Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.)

[pronghorn 44]

So you are saying that people use crypto to launder money and evade laws.

 

[Humble Beast 258]

6 hours ago, pronghorn said:

So you are saying that people use crypto to launder money and evade laws.

 

Some of them.

 

Here’s a good breakdown of the legal implications. To me, it looks like it can be constitutionally challenged. That will obviously take a while to shake out. 
 

 

[Humble Beast 258]

so this is pretty funny. Some online user of Tornado Cash is sending Eth to publicly known addresses of crypto influencers and celebrities. According to the sanctions anyone interacting with TC is in violation, even if you’re just receiving unsolicited funds. 
 

 

[Dahobbs 17,420]

2 hours ago, Humble Beast said:

Some of them.

 

Here’s a good breakdown of the legal implications. To me, it looks like it can be constitutionally challenged. That will obviously take a while to shake out. 
 

 

And, as we all know, you are most definitely really good at understanding things like laws and the Constitution. 

[Humble Beast 258]

6 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

And, as we all know, you are most definitely really good at understanding things like laws and the Constitution. 

Thanks for dropping in. I’ll just link from the column. 
 

“We are still looking at the legal and constitutional ramifications. As a first pass, it’s worth noting that under Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. FEC limitations on spending money raise First Amendment concerns because spending is necessary to support and communicate political speech.”

[Humble Beast 258]

This is why I’m in on bitcoin. I wish everyone could see the signals out there. 
 

 

[RDCanecutter 26,238]

A little more obedience out of people's grandchildren would be a nice thing.

[Parliament 14,111]

Ok boomer

[Humble Beast 258]

 

[Guest]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:30 PM, Humble Beast said:

 

[Humble Beast 258]

This is an excellent summary by the same poster on the implication of recent sanctions and Eth switch to PoS. 
 

Too long, didn’t watch 

 

After merge in September, Ethereum will be on irreversible course toward being completely captured by the US government.  

[Captainant 27,308]

Lmao ETH has been talking about moving to proof of stake for damn near a decade. I'll believe it when I see it. 

And also, lmao if you think the US government isn't all up in BTC as much as it is ETH

[Humble Beast 258]

 

[Humble Beast 258]

So it begins…they’ll try to crack down on US mining. 

[Captainant 27,308]

Oh no, Bitcoin is down! FIND SOMETHING TO BE AGGRIEVED OVER!!!

[bernorange 8,346]

So I understand the reasoning behind government regulating industries that pollute the environment, but my initial thought on reading the Congressional letters above is that it's overreach.  Is the government going to start telling companies how much electricity they are allowed to use?  How many computers they are allowed to use?  They going to target server farms (hi Rackspace!)?  Google's massive complex?

[Humble Beast 258]

49 minutes ago, bernorange said:

So I understand the reasoning behind government regulating industries that pollute the environment, but my initial thought on reading the Congressional letters above is that it's overreach.  Is the government going to start telling companies how much electricity they are allowed to use?  How many computers they are allowed to use?  They going to target server farms (hi Rackspace!)?  Google's massive complex?

Yeah it’s ridiculous, but they have to start somewhere. The real attack will be trying to have US corporate miners enforce OFAC sanctions and not allow transactions to/from sanctioned entities. Fortunately home mining is having a huge resurgence. Much more decentralization on the BTC front than Eth. 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Humble Beast

[Humble Beast 258]

They’re going after Saylor now. 

I have no clue on the merits, but pretty Interdasting that he’s the first person they go after. 

[Henry Hill 3,156]

All the focus on paying your fair share, zero accountability on what it actually goes to. Fuck these guys.

[Humble Beast 258]

The ultimate goal for governments and elites worldwide.  Can’t be allowed to happen here. 

[Humble Beast 258]

 

[Humble Beast 258]

It goes without saying that this is beginning of direct attack on bitcoin and its mining in US.  The state prefers cryptos that are Proof of Stake. Easily co-opted. See:  upcoming Eth merge. 
 

Worth following how serious they get about it. May be something some states would disregard or turn blind eye toward. Balkanization will intensify. 
 

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,118]

Seems pretty quiet here in the shitcoin thread. 

[Parliament 14,111]

We all went back to our jobs at McDonald's.

[UTGrad98 2,257]

After the ethereum merge a week ago looks like some dude copied his ethereum transaction of 200 coins from some old eth fork network to the new network and it went through so that seems like good news. Eth price dropped 20% as soon as it was caught. 

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/09/19/ethereum-pow-sees-replay-exploit-for-200-ethw-days-after-rocky-start/

[Hefeweizen 5,307]

Whoopsie is that bad?

[washparkhorn 9,931]

18 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Seems pretty quiet here in the shitcoin thread. 

I have probably been the fiercest critic of the promoters’ case for crypto here. But I see no need to kick investors when they are down.  Pain is pain. 
 

If the promoters start calling crypto a hedge against de-flation, my venom for the bullshit they spew will return. 

[Guest]

I dunno. I bought my small portion because it seems interesting... but I don't even claim to understand the mechanics behind it all. It was a low enough figure to where if it goes to zero, I'm fine. So I guess that means I'll be a crypto investor for another 2-3 weeks at this pace?

