Fiverr Is My Newest Pick

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Yet Cathy Woods is piling on it, claiming an eventual $500K price target on BTC.

BTW, if last year wasn't a "bull market" (per you) or the years from 2016 to 2020 were not (when ARK funds' returns were spectacular), then when would be a bull market? That's a serious question. I am not trying to be sarcastic.

She's not the only one about BTC. I don't get it at all and it's based on nothing yet here it is not crashing and only going up

[Scallywag]

I still think crypto is speculation cancer and I would call it the original meme investment before GME and AMC.

Yet Cathy Woods is piling on it, claiming an eventual $500K price target on BTC.

BTW, if last year wasn't a "bull market" (per you) or the years from 2016 to 2020 were not (when ARK funds' returns were spectacular), then when would be a bull market? That's a serious question. I am not trying to be sarcastic.

[Singuy]

I did learn that all blockchains are not created equal. The blockchain that bitcoin uses is very primitive and carries an enormous amount of overhead. When all bitcoin are mined, a single BTC transaction could take minutes to complete. Imagine that times a billion BTC transactions a day.

But there are new blockchains coming out every day that are much more efficient. I would be investing in whatever companies support blockchain technology, which is pretty much every chip maker out there that isn't a dinosaur. I really like the idea of getting rid of central "banking" in all transactions. If someone found a way to hack Fidelity and shut down their brokerage system, I would be instantly broke. Shutting down a pipeline sucked, but freezing everyone's money would be catastrophic. Especially if it disappeared forever. With blockchain, that is simply not possible to do. I think the crypto currency is just a drop in the bucket that has everyone's attention. The real benefits are just now getting started.

I think large institutions should overhual their infrastructure by converting to blockchain. Currently it's just a popularity contest. I feel like all the coins are tables set up at the science fair trying to get first place.

[corn18]

I did learn that all blockchains are not created equal. The blockchain that bitcoin uses is very primitive and carries an enormous amount of overhead. When all bitcoin are mined, a single BTC transaction could take minutes to complete. Imagine that times a billion BTC transactions a day.

But there are new blockchains coming out every day that are much more efficient. I would be investing in whatever companies support blockchain technology, which is pretty much every chip maker out there that isn't a dinosaur. I really like the idea of getting rid of central "banking" in all transactions. If someone found a way to hack Fidelity and shut down their brokerage system, I would be instantly broke. Shutting down a pipeline sucked, but freezing everyone's money would be catastrophic. Especially if it disappeared forever. With blockchain, that is simply not possible to do. I think the crypto currency is just a drop in the bucket that has everyone's attention. The real benefits are just now getting started.

[Singuy]

Wait...so basically you're saying cryptocurrencies aren't a reliable store of value, right? And because that's the case, their impact on consumer behavior is unhealthy?

It's a niche store of value as much as white paint splashed on a canvas that auctioned off for 2 million dollars. But no one tries to make a point using art to democratize currency..lol.

[disneysteve]

Well not everyone shares my opinion obviously. I get the purpose of btc, and I understand it never inflation due to the scarcity of the coins, but the volatility caused by its scarcity is what makes it a terrible currency. Imagine a world with everything used btc as transaction. It will decrease the viscosity of money dramatically as no one wants to part with it as it increases in value daily. A little dose of inflation is what keeps the economy going. It forces you to buy today before its more expensive tomorrow as your purchasing power reduces. Now if your purchasing power increases daily, then no one wants to buy ever.

Or it could be worth 50K one week and 30K a couple of weeks later.

[james.hendrickson]

Well not everyone shares my opinion obviously. I get the purpose of btc, and I understand it never inflation due to the scarcity of the coins, but the volatility caused by its scarcity is what makes it a terrible currency. Imagine a world with everything used btc as transaction. It will decrease the viscosity of money dramatically as no one wants to part with it as it increases in value daily. A little dose of inflation is what keeps the economy going. It forces you to buy today before its more expensive tomorrow as your purchasing power reduces. Now if your purchasing power increases daily, then no one wants to buy ever.

Wait...so basically you're saying cryptocurrencies aren't a reliable store of value, right? And because that's the case, their impact on consumer behavior is unhealthy?

[Singuy]

Singuy, that is an interesting perspective.

If in fact crypt were speculation cancer (and I agree most consumer behavior in this space is highly, highly speculative), what do you make of the fact that large angel investing companies like Bain Capital are committing to the crypto space?

Take a company like Compound (compound.finance), they're basically trying to create a market for interest rates based on various crypto currencies. Their funders include coinbase, Bain Capital, a16z and Dragonfly capital.

If crypto were all speculation without any real value behind the business models, wouldn't the smart money stay away?

