Since when we saw the tail wagging the dog (derivatives dragging corn down), I've become wary. TPTB have an unlimited amount of shiat money to throw at any ETF. Then who audits the ETF? Who audits the auditors? Physical corn, on the other hand, has this self custody thing that is very very hard to dodge...  The ETF thing in general is good, but there are multiple problems that may appear and instead of blessing to become an obstacle (at least temporary) in terms of the price increase. First, there are two types of ETF - cash settled and physically settled. The first type won't have any affect on the price. But the second will have an impact, because the BTC's will be bought from the spot exchanges in USA. I don't think some respected company like Fidelity or CBOE will risk faking the purchases of BTC's. If they don't have the asset, they will have to use customers money to pay the new customers. This will make them a ponzi, and as we all know the law in USA is severe in such cases. The most famous case is Maydoff's, who faked profits from the activity of the firms and used the new cash to pay the interest. I believe the court gave him 150 years in prison effective sentence. So, although possible, it is highly unlikely this will happen. But, SEC are cautious and want to be 100% sure that the custody is well established and working. May be this was one of the main reasons for the denials in 2017. But now the things are different - Bakkt, Grayscale, Paypal, G&S, Fidelity, M&S, etc. are respected financial giants who managed to secure licenced in USA custody with insurance in case of theft. Therefore I think the probability of creating fake volume with non existent bitcoins is practically 0. However, there are other problems that may affect the price in a negative way. The first problem is how exactly the 650K BTC's held by Grayscale will be managed if the premium continues to be negative. Will they apply for an ETF and somehow transfer the BTC's in the ETF market? There is a chance that the things may go wrong for awhile and thus causing some panic in the spot market. The other big problem is that the high expectations may lead to another Dec. 2017 buble like increase that may end just as badly. People thought that the cash settled futures will have a positive impact on the price. Then the great dissapointment came. A similar thing happened when Bakkt started. So there may be some drawbacks after all. Hopefully they will not bring another 2-year bear winter. But once the ETF market becames fully operational, we can expect at least several trillions $ invested in BTC for a short time of 1-2 years perhaps. And the best scenario is everything to go smoothly with an extended multi year bull market. I think the odds for that are much greater because of the new big players, who don't seek a quick profit. I don't claim to fully understand the implications of ETFs getting into Bitcoin. At first thought it seems to be a positive thing (mass adoption, recognition, etc.). But, something makes me feel a little wary about such big players entering this space. All those massively powerful entities will have the power to greatly influence the market, and we must assume that their motives will not necessarily be pro-Bitcoin. On the other hand, if Bitcoin is to have a future, it has to be able to withstand any threat and succeed in any challenge. So, I'm not too worried about it. I see all such cases as tests of Bitcoin's robustness. And, so far, Bitcoin has passed all tests with flying colors. I just have a bittersweet taste in my mouth about this one... |
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Edit: Oh, and trust me on this: I'm extremely picky about typography, maybe as picky as you, if not more! This is not meant as an offensive comment. I think there are very few of us left. I'm always happy when I find another one...
At least three in the WO. Be happy! Good to know!  |
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[...] That is $\infty$ according to Knuth.[...] Thank you for empirically confirming my point about Knuth's perfectly symmetrical infinity symbol. Based on your comments, I feel that I must mention the rather obvious fact that symmetry in this context strictly refers to the underlying geometry (i.e., the symmetry of the locus of the lemniscate), and excludes the added serif stylistic characteristics, which naturally tend to remove some of the symmetry. If you assumed that I was referring to the reduced symmetry due to the serif elements, you are wrong, and missed my point completely. Now, compare the beautiful and harmonious symbol shown above, with the "serif symbol for '8', rotated by 90°" asymmetrical utter monstrosity that you posted in your earlier message, which I'm including here as a screenshot, in order to avoid font rendering ambiguity:  Note: If the symbol in the above screenshot does not appear asymmetrical (as far as the locus of the lemniscate is concerned) in your original post on your screen, then we are in full agreement, and the culprit is my PC's low-quality serif font (Times New Roman, included in Windows 10, is my guess), as you've already mentioned in your reply.
