CNBC: Ethereum hits another record high, marking a more than 2,800% rally this year

[ExoDus84]

On 12/31/2017 at 8:55 PM, Dr. Do Itch Big said:

Where did yall buy ripple?

 

Luckily, I already had a Coinbase account I made and had verified like 2 years ago when I dabbled a tad in BTC. I just used conibase, bought some LTC, and sent it to Kraken, which I used there to buy XRP.

 

For new users, Binance would probably be the quickest route until coinbase / Gdax add it to their platform.

[Predicto]

On 12/30/2017 at 5:31 AM, Hersh said:

I am doing this for fun. All those years I didn’t play the lottery is all I’m spending.  Totally content if I lose it all and I have no interest in spending more.

 

For the record, I have no problem with this.  This IS a lottery.  Or more specifically, a combo platter of a ponzi scheme and musical chairs.  Just be sure to cash in before the music stops.

 

 

On 12/30/2017 at 12:18 AM, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

I’m a stock market wizard...

 

If you looked at my portfolio, you might think that anyway. I’ve done well but not because of any knowledge or skill. Just dumb luck.

 

 

Everyone with substantial equity holdings has made out like a bandit for the past decade. 

 

Which is why we need our taxes cut.  

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

20 minutes ago, Predicto said:

Everyone with substantial equity holdings has made out like a bandit for the past decade.

I sold everything I owned in December of 2006 then got back in in 2009.

[tshile]

everything be crashin'

[Hersh]

8 minutes ago, tshile said:

everything be crashin'

 

Yes it is. Apparently this happened to some degree last January as well. 

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

And the year before that. 

[Springfield]

So apparently past performance is a good indicator of future success with... cryptocurrency???

 

[tshile]

I suppose it's not because of South Korea but because it's january

 

 

[Hersh]

Who knows. It’s all speculative 

[No Excuses]

Used today’s slump to buy Stellar. I am intrigued by their partnership with IMB to do cross border payments in the South Pacific. Has a lot of potential if it works smoothly.

[Bliz]

18 hours ago, tshile said:

I suppose it's not because of South Korea but because it's january

 

 

 

SK seems like an overreaction to an ambiguous comment without anything really behind it.  People out there sure are jittery.  Which is probably a sign they have too much money tied up in this. 

 

I gave about 30 seconds consideration to "buying the dip".  But for me this is just for fun and to see what happens and I don't want to put more money into it.  Sooner or later it changes from a fun gamble into an investment and then you become one of those jittery people.

[tshile]

2 hours ago, Bliz said:

 

SK seems like an overreaction to an ambiguous comment without anything really behind it.  People out there sure are jittery.  Which is probably a sign they have too much money tied up in this. 

 

I gave about 30 seconds consideration to "buying the dip".  But for me this is just for fun and to see what happens and I don't want to put more money into it.  Sooner or later it changes from a fun gamble into an investment and then you become one of those jittery people.

 

yeah the SK stuff seems exactly as you say, but still makes more sense than "it's january"

but the cryptokiddies know all i suppose. they got a lot of graphs that look somewhat similar, i suppose.

[ExoDus84]

I'm wondering if this annual January dip is caused by tax considerations. The new year rings in, cyrpto investors engage in mass selling thus realizing profits and deferring their tax liability a year.

 

Or maybe it's just jittery investors selling off around this time of year because the same thing has happened the past few years.

[Springfield]

I bet that nobody on ES will lose money on cryptocurrencies, nary a soul...

 

 

39 minutes ago, ExoDus84 said:

I'm wondering if this annual January dip is caused by tax considerations. The new year rings in, cyrpto investors engage in mass selling thus realizing profits and deferring their tax liability a year.

 

Or maybe it's just jittery investors selling off around this time of year because the same thing has happened the past few years.

 

You pay taxes on currency exchange?  Serious question.

[ExoDus84]

51 minutes ago, Springfield said:

I bet that nobody on ES will lose money on cryptocurrencies, nary a soul...

 

You pay taxes on currency exchange?  Serious question.

 

I think technically if you trade one crypto for another it's considered a like-kind exchange, and would then be a taxable event. However, I'm talking about people whose crypto investments appreciated, and thus will now have to pay capital gains tax. I'm assuming anybody who makes a tidy sum will end up paying taxes. Even if the market is unregulated at the moment, I wouldn't risk stiffing the government.The IRS is like the Iron Bank of Bravos..they will have their due.

[tshile]

Money made off it is income, is it not?

 

I've only lost money so, I haven't looked

 

also don't you only pay taxes on realized return? Trading coins around and not actually taking out USD shouldn't be taxable?

