Crypto currency mining

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by ulfilias

I *HATE* these addresses, so much potential for a miss-type
~1.27 BCH sent to Bitmain.....though how quite they marry up an anonymous currency with your order i'm a little less sure.

Most cryptocurrencies use kind of parity check on the address so, if you mistype, it's highly unlikely the address you type will be a valid one.

The greater risk is copying and pasting the wrong address. Some malware monitor the clipboard for cryptocurrency addresses, substituting them with the malware writer's address. So it's worth checking that the pasted address is the correct one.

The address you sent the payment to will most likely have been automatically generated for your order so it will be unique to you.

[ulfilias]

Originally Posted by moltuae

Most cryptocurrencies use kind of parity check on the address so, if you mistype, it's highly unlikely the address you type will be a valid one.

Ah. Didn't know that!

The greater risk is copying and pasting the wrong address. Some malware monitor the clipboard for cryptocurrency addresses, substituting them with the malware writer's address. So it's worth checking that the pasted address is the correct one.

Sneaky and impressively smart. Given the amounts involved I double and tripple checked.....Though arguably we have a habit of reading what we expect to see so I also tend to add a space to check blocks and then delete again afterwards. I like the way Coinami chunks the data too!

The address you sent the payment to will most likely have been automatically generated for your order so it will be unique to you.

Neat. You know these crypto things, they may have a future, yet

Actually watched one of the youtube vids of the guy you mentioned early on. Bitcoin is Punk Rock....Arguing that blockchain is dull and destabilisation is where BTC really wins. Bit paradigm shifting actually. Governments are actually a bit powerless on this one if you think about it. They can't seize assets or lock you out.....I do wonder about Charlie Shrem and what he's making of this years meteoric rise in BTC and how rich he's going to be when he gets out!

[moltuae]

Charlie Shrem has been out of prison for a while .... unless you've heard something I haven't

He's quite active in the crypto world again and has done a few interviews talking about his time inside, regrets, etc.

Andreas' talks are second to none. The punk rock one is a good one.

His interview on London Real is well worth watching too:
https://londonreal.tv/andreas-antono...eath-of-money/

I think you need to register to watch it (but registration is free). You can watch the first half on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuoE5CXlIdY

[ulfilias]

Originally Posted by moltuae

Charlie Shrem has been out of prison for a while .... unless you've heard something I haven't

He's quite active in the crypto world again and has done a few interviews talking about his time inside, regrets, etc.

Ah....I saw a Netflix bitcoin thingy where he was due to go inside for it all and it wasn't that old.

However the concept of the government not being able to take away your bitcoins still holds!

Not that I do anything ilegal, intend to etc. Just a mind bending concept that it's all beyond their control....If / When they realise this and that, beyond totally disabling the internet and all it's means, there is still nothing they can do about it, it'll all be a bit late anyway!

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by ulfilias

If / When they realise this and that, beyond totally disabling the internet and all it's means, there is still nothing they can do about it, it'll all be a bit late anyway!

Precisely. There is nothing they can do to stop it. And I think those governments who have attempted to control/stop it, such as China, quickly realise that any legislative restrictions they impose on people or businesses that use cryptocurrencies works against them. Such restrictions simply push people towards services outside of their own countries, resulting in greater losses and, ultimately, devaluation of the local fiat currency.

The more you use and understand cryptocurrencies the more you begin to realise how big this is, like the beginning of the internet itself, only bigger and with enormous world-changing implications. For anyone unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies, that sounds ridiculous. If you've never given much thought to what money is, it seems unthinkable that a virtual currency could ever replace state-controlled currencies, but that's what's about to happen, and much faster than we think it will. The internet has a history of swallowing industries ... telecoms, music, video and movies .... In 2008, the Bitcoin Whitepaper described a mathematical solution to the Byzantine General's Problem, which paved the way for the internet to swallow the banks and finance.

As Andreas puts it, "The Internet Will Eat Your Business":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXLZSgf4b8Q


Presently, most people are still relying on fiat currencies and using them to purchase cryptocurrencies. The tipping point comes when more people start getting paid directly in cryptocurrencies and using cryptocurrencies to make everyday purchases, at which point the value of fiat currencies are all on a race to zero.




This is something I said (in a similar discussion on an IT forum I'm a member of) that I think is fairly relevant ...



It's already happening in some countries that are in economic turmoil, such a Venezuela, where their own fiat currencies have become practically worthless; people there are turning to Bitcoin just to survive and buy food. And, if you look at what's happing economically around the world -- Brazil, Zimbabwe, Greece, to name but a few -- many countries are already heading for the same fate. When you consider that the global economy is a complex balance of individual economies, like a delicately balanced stack of playing cards, it doesn't take much to upset the balance and bring the global economy crashing down, bringing those at the top with it.

Studying cryptocurrencies makes you think really hard about what money is. We take money for granted but it's not until you start to wonder where the value is in cryptocurrencies that you start to question where the value in fiat currency is. You begin to realise that the world's economy is backed by nothing but governmental promises. It's a fragile mess, an enormous Ponzi scheme even, of money printed at will, creating ever increasing inflation (aka devaluation of your wealth). It's entirely unsustainable and, without wishing to sound like some 'end of the world is nigh' nut-job, I believe what we're witnessing is the beginning of a global economic collapse .... or at least a collapse of the 'present system'. As more people rush to move their wealth into cryptocurrencies, it's likely to accelerate that collapse very quickly, meaning it may be coming far sooner than any of us think it is.

The attempt by banks and governments to make their own cryptocurrencies is interesting. It demonstrates defeat ("if you can't beat them, join them"). The blockchain itself is nothing special; it's just a type of database or ledger. The banks already have those, and they already have digital money. What makes cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin special is their decentralised nature, the fact they're inherently secure (no single point of attack) and that nobody can control them or manipulate them. To create a centrally-held, government/bank-controlled cryptocurrency is to completely miss the point.