Edit: Oh, and trust me on this: I'm extremely picky about typography, maybe as picky as you, if not more! This is not meant as an offensive comment. I think there are very few of us left. I'm always happy when I find another one... Edit 2: I fully support your suggestion about using L AT EX as a markup language for posts here, in the way it is used in MathOverflow (Stack Exchange), for example. It's a pleasure to post there because of this, among other things. |
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"For every price dump,
There will always be a pump."
Newton, version 2.
#itsgoingupforeverlaurahaiku
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Guys ('n' gal). We are all blessed. I say this in the most humble way I can. I don't know if it's luck, intuition, wisdom, belief, smartness or whatever combination of the above, but we are truly blessed. Nothing more to say really, but to thank Bitcoin and Satoshi for what they've done for us and for the entire world.
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First thing I do is launch Firefox, which automatically opens 6 sites: - Gmail - Google Calendar - Outlook Mail - Kraken 5m BTC/EUR - Bitstamp 5m BTC/USD - Wall Observer In that order. Then I make coffee. so you have an oldschool coffee machine without web UI? I have one of these Nespresso ones, with the capsules. Great inventions. There must be some with Wi-Fi I guess... Ideally, you would install a tube permanently into your mouth and let the 'puter do its thing. Should work great with the Bitstamp chart plugin installed. https://www.death-clock.orgBadly programmed page. No BMI under 25, two options for male? Yeah, you're right. Pretty crappy. When I saw Homer's link I remembered of a death prediction site I'd visited years ago, maybe it was this one, maybe not. First Google search result... Actually, it just puts your selection on top, followed by the full list, so you could also have two "Female" options. Same with BMI, you could have two of the same number. Piss poor programming! At least it gives the same result for the duplicated choices, so the algorithm is probably OK. Puts things in perspective re. our age vs. our corn... Good to HoDL, but better to (also) enjoy while we can! |
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First thing I do is launch Firefox, which automatically opens 6 sites: - Gmail - Google Calendar - Outlook Mail - Kraken 5m BTC/EUR - Bitstamp 5m BTC/USD - Wall Observer In that order. Then I make coffee. so you have an oldschool coffee machine without web UI? I have one of these Nespresso ones, with the capsules. Great inventions. There must be some with Wi-Fi I guess... Ideally, you would install a tube permanently into your mouth and let the 'puter do its thing. Should work great with the Bitstamp chart plugin installed. https://www.death-clock.org |
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First thing I do is launch Firefox, which automatically opens 6 sites: - Gmail - Google Calendar - Outlook Mail - Kraken 5m BTC/EUR - Bitstamp 5m BTC/USD - Wall Observer In that order. Then I make coffee. |
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Apologies for being a little too picky here, but I absolutely hate it when I see a non-symmetrical version of the infinity symbol being used, such as the one shown above, which just looks like ' 8' rotated by 90°. Such a symbol will never be found in any of my writings. It is of no coincidence that (L A)T EX uses the proper, symmetrical symbol in its standard math typeface, or else it would not have passed Donald Knuth's strict criteria—and rightly so! The one in your avatar looks fine though, and I find the entire avatar very beautiful. Just imagine how it would look like, had you used the ugly symbol above... There! Much better! |
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56K This pic is similar to the one with the normal/upside-down dishes. It took me quite a bit of time to figure out the above object's geometry (where the thick and thin parts are). BTW, $57k! |
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[...] By the way, I did listen to that podcast between Laura Shin and Saylor in the end of January when it came out ( here's a link if peeps want to listen to the whole 1 hour and a half thingie), and sure Saylor did end up lecturing Laura a bit in regards to some of her seemingly trader rather than HODLer thinking.. so there were some seemingly hostile times during that interview, and maybe it did kind of show that Laura might have been under-appreciating the power and importance of bitcoin through her ongoing attempts at journalistic objectivism. [...] I hadn't listened or watched that interview, thanks for that link. Here's the YouTube video: Why Bitcoin Now: Michael Saylor on the Best Way for Companies to Buy Bitcoin - Ep.209I found Saylor was his usual entertaining self, trying to simplify the various concepts, and making them more digestible for Laura and the Bitcoin newbies in the audience—which is a good thing, and Saylor is pretty good at it. I think he was a bit repetitive at