[Humble Beast 258]

35 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Seems pretty quiet here in the shitcoin thread. 

Deep bear market. Peak apathy. It happens. 
 

Nothing has happened to alter the bull case for bitcoin long term. Like every market in the world, dollar strength has hurt prices. How high can the Fed get away with raising rates before something breaks in markets globally?
 

Several currencies, including big ones like JPY and EUR have experienced large devaluations. I was living at Jester at the time, but evidently the knock on effects of these can take a while to manifest if you look at past crises like 1997. (I don’t think it’s at crisis level yet however.) Spoiler:  they end with Fed easing.

This guy breaks this stuff down. A former Goldman trader. Excellent follow on the Twitters.

 

 

 

A handful of people at the Fed control the entire global economy. Can you get a more centralized system? 

 

As for news the biggest recently was the Ethereum “merge”. Went off without a hitch as far as I know. I’ve been pretty vocal with my thoughts on it. Will be interesting to follow how things actually play out on a large PoS network versus the theoretical discussions that have happened to this point. 
 

Ethereans will now pivot pretty hard to trashing BTC and PoW mining. 

[Captainant 27,308]

2 hours ago, UTGrad98 said:

After the ethereum merge a week ago looks like some dude copied his ethereum transaction of 200 coins from some old eth fork network to the new network and it went through so that seems like good news. Eth price dropped 20% as soon as it was caught. 

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/09/19/ethereum-pow-sees-replay-exploit-for-200-ethw-days-after-rocky-start/

when "code is law", bugs and sneaky moves like this are a real son of a bitch. It's one of the main limitations of cryptocurrencies preventing cryptocurrency from working as, well, currency. Well that and their massive transaction fees and latency for on-chain (read: actually real) operations.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,118]

Man, a “crisis” like 1997 would be awesome. Stock market went batshit insane for the next 2.5 years. 

[Humble Beast 258]

Klaus Schwab and the team like two cryptocurrency options. Ethereum and CBDCs. You should ask yourself why that is. 
 

 

4 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Man, a “crisis” like 1997 would be awesome. Stock market went batshit insane for the next 2.5 years. 

Maybe. We’d have to get through the bailout phase first. 1997-1998 ended with LTCM bailout to avoid feared contagion. We’re all much more levered and interconnected now. 

[TonyTexas 10,478]

23 hours ago, Humble Beast said:

Several currencies, including big ones like JPY and EUR have experienced large devaluations.

To the benefit of the dollar. 

[bernorange 8,346]

Quote

An interesting development has arisen out of the latest lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the YouTube influencer Ian Balina for allegedly conducting an unregistered securities offering.

Tucked within the lawsuit charging Balina with conducting an unregistered offering of Sparkster (SPRK) tokens when he formed an investing pool on Telegram in 2018, the SEC claimed that Ethereum transactions occur in the United States due to the fact that Ethereum nodes are “clustered more densely” in the U.S. than in any other country.

According to the SEC, at the time that Balina’s investing pool received investments from contributors in the U.S., the contributed funds were validated by a network of nodes on the Ethereum blockchain, “which are clustered more densely in the United States than in any other country.”

As a result of the clustered nodes, the SEC has argued that “those transactions took place in the United States.” At this point, it remains to be seen whether this claim by the SEC will hold up in court or whether the is a legal precedent at stake.

Data from Ethernodes shows that at the time of writing, 42.97% of the 7869 Ethereum nodes currently in operation are located in the U.S.
...

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-09-20/SEC-claims-jurisdiction-over-ETH-transactions-since-a-majority-of-nodes-are-in-the-U-S.html

I don't pretend to understand the full ramifications of the SEC's assertions, but this is likely an issue worth watching.

[Humble Beast 258]

1 hour ago, bernorange said:

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-09-20/SEC-claims-jurisdiction-over-ETH-transactions-since-a-majority-of-nodes-are-in-the-U-S.html

I don't pretend to understand the full ramifications of the SEC's assertions, but this is likely an issue worth watching.

Gensler has talked about a lot of cryptocurrencies being securities and thus under his purview at the SEC. Eth fans have speculated that Eth would be exempted. It’s still tbd. Seems like there’s a regulator turf war going on. 

One possible outcome is bitcoin as a commodity being regulated by the CFTC, everything else as a security going under SEC regulation. 
 

Closer shitcoin regulatory scrutiny is inevitable. Devil will be in the details. 

[Humble Beast 258]

Aside from disarming the public there would be no better tool for authoritarians than a CBDC. 

[bernorange 8,346]

Might be significant down the road as the product matures:

Quote

The American financial service company Robinhood announced the beta launch of Robinhood Wallet, a standalone app on the Apple Store that allows users to trade and swap cryptos with no network fees.

According to Robinhood its wallet is a self-custody, Web3 wallet that will initially support the Polygon network as its first blockchain, with plans to add support for additional networks in the future.
...

The beta release will allow users to perform common tasks such as trading, rewards, storage and DApp-based yield farming of cryptocurrencies. ...

