Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies

Originally Posted by auminer

I'm going the opposite way with my scrap $$$...



A portion of the home stash. There's a few other caches around, plus some metal that my username pays homage to... I can't get to that very easily (and neither can anyone else!!!)

I have some PM too. I just decided to take a little and buy some Bitcoin and Etherium. I will post a pick of some of the PM loot another time.

Originally Posted by Patriot76

I do not understand the bitcoin and other electronic currencies and assume if and when the government eliminates cash I will be able to take my cash in for exchange for the new currency. Therefore I keep cash on hand. I do not trust electronics because of its vulnerability and it seems like an easy way for others to track your spending habits. What happens if the grid goes down, will people be able to access their money? If the bitcoin is not the currency selected, will you be able to exchange it? Since I do not have the knowledge, I do not have the answer to any of the statements above.

My profits go back into my farm restoration business. Land is by far my biggest investment because they do not make it anymore. This post is using the Socratic questioning technique to encourage more discussion not to influence or be critical of anyone's beliefs. I want to learn more.

Thank you. I am going to try to answer some of your concerns from my point of view, not to influence you, but to give you my point of view.

Bitcoin is not controlled by the government. It is an open source distributed serve, currency accounting, software program.I cannot be shut down by attacking one hub, it cannot be audited except for the continuity of the blockchain (the algorithm that protects the integrity of the Bitcoin currency accounting). The holders of coins are completely anonymous, although the crypto banks can be audited to audit account holders, but the Bitcoins themselves are completely anonymous.

If the "grid" were to "go down," I suppose you would lose access to Bitcoins. Theoretically they would still be there, and once the grid was back up, access would return, but the same concern could be raised regarding cash kept in banks (ATM's would be unlikely to function).

Bitcoin is not the currency selected now, but it is able to be exchanged.

Originally Posted by eastky

Is your bitcoin insured in case of hacks and theft? Could or will a hacker attack wipe out your account? If you cant hold it in your hands or feel the weight of it in your pocket its not real.

People call USA currency fiat money that's not real and has no real value. I can and will tell you when Mother Liberty draws those purse strings closed that bitcoin wont be worth much. Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme.

It is insured against hacks and theft by the continuity and integrity of the blockchain. Thus far, the Bitcoin blockchain has not been compromised. As I understand it, there has been at least one bank that was compromised and people lost their account holdings, but the Bitcoins were not "taken" from the people, they were "taken" from the compromised bank.. Much in the same way cash money could be stolen from a bank.

Yes, a hacker could wipe out an account, but hackers could wipe out your bank account.

"If you cant hold it in your hands or feel the weight of it in your pocket its not real."... You can pull Bitcoin out from the net and print it out. It basically looks like a QR code you see in advertising. If that piece of paper were stolen from you, were you to follow protocols, it would not be the same as having a wallet full of cash stolen. Cash in a wallet would be gone, no chance of return. The paper Bitcoin wallet would be passphrase protected and would be unusable without the passphrase. A new paper wallet could be printed out and the bitcoins kept in the wallet would be there. You talk about "the weight and feel," using your criteria, what makes a hundred dollar bill any more valuable than a dollar bill?

You are correct when you say that people call cash fiat, but that is not technically correct. As I understand the definition of "fiat currency," a value is place on the currency, such as, this bill is worth this much gold, or silver, or copper or other. Our currency is a representation of debt. In my opinion, our use of debt as the backing of our currency bothers me more because as the government prints more, it just puts us all deeper into debt.

"Mother liberty" cannot close the purse strings on Bitcoin because "mother liberty" has no control over Bitcoin.

Bitcoin does not seem to satisfy the definition of a Ponzi scheme. It is a method of value representation and not a method of making money, any more than holding a particular gold coin is a method of making money.

Some of the questions seemed to me to be a bit adversarial and confrontational. I don't mind, but I am not trying to undermine any belief to anyone here. I will be very happy to try to explain the best I can the way I understand the theory behind cryptocurrency, but I am not looking to slay any of your sacred cows. I will give my opinion, I will listen to your opinion, but I will actually care about your opinion about cryptocurrency as much as I care about your opinion about Trump or Clinton. We all make our own choices about how to best keep the proceeds of our labor in the way it suits us best.