 

I can't wait for TurboTax to ask me if I have cryptocurrencies

[Predicto]

2 hours ago, ExoDus84 said:

I'm wondering if this annual January dip is caused by tax considerations. The new year rings in, cyrpto investors engage in mass selling thus realizing profits and deferring their tax liability a year.

 

Or maybe it's just jittery investors selling off around this time of year because the same thing has happened the past few years.

 

 

Hardly anyone ever actually sells.  They get too greedy and think they are going to miss out on the next big jump.  That's how the bubble keeps growing.  

 

Until suddenly one day a big player tries to cash in and people panic and everyone tries to sell at the same time but there is no one to buy, and the unregulated online brokerage sites become unresponsive.  

[Springfield]

I read somewhere that basically one person ran up the price of bitcoin last year.  Forget the source.

 

here it is:

https://www.finder.com.au/bitcoins-150-to-1000-price-rise-was-likely-caused-by-one-person

 

It was 2013 and it was from $150 to $1000.  One person.

[Predicto]

2 hours ago, Springfield said:

I read somewhere that basically one person ran up the price of bitcoin last year.  Forget the source.

 

here it is:

https://www.finder.com.au/bitcoins-150-to-1000-price-rise-was-likely-caused-by-one-person

 

It was 2013 and it was from $150 to $1000.  One person.

 

And that undoubtedly will be the same person who gets out with his money before everyone else gets left holding the bag.

[techboy]

 

[techboy]

In other news...

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/25/if-you-own-bitcoin-heres-how-much-you-owe-in-taxes.html

 

As far as Uncle Sam is concerned, bitcoin is not currency. It's property. That means whenever you buy something with bitcoin, it's two transactions, not one. What you're actually doing is selling a property (bitcoin) for a cash value and then using money from that sale to buy a product. So every single purchase you make with bitcoin has to be reported on your taxes.

[No Excuses]

I have pulled my money out from pretty much most of the crypto community.

 

I have some small amounts left in Stellar, Ripple and VeChain, for the **** of it.

 

In general, I was taking a skeptical approach to this entire industry but a few things have really changed my outlook:

 

1. USDT, or Tether, is basically a scam that is pumping the crypto market with counterfeit money. To me this will eventually be the downfall of this entire industry. The longer this scam runs, the harder people are going to be hit.

 

2. A friend invited me into a closed social media group, formed by some of the "big shots" in the crypto community. If people are a reflection of the product being sold, then yeah, **** these guys. Even the sleaziest wall street and real estate guys would blush in front of them.

 

I was treating this entire thing as a glorified lottery ticket. If it worked out great, if it didn't not much to lose. And I still think blockchain technology will eventually go mainstream. The crypto market is badly in need of independent regulators to clean out the bull**** peddlers, of which there are way too many. But until that happens, I am staying far away.

[ExoDus84]

3 hours ago, No Excuses said:

1. USDT, or Tether, is basically a scam that is pumping the crypto market with counterfeit money. To me this will eventually be the downfall of this entire industry. The longer this scam runs, the harder people are going to be hit.

 

As far as Tether goes, it's only being utilized by a couple of exchanges, and is only "redeemable" for fiat on a very limited number of other exchanges. I think if it goes south, though it will have an impact, I don't think it would take down the entire industry. I don't think there's enough people buying tether to make a collapse of it take down the whole crypto scene. Bitfinex is the main exchange that would go tits up in that scenario.

 

That being said, Tether is secretive about the banks it's using behind the scenes, and apparently just broke off business relations with their auditor. Doesn't sound good.

[No Excuses]

21 hours ago, ExoDus84 said:

 

As far as Tether goes, it's only being utilized by a couple of exchanges, and is only "redeemable" for fiat on a very limited number of other exchanges. I think if it goes south, though it will have an impact, I don't think it would take down the entire industry. I don't think there's enough people buying tether to make a collapse of it take down the whole crypto scene. Bitfinex is the main exchange that would go tits up in that scenario.

 

The issue with Tether is how much of counterfeit money it may have already pumped into the cryptomarket. It's on enough and fairly prominent exchanges, that when things go south, it will tank a lot of people's assets. 

 

Ultimately, if it is the scam that it is being speculated to be, then it will eventually result in a massive amount of people losing faith in this industry when **** goes south. Most of the big players and shareholders at exchanges will cash out, and the remaining middle to bottom feeders will be left holding their bags.

 

The downstream effect of such a ponzi scheme will be really, really bad.

[Springfield]

Bitcoin ain’t doing so hot...