[ragh_bhushan]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Just like the crypto currency, the nation will be left ungoverned & unregulated, because government needs to pay for the public services

The governments as we know it will have to change. People need to be real stakeholders in the governments/economies for this to happen. Blockchain offers that. I know I am sounding real stupid but that's my vision for future. It maybe too simplistic but there are examples how this can work. Check out steemit.com and its model of social media. That's a start and can unfold massive revolution in the way societies work.

If everybody in an economy or nation state is a stakeholder then everybody has an interest in its well being. It is truly decentralised in nature as against our central governments today. If people are stakeholders then they have an incentive to behave, keep public property safe, commit less crimes etc, pay taxes.

EDIT: As of now, there are only two purposes of using bitcoins
1. Transacting in illegal activities and/or evading taxes
2. Speculation

Am I missing any other purpose, which seems important and our traditional currency is unable to meet?

1. USD / INR all currencies are used for illegal activities / or evading taxes. Criminals will commit crime no matter what.
2. Store of value is what I see. Maybe we have a difference of opinion here.
3. Removing trust elements in individuals and institutions is what our traditional currency is unable to meet. This is met by Blockchain.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by ragh_bhushan

The governments as we know it will have to change. People need to be real stakeholders in the governments/economies for this to happen. Blockchain offers that.

It all boils down to humans and their nature.
I could not undertstand much about it, but then you are talking about blockchain as a way of living, and has nothing to do with using Bitcoin as a currency I believe.

If everybody in an economy or nation state is a stakeholder then everybody has an interest in its well being. It is truly decentralised in nature as against our central governments today.

And everybody has interest in his/her personal well being which takes priority, which is the root of corruption. This human nature does not change.

If people are stakeholders then they have an incentive to behave, keep public property safe, commit less crimes etc, pay taxes.

All this takes a back seat eventually in the absence of centralized regulation.
It only takes the first one to jump the signal, and 10 will follow.

1. USD / INR all currencies are used for illegal activities / or evading taxes. Criminals will commit crime no matter what.

Agreed they do, but bitcoins is the preferred choice because it is unregulated

2. Store of value is what I see. Maybe we have a difference of opinion here.

Sorry but I could not understand this point of yours. Value as in increasing value?

3. Removing trust elements in individuals and institutions is what our traditional currency is unable to meet. This is met by Blockchain.

Honestly, our banking sector is probably the most trust worthy in the world and has weathered many a storms. I haven't lost a single rupee in the current banking structure. Nor anybody whom I know of has.
As for individuals, there's no guarantee they will not cheat, bitcoins or something else.

I would rather trust my money in the bank, instead of bitcoins in some wallet.

[ragh_bhushan]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

I could not undertstand much about it, but then you are talking about blockchain as a way of living, and has nothing to do with using Bitcoin as a currency I believe.

Blockchain as a way of living and bitcoin as a store and exchange of value. If you see fundamentally currency is just a ledger system. Who owns what. Dollar and rupee bills mean nothing. Bitcoin simplifies money.

And everybody has interest in his/her personal well being which takes priority, which is the root of corruption. This human nature does not change.

Nicely put. I agree on this completely. As humans, we are very greedy species and blockchain replicates that. If I pay taxes then I need to know where exactly that tax money went. In US there is a way of finding that out exactly. Whether it went to paving a particular road block or as a part of funds to create new school / college etc.

This is good. Blockchain can take this to whole another level. Everything can be tracked to the cent and it is in public records to be viewed by one and all. Reduces frustration of people who work hard to earn money and then tax authorities just collect it and we never know what they did with our hard earned money.

All this takes a back seat eventually in the absence of centralized regulation.
It only takes the first one to jump the signal, and 10 will follow.

As an example above, this still works with decentralised system. The idea of blockchain is that even the first one does not jump the signal. If he does then he gets penalised because everybody is watching him.

Agreed they do, but bitcoins is the preferred choice because it is unregulated

There is no evidence of which currency dominates the illegal / unlawful activities. So I will refrain from commenting on this.

Sorry but I could not understand this point of yours. Value as in increasing value?

Store of value like gold. We use gold to store value and historically its price has been increasing as it is scarce. Same goes with Bitcoin.

I haven't lost a single rupee in the current banking structure. Nor anybody whom I know of has.

If you keep money in the banks, inflation eats your money. You lose it that way. During Greek banking crisis, there were taxes on deposits held in banks and there was nothing you could do. You could not even withdraw your own money beyond a certain extent.

As for individuals, there's no guarantee they will not cheat, bitcoins or something else.

True. So I don't trust anyone with my money. No individual / institution. Bitcoin removes the need to trust anyone. So in software I trust

I would rather trust my money in the bank, instead of bitcoins in some wallet.

It is always good to have a clear strategy and thought process when one's hard earned money is at stake.

[SmartCat]

Found an interesting quote

Bitcoin is not a bubble. It is the pin.

Totally different perspective huh? Gold bugs and anti-fiat currency supporters can totally relate to it

[statix]

Guys, I want to buy Bitcoin. From where do i buy it? Coinbase does not support India. The price difference between International Exchanges and Indian Exchanges like Zebpay is huge. Arbitrage opportunities? I don't wanna pay so much extra. Any suggestions?

