[Abbas]

Originally Posted by download2live

These are strange times. Usually the stock prices and gold prices are inversely related. Now we are seeing a rally in prices of both. Same with Bitcoin. So much money getting printed by govts all over the world. That money has to find some place to go.

The number of trading accounts opened by middle income people / College students / Housewifes during the pandemic was enormous. As if their income never got affected. Govt`s around the world giving stimulus and tax exemptions is only fueling the so called bubble of Stock Market. One Dip and all these so called new investors will run to withdraw their holdings and the fall will be much harder than the rise.

[Samurai]

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...itcoin-account

There is no end to this silliness. The guy who technically owns 7002 bitcoin now says this:

Thomas said the experience has understandably put him off cryptocurrencies. “This whole idea of being your own bank – let me put it this way, do you make your own shoes?” he said. “The reason we have banks is that we don’t want to deal with all those things that banks do.”

I said the same thing when I first learned about cryptocurrency.

Originally Posted by Samurai

1) Money without the middlemen like the central bank.
Money prior to central banks were nothing but precious metal with intrinsic value. So this is like going back to using gold/silver as money. That means you are personally responsible for storing your money. You know what they say about taking out the middlemen, you have to do the job of the middlemen. If you store your cryptocurrency in your PC, and your hard drive dies, that money is gone. If your PC is hacked, or your online wallet is hacked, it is gone too. You can take printout of your money and store it physically, but if somebody snaps a pic of that sheet with their smartphone, it is gone again. Banks gave the physical safety for our money. Without the banks, we are responsible again for the physical safety.

[SmartCat]

Looks like this is end of the road for Bitcoin etc in India

Government lists bill to ban Bitcoin in India, create official digital currency
https://www.livemint.com/market/cryp...943365545.html

In the legislative order of business for the budget session of 17th Lok Sabha that commenced today, the Government has listed a bill providing for the banning of all private cryptocurrencies in India such as bitcoin, ether, ripple and others. The bill also provides for the creation of a legislative framework on an official digital currency. An RBI booklet on payment systems issued on 25th Jan also showed that the central bank is exploring whether to issue a digital version of the rupee.

[Venkatesh]

Bitcoin surged above $38,000 after Elon Musk mentioned the cryptocurrency on his Twitter Bio



Source

[Samurai]

A free article from Ken...

This month, investor, academic, and crypto expert Balaji Srinivasan wants India to cancel a proposed ban on cryptocurrencies and instead buy and HODL Bitcoin. India won’t just benefit financially when Bitcoin moons, but its ability to compete on the world stage could moon with it.

To be fair to Srinivasan, his credentials are impeccable. He is a former partner at legendary Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz. He holds an BS, MS, and PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. He occasionally teaches at Stanford, and his career includes a stint as CTO of Coinbase, the world’s most prominent cryptocurrency exchange.

His essay on why India’s government should buy Bitcoin and embrace it fully won acclaim across the internet—garnering thousands of retweets and high praise from many respected figures in technology. To press the point home, Srinivasan has been interviewed by India media and stressed the opportunity at large.

Unfortunately, like the terms HODL and Moon, his proposal is outlandish and not fit for purpose outside of crypto fanatics, Sumanth argues in today’s story.

https://the-ken.com/story/why-india-...ot-buy-bitcoin

[Bhargav7]

Originally Posted by Samurai

A free article from Ken...



https://the-ken.com/story/why-india-...ot-buy-bitcoin

Totally agree with this. It is fine for individuals and organizations to invest money in speculative assets with the hope of earning some easy money. Not a wise idea for a Democratic Government to use its already limited resources on speculation. Also, considering the Government's proposal to ban Cryptocurrencies, it would be outright silly if they end up buying bitcoins.

[Samurai]

India to propose cryptocurrency ban, penalising miners, traders: Report

The bill, one of the world's strictest policies against cryptocurrencies, would criminalise possession, issuance, mining, trading and transferring crypto-assets.

[condor]

Rationale for the proposed ban is it's use in hawala and for terrorist activities.

The agencies have a good view of happenings and transactions, and will likely track any usage by an Indian resident/national.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by condor

Rationale for the proposed ban is it's use in hawala and for terrorist activities.

The agencies have a good view of happenings and transactions, and will likely track any usage by an Indian resident/national.

Was listening to a Tim Ferris podcast recently where a federal prosecutor was talking about Silk Road.... and she very specifically says the only reason they managed to catch the guy (as well as the other dirty federal agents involved) was because of the blockchain. I mean, that's really the beauty of it. Unfortunately a lot of legislators (and people) don't recognize that as yet.


https://tim.blog/2021/02/18/katie-ha...dup-katie-haun

[Samurai]

One can make money quickly, and lose all money instantly. And the Bank (I mean crypto exchange) can't do nothin... People are turning paupers overnight.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/t...omplaints.html

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Samurai

One can make money quickly, and lose all money instantly. And the Bank (I mean crypto exchange) can't do nothin... People are turning paupers overnight.

