Reddit has bigger bulls than here

[mccorvic]

Sometimes people lie on the internet.  These people are known as redditors.

I like this quote.

[Zomdifros]

I took out a student loan at a sick APR (non-residents get fucked in the US, because they don't qualify for any federal loans). I lied that it was for tuition and invested it all in Bitcoin. I maxed out all my overdrafts and credit cards before Christmas. I also got a travel stipend for a research trip, which I needed for plane tickets and accommodation for 1 month, and I shorted Bitcoin instead. I even got a little extra "emergency funding" before Christmas, all into Bitcoin -- when they audited me for it last week, I chuckled as I wrote a check for their fiat which was only 10% worth of the Bitcoin that it paid for. I invested all my tax returns (which I made sure to complete on the day they came out (February)

It was stupid and risky, but I didn't give a fuck because it paid off. And I not even a bull, I am long-term cautiously optimistic (at best), medium term bear, short term bull. I had no net worth to my name, I am a poor as fuck grad student, I can barely afford my food month to month, but I went ALL IN. I would say this is "bullish behavior".

I like these kind of stories, you are a brave man.

... and I shorted Bitcoin instead.

Wait wut? Care to elaborate?

[gmiwenht]

[deleted]

[Zomdifros]

Wait wut? Care to elaborate?

bitfinex margin trade

But why, and did you make money shorting?

[piramida]

This is not bullish, it's simply stupidity.

Think so? The stupid people who went all in when BTC was at $14 now have about 8 times more, so they can safely retire. Now, who is stupid? They or (hypothetical since I know nothing about you) you going to work daily?

So if I sold my house to buy lottery tickets, and I won, would you say that this was a smart move?
Personally, I don't think one should judge how smart an action is solely by its consequences.

If you sold your house *and* won 10 times more than invested because you had an understanding and balls to do so - then yes, it was a smart move. If you blindly played roulette and made casino rich by losing everything - then no, it was a stupid move.

Was investing everything in bitcoin a stupid move three months ago? Definitely, everybody would have said so back then. Does it look stupid in retrospect? No, everybody else look stupid for not having the predictive abilities nor balls. You know, success is never blamed, and going and doing something bold like that deserves every respect. Event though it looks silly and unsafe to most people, it's only through such bold actions that people gain fame or prosperity.

Of course, 99% of them miserably fail, we all know that. You can call those failed ones stupid all you want

[Qoheleth]

I took out a student loan at a sick APR (non-residents get fucked in the US, because they don't qualify for any federal loans). I lied that it was for tuition and invested it all in Bitcoin. I maxed out all my overdrafts and credit cards before Christmas. I also got a travel stipend for a research trip, which I needed for plane tickets and accommodation for 1 month, and I shorted Bitcoin instead. I even got a little extra "emergency funding" before Christmas, all into Bitcoin -- when they audited me for it last week, I chuckled as I wrote a check for their fiat which was only 10% worth of the Bitcoin that it paid for. I invested all my tax returns (which I made sure to complete on the day they came out (February)

It was stupid and risky, but I didn't give a fuck because it paid off. And I not even a bull, I am long-term cautiously optimistic (at best), medium term bear, short term bull. I had no net worth to my name, I am a poor as fuck grad student, I can barely afford my food month to month, but I went ALL IN. I would say this is "bullish behavior".

If you haven't already, realize at least enough of your gains to pay off that student loan.

Student loans are awful. They're the only kind of loan that you can't escape by bankrupty; you can carry a lien for the rest of your life. I know you're bullish, and it's done well for you, but you gotta get that thing off your balance sheet ASAP.

[w1R903]

ven't already, realize at least enough of your gains to pay off that student loan.

Student loans are awful. They're the only kind of loan that you can't escape by bankrupty; you can carry a lien for the rest of your life. I know you're bullish, and it's done well for you, but you gotta get that thing off your balance sheet ASAP.

Only if it's a government-guaranteed student loan.  If it's a private student loan (and that's what it sounds like), it may be dis-chargeable like any other private loan (but check your terms first).

[Qoheleth]

Only if it's a government-guaranteed student loan.  If it's a private student loan (and that's what it sounds like), it may be dis-chargeable like any other private loan (but check your terms first).

My impression was that ever since the law changed in 2005, even private student loans have been able to survive a bankruptcy.

I suppose I could be mistaken on this point.

