Somebody thinks bitcoin is a store of value
Maybe when compared to a fiat currency that's inflating at 1,000,000% per year.
Otherwise...
Otherwise...
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As I am also a techie geek, I think blockchain technology is a beautiful thing, and has many valuable uses. But money is not one of them. Bitcoin is simply not REAL. To say that it “as good as” fiat money is hardly an argument.
True, some people use it as a medium of exchange, but that’s their risk. A risk IMO that’s a losing proposition for all but the luckiest of speculators. Simply look at its volatility and tell me it’s a “store of value”.
It is not a joke, it's a fatality waiting to happen even in it's present form which you have amply stated.
Gold has always been accepted as a store of value but that is no longer really true. Today gold is just another tool of manipulation evident by it's seemingly lackluster performance by manipulation. For gold to be what it once was would require a renewal of it's value and ownership.
I wonder why someone doesnt make a competing currency that IS backed by gold. I suppose it would be deemed illegal in some way if it isnt already.
I can understand how the USD under Trump is strengthening against other fiat currencies but against gold and silver I suspect manipulation. The financial condition of the US balance sheet is as bad as it has ever been in history except perhaps after the revolution or mid civil war.
I think gold and silver have not done well because they are antiquated mediums of exchange and dont fit into our neat internet based financial systems. Also, the government doesnt want them used, as they cant be manipulated easily by typing in a few characters on a keyboard.
So they make increases in gold and silver values subject to capital gains. When the crap really hits the fan, they will make them illegal to possess as was done in the 30's . As I remember, you had to sell your metals to the government at a low price, who then revalued gold much higher, depriving the owners of the real reason for having it in the first place.
The chickens will come home to roost. Gold used to be $40 an ounce, then moved to $400, and is hovering at $1200-1300 now. Not a bad store of value in any case.
Theory says it will eventually, but when?
And I didn't even mention that WWII had consumed Europe, Africa, Asia, Russia, China and the whole of the Pacific Rim.
And as reserve currency our bankers got to loan money backed by government stolen from the citizens.
Is that the Bretton Woods agreement you are referring to?
It's called gambling, call their bluff.
When one group runs the game, manipulates the rules to serve themselves, and forces other unwilling participants to accept total financial responsibility when there is a crisis, I wouldn't call it gambling as the term is usually defined.
What exactly is your rational plan that an individual effectively "call their bluff" ?
Stop being a good little citizen and stand as a people. I would suggest an excellent book, "U.S.A. The Republic Is The House That No One Lives In. The start of the introduction:
"Our Republic (at time of this writing) is now celebrating the 200th birthday of the Bill of Rights to our Constitution. Through the wisdom of a few free - thinking men, we have come incredibly far in 200 years. Our nation has been blessed with prosperity more than any other in world history. The technology in this country compares with no other. Our leadership in world politics and economics has no rival. Yet, all this has happened outside the "house" our predecessors on this continent designed and built."
The underlying currency represented by all credit operations is stipulated by law and only approved cartel members are allowed to participate. I do not voluntarily consent since there is no legal and practical alternative. To my knowledge, every person who has left the financial system must still depend on others in the system to survive. Your suggestion is, at best, impractical and counterproductive.
I repeat, what exactly is your rational plan that an individual effectively "call their bluff" ?
Last week I contracted with a local vendor to replace the roof on my house and he confirmed I have a zero credit rating as I haven't had credit for more than two decades.
I fought the IRS to a standstill, they refuse to participate in any legal proceeding as they would have to publicly announce that I'm not a tax payer. I haven't paid taxes since 1994. They pretend I don't exist.
The last magistrate I faced is still a little ashen in the face on my offer to ligate with him based on 18 USC 242 and 42 USC 1983. He immediately dismissed me rather than discuss my unregistered truck.
Rationally do so, are you a slave, I'm not.
I believe you are in love with your question, so much so you don't want an answer because you have been given one but refuse to accept it.
You are suggesting that someone change their way of life completely and take the substantial risk of opposing the tax collectors of federal, state, and local governments. No rational person does such a thing without adequate detail. To get someone to give up a way of life that is working for them (albeit not ideal) you have to provide rational solutions.
