Blockchain technology

[Ryan]

It really is just an asset priced (primarily) in US dollars like everything else and as such it's absolutely not a place to be in a time of real crisis. Even gold is a terrible hold during severe crises.

Couldn't disagree with you more on that. I did really well on gold I held throughout the GFC. Of course, I didn't sell it in the middle of the market crash, but no one in their right mind should be selling anything in the middle of a market crash. And as Bitcoin's anti-inflationary properties start to get more press with people looking to shift into assets that preserve value, it wouldn't surprise me if Bitcoin is headed for another bull run this year. Oh, and I don't price Bitcoin in USD - I price USD in Bitcoin. $1 US currently = ~2000 Satoshis.

 

[Ryan]

If so, one might think that even Bitcoin might not have a place in the new deal being unregulated, so to speak?

It's going to be hard for every government in the world with competing political agendas to simultaneously exclude such a massively built-out, decentralised and resilient infrastructure with millions of existing payment channels in place. But I'm sure there are some pathological types out there that think it can be done. Like I said, I don't think anything short of a global catastrophe will stop Bitcoin at this point.

 

[Mikkael]

This is copy/paste from Nomoretax.eu about Bulgaria as the second largest Bitcoin owner, according to article in:

In the recent news, Bulgaria came up as the country holding the second-largest amount of Bitcoins in the world. The surprising statistics relate to the fact that the Bulgarian government owns at least 213.000 Bitcoins. At the current rates, the value of those Bitcoins is over 804 million US dollars. If accessed and converted, the Bulgarian Bitcoin wallet would be good to cover a large portion of the country’s GDP. The Bulgarian government came into possession of the significant treasure after Bulgarian law enforcement authorities seized the Bitcoins during an operation related to identifying cyber-crimes committed by an international group of hackers. The largest amount of Bitcoins on the globe belongs to the person who created Bitcoin, hiding behind the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It remains unclear what is the destiny of the Bitcoins owned by Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government may decide to auction the Bitcoins (as it is often done in the US) or use them for any other purpose.

Bulgaria is an active participant in the FinTech sector entailing trade in crypto currencies. In addition to a number of firms operating in the field of crypto currency exchange, international crypto conferences take place in Bulgaria and the country holds two two-way crypto currency ATM machines in the capital Sofia, which allow selling and purchasing virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin. The users wishing to buy Bitcoin can simply deposit cash in euro, US dollars and Bulgarian levs.

Bulgaria is an attractive destination for online businesses as it offers not only affordable well-educated workforce (Bulgarian developers are well-known as providing excellent services for reasonable fees) but also an extremely competitive taxation environment – the country levies the lowest corporate and personal income tax in the EU (10%).

 

[Agron]

I heard that bitcoin will be appropriated by banking cartel and governments to de-cash human society. And it wouldnt surprise me if we found out btc was created by the same source as twatter and fakebook. It would be logical.

 

[Woodsman]

Bitcoin is a finite system, with hard limits on its growth. The blockchain is already very, very big, (a couple 100 terabytes today) and it is constantly growing on an increasingly steep curve up, up, up. As a result, transactions are today backlogged (you currently have to wait about an hour for your trade to go through), due to the ever-increasing computational and energy requirements for managing the whole system. At some point the whole parade must inevitably reach its limits, both mathematically and physically. Already, Bitcoins can be, and indeed are measured in the cost of electricity needed to process their existence. (It ain't cheap.)

But no! The popular hand wave performed by adherents to the cryptocurrency revolution is that microchip technology will keep getting faster and cheaper! So you see, Moore's Law will allow the community to forever stay one step ahead of entropy.

Well.., that strikes me as being short sighted and wishful. Even flat out stupid.

That being said...

There are lots of clever hacks in the works, ways to subdivide the work and calculations, offloading portions of the blockchain to other blockchains where faster transactions may then proceed. Like a fungus bloom sprouting more blooms, the crypto marketplace spreads outward from a central root. Like fairy rings of mushrooms spreading their way across your backyard.