times, reiterating the "thermodynamically sound monetary network" line, and the points about electricity, running water and Venezuela. He did come out as trying to persuade her to a degree. "And, by the way...this", "and, by the way...that"... Laura came out as the happy Bitcoin semi-noob, with a pinch of evilness, when she kept mentioning about "Bitcoin reaching a bubble/peak", "when to sell", and overly laughing at times. She has a pleasant personality, I like her. I didn't get the impression that she has a deeper anti-Bitcoin agenda or anything like that, but rather, that she has the typical reservations and skepticism that anyone trained in the traditional monetary system would have. To her, the crypto space is just a new, hot thing that will increase her exposure and audience, will add more Twitter followers and viewers/listeners to her interviews and podcasts, but I don't think she really fully grasps the gravity and importance of Bitcoin and how it will transform the monetary system in the near future. It's always great to listen and watch Saylor educating the masses about Bitcoin. In retrospect, a careful listener could have even guessed Tesla's $1.5 billion Bitcoin investment announcement that came about 10 days later. I believe this interview will forever haunt Laura Shin, when the time comes when she will see in awe and disbelief that Bitcoin has exceeded $10 trillion market cap, and Apple, Google and most of the big players have bought in. |
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I think that Laura needs to change her journalistic philosophy. She has been covering bitcoin and various shitcoins that she deems as "crypto currencies" for several years, and she has been a pretty BIG name in the bitcoin space.. but she has maintained a journalistic integrity position for quite a while in terms of NOT investing in bitcoin, and sooner or later, she better get some fucking clues about failing/refusing to protect her own lil selfie by continuing to fail/refuse to establish a reasonable stake in bitcoin.... So, I am not trying to be a jerk or anything, but I really believe that she is short changing herself.. and in that regard, she has been becoming more and more knowledgeable about bitcoin, and she even seems to have been becoming more and more knowledgeable over the years in order to unwillingly kind of convert into a bitcoin maximalist.. and yeah, she might not admit it and yeah, she might not frame the matter in a way that I am framing it because wanting to keep the impression of journalistic integrity and neutrality and all that bullshit... but I do feel a bit bad for her in regards to short-changing herself financially. By the way, I did listen to that podcast between Laura Shin and Saylor in the end of January when it came out ( here's a link if peeps want to listen to the whole 1 hour and a half thingie), and sure Saylor did end up lecturing Laura a bit in regards to some of her seemingly trader rather than HODLer thinking.. so there were some seemingly hostile times during that interview, and maybe it did kind of show that Laura might have been under-appreciating the power and importance of bitcoin through her ongoing attempts at journalistic objectivism. Another thing, people might consider me to be a bit crazy in my assertion too that I consider myself to be quite open minded and objective about bitcoin too.. so fuck that kind of thinking that you cannot be sufficiently objective and be invested in something at the same time... but I will admit that over the years I have become more and more convicted about bitcoin, and I am going to deny that I am lacking in objectivity because of the size of my investment.. but whatever, I still kind of understand that perspective regarding having some detachment to see some matters in a different way, but I would also assert that the different way of seeing matters does not necessarily cause the person to be more informed about the world or that particular matter, even if they are seeing the matter from a different (non-invested) perspective. The problem with Laura is that, by the time she becomes "more knowledgeable about Bitcoin", it will be "far too expensive" for her, and she won't buy... Of course, if she considers Bitcoin to be "far too expensive", it means that she still doesn't get it... It's OK though, some day she will get it, as will most current nocoiners. As for being objective while HoDLing, I fully agree with what you've posted. I believe that being a Bitcoin HoDLer does not take away one's ability to criticize it. If anything, as far as I'm concerned at least, I feel that being a Bitcoin HoDLer makes me a harder Bitcoin critic. Maybe it's a personal thing, but I'm always very critical of the stuff I own, theories I agree with, etc. I want them to be put to the test and any weaknesses exposed. So, as a Bitcoin HoDLer, I say to all who want to attack Bitcoin: "Bring it on! Come and get it, and if you manage to do it I'm ready to change my viewpoint on cryptocurrencies!"
I wonder what they'll be saying when Bitcoin drops from $400k to $300k. "Bitcoin is dead", surely!
