Why have bitcoin instead of cash?

Bitcoin isn't issued by a government that is $20 trillion dollars in debt.

Bitcoin isn't issued by a government that is printing money to over compensate for its wasteful and inefficient spending.

Bitcoin isn't unsustainable unlike social security, healthcare & many social & state run programs.

Bitcoin isn't regulated by corrupt government agencies.

Some type of escrow or trusted 3rd party service to hold funds in trust until goods/services are confirmed delivered could be the best we can hope for.

Alternative methods to keep track of scammers other than IP tracking may also help.

Whatever scamming bitcoin is subject to has to be pale in comparison with the massive amount of credit card fraud in the world.

I suspect the SEC will never approve the bitcoin ETF unless bitcoin users are willing to give up significant control of bitcoin to the SEC and other "regulators".

Might be better to establish an altcoin ETF in a country that is independent to international bankers & the influence of the UN/EU/USA/NATO etc.

I saw an article on this topic posted on zerohedge yesterday.

 

Many state run programs are not sustainable over the long term.

Sometimes, I wonder if they were designed to be that way. Designed to fail.

The repeal of glass steagall, which separated commercial and investment banking to prevent economic crisis like the Great Depression.

And many other recent legislature over finance and banking industries contribute to economic lack of stability over the past few decades.

Banking derivatives being thoroughly unregulated with trillions in exposure has been a massive problem for a long time.

I don't want to badmouth anyone. No way around it, I'm afraid.  

This is what governments always do.

They use things like legalized marijuana, gay marriage, healthcare and bitcoin ETF's as bargaining chips.

They stall and sabotage progress until the public is desperate enough to accept a bill legalizing marijuana/gay marriage/healthcare reform/bitcoin ETF's funded by 20 tax hikes which diminish Constitutional rights & freedom.

Its what happened with obamacare. They waited and stalled healthcare reforms for decades until americans were desperate enough to accept anything. And what they got were 20 tax hikes, ridiculous regulations which decreased market competition and setup healthcare more into a system of state sanctioned monopolies, which prohibited industry advancement and increased costs, with very few improvements on healthcare for consumers.

I was foolish to be optimistic about the SEC approving it.

Anderson Silva's old striking coach, Rafael Cordeiro, might be training Shogun, Kelvin Gastelum, Marion Reneau and Beneil Dariush out of King's MMA for this one.

I like the style of stand up kickboxing he teaches.

AFAIK USADA tests in brazil. The only difference is the brazilian athletic commission is in charge there. Everything else is the same. USADA sends testers which randomly show up to collect samples.

I see an update here, which seems to say the ETF was denied by the SEC:

https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/batsbzx.htm

Looks like btc price is way down.

Could be a good time to buy!?

 

One thing investors love to preach is "diversification". Not putting all the eggs into one basket.

There could be other opportunities in the world as good as bitcoin early adoption.

Like for example, during the 2008 economic crisis some bank stocks went as low as $0.01.

After the bank bailout was approved, those $0.01 stocks rose to $3.00. (300x gains.)

There are many opportunities where someone could do well if they're in the right place at the right time.

Bitcoin isn't the only opportunity in the whole world.

Maybe sometimes, its good to remember that.

 

Fun fact: Elon Musk, CEO of the tesla electric car company and lead figure behind Space X, had his humble beginnings as a paypal co-owner.

He may have had a hand in inventing paypals verification scheme where they deposit a small amount in your bank account.

I don't think paypal is a scam. But some of their policies could be a bit on the paranoid and unfair side, which is why many in the past boycotted them.

Their reputation is better now, it used to be much worse.

Awhile ago, I was watching the VICE show on HBO.

They did half an episode on people in poor countries being desperate, donating one of their kidneys for money.

I think they pay something like $7,000 to $15,000 for 1 kidney which will be used for organ transplants.

I don't know if I would do that. Its kind of scary to think what people do when the economy is bad and there are no jobs.

I feel sorry for people in those circumstances. 

I wouldn't mind a btc savings bank that paid interest on deposits with accounts protected up to a certain amount of insurance.

A btc service that offered high interest similar to an IRA would be nice.

Those would be decent sources of entry level, passive income, which btc and altcoins currently lack.

But in terms of traditional banks who have influence in creating economic and currency policy.

I think I would prefer an impartial bitcoin miner regulating inflation objectively than an economist, analyst or CEO who could be bought for the right price.

Last I heard this is walmart's pricing for wire transfers.



Walmart is MUCH cheaper than their competition, btw.

It makes me wonder if the fuss over "expensive bitcoin transaction fees" is exaggerated and blown out of proportion.

I've heard that tomorrow, friday the 10th, could be the deadline for a SEC announcement on the ETF.

That's what many different websites are saying anyway.

If such is the case, what time should we expect an announcement?

I have to admit I'm excited about this & can't wait to see what the word is.

 

Based on those charts OP posted, am I right in thinking september -- october are the best months to buy btc?

Does anyone have a month chart of bitcoin's rise from $12-$15 to $50 or whatever it went to around 2011-2012?

Very interesting.

I wonder when btc miner peak activity is, and how long it lasts.

Is it possible for partially filled blocks during periods of inactivity to accumulate over time?

The article claims many blocks are 99, 369 and 860 KB.


That seems like something that could cause congestion during periods of inactivity which acccumulate over the long term.

Yes!

Unlike previous US economic stimulus plans, it was accomplished without a $1 trillion dollar budget or big spending.

Many more jobs are scheduled to be added.

Here is a small part of the expected job growth.

If the price of 1 bitcoin jumps from $300 to $1,200.

That seems like it might fall under capital gains tax.

By not approving the ETF sooner, the state is unable to tax those gains as effectively.

What happens if the price of btc rises from $1,200 to $10,000.

That would be more lost tax income.

I think the ETF might be approved on that basis.

But with all the variables and conflicting special interests in play, its really anyone's guess as to what will actually happen.

If the SEC refuses to approve it, that might not make a difference.

Maybe iceland or another country more sympathetic to alt coins would give it approval.

Arbitrage was my best strategy.

Buying underpriced coins on an exchange.

Selling for a higher price on another exchange.

This was before transfer fees were high, I don't know if people still do this today.

The Godofredo Pepey vs Kyle Bochniak fight was cancelled.

If it hadn't been it would have been the 1st UFC event I've seen with 13 fights.

Should be a good card in brazil with a brazilian in every fight.

Excited to see this.

 

If I remember right, economic sanctions were imposed on russia years ago. Maybe as far back as 2014? Those sanctions took a toll on russian and european economies which can be measured in the billions of dollars range.

The suicide rate in japan does surpass the suicide rate in russia. In terms of overall "well-being" an argument could be made for russia having an advantage over japan.

I don't know what ratios of wealth or wage equality look like in either of those countries but that could also be a good metric to gauge "well-being" as could average number of hours worked per day, which I would guess definitely falls in russia's favor.

There's no doubt japan's technical sophistication is probably than russia's, at least outside of weapons of war. But that sophistication comes at a high cost in terms of japanese historically working and studying ridiculous hours to gain a small advantage.

There was a documentary done years back where impoverished africans from the poorest communities visited america and commented on how they felt sorry for americans they got to know, because all they seemed to do is work & not have time for anything else.

In that, I do kind of disagree with textbook definitions of what a nation's "well being" mean.