I would imagine that eventually, Bitcoins will become like gold bricks locked up in a national bunker, mythical constructs hidden away, (subject to the daydreams of little boys and action movie scripts), while all the plebes will be trading in some splinter of a splinter of a splinter currency somehow connected back to the original sin.

The thing is.., cryptocurrencies are probably going to happen. It's seeming increasingly inevitable at this point, that money will be fixed to hard-to-find numbers somewhere in Pi, (or a similar fractal deep dive god-fog of math). -Which isn't, fundamentally a bad idea. It's just the implementation of the thing. How long until some grubby money lender works out how to start rent seeking and charging interest?

In the mean time, the whole systems looks to me as though it is complex enough that people dedicated to scamming regular folks (who just need to pay for gas and groceries) will be rewarded for their focus and dedication. It will also be computationally demanding enough, (requiring warehouses full of Google style rack computers built into the sides of mountains), that only centralized corporate bodies will be able to manage, and thereby leverage it all. (Corporations don't do nothin' for free.) Already, the hardware and electricity costs required to participate in the maintenance and growth of Bitcoin's backbone have long left behind the bedroom computer enthusiast.

It all sounds eerily like the crypto architecture is perfectly designed so that once it has gained wide enough popularity, it must by default land squarely in the hands of the credit card companies and banking cartels. (Or create new ones).

There may be enough complexity and chaos right now for some healthy and beneficial probability to collapse into reality, but I'm not betting on it. The revolution looks like a gold rush at the moment, with a heavy scam vibe waiting for us all in the future.

And as always, the regular schlub out trying to pay his rent is going to get the blunt end. Knowledge protects, but the knowledge here is hard won and, as the name implies.., cryptic.

 

[Ryan]

Bitcoin is a finite system, with hard limits on its growth. The blockchain is already very, very big, (a couple 100 terabytes today)

Where did you read that? Current Bitcoin blockchain size is only about 320 gigabytes - that would fit on an external 1TB USB hard drive for less than $50. See: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Namecoin, Dogecoin, Peercoin, Ethereum stats

And transactions are relatively slow (5-10 minutes on average) compared to other blockchains, but you very rarely have to wait hours. Do you do much Bitcoin trading? Most people who study blockchain in depth know that Moore's Law is no answer to increased computational and transactional requirements; approaches like Proof of Stake, Delegated Proof of Stake, sharding, plasmas and Inter-Blockchain Communication protocols are areas of much greater focus. For instance: Blockchain Scalability Approaches

With the upcoming Bitcoin "Halvening" in a few days (a mathematical event at which the future rate of Bitcoin issuance is reduced by half), there will be an increased level of centralisation in the network as smaller contributors will no longer find it profitable enough to continue to run the required hardware necessary to compete with the larger mining pools. These pools will also become more specialised in developing the hardware required to give them a computational advantage - we'll likely see an increased level of vertical integration amongst pools, hardware manufacturers and developers as they attempt to increase efficiency by creating or solidifying strategic partnerships. It's also probable that most miners affected by the halvening have already made plans to transition out of the space or developed newer, alternative, profitable business models. See here: Experts Talk About Bitcoin Halving - E-Crypto News

As the 'brain death' of the US empire continues, the most novel, innovative and effective approaches will likely come from Eurasia. China already commands the geographic location of a majority of Bitcoin computational capacity and I suspect that, despite the likely launch of China's Central Bank Digital Currency later this year, the Chinese government will have a strong incentive to ensure the Bitcoin network continues to function well into the future. After all, it provides a nice way for US investors to quickly move their wealth out of US dollars should they start to become concerned about the viability of the US dollar as a reliable store of value (which any investor with two functioning brain cells to rub together is already concerned about). This provides the Chinese government will yet another means of leverage over the pathological US 'elites'.