I have no plan for an average family to survive, that is not my venue. I only have a plan on how I survive and that is very well thank you, How another handles their survival is up to them, not me.
Where another gets funding is up to them as man has the unlimited ability to contract. If another wants to deal with the devil, that is on them, not me. Just don't try and stand on false premises by denial of the fact. Lots are available for as little as $5000. You may have to live out of a van or tent as you save money for a small structure. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Avoidance of taxation is another matter all together, it is not for the faint hearted. I do pay real estate tax because my little farm has such a low tax bill it is not worth my effort to remove it from the tax roles. We do not allow our county to issue bonds so no real burden there. I pay sales tax only when I can not avoid it which means I pay little.
Let me address this fully before moving on to the IRS. Property can be removed from county tax roles by the acquisition of allodial title. It requires a tremendous amount of work if you live in one of the original 13 states as it requires you to trace all the way back to the king's grant which is further complicated by the use of metes and bounds system. All the other states are much easier as you can determine the end result via the Bureau of Land Management to find the original patent. It is also much easier when completed as you send a certified copy of the property search and apply for the patent to come forward in your name.
I have no need to make a living at this time. I owe nobody and have no mortgage. I grow most of my own food and either barter or buy what else I need. There is a family a couple of miles from me that has grass fed grass fed beef which is just fabulous with a fat profile similar to fish without all the heavy metal poisoning.
As to the IRS, I would highly suggest Dave Champion's book, "Income Tax: Shattering the Myths". I would have loved to have had that book when I was doing battle with the IRS. But alas I just picked that up recently and I had already won. But what one must remember when fighting the IRS is not to obtain that dreaded "tax protestor" status. But the easiest way to defeat the IRS is to offer to pay immediately upon tender a certified declaration that you are a taxpayer and a certified invoice.
I keep stating I owe no one anything until my roofer finishes his task and all payment matters have been arranged under their terms of 12 months same as cash. I have instructed my bank of the payment schedule so they that matter is resolved and I again owe nothing. Guess that address the bank question.
I am not suggesting anyone do anything. I merrily inform that their are options. What you are suggesting was answered by V in my all time favorite movie "V for Vendetta", fear keeps you under control. I have no fear. The most that can be done is death and I have already accepted that reality.
Now you are asking that another man live for you, that I refuse to do. I ask nothing of anyone as no one lives for me. I offer options, it is up to the individual to determine the methods, the price and their wiliness to pay that price.
If you want to see what freedom feels like, I would suggest you start with a traffic ticket. So long as you have done no harm because with harm you have waived your rights, challenge jurisdiction by filing a motion for dismissal on the grounds of personal jurisdiction. But beware as the unprepared are doomed to failure.
Worse case for you, you have to store silver which should according to money managers should be at least 10% of a wise portfolio. You see you would not be really gambling, you would be ready for any emergency or a nice profit in the future on being able to deliver physical metal.
I favor silver because the annual ore recovery rates of silver are dropping in relationship to gold. But the big thing is silver is required in so many manufacturing processes that it's value will necessarily have to rise for delivery of actual metal.
Do I have the cash, not any more. Spent every penny of my heirs inheritance, it was a marvelous time. But not a problem got my silver and some gold too.
I would say that when that brown stuff gets into the fan you will be prepared. Have you seen the projection that silver and gold may change ratios with silver being a multiple of gold?
Here's an interesting resource http://www.numbersleuth.org/worlds-go... Nevertheless, when gold goes up, silver will go up, proportionally, more.
Silver will outstrip gold because silver is necessary in many processes whereas gold holds mostly an intrinsic value based on utility not need.
Well there has been beads, salt, diamonds (worse than gold except as industrial abrasive), chocolate and so much more.
Wonder what's next? I'd say brains but they are hard to measure in short term and many would be destitute.
A friend of mine sent me this yesterday, offers a remarkable view of the problem, not just the west coast but worldwide:
https://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/c...
That's how I was able to previously mention being able to afford adding four guns to the two I had.
Not mentioned was buying a year-old-car with one whopping check with plenty left over.
Bitcoin? Me dino wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot-long pole.
No, let's make this jazzy modern like bitcoin is supposed to be.
Me dino wouldn't touch bitcoin with a ten-meter-long way longer pole.