I now think Bitcoin/cryptos have reached and passed the inflection point in 2020. I now get the feeling that they are here to stay and possibly thrive as an "asset class".

1) The amateurs are mostly out of Bitcoin and other cryptos. My Aunt asked me about Bitcoin in 2018, but not now. We can see it on this thread too - absolute silence here. Those left behind are long term investors who "believe" in its future.

2) Institutional investors are getting in, thanks to Goldman Sachs types. There are now hedge funds trading in cryptos. It is being treated and offered as a separate asset class (like Gold/stocks/real estate/bonds) to rich investors.

3) As the above NYTimes article says, Coinbase is looking for a valuation of $100 billion. This is a very big sign that cryptos are here to stay

4) Financial websites list live prices of stocks/bonds/currencies and commodities. And now, they have started listing live prices of crytocurrencies. And this is not some unknown niche financial site - it is the CNBC types:



5) Mainstream brokerages in US like Robinhood are now offering trading in cryptocurrencies.

6) There is a growing derivatives market (futures & options) for cyptocurrencies. As soon as derivatives are available for any "asset class", speculation becomes rampant and big guys (hedge funds, investment bankers) get into the picture. A thriving derivatives market ensures trader interest in cyptos and its longevity as an "asset". By taking positions in futures and/or options, a trader/investor can get price exposure to cryptocurrencies without risk of losing everything to fraud.

Essentially, it looks like the "world" has chucked the idea of cryptocurrency as a currency, and it now treating it as an "asset". Digital asset. These assets will have value as long as somebody else believes that it has a value.

[Abbas]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

I now think Bitcoin/cryptos have reached and passed the inflection point in 2020. I now get the feeling that they are here to stay and possibly thrive as an "asset class".

Essentially, it looks like the "world" has chucked the idea of cryptocurrency as a currency, and it now treating it as an "asset". Digital asset. These assets will have value as long as somebody else believes that it has a value.

The narrative around Crypto is surely changing from currency to asset class. Also, i do understand the whole decentralization argument and that it is unhackable and beats inflation due to limited supply.

However, what stops someone to create their own coin. This is where crypto inflation will occur. Already there are many token in the market and if you see the charts, majority of them go up together or slide down together.

Also, since you can buy satoshi as low as with a Rs 100 INR where is the limited supply problem ? This i fail to understand.

Limited Supply should be something like Berkshire Share. Not where anyone could get into the action with a 100 bucks.

Coming on to the Corporates who are investing heavily into Crypto (Read Tesla)

Unlike Hedge fund / Mutual Fund where you can`t allocate more than a certain percentage of your money into a particular stock. Does SEC have any regulations on corporate houses investing their money in such assets?

Basically if what Tesla has done and is followed by other big corporates, then Stock Market / Crypto / Bonds are going to see tremendous spike which will spell doom. Or maybe the beginning of the end has already started.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Abbas

However, what stops someone to create their own coin.

But there is nothing stopping someone from creating a "company" and listing it on the stock exchanges either. Theoretically, there can be a million listed stocks.

Unlike Hedge fund / Mutual Fund where you can`t allocate more than a certain percentage of your money into a particular stock. Does SEC have any regulations on corporate houses investing their money in such assets?

No idea about SEC's stance on this.

Fidelity to launch bitcoin ETF as investment giant builds its digital asset business
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/24/fide...business-.html

Crypto ETFs or mutual fund removes the biggest risk (fraud) & biggest drawback (knowledge of how cryptos work) of owning crytocurrencies. Everything, including security of assets, is taken care by large financial institutions like Fidelity. Even if sophisticated hackers steal cryptos owned by Fidelity, it will probably be insured to protect the investors.

In the past 12 months, Cryptos have become "financial-ized".

[deathwalkr]

Would it make sense to "invest" a few thousands in it now so that it may (or may not more likely) be of some higher value in the future?

People kept saying it's a bubble and that it will burst but the balloon is still blowing up with no burst in sight.

Will the govt really ban this? If so then what are the options available?

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Would it make sense to "invest" a few thousands in it now so that it may (or may not more likely) be of some higher value in the future?

This is an Andy Warhol painting, and is priced at $10,000.



You need to ask youself: would you pay $10,000 for this painting? If the answer is yes, go ahead and buy bitcoin. If no, do not buy bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a now a bit like Art, vintage Wine or classic cars. To 99.9% of the world, it is worthless. But for a few people, it is worth a lot of money. So if you are buying bitcoin now, you should be fairly sure that you will find a buyer for it in the future at a higher price.