The thing is.., cryptocurrencies are probably going to happen. It's seeming increasingly inevitable at this point, that money will be fixed to hard-to-find numbers somewhere in Pi, (or a similar fractal deep dive god-fog of math). -Which isn't, fundamentally a bad idea. It's just the implementation of the thing.

Indeed, the devil is always in the details. Fortunately, cybercurrency (a term I think makes more sense than cryptocurrency, given the more transparent nature of decentralised ledger technology) and blockchain developers are extremely good at paying close attention to details. Interesting times ahead!

BTW, thanks @Mikkael for the article about Bulgarian Bitcoin holdings. I'd read about that elsewhere, but not with as much information.

 

[Woodsman]

Where did you read that? Current Bitcoin blockchain size is only about 320 gigabytes - that would fit on an external 1TB USB hard drive for less than $50. See: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Namecoin, Dogecoin, Peercoin, Ethereum stats

And transactions are relatively slow (5-10 minutes on average) compared to other blockchains, but you very rarely have to wait hours. Do you do much Bitcoin trading? Most people who study blockchain in depth know that Moore's Law is no answer to increased computational and transactional requirements; approaches like Proof of Stake, Delegated Proof of Stake, sharding, plasmas and Inter-Blockchain Communication protocols are areas of much greater focus. For instance: Blockchain Scalability Approaches

With the upcoming Bitcoin "Halvening" in a few days (a mathematical event at which the future rate of Bitcoin issuance is reduced by half), there will be an increased level of centralisation in the network as smaller contributors will no longer find it profitable enough to continue to run the required hardware necessary to compete with the larger mining pools. These pools will also become more specialised in developing the hardware required to give them a computational advantage - we'll likely see an increased level of vertical integration amongst pools, hardware manufacturers and developers as they attempt to increase efficiency by creating or solidifying strategic partnerships. It's also probable that most miners affected by the halvening have already made plans to transition out of the space or developed newer, alternative, profitable business models. See here: Experts Talk About Bitcoin Halving - E-Crypto News

As the 'brain death' of the US empire continues, the most novel, innovative and effective approaches will likely come from Eurasia. China already commands the geographic location of a majority of Bitcoin computational capacity and I suspect that, despite the likely launch of China's Central Bank Digital Currency later this year, the Chinese government will have a strong incentive to ensure the Bitcoin network continues to function well into the future. After all, it provides a nice way for US investors to quickly move their wealth out of US dollars should they start to become concerned about the viability of the US dollar as a reliable store of value (which any investor with two functioning brain cells to rub together is already concerned about). This provides the Chinese government will yet another means of leverage over the pathological US 'elites'.


Indeed, the devil is always in the details. Fortunately, cybercurrency (a term I think makes more sense than cryptocurrency, given the more transparent nature of decentralised ledger technology) and blockchain developers are extremely good at paying close attention to details. Interesting times ahead!

BTW, thanks @Mikkael for the article about Bulgarian Bitcoin holdings. I'd read about that elsewhere, but not with as much information.

I'm glad somebody on this forum knows what they're talking about! I'm still trying to gather info on the whole crypto currency thing and hammer it into some sense. I won't be happy or comfortable with it until I'm in a position to be able to explain it to the layman in a way which is both accurate and detailed enough to be both understandable and worth understanding. The brochure versions of all things currency related tends to doom entire cultures.

Anyway, a three position decimal place error is a chump move. Please consider the correction well noted!

 

[Ryan]

Interesting article (emphasis mine):

Blockchain Voting Will Determine Vladimir Putin’s Presidential Fate

Russia’s upcoming e-voting on the Constitutional amendments will be implemented using blockchain technology.

Moscow citizens will be able to cast their votes on Vladimir Putin’s Constitutional amendments online via blockchain-powered e-voting. As announced on the Moscow government’s official website, Moscow voters can sign up for the upcoming e-voting starting from June 5.

Blockchain makes voting “almost impossible to hack”
Scheduled to take place from June 25 to June 30, the e-voting will be implementing blockchain technology to “ensure security and transparency.” As officially announced, blockchain will help to anonymize and encrypt each vote to provide safety and immutability of data.

