Why hate cryptocurrency?

I disagree. The problem is not me thinking it is easy profit. I knew going into it that I could lose everything. And, under the right circumstances, it can be an easy profit source. However, I do agree that there is a problem when ignorant individuals risk more than they can afford to lose trying to get rich. And, that is not the fault of the tech or currency, it is the innate greed that clouds many people’s ability to think rationally.

Ripple is the perfect example. Do you know who owns Ripple? He was the 5th richest man in the world for a little bit last week because he owns 14% of outstanding. How about market cap. Market cap on ripple is being calculated ~38 billion xrp but did you know the company that controls ripple still has about 60 billion (If I am remembering correctly) XRP? Even main stream is talking about ripple now, but no one discusses how it is a major scam.

Now if you came and discussed iota and how there are no transaction fees, how it isn’t using a ton of electricity, etc. I could see. But I think most are like OP and have not done any due diligence. Will crypto be a thing for the force able future? probably. But when doge coin, a self proclaimed hoax, has a market cap of over a billion dollars you know there is a lot of smoke and mirrors going on, that there might be a little new fiat going in everyday but the vast majority is funny numbers just being ran in a circle.

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Prove it is a scam, and then we can talk about it. People who say it is a scam are speculating and have not done their due diligence.

Does XRP have a long-term future? I don’t know, but the fact that it is being tested by mainstream financial institutions tells me there is good potential. Do I think I will get rich from it? No. But I should see some decent return.

fortune.com/2018/01/11/ripple-moneygram-xrp-cryptocurrency-bank-transfers/

scam is the wrong word. How about “tool to separate people from their money”. But again, I really question how much fiat is actually going into this.

https://xkcd.com/386/

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Time will provide the proof. Or look at the long list of completely worthless alt coins. I like the Fortune article link. Moneygram, one huge source of scams, linking up to use XRP, another shady and likely useless alt coin. Ripple has potential benefits; XRP is completely worthless.

I don’t hate cryptos, I just view them for what they are - complete gambling. I own some but don’t pretend to be an investment genius when I have a bunch of paper profits from zero value-add or skill.

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yes, and a huge problem i see with blockchain and new ico’snew mining and even casual adoption of blockchain “for a good use” is a compounded increase of electricity demand accros ico’s/blockchains. im a an earth firster, but I am not trying to sound like one here, I would actually like to here some rational thoughts about these energy supply and demands. lets make blockchain perfect.

Money goes in, never comes out. Lots of BTC instant millionaires, not one real instant millionaire. Only the exchanges are getting rich.

Some people have to be making money if people buy in at higher prices right?

The general population is composed of idiots.

Right - so those people lose/may lose, but there are people who have made money - almost by definition right?

There have been more than a few young people showing up at Bogleheads with stories like “I was early in Bitcoin and just cashed out for {$2-10}M, how do I invest in normal stuff so I don’t lose it all”. they aren’t obvious trolls.

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The problem I have with the stories of people cashing out $2-10M is, how do they do so? No exchange is letting people take out anywhere near that amount. Unless they are buying gold/silver/heroin I just don’t see it happening.

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What about how Kodak announced Kodakcoin and their stock price instantly doubled, or the ice tea company that decided they were going to be a bitcoin company now (their stock doubled as well).

There’s going to be a lot of company stores for scrip.

What’s the best way to short cryptocurrency?

How’s that quick buck working out OP?

CME GROUP trades bitcoin futures. I imagine you could sell naked contracts, but…

The downside wouldn’t be limited like options.

I think that’s all she wrote for bitcoin. I will be very surprised if we go on to make new record highs above $21,000.

The media has been pumping this turd for months, it was on CNBC nonstop, they were quoting the bitcoin price on the screen, and every interviewer asked questions to financial experts about bitcoin. People were taking out mortgages and using credit cards thinking they were going to get rich.

I don’t think there’s any greater fools who have been sitting on the sidelines left to come in and buy at this point. I think the people still holding bitcoin will be stuck holding the bag.

I was waiting for that question. Worked out fine for me. Obviously not so great for a lot of other people.

I didn’t ask this question to find out why someone personally wouldn’t personally get into crypto. I understand why - there is a high level of risk involved, too much risk for a lot of people. I did not phrase the question properly, but what I really wanted to know is why there are so many heated comments/conversations about it. Ultimately, I don’t understand why so many people pretend to care so much about other people’s money, thinking that they have to jump on the anti-crypto bandwagon and WARN people?

For example, in a previous post I commented that I determined how much money I was willing to lose and another poster responded, “This is where I start to have an issue.” Not that I care what he thinks of the way I handle my money, but WHY does he care about the way I handle my money? What I do with MY money is MY business. Someone can claim to be warning me, but I feel confident enough with my own financial decisions that generally I am not going to listen, unless they provide solid evidence that applies to what I am doing. In my case, I knew the potential to lose everything I spent, but I also know that what I spent could make me good profit - I wasn’t attempting to get rich, become a millionaire, etc. I just wanted to see if I could double, triple, cuadruple some money quick, which I did. I had a modest plan, based on the research I did, and it worked out well for me.

I understand that there are a lot of naive individuals who did not take calculated risks in crypto, they took emotional risks. They bet everything on crypto, and today many of them have less than what they spent, losing what they couldn’t afford to lose. I don’t understand why anyone would care or warn that type of person. Most of them will not listen, because they are naive, ignorant, and make decisions based on emotion.

There are no good ways to short cryptocurrency that I’ve found. The best thing I’ve been able to do is short companies that are trying to ride the cryptocurrency bubble. For instance, Kodak’s stock recently quadruped when they made some silly announcement that they are going into blockchain. I expect Kodak to be bankrupt in a few years, so IMO it is a lot safer way to make money off the stupidity of bitcoin.

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Didn’t realize we created another thread on this topic.

I remember when I was talking to some friends back in September about cryptocurrency and we were talking about the recent highs ($4000) and issues with Segwit 2x that would be coming up. People in the news were predicting a ridiculous number by year end ($8000). In the other thread, I suggested that when 2x was called off in November that we would see new highs due to that cloud being removed. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that it would have broken $20k less than 2 months later.

For people who got in within the past month, maybe 2 months, this probably seems pretty bad, but I can tell you that the community for the most part is taking this in stride. We’ve seen this all before. There was a bear market in crypto from 2013 pretty much until 2016. It dropped over 90% at one point, so this 50% drop is a bit of a yawner. This bubble that “popped” is still up 10x over the last 12 months. For those of us that didn’t go crazy and mortgage the house to purchase crypto or those of us who are mining, we are still pretty happy with current levels and will continue to be even if it continues dropping for quite some time. I’m a believer in blockchain technology/cryptocurrency and the implications for the way we do business. I’ve been expecting this correction to come for some time but expect us to get past this in due time.