[gmiwenht]

[deleted]

[gmiwenht]

[deleted]

[Crazy]

Only if it's a government-guaranteed student loan.  If it's a private student loan (and that's what it sounds like), it may be dis-chargeable like any other private loan (but check your terms first).

My impression was that ever since the law changed in 2005, even private student loans have been able to survive a bankruptcy.

I suppose I could be mistaken on this point.

You're not mistaken as far as I'm concerned. That is my understanding as well.

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

I love that fact that he is a libertarian. Bitcoin is probably the greatest thing to ever hit the libertarian movement.

This.

Finally, a mass of peaceful people who subscribe to non-agression and voluntary trade will, for once, get a windfall instead of the usual shafting.

[Zomdifros]

To clarify, I borrowed money to buy Bitcoin. Was that the confusing part? So I guess that is shorting USD rather than shorting Bitcoin? ... shows you how much I know about financial instruments, and maybe that drives the point home: it was easy money, even for a EE grad student with no background in finance.

Ah, that makes it clear indeed.

I love that fact that he is a libertarian. Bitcoin is probably the greatest thing to ever hit the libertarian movement.

This.

Finally, a mass of peaceful people who subscribe to non-agression and voluntary trade will, for once, get a windfall instead of the usual shafting.

Yes, and combine this with the fact that without the power of printing fiat and endlessly increasing public spending by creating public debt, governments will probably have to shrink a lot in a Bitcoin dominated world. It was only after the start of the Federal Reserve that the US government began to increase it's size relative to GDP after all.

[tonto]

I took out a student loan at a sick APR (non-residents get fucked in the US, because they don't qualify for any federal loans). I lied that it was for tuition and invested it all in Bitcoin. I maxed out all my overdrafts and credit cards before Christmas. I also got a travel stipend for a research trip, which I needed for plane tickets and accommodation for 1 month, and I shorted Bitcoin instead. I even got a little extra "emergency funding" before Christmas, all into Bitcoin -- when they audited me for it last week, I chuckled as I wrote a check for their fiat which was only 10% worth of the Bitcoin that it paid for. I invested all my tax returns (which I made sure to complete on the day they came out (February)

It was stupid and risky, but I didn't give a fuck because it paid off. And I not even a bull, I am long-term cautiously optimistic (at best), medium term bear, short term bull. I had no net worth to my name, I am a poor as fuck grad student, I can barely afford my food month to month, but I went ALL IN. I would say this is "bullish behavior".

If you haven't already, realize at least enough of your gains to pay off that student loan.

Student loans are awful. They're the only kind of loan that you can't escape by bankrupty; you can carry a lien for the rest of your life. I know you're bullish, and it's done well for you, but you gotta get that thing off your balance sheet ASAP.

Maybe buy some land, too, especially if it's close to a major urban area but hasn't been developed yet.    Land is the other thing where there is only a finite amount of.  A big reason that rich people like inflation is because it props their physical assets, like land.  With land you could help hedge against a potential bitcoin crash.  I'm talking the crash of the 1859 Carrington Solar Flare style... if the solar flare of 1859 hit today, our electric grid (and things that depend upon it, like bitcoin) would be wiped out for months, maybe years.   At least if you cash out some btc to buy some land, you'll have a place to go, or even physical assets to sell if you need to. 

[Mike Christ]

Yeah, and BTC could have crashed and be worth nothing, and they would have literally nothing.

I always cringe when someone says this.  I take it you didn't read the white paper?  Unless we can assume the whole world is populated a bunch of dumb zombies, there's no way BTC could've amounted to completely nothing.

[johnyj]

[–]throwaway-69857457 63 points 4 hours ago*
 this is going to become bigger than Jesus

 

[Zomdifros]

Maybe buy some land, too, especially if it's close to a major urban area but hasn't been developed yet.    Land is the other thing where there is only a finite amount of.  A big reason that rich people like inflation is because it props their physical assets, like land.  With land you could help hedge against a potential bitcoin crash.  I'm talking the crash of the 1859 Carrington Solar Flare style... if the solar flare of 1859 hit today, our electric grid (and things that depend upon it, like bitcoin) would be wiped out for months, maybe years.   At least if you cash out some btc to buy some land, you'll have a place to go, or even physical assets to sell if you need to. 

The art market is doing quite well the last decade for exactly the same reason.