockchains.

And yet, you can actually buy these cancer coins https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/patientory/

# ¿ Dec 13, 2017 12:57

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

I did a thing in university about distributed algorithms, it's really loving complicated to get right and remembering 20 of those stupid algos for an exam sucks rear end. Careful what you wish for lol.

# ¿ Jan 13, 2018 00:16

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

They printed more than 2 billion Tethers though, this must be more than people put into mount Cocks.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2018 17:46

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 00:18

amotea: Mar 23, 2008; Grimey Drawer

VictorianQueerLit posted:

I was thinking that the amount of money people lose directly on having tethers become worthless wouldn't be more than the $500,000,000 MtGox theft because the vast majority of tether activity is bitfinex buying bitcoins from themselves with them. I know a ton of people see Tether as a guaranteed safe harbor that is immune from crypto instability I just didn't think it would be more than $500m worth of people.

However, I wasn't figuring in the overall money lost when the entire market crumbles with it, which could easily be more than that.

Good point.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2018 17:54

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