Oops, sorry. It is however an honor to have picked the same date as bitserve himself!

My prediction is then August 3rd!

About micgoossens's ATH guessing game
I predict August 4th



EDIT: AUGUST 3rd, see below. (The 4th was already taken by a heavyweight.)

High RAM requirements wouldn't make the algo 100% ASIC proof, but they could make ASICS much, much less cost-effective. If every miner chip needs 8GB - the more the harder - a GPU installed in a normal desktop computer becomes seriously competitive. The extreme is Proof of Storage, where only memory really matters. It's possible to design a continuum of RAM vs processing power difficulties.

I hope it falls again. I missed most of the short opportunity.

I did. I thought by the end of today we'd be back around $2300USD actually. However, apart from the overestimated re-climb rate, the prediction I posted here was quite correct (sheer luck, of course), including the under-2000 correction.

I'm in the same situation as you: must wait a few days to get some fiat, but the cheapcoinz party is over. I hope for more FUD and discounts on the next weekend, but my predictive organ is totally silent now. Well, we'll see, as usual.

P.S. I've loved Toronto. One of the most welcoming, multicultural cities I've visited. There's a good life to be lived there.

I wish I had some fiat to buy even more.
In a few days I'm expecting to get some. I just hope the low tide lasts until then, which I doubt. I guess by Monday morning we'll be on the way up to 2300. Maybe next weekend there will be another panic wave?

I wouldn't be against ASICs if they were available in a commoditized market, like computers or GPUs are. The problem with ASICs as they are now is that it's a seller's market.

In the market as it is now, only one firm makes and sells ASICs. The same firm, or some subsidiary, also mines. This already smells bad as they compete with the other miners (their potential clients). When that firm produces a new, more powerful model, it doesn't get on the shelves immediately: first, the firm uses it to mine while the ASIC still is way ahead of the other hardware and has a strong competitive advantage. After a while, when the competitive edge is dulled, they'll sell the machine to selected clients (not just anyone), with the understanding that the client will "behave" or be excluded from the next sale.

An alternative PoW could help keep more balance - for example, one block every 4 (or 2, or 10) must use a memory-intensive PoW. This ratio could be dynamic, there are many possible strategies that could be tested. With a memory-heavy PoW, there's a lower bound to the cost of the chip which is the RAM it requires. If the required RAM were in the 4-8 GB per processor ballpark, building ASICs wouldn't be that cheap anymore.

Mh, I think I disagree. They might be somewhat irrational, but not totally foolish. What's the use of being in total control of something that's worthless?

OR - Jihan Wu and all the bullshit, that's actually a cover for the Chinese government trying to crush BTC even if they have to spend good money on it. Now this is something that makes me feel uneasy, because it might be 100% rational for China to strangle bitcoin even if the result is worthless. They would significantly improve capital control, which is quite important in their agenda.

I thought there would be a significant dip before August, but I don't think it will be under 2000. Or at least not much under, not for long. I have several buy orders scattered beween 1600-1900. My guess: this is just some FUD/manipulation. Things will get back to normal soon. We'll see how it plays out.

Very unlikely it could happen on mainnet. Way too many transactions there to get stuck. At least from what I understood, it's been explained as a matter of not enough transactions to fill a large block. BUT to me it shows a poorly planned test.

They cry attack now, and there's talk of a secret testnet. Good luck with that.

Interesting discussion on github (the only public space where such discussion isn't secret) here: https://github.com/btc1/bitcoin/issues/65

BTW this could be/lead into the possible "slight but significant correction" I forecast for the next 2-3 weeks a couple pages back.

That's my doubt too. I've got a little fiat ready - not that much really - and my trigger happy finger is itching for the right time to buy more. Truth is, I don't have a single clue. Just hunches.

+1
But kitten pics are too few! Also, I'm interested in real content pearls emerging from the noisy chatter.
Happy to see the thread back on its feet. I'm a long-time lurker too, just joined a few weeks ago.

Kraken just verified my account to Tier 2. It took them less than 2 months. Not bad, eh? They must have very little to do these days.

As for the "what's gonna happen" poll, I can't vote cuz I'm a newbie, but my guess is we'll see some slight upward action sooner than August (say high 2600s to low 2700s), then maybe some more sideways motion or even a slight but significant dip as big money hone their swords. Then in August, I don't think we're really going to the moon, but I'm expecting 3k-3.5k when the dust settles (late Aug/early Sep).

This thread is one of my main gateways to all chat/news bitcoinical, with a slight emphasis on (short-term) price action. I've posted very little (lurking since forever), but I've done my bit of misusing, asking questions that were 100% on topic. Not.
So the "let's turn into a chat" bit is my favorite. Killing the discussion would be too much. Turning it into a chat room with a few main actors -  theatrical characters! - sounds just right. Kitten pics will be tolerated as long as they make a point, I hope.

I've checked it out. Most of these cards have limits for unidentified users of, "1000 USD/1000 EUR". Lifetime limit. Does it mean the cards becomes totally useless after withdrawing 1000?

From what I understood, there is overt and covert asicboost. Overt asicboost is relatively harmless (small relative advantage) and won't be harmed by segwit. On the other hand, covert asicboost needs the signatures in the same block and can't be done when the witness data is segregated.

Interesting. I checked it out and I see his point, it definitely makes some sense.

But one thing I don't understand: how can the Powers That Be (central banks, GSachs etc) keep the price low if they have to continually buy? Dump, dump dump... what do they do when the ammo's over? Buy again at a presumably higher price? Every single btc that gets bought by someone else at those lower prices will eventually push the actual rebuying price higher. Or is something escaping me?

Thanks for your reply, bitserve.

I actually learnt my first and only lesson about exchanges before the Gox affair. I lost about 12 btc (roughly 600$ at the time). I did get 300$ compensation 6 months later. A cheap lesson, in my opinion.

Now I"m just trying to learn about trading small amounts. Mostly I'm interested in lending, which appears to be as low risk as it comes. What I specially like about this kind of trading is that all profits and losses are denominated in btc and fiat never enters the equation.

Any advice about where to go study, where to discuss etc. will be most welcome.
Thanks again!

Hello, I am a long time lurker and just made myself an account. I've been in bitcoin for a while, but my stash is smaller than it could be. Long story.

I recently made myself a new account on Bitmex, mainly I'd like to lend crypto for interest. I have a couple questions.

1. What do you think of that exchange? Is it fair, honest etc? As a non-US citizen, it is one of the few exchanges that will let you trade and withdraw BTC without too much ID hassle.

2. Do you think it is possible to lend out a small part of my btc? I'm talking 0.5-1 btc.

3. Is this the right forum for such questions? If it isn't, please point me to a more appropriate discussion on bitcointalk, and I will delete this post from here.