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-09-28/Robinhood-launches-its-self-custody-Robinhood-Wallet-for-crypto-traders.html

[Humble Beast 258]

Seems noteworthy that bitcoin held steady today with the S&P dumping to new 52 week lows. Not sure what it means, but it’s a divergence. 

[Parliament 14,111]

Time to get back into Bitcoin?  We should finally start that Surly hedge fund.  Bitcoin, bookers and blow.

[bernorange 8,346]

Quote

Chainlink (LINK) co-founder Sergey Nazarov revealed that the oracle provider has partnered with the interbank messaging system SWIFT to develop a new proof-of-concept (PoC) project that will enable traditional finance firms to transact on blockchain networks.

Nazarov announced the new endeavor at its SmartCon 2022 Conference in New York on Sept. 28 in conjunction with SWIFT strategy director Jonathan Ehrenfeld Solé.

By utilizing Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP), the PoC will allow SWIFT messages to instruct token transfers across nearly every blockchain network. This will help to accelerate the adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT) blockchains across capital markets and traditional finance, Nazarov said.
...
The main issue with SWIFT is that transactions can take several days to complete, which is not exactly convenient in an increasingly fast-paced world of global trade and business. To help combat this, the organization recently revealed a new pilot program with Symbiont to explore the integration of blockchain technology to help improve its system.

The firm has also been exploring the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to facilitate faster payments.

By collaborating with Chainlink, SWIFT member institutions will be able to incorporate the capabilities of blockchain without having to replace, develop or integrate new connections with legacy systems – an undertaking that would require significant modifications a come with an “exceptionally high” cost.

This is not the first collaboration between SWIFT and Chainlink, as the pair had previously worked together to explore bond issuance and redemption, according to Solé.
...

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-09-29/SWIFT-partners-with-Chainlink-to-develop-cross-chain-crypto-transactions.html

Are CBDCs much closer to reality than we think or would SWIFT really use an existing tech like Etherium?  I'm honestly a bit shocked to learn that SWIFT is pursuing these ideas.

[Humble Beast 258]

6 hours ago, Parliament said:

Time to get back into Bitcoin?  We should finally start that Surly hedge fund.  Bitcoin, bookers and blow.

I’m the wrong person to ask. 😝 TBH the action feels pretty similar to end of 2018. Low volatility at new bottom of 6k. Then had one more big whoosh down. Seems obvious like that could come since Fed is intent on dumping everything further.
 

Of course if it’s so obvious does it really happen? How many sellers are really left? We’ll see. 
 

3 hours ago, bernorange said:

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-09-29/SWIFT-partners-with-Chainlink-to-develop-cross-chain-crypto-transactions.html

Are CBDCs much closer to reality than we think or would SWIFT really use an existing tech like Etherium?  I'm honestly a bit shocked to learn that SWIFT is pursuing these ideas.

CBDCs are a central planner’s wet dream. Complete surveillance. Unlimited societal manipulation possible. Negative interest rates easily imposed. Want expiration date for tokens programmed to force consumption? No problem. They will try to move to these.

Not sure what to make of swift messing with other blockchains. I guess if they could upgrade their performance while maintaining control of their current role they would do it. 

[Neonmoon 38,127]

On 9/30/2022 at 9:01 AM, Parliament said:

Time to get back into Bitcoin? 

PT Barnum thinks so. 

[Humble Beast 258]

They made Kim find 1.25M in her couch cushions and settle. I don’t think Ethereum Max ever made it off the ground. 

[Humble Beast 258]

A little conflicted on the miners. Made some good money on them last cycle, but there’s some definite regulatory risk for the American ones the next time around. They’re a great vector for a state attack. 

[Humble Beast 258]

 

[Humble Beast 258]

 

[gyroprotagonist 2,591]

On 10/11/2022 at 1:37 PM, Humble Beast said:

 

still would only buy direct from mfg.  buying from Target/Amazon you could get a compromised return unit

[bernorange 8,346]

Quote

Canada-based asset manager Fidelity Investments has signaled that its institutional clients will be able to access Ether (ETH) custody and trading services beginning later this month, according to an email sent to customers. 

Access to Ether services will be managed through the firm's crypto wing, Fidelity Digital Assets, which will give institutional investors the ability to purchase and hold the second-ranked crypto starting October 28. 

According to the note from Fidelity, investors will be able to buy, sell and transfer Ether “using the same model provided for bitcoin investments today.”
...
The move suggests that Fidelity is anticipating that Ether will ultimately be considered a commodity by regulators in the U.S. when it's all said and done. ...

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-10-20/Fidelity-to-add-Ether-custody-and-trading-for-institutional-clients.html

[washparkhorn 9,931]

For only the second time, Business Week devotes an entire issue to one topic: Crypto. Worth a read if one has the time and patience to read a 40,000 word article by one reporter. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-the-crypto-story/?srnd=businessweek-v2

Edited October 25, 2022 by washparkhorn

[bernorange 8,346]

I skimmed through the Bloomberg article.  It's an easy read and does a good job explaining things. 

I see that cryptos are outperforming markets today.  Not sure why, but most every high cap coin is up 10% or more.  BTC back above $20K.