As a blockchain network “does not have a single server,” the chain is “almost impossible to hack,” the official announcement says.

The statement reads:

“The safety and transparency of electronic voting will be ensured by blockchain technology. Such a network does not have a single server: in order to change the information regarding bulletins, it is necessary to obtain the approval of most network participants, so the chain is almost impossible to hack. The vote itself is anonymized and encrypted.”

In the announcement, the Moscow government did not specify what kind of blockchain technology exactly is going to be deployed during the vote. The authority also did not mention any company assisting in implementing the technology for the voting process. Cointelegraph reached out to the e-voting customer support to find out more details on the matter. This article will be updated should they respond.

The vote could extend Putin’s term by other 12 years
During the vote, Russian citizens will choose whether they support the Constitutional amendments.

First introduced on Jan. 15, 2020, the Constitutional amendments proposal aims to allow Putin to serve two more six-year terms — until 2036. If Russian people vote against the amendments, Putin will finally have to leave his Presidential post in 2024. Putin has been serving in office either as President or prime minister since 1999.

During his long-running rule, Putin has failed to introduce legislation for the cryptocurrency industry in Russia despite issuing multiple deadlines to adopt one. The Russian President may rule the fate of one of the biggest cryptocurrency and blockchain markets worldwide. As reported by Cointelegraph, Russia has been leading the world in 2020 by its share in global Bitcoin (BTC) trading on peer-to-peer exchange LocalBitcoins.

In late 2019, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, called Russian President Putin “the most influential person in the blockchain space.”

 

[SHNAGFNAY]

Spoke with dad yesterday on the phone. He is working from home and is isolating with his partner from most things.

Well, suddenly he mentioned onecoin, for a moment I thought he would be saying something wise, but he said the opposite, that one is now required to enter ones phone number to accounts before a certain date. I assume you will lose your "investment" or maybe the account becomes suspended, I don't really know.

So, for what reasons would they want users phone numbers now? They already have our personal information, copy of passport as well as a copy of a random utility bill. What do I make of this? And should I enter my new phone number? - and is it going to a third party, and then I have a bunch of telephone fraudulent calls?

I think about why hasn't the website onelife been blocked by the FBI or something? Because people can still become new members and spend their money on it.

 

[Mikkael]

I was reading today on Investing.com about China's PBoC development of new digital currency using blockchain technology. While China's stance on cryptocurrency was in previous years hard against it, for in 2013 China banned Bitcoin and closed down crypto-exchanges in 2014, yet Chinese courts recently ruled that some high-profile cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are legal and protected by law.

Changing Stance On Cryptocurrencies?
Josh Tate, CEO of ForumPay points out that years ago the People's Bank of China came down hard on Bitcoin crypto mining. Could it be that with the launch of its own digital coin it's possible the country is adjusting its stance on digital currencies?

Tate is skeptical. He doesn't believe the DCEP digital yuan is a sign that Beijing has changed its tune on cryptocurrencies as a whole. He adds:

“After all, China banned Bitcoin in 2013, closed down its crypto exchanges in 2014 and in 2017 demanded the shutdown of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). In recent years China has invested heavily in digital infrastructure to keep tabs on its citizenry. Therefore, the country’s crypto launch could also be seen as yet another measure to expand China’s ability to monitor its people."

Interesting how the bitcoin market become low volatile in its consolidation phase since the halvening. Sooner or later there will come huge break out, let me guess, up?

 

[Mike]

Spoke with dad yesterday on the phone. He is working from home and is isolating with his partner from most things.

Well, suddenly he mentioned onecoin, for a moment I thought he would be saying something wise, but he said the opposite, that one is now required to enter ones phone number to accounts before a certain date. I assume you will lose your "investment" or maybe the account becomes suspended, I don't really know.
(...)

If I have it right, Cointelegraph is a major crypto news website. Here is a list of news articles on onecoin. From taking a brief review of the article titles, etc. I personally would avoid it.