Yes, all things are relative and only relative to a worthless currency would bitcoin temporarily qualify.
I can't remember when but the new coin releases will soon be over. When you consider that some of these bit coins ASIC miners can chew up 50 kw every 24 hours, mining is not cheap. Everybody will then have to live off the tranaction fees, And who likes those fees and has huge server populations? My guess would be the banks. It's their business model.
While I agree it's a lousy investment, it wasn't designed that way. The design was centered around decentralization of currency control which was a fraud unto itself.
What it has proven is the possibility of a one world currency in a cashless society. And while it is impossible to manipulate the actual bit coins that is not so for either the wallets and more importantly the passwords. This is not a lousy investment, it is a very dangerous technology.
And all the little sheeple have bought it hook, line and sinker, But not to worry, it will be coming soon to a bank near you.
The IRS was looking and had every transaction, boy did some people get some rude awakenings for their 2017 tax returns.
Bitcoin is a test of a technology to see if the sheeple would accept it and to would seem they did. Here comes the cashless society where if you do something not liked your wallet mysteriously just stops working.
Due to the way the blockchain technology works, bitcoins cannot be manipulated but the wallet is open for control. The fact that your wallet may contain a certain amount of bitcoins will always be true. The fact you are the owner of that wallet or can even gain access to the wallet is easily manipulated.
However if by that same token your transaction was on 1/6/18 at $17108.70 you would not have been very happy at all on 1/7/18 when you needed more because the value had dropped to $16371.80.
The only real value of bitcoin is high intensity gambling.
Bit Coin is nothing more than a government scam. It has been allowed to flourish because it will have value to the government in the future. This is the start of a cashless society were dissenters can easily be cut off from any form of goods with just a few keystrokes.
The bankers of the world thanks all the idiots dumb enough to participate.
Did you not pay attention to Snowden? And he only scratched the surface because to go any further would invite a bullet.
Are you not aware of that huge computer farm out in the mid-west with unreal storage capacities that need to be water cooled and we're talking a lot of water?
Only the bureaucrats have low tech. The military to a lessor degree and the spy agencies have thing that are not of this world.
Now as to block chain, they didn't need to invent it. They just allowed it to happen and pay the miners very handsomely but they own it. In fact the IRS let it be known in January that they expect taxes to be paid on bitcoin transactions.
And believe me, they have backdoor passwords and wallet manipulation where you wallet can just sort of disappear.
Are you not aware of the trend toward cashless societies and bitcoin is the answer. Once bitcoin is fully distributed, remember those guys that started bitcoin, they got that 50% (as a side note miners in 2017 reportedly gobbled up between 1 to 4 gigawatts of electricity.
Can you not guess that when the mining is done the only miners that may remain will in all likelyhood the banks that will be collecting the fees. Read your bank insert lately, then fees have been climbing. And the IRS will be told all, no new technology there but their friends the bankers will send over some tapes.
Perhaps you mean it was between 1 and 4 GW-hrs, which is still between $120M and $480M. Even at the cost line, this is big bucks.
How big is this facility in acres?
The claim was for gigawatt hours and was one of the low estimates maintaining a very conservative estimate. How conservative, try this one"
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...
"The skyrocketing value of Bitcoin is leading to soaring energy consumption. According to one widely cited website that tracks the subject, the Bitcoin network is consuming power at an annual rate of 32TWh—about as much as Denmark. By the site's calculations, each Bitcoin transaction consumes 250kWh, enough to power homes for nine days.
Naturally, this is leading to concerns about sustainability. Eric Holthaus, a writer for Grist, projects that, at current growth rates, the Bitcoin network will "use as much electricity as the entire world does today" by early 2020. "This is an unsustainable trajectory," he writes."
This is not based on a single facility, it is based on the technology as it stands currently.
Computers are 0% efficient. 1-4 GW in a square mile is an exciting amount of heat.
I only used the cite for 1-4 GW as it was the low end of the range but this second article I cited is stating that worldwide annual consumption is 32TW. Now we are talking power.
One YouTube presentation I say from a bitcoin miner said his power bill was $80,000 a month and he averaged 30 bitcoins a month. Yes it was paying for itself but what an utter waste of resources.