Well not everyone shares my opinion obviously. I get the purpose of btc, and I understand it never inflation due to the scarcity of the coins, but the volatility caused by its scarcity is what makes it a terrible currency. Imagine a world with everything used btc as transaction. It will decrease the viscosity of money dramatically as no one wants to part with it as it increases in value daily. A little dose of inflation is what keeps the economy going. It forces you to buy today before its more expensive tomorrow as your purchasing power reduces. Now if your purchasing power increases daily, then no one wants to buy ever.

[james.hendrickson]

Is 72 point font big enough for ya?

Oh sorry Singuy, I'd gone back over my posting and changed the asterisk to 72 point font. Sigh...I guess its not funny if nobody gets it.

[james.hendrickson]

I still think crypto is speculation cancer and I would call it the original meme investment before GME and AMC.

Singuy, that is an interesting perspective.

If in fact crypt were speculation cancer (and I agree most consumer behavior in this space is highly, highly speculative), what do you make of the fact that large angel investing companies like Bain Capital are committing to the crypto space?

Take a company like Compound (compound.finance), they're basically trying to create a market for interest rates based on various crypto currencies. Their funders include coinbase, Bain Capital, a16z and Dragonfly capital.

If crypto were all speculation without any real value behind the business models, wouldn't the smart money stay away?

[disneysteve]

I still think crypto is speculation cancer and I would call it the original meme investment before GME and AMC.

Oh I wouldn't go anywhere near it myself, but it does seem to be gaining attention from the mainstream financial institutions.

[james.hendrickson]

I don't understand crypto either. I don't know how you can just create currency out of thin air with nothing backing in.

But being able to use crypto is changing. There are now credit cards linked to crypto. Tesla had announced they were going to accept crypto for car purchases, though I think they later changed their minds. I have no doubt, despite my lack of understanding, that crypto is here to stay and is steadily becoming more mainstream. Numerous financial firms have added crypto divisions so it's definitely getting more respectability.

Yes, DisneySteve's assessment is probably correct. Blockchain technology is a better way to manage transactions. Its a bit difficult to understand and from what I've read, the computing protocols involved eliminate the need for third parties to settle financial transactions. This means you essentially don't need a bank to move money. Transaction records are stored on a blockchain.

The question now is: which companies will best take advantage of this technology. Its a bit like the internet in 2001 - new innovation sparks a lot of economic growth, but it may take some time for the winners to emerge.

There are some interesting things happening in the crypto lending space - the interest rates are, on balance, much, much higher for lenders, so I suspect this will attract a good deal of capital in the future.

Another thought in the crypto space is that it is largely unregulated. At this point the computing technology isn't well understood by the regulatory community - so any legislation is likely to take a least a year. Most of the regulatory community is still forming committees to study the technology.

[Singuy]

I don't understand crypto either. I don't know how you can just create currency out of thin air with nothing backing in.

But being able to use crypto is changing. There are now credit cards linked to crypto. Tesla had announced they were going to accept crypto for car purchases, though I think they later changed their minds. I have no doubt, despite my lack of understanding, that crypto is here to stay and is steadily becoming more mainstream. Numerous financial firms have added crypto divisions so it's definitely getting more respectability.

I still think crypto is speculation cancer and I would call it the original meme investment before GME and AMC.

[disneysteve]

What am I missing here? You can't walk into a store and pay for your purchases with a Bitcoin. You can't go to a house closing and pay the sellers off with Bitcoin.

So why is Bitcoin all the rage and what *can* you do with it?

I don't understand crypto either. I don't know how you can just create currency out of thin air with nothing backing in.

But being able to use crypto is changing. There are now credit cards linked to crypto. Tesla had announced they were going to accept crypto for car purchases, though I think they later changed their minds. I have no doubt, despite my lack of understanding, that crypto is here to stay and is steadily becoming more mainstream. Numerous financial firms have added crypto divisions so it's definitely getting more respectability.

[Singuy]

That's during the bull run, Singuy. Can she replicate this when it's a bear market or even during a steep correction?

I made money on ALL of the ARK funds and it's one mutual fund but I liquidated everything because I feel she cannot replicate this success consistently (no active fund manager has) PLUS she made some bizarre assertions about Bitcoin's potential future valuation that concerned me. I may be very stupid but I don't understand crypto currency at all, so her claim that it was headed to $500,000 made me sell and quit when the getting out was still good.



What am I missing here? You can't walk into a store and pay for your purchases with a Bitcoin. You can't go to a house closing and pay the sellers off with Bitcoin.

So why is Bitcoin all the rage and what *can* you do with it?

Bull market according to which portfolio manager? Dividend yielding value portfolio wouldn't certainly call the last year a bull market as big names are still trying to recover their losses.

ARKK picked the right names and got a return that killed the S&P. And the S&P is only up due to tech throughout last year. So she literally performed during a bear market.