And here's where it gets really interesting: If all the wealth in the world eventually moves onto distributed, decentralised blockchains, away from governmental control and manipulation, not only do banks become obsolete, but so does government. If we separate money and state, the state loses its power. No longer can a few individuals decide how much of your money should be spent on war, healthcare, policing, etc, etc. Personally, as a proponent of technology, I like the challenges that presents and I look forward to a world where consensus rules through software and technology.

[ulfilias]

Originally Posted by moltuae

Presently, most people are still relying on fiat currencies and using them to purchase cryptocurrencies. The tipping point comes when more people start getting paid directly in cryptocurrencies and using cryptocurrencies to make everyday purchases, at which point the value of fiat currencies are all on a race to zero.

I think that may take a while. Money being a confidence thing anyway, will need a lot of backers to make that shift. It could well come in time, though I think it'll take some years, maybe a decade and quite which coins will actually survive is another matter!

Bitcoin has some faults, but it is fulfilling a requirement. I mean I just bought something (S9) from the other side of the world on a virtual payment system!!!

And here's where it gets really interesting: If all the wealth in the world eventually moves onto distributed, decentralised blockchains, away from governmental control and manipulation, not only do banks become obsolete, but so does government. If we separate money and state, the state loses its power. No longer can a few individuals decide how much of your money should be spent on war, healthcare, policing, etc, etc. Personally, as a proponent of technology, I like the challenges that presents and I look forward to a world where consensus rules through software and technology.

Yes and No here. It's not the governmental control of currency that creates taxes etc, that's part of living in a community etc. They may not be able to control your cash, but they can still stick out there hands and say pay up!

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by ulfilias

Yes and No here. It's not the governmental control of currency that creates taxes etc, that's part of living in a community etc. They may not be able to control your cash, but they can still stick out there hands and say pay up!

But for how long? It's money that gives governments power. When you can no longer pay your armies, police, etc, that power would quickly diminish.

I'm not talking about the near future here. I think Decades (maybe). But it may begin to happen (ie start the transition) much sooner than we're expecting, because there comes a point when a majority of people realise the ship is sinking and panic sets in. In countries like Venezuela it's already happening. When the fiat currency's value drops significantly, the rate of fall quickly becomes exponential.

We would of course need something to replace government, a way to ensure that essential services continue and taxes are collected to fund them. This is where Smart Contracts come in. Using Smart Contracts (with the network's consensus) a percentage of every single transaction could be automatically paid to the necessary services, minimising any potential for corruption and without requiring any governing body that would otherwise act as a drain on the funds.

[Delboy]

Interesting converstaion.

Digital currencies is all fine and that but what happens if the switch was flipped by the Government and the internet was turned off for whatever reason they deemed fit.

Digital transactions and their increasingly rapid integration into our day to day lives leads us down a path where there will be no hands on currencies (cash)

Then at that point the banks/governments have you by the balls.

If you have no means of holding in your hands cash then they are free to manipulate it as they want.

Negative interest for example.

Perhaps we should all go back to hoarding Gold, I see Germany has been piling it up recently.

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by Delboy

Interesting converstaion.

Digital currencies is all fine and that but what happens if the switch was flipped by the Government and the internet was turned off for whatever reason they deemed fit.

That would be economic suicide.

Even the most corrupt governments in the world wouldn't be foolish enough to attempt to block internet access completely. China has probably come the closest with its 'great firewall', a futile attempt to control and censor the internet, one which is very easily (and frequently) circumvented.

While for the majority of the population 'the internet = facebook' or a way to share cat videos, the reality is that, since it's relatively recent inception, the internet has grown to become an absolutely essential part of modern society. Without it, in addition to the impact on the more obvious things like eCommerce, the consequences would be devastating for many many industries and services that have come to rely on it. Healthcare professionals would face delays accessing patient records and drug information, most (if not all) credit card payment systems would be down, haulage and delivery services would be in chaotic disarray, most telephony systems would be unusable (including some parts of the mobile networks, such as sms/text services, since they rely on the internet to share data between different providers). Police, fire services, public transport, news and weather services, would all be affected. And then there's the rapidly growing 'Internet Of Things' ... CCTV and security, control and monitoring systems, heating, lighting, navigation systems, etc, etc ...

The internet has become an essential service. Some of my business (IT) customers pay several hundred pounds per month for their internet connectivity, just to have a service that guarantees close to 100% up-time, simply because they cannot operate without an internet connection. And with more and more businesses switching to cloud-based services and Virtual Private Servers (VPS), reliance on internet connectivity is growing rapidly.

Originally Posted by Delboy

Digital transactions and their increasingly rapid integration into our day to day lives leads us down a path where there will be no hands on currencies (cash)

Then at that point the banks/governments have you by the balls.

If you have no means of holding in your hands cash then they are free to manipulate it as they want.

Negative interest for example.

That's exactly the scenario that cryptocurrencies were developed to addresses and prevent. Without cryptocurrencies we're heading for a cashless society where the banks and government have complete control -- we're probably 90% there already. Cryptocurrencies have the potential to make government-issued currencies worthless and obsolete. They are the people's own 'digital cash'. They're incorrigible and highly distributed (therefore inherently very secure). They cannot be controlled (without complete consensus) or manipulated by governments. And anyone (or anything!) can use them. They're borderless and do not discriminate, meaning that even much of the world's 2.5 Billion unbanked population (who previously could not participate in the global economy because they do not meet the bank's criteria) can now be part of the global economy.

[s2_bo]

Did anyone else buy into the C20 crypto index portfolio before it closed a couple of days ago?
Just wondering what peoples thoughts are about it as it looks to be pretty sold.