OneCoin News by Cointelegraph

Stay tuned to the latest OneCoin news, analysis and in-depth articles by Cointelegraph. OneCoin is an investment scam of prominence in the crypto industry.

cointelegraph.com

 

[Wu Wei Wu]

Spoke with dad yesterday on the phone. He is working from home and is isolating with his partner from most things.

Well, suddenly he mentioned onecoin, for a moment I thought he would be saying something wise, but he said the opposite, that one is now required to enter ones phone number to accounts before a certain date. I assume you will lose your "investment" or maybe the account becomes suspended, I don't really know.

So, for what reasons would they want users phone numbers now? They already have our personal information, copy of passport as well as a copy of a random utility bill. What do I make of this? And should I enter my new phone number? - and is it going to a third party, and then I have a bunch of telephone fraudulent calls?

I think about why hasn't the website onelife been blocked by the FBI or something? Because people can still become new members and spend their money on it.

If you aren't already aware, OneCoin is a scam. Your father's money is lost. It's not a cryptocurrency, it's just a scam. If you need evidence to demonstrate this, I'm happy to go get it for you, as long as it will help save your father his money. The founders of the project have been arrested and have warrants out for them in multiple countries. There is no OneCoin cryptocurrency.

I was reading today on Investing.com about China's PBoC development of new digital currency using blockchain technology. While China's stance on cryptocurrency was in previous years hard against it, for in 2013 China banned Bitcoin and closed down crypto-exchanges in 2014, yet Chinese courts recently ruled that some high-profile cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are legal and protected by law.

The CCP is extremely bullish on blockchain technology; It's part of their strategic initiatives and has billions of dollars earmarked to it over the next few years in infrastructure spending.

But they are very anti-cryptocurrency, just as they are against any currency that lets someone take money outside of the Chinese economy. They periodically crack down on crypto operations, especially when it appears like they are facilitating avoiding capital controls.

There have been rumors from regulators for a long time that they may allow crypto projects to raise money again, sometime in the future, once they've put an oversight framework in place. No signs of that being done before PBOC approves the digital Yuan, which is supposed to be operational in a few cities later this year.

I hope this helps.

 

[SHNAGFNAY]

If you aren't already aware, OneCoin is a scam. Your father's money is lost. It's not a cryptocurrency, it's just a scam. If you need evidence to demonstrate this, I'm happy to go get it for you, as long as it will help save your father his money. The founders of the project have been arrested and have warrants out for them in multiple countries. There is no OneCoin cryptocurrency.

I get it is a scam but my father doesn't. Even if he would wake up and realize this, his money is lost? Well it seems so. And I don't think he would change his mind presenting him with the facts, because he already seem to know about them. Unless there is something that can move mountains, I don't think he will wake up.

 

[miguel angel]

I get it is a scam but my father doesn't. Even if he would wake up and realize this, his money is lost? Well it seems so. And I don't think he would change his mind presenting him with the facts, because he already seem to know about them. Unless there is something that can move mountains, I don't think he will wake up.

In that case, unfortunately, he will have to learn the hard way; i.e. losing his investment.

 

[Ryan]

Interesting articles here about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. Of particular interest is the second one - has Craig Wright put all that effort into his "faketoshi" act in order to try and get a legal claim on any of Kleiman's Bitcoins, should they become available?

Who is Mr. Satoshi Nakamoto? | EXMO Info Hub

Many people may wonder who Satoshi Nakamoto is. Probably the pseudonym belongs to more than one person. Whoever she or he is, the developer must be rich. He has mined several early blocks of bitcoin, by now he has about one million bitcoins.

exmo.com

Everything makes sense if David Kleiman was Satoshi Nakamoto. Here's why | SeeBitcoin

There is so much about Craig Wright's claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto that does not add up. It all started back in December when he was 'outed'. The problem is all the evidence back then pointed to an elaborate fraud, orchestrated by Wright himself. Why would Craig Wright want people to believe he...

seebitcoin.com