A little desperate here.

[sushantr5]

Originally Posted by statix

Guys, I want to buy Bitcoin. From where do i buy it? Coinbase does not support India. The price difference between International Exchanges and Indian Exchanges like Zebpay is huge. Arbitrage opportunities? I don't wanna pay so much extra. Any suggestions?

A little desperate here.

Now it is not really good time to buy but still if you want to buy, you can ask any of your friend abroad to buy and transfer to your wallet and you pay him on Indian bank account. This is the exact way of mafia racket or other money laundering schemes are leveraging bit coins. And this is the reason Bitcoin will be banned in future. But this will save close to a lakh illegally.

[Nissan1180]

Originally Posted by statix

Guys, I want to buy Bitcoin. From where do i buy it? Coinbase does not support India. The price difference between International Exchanges and Indian Exchanges like Zebpay is huge. Arbitrage opportunities? I don't wanna pay so much extra. Any suggestions?

A little desperate here.

In order to be legally clear, Zebpay is the best choice. The difference may seem like a lot today, but the gains in the future would compensate for that. There are local bitcoin sellers who transfer to your bank account but I am not sure about the legality. No country has banned Bitcoin and no country is likely to do so. The misconception is that China banned it, but they only banned exchanges and ICOs. They did not ban mining, possesion or sale of the crypto. Bitcoin futures would start trading in the US from Sunday, but I do not know if international customers can buy that.

[statix]

Originally Posted by sushantr5

Now it is not really good time to buy but still if you want to buy, you can ask any of your friend abroad to buy and transfer to your wallet and you pay him on Indian bank account. This is the exact way of mafia racket or other money laundering schemes are leveraging bit coins. And this is the reason Bitcoin will be banned in future. But this will save close to a lakh illegally.

My main motive is not investing in Bitcoin but in IOTA and the only way to buy IOTA is through Bitcoin.

Will ask some of my friends abroad. Thank You.

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

In order to be legally clear, Zebpay is the best choice. The difference may seem like a lot today, but the gains in the future would compensate for that. There are local bitcoin sellers who transfer to your bank account but I am not sure about the legality. No country has banned Bitcoin and no country is likely to do so. The misconception is that China banned it, but they only banned exchanges and ICOs. They did not ban mining, possesion or sale of the crypto. Bitcoin futures would start trading in the US from Sunday, but I do not know if international customers can buy that.

The only choice i have right now is Zebpay. Yes, the difference is huge but hopefully the gains in the future might compensate as you said.

I just want to invest IOTA. I have been eyeing IOTA since .5 to .6 USD. Wish i had bought it then. The IOTA technology Tangle is something to look forward to.

I ask my friends if they have any Bitcoins and want to sell some.

Thank You

[akhil994]

Originally Posted by statix

My main motive is not investing in Bitcoin but in IOTA and the only way to buy IOTA is through Bitcoin.

Will ask some of my friends abroad. Thank You.

Would suggest you to go via Coinsecure. The markup fees on that website are the lowest I believe. Even I had a Zebpay account but on comparison found a big difference in the price offered on both platforms. The only downside is that Coinsecure does not have a mobile application.

[statix]

Originally Posted by akhil994

Would suggest you to go via Coinsecure. The markup fees on that website are the lowest I believe. Even I had a Zebpay account but on comparison found a big difference in the price offered on both platforms. The only downside is that Coinsecure does not have a mobile application.

Will try consecure as well. It doesn't matter to me if the platform has a mobile application or not. Almost 9 hours a day i have a PC in front of me. For tracking prices i use Blockfolio. Would recommend it as it lets you set alerts on your desired price.

Thank You

[akhil994]

Originally Posted by statix

Will try consecure as well. It doesn't matter to me if the platform has a mobile application or not. Almost 9 hours a day i have a PC in front of me. For tracking prices i use Blockfolio. Would recommend it as it lets you set alerts on your desired price.



Thank You

Same is the case with me too 😛 plus coinsecure is an Indian website/startup and hence transactions are in INR. Thanks for suggestions for Blockfolio. Will check it out too.

[ragh_bhushan]

Twitter is full of interesting discussions and memes. Sharing some of them for fun. No offence to anyone.

[SmartCat]

Tax department turns heat on bitcoin exchanges across country, checks for evasion
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/62049817.cms

They said various teams of the sleuths of the department, under the command of the Bengaluru investigation wing, today visited the premises of nine such exchanges in the country including in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Gurugram, since early morning.

The survey, under section 133A of the Income Tax Act, is being conducted for "gathering evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, transaction undertaken by them, identity of counterparties, related bank accounts used, among others," they said.

[statix]

Anyone into mining cryptocurrencies?

[sathish81]

Originally Posted by statix

Anyone into mining cryptocurrencies?

I started cloud mining yesterday with hashflare. Purchased 1.1 TH/sec SHA256 (Bitcoin) contract for 1 year. Also have started looking at etherum mining.