Bitcoin

Silvester89

I personally think it's a bit late in the game for Bitcoin. I know some people have said they think it will keep going.

Personally I'm keeping my eye on Ethereum as an alternative. There's lots of people suggesting this could reach the same value as Bitcoin, but it's currently worth a lot less.

musafir05

glentoran99 wrote: »

only thing that's on the blockchain are numbers, there is nothing to link or trace this to a person

If you use bitcoin, there is a blockchain. And the blockchain is really traceable. In fact, during the trial of Ross Ulbricht, the guy that was accused of running the drug emporium Silk Road, they were able to trace millions of dollars of transactions to the wallet on his computer.

bestaroi

Considering investing. Looking for some simple basic advice... Any advice re the best exchange to use- looked at Coinbase and Gemini...... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

gardner1

Simple basic answer DONT

MJ98

bestaroi wrote: »

Considering investing. Looking for some simple basic advice... Any advice re the best exchange to use- looked at Coinbase and Gemini...... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I feel like this forum doesn't like cryptocurrency too much so I'm not openly going to offer too much help. What I will say is there is definitely money still to be made but it all comes to a few things:

1. Doing a lot of research - to understand what you are investing in.

2. Investing money you are happy to lose - it is a volatile market, particularly at the moment (real news and fake news often combined).

3. Investing in projects that you actually believe in/have faith in - going in it purely for quick money will not benefit you. People that do this get scared at the first drop and pull out with a big loss, it's better to have a long-term mindset.

If you go to Reddit, there is a subreddit for almost every major crypto and loads of information and advice. I would go there and do some substantial reading before getting involved - They will also offer you advice on exchanges and websites to use.

Good luck!

tad

Hi,
I have thought about sticking a couple of hundred into this but more for fun. I would be dubious using it as a true investment as others have mentioned a lot of the big bucks have been made already.

One thing that strikes me is that the miners get coins (and maintain the blockchain) but when the coins run out what incentive is left to maintain the blockchain?

The only form of mining that seems to pay now is if you have a roomful of high power computers somewhere where electricity is cheap -on this basis making money just from transactional costs after all coins have been mined seems uncertain and surely if there are no miners (or some kind of crypto accountancy) the system will crash?

tad

...and another thing.
On green issues it was estimated that (this was on radio 4's more or less -a programme about statistics) the amount of computer power needed for mining is equated to the energy used by a small country (they settled on Slovenia as the median)

bestaroi

Thanks for the input. Done a bit of research -what are peoples thoughts on ethereum ?

pitkin2020

bestaroi wrote: »

Considering investing. Looking for some simple basic advice... Any advice re the best exchange to use- looked at Coinbase and Gemini...... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

etoro is a great start for beginners tbh its social trading and easier to get your head around than buying direct from the exchanges. You can set up an account for free and usuall a virtual account. Play around with it and get see what you can do

Teasedale

tad wrote: »

...and another thing.
On green issues it was estimated that (this was on radio 4's more or less -a programme about statistics) the amount of computer power needed for mining is equated to the energy used by a small country (they settled on Slovenia as the median)

Yes, that is scary, isn't it? I like FairCoin (FAIR), thinly traded but looking good ATM.

"FairCoin is an ethical digital currency, driven by the values of the FairCoop ecosystem and supported by a fast-growing global cooperative movement. It is decentralized, as with any other cryptocurency, but at the same time implements radical innovations that makes it unique in terms of ecological operation, stable value growth, ethical trade, savings and funding opportunities. Its development continues with the goal of creating a fair economic system for the Earth. Read more about FairCoin"