There won’t be any drop from $400k to $300k: “It’s going up forever Laura” Just short-term, man, just short-term! https://youtu.be/W2Ct0ouRooY |
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^^^ That's what happens when journalists publish articles on things they don't understand. These articles just serve to feed the egos of those who are against Bitcoin. Problem for them is, their satisfaction is short-lived. In a matter of days/weeks/months, Kind Daddy completely disproves them. And then a new price level is established, an order of magnitude higher. Rinse and repeat.
I wonder what they'll be saying when Bitcoin drops from $400k to $300k. "Bitcoin is dead", surely!
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I bought a Trezor for 0.13 BTC. It's now worth $7,272.  Looking forward to the day it will be worth $100,000! Is that all? Mine was 1 BTC. But it does have 'First edition' embossed on the back. Yes, that's all. In fact, that's the only purchase I've ever made with Bitcoin. I've also given $1 worth of coins to some of my students and colleagues, for motivating them to get involved (now worth several hundred dollars, and probably lost already—nobody really cared). All the rest I've been HoDLing. I feel almost ashamed... As if I didn't give enough support to the cause (usage of Bitcoin as a payment method). But... How could I bring myself to spend something so precious? The way things are going, I don't see myself selling any coins, unless I need them to buy some expensive product or service. Certainly not to convert to fiat to sit at the bank, and certainly not to buy coffee, Trezors, mobile phones, or Netflix subscriptions. There's my regular fiat income for those. "First Edition"? Mmm... Nice to have. Don't tell me it's an all-metal one! I would love to own one of these. Mine is just the plain, plastic, standard version. Works great though. Has never failed me. Good design. |
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 Future pics I bought a laptop some years ago for 0.6 BTC. So I know how it feels. Oh how I wish I was smarter than that. I bought a Trezor for 0.13 BTC. It's now worth $7,272. Looking forward to the day it will be worth $100,000! |
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I can manage the dishes just fine and flip them in my head. The rotating ballerina is harder. When seeing it first (scroll out, then back in), it's always CCW to me. It takes some time and conscious effort to make it spin clockwise. Is it a brain hemisphere thing (right handed vs lefty)?
CW for me. Maybe because I'm left-handed... As for the plates, it seems that the brain "locks" in a specific perception, and then it's difficult to change it. But once you stop looking for some time, it reverts to the "default" perception, which, for me, is "plates upside down". |
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Damn it, how to I get them to be upside down again.  Wait a minute u guys see the plates upside down ? HOWW!! they look pretty normal for me ughhhhh You know, when I first saw the pic, I saw the plates upside down. I tried hard to "flip" them, and I managed it. Now, every time I see the pic, I see them all normal ( not upside down), like my brain has learned it that way! Strange stuff... |
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Good riddance! I don't feel the slightest of pity for her. It just confirms that money alone is not enough, you need brains too, and it looks like she didn't (and still doesn't) have any... I also know of a friend of a friend who was also a Lotto winner (2 million €), and he wasted it all away in just 2 years, on house renovations, extravagant holidays, luxury cars, designer clothes, and other pointless stuff. Now he is unemployed and in debt, and barely able to survive. You can become rich by pure luck and/or by smart moves and/or by hard work. But to stay rich you need brains. Good thing is, I can bet nearly all WOers have that, so we're all good! |
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Best way to manage these issues: never tell the SO you have bitcoin. Second best: don't say how much, just some pocket money for the lulz.
These strategies come handy if she ever turns her back on you, too.
Good advice. And I would generalize it to include parents, relatives, friends, anyone really. Just keep any coin-related info absolutely to yourself, and, perhaps, arrange for some way to release the coins to the ones you choose, after your death. I think humans are a nasty species. The best and the worst of the animal kingdom. Tread with caution.
Off-topic movie recommendation: Tonight I will be watching The Wizard of Lies (2017), the fall of Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme robbed $65 billion from unsuspecting victims—the largest fraud in U.S. history. I don't know if the movie is good, but today I spent the entire day researching the story, and I found it absolutely fascinating. I find Robert De Niro's choice as Bernie Madoff to be excellent, and very fitting for the role. Should be a great watch. |
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It's stories like this that make me feel so happy I don't have a wife... If I did have a wife and she dared to shout at me for not selling the top or for buying the dip, I would literally say to her "pack your things and get the hell out of my house". That's also one of the reasons why I would never live in a house not owned by me. |
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