crypto currency

[QuarterMillionMan]

The fee was $1.99, so $8 in free bitcoin is worth it to me.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Guys, bitcoin is at $116,000 today at an ATH. Popcorn time.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Just bought $1000 worth of cryptos. The day of reckoning when fiats crash will happen in an instant. The fiat Ponzi scheme is at the end of the road (ie, USD, Euros, Yen, Pesos, etc). 95% have no exposure to cryptos. I’m at 20% cryptos, 10% precious metals, 70% cash which is still too much exposure to fiats IMHO and working my courage to maybe 50% cash. I’ve focused too much on cryptos and need to refocus on precious metals.

[james.hendrickson]

Just bought $1000 worth of cryptos. The day of reckoning when fiats crash will happen in an instant. The fiat Ponzi scheme is at the end of the road (ie, USD, Euros, Yen, Pesos, etc). 95% have no exposure to cryptos. I’m at 20% cryptos, 10% precious metals, 70% cash which is still too much exposure to fiats IMHO and working my courage to maybe 50% cash. I’ve focused too much on cryptos and need to refocus on precious metals.

Why not just get some quality dividend paying stocks?

[QuarterMillionMan]

The problem with a good quality dividend paying stock is that upon redemption it'll revert to a fiat currency which is toilet paper. Richard Nixon's announcement on August 15, 1971, was a pivotal moment in economic history, leading to significant changes in monetary policy and the global economy. The decision to end the gold standard has had lasting implications that continue to influence economic discussions today.

[QuarterMillionMan]

This $1000 Confederate bill became worthless when they lost the war to the Union. Are you holding all your eggs in one basket?

[james.hendrickson]

This $1000 Confederate bill became worthless when they lost the war to the Union. Are you holding all your eggs in one basket?

QMM - you might consider checking out Barton Bigg's Wealth War and Wisdom. Its a great analysis of asset performance during the second world war. Its also really only the really rigorous study of how civil conflict impacts investing performance.

[disneysteve]

When you want to actually use and spend your crypto, you're going to need to convert it into dollars, aren't you? The supermarket doesn't take bitcoin. The gas station doesn't let you fill your tank with Ethereum. Same goes for precious metals. You can't settle your bar tab with silver ingots.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Bitcoin is the soundest money available and it cannot be manipulated like fiat currencies therefore I'm holding long term and not selling my bitcoins for fiat currencies. When the dominos fall (fiat currencies) I envision cryptos & precious metals will become sound money, again it cannot be manipulated by big governments. Good point about retailers not accepting bitcoin and only a handful of retailers accept bitcoin. The bigger point on this is the transaction fees. Starbucks accepts bitcoin but it's not worth paying $1 in transaction fees for a $5 cup of coffee. This is where stable coins would fill that niche with low transaction fees. I envision 3 use cases for cryptos sort of like how we have a savings account for a store of value (bitcoin), a checking account for utility (ie, XRP, XLM, Hbar, Quant, Solana, Cardano, etc), and securities for investing and speculation (ie, meme coins such as Doge coin, shiba inu, Trump coin, etc). I don't touch any of these last coins which is pure gambling. Tesla accepts Dogecoin as payment which is crazy if you ask me, lol.

[QuarterMillionMan]

An example of $0 fees, transferred Algorand from Coinbase to Arculus.

[disneysteve]

An example of $0 fees, transferred Algorand from Coinbase to Arculus.

What is Coinbase and what is Arculus and what's the benefit of transferring holdings from one to the other? Are they just two different "accounts" where you can store your crypto, comparable to me transferring money from Vanguard to my BOA checking account?

[QuarterMillionMan]

In general they are just 2 different accounts. But technically, Coinbase is an exchange where Coinbase holds the cryptos and in an unlikely event where let's say Coinbase goes bankrupt they can liquidate my cryptos and pay off their stakeholders/creditors with my cryptos leaving me with zero. Arculus is a cold storage wallet where I hold the keys and I possess the cryptos. Hard core crypto enthusiasts say, "not your keys, not your cryptos." Coinbase offers numerous promotions where I gravitate buying from Coinbase such as recurring buys earn $5 in bitcoin or make 3 new crypto purchases worth $10 each not in my current account and earn $10 in free bitcoins for a total of $30 in free bitcoin. I get carried away and buy $300 at a time of new cryptos, not just $10 of new cryptos. And Coinbase is easy to use so I just buy from Coinbase and transfer the cryptos to my Arculus later. When I buy from Arculus directly (or Trezor or Ledger also cold storages similar to Arculus), the transactions can take 1 week to process, if it goes thru. Other times the transactions gets denied, I think from my bank or it could be the payment systems they use such as Moon Pay, Sardine, Topper, etc. Or the fees are a lot higher than Coinbase so I'll price shop before making a purchase but timing is also important and Coinbase is the most reliable so again I'll buy from Coinbase then transfer it over to my cold wallets which could also incur more fees but not always the case such as this recent Algorand transfer. Bitcoin always incurs fees on the buy and the transfer but it's just the price of doing business with bitcoin. Legacy banks must be itching to use ISO 20022 compliant cryptos for cross border transactions which cost pennies to transact in seconds compared to the old SWIFT system which takes days and cost a lot more.

[disneysteve]

But technically, Coinbase is an exchange where Coinbase holds the cryptos and in an unlikely event where let's say Coinbase goes bankrupt they can liquidate my cryptos and pay off their stakeholders/creditors with my cryptos leaving me with zero.

Wow! That's scary. Imagine if Vanguard could suddenly go under and keep all of the money everyone has invested there. If I bought through Coinbase, I'd be sure to transfer it out immediately as soon as I was able. I wouldn't leave a penny sitting there that legally isn't mine.

[myrdale]

The supermarket doesn't take bitcoin. The gas station doesn't let you fill your tank with Ethereum.

Some do.

Now is it a good deal, I'd assume not. I have no clue what their gas fees are.

[myrdale]

Wow! That's scary. Imagine if Vanguard could suddenly go under and keep all of the money everyone has invested there. If I bought through Coinbase, I'd be sure to transfer it out immediately as soon as I was able. I wouldn't leave a penny sitting there that legally isn't mine.

Whats also scary are the stories where someone inside the company steals the crypto invested there. There was a story on the news along these lines last month. They traced the funds to North Korea, but they were long gone by the time they realized it.

Those gas fees I mentioned above apply just as well to moving crypto in and out of your wallet. But then again there is a cost to writing a check just as well.