Crypto thread

That's good news. I signed up with coinbase over a year ago and their system was very clunky. I never even attempted a transaction because just logging on with my 100% correct password proved to be a 50/50 proposition.

Crypto itself however, has still not proven to be a reliable storage of value vehicle nor a widely accepted currency. I would have thought its use as a currency would have expanded. It seems to me that crypto is still just what it has always been....a speculative investment where buyers hope someone else will pay more.

With all respect Hawky, I will hold on to my dividend paying assets. 

Best of luck to you.

It isnt efficient, it lacks use and the market is not stable. It has done well this year and I am ticked it didnt get to 2500 like I wanted but the previous year was a disaster and you never know what it is going to do in the next month or six months.

The transaction efficiency is a HUGE problem..there are not many investments that you can have stolen without recourse, that take 5 hoops to jump through to buy and sell or to buy a boutique coin etc.

While the volatility makes Bitcoin a high risk investment, I have invested in high risk assets before. It's not the risk/reward of Bitcoin that concerns me. IT IS THE TRANSACTION EFFICIENCY and THEFT risk that you mention. 

A few months ago I was excited to see TD Ameritrade getting into Bitcoin. Unfortunately, all we can do at the moment on TDA is trade Bitcoin futures. It seems that not even TDA wants to have the THEFT risk associated with Bitcoin. If I could purchase Bitcoin on a platform that I could trust 100%, then it would be worth considering on a dip down below 5k. TDA has no risk in shaving small profits on futures. Conversely, they obviously don't feel that the costs of protecting against theft make it worth it to offer the actual Bitcoin to clients. Think about it!

Unfortunately, Coinbase stinks. I set up an account with them and they wouldn't even recognize my password for over two months. That sunk my trust issue with them immediately and I never sent them any USD. 

Again....Bitcoin pays you no dividend, so its value is simply based on someone else paying more for it than you did. In South America (think Brazil and Venezuela) and countries that have crippling currency valuations, I can see it as a form of protection against inflation. That need is unnecessary here in the USA and North America. 

Chasing Bitcoin at 9k is not wise. Good luck to all that do. As stated, I will stick to dividend paying assets with zero risk of theft and virtually zero transaction costs.

So tell me about Ameritrade and what they offered, so do they allow retail customers to trade the bitcoin futures? And is it only bitcoin or is it other higher market ones like XRP and Litecoin etc?

Usually with futures there are other costs associated like margin maint costs is that the case here or is it like buying an index and you are buying at X price and sell at whatever the market is without ongoing maint costs?

Here is info direct from TDA. Only Bitcoin futures at the moment it seems with an approved margin trading account. They are also developing a system (ErisX) for spot trading in Bitcoin and other crypto, but there is no information on when TDA account holders would be able to purchase by logging onto the site. 

You can apply to trade Cboe bitcoin futures if your account is approved for futures trading and you have a minimum account balance of $25,000. If you meet those requirements, contact the Futures & Forex Trade Desk at 866-839-1100 to apply for bitcoin futures trading.

The TD Ameritrade margin requirement on Cboe bitcoin futures is 1.5x higher than the exchange minimum; however, margin will be uniformly applied to both sides of the market (long or short). This margin requirement is subject to change at any time without notice.

Yeah so thats akin to general futures trading...meaning 25k min and margin etc.

Pretty high bar for a retail average guy...but they are extra conservative for good reason with how crazy that trades. I bet the allowed leverage on that product isnt super high compared to the SPX or gold or oil etc.

I'm not interested in the futures. How in the heck am I supposed to predict the movements of an asset with zero earnings, zero dividend, and zero intrinsic value?? I firmly believe that's a game for those with WAYYYYY more information than I will ever be in possession of. 

As for purchasing Bitcoin? Perhaps at the right price (sub 5K or even 3K) and on a platform that I could trust (like TDA)….but both of those events lining up are not in the immediate future. Thus, I continue to be happily on the sidelines.

I pulled up a day chart on BTC and I think I saw that only 20 times in the last 4 months has it been down for the day, that is nuts. Its just been climbing straight up, that cant continue without a shakeout which should go to 10k and lower to really test weak longs.

I am peeved I didnt take a half position in that 3500 range, it was there a long long time. Maybe I'll get another shot, I have what I need if it happens and I dont change my mind.

Hello everybody, I'm a crypto believer and I'm glad to see that on this forum, I'm not alone.
FYI I created a website with my partner : cryptomaniaks.com, to help newcomers to navigate the space properly.
Feel free to ask me any crypto related questions.
Not sure to be able to answer, but will do my best. 
Peace

One thing I rarely see mentioned here is the halving episode set to take place next year for Bitcoin. I understand the laws of supply and demand, but what I don't get is why this is going to be such a monumental event for the price of Bitcoin? After all, Bitcoin still lacks intrinsic value. It does not pay a residual benefit for owning it. It still lacks wide use and still has incredibly high entry and exit fees. 

IMO (and it has been widely attacked), Bitcoin has found a permanent home in the 6-10K range and there will be limited economic reasons (aside from multiple currency failures world wide) to drive the price upward. 

If you are buying Bitcoin, you are simply hoping that someone else will pay more for an asset that has pays you nothing and earns nothing intrinsically. If the goal is to become a currency, then stability would be the biggest factor on the checklist. 

Is the halfing your talking about the fact they are reducing the mining reward? I think that is in May right? It could help the price as it reduces supply but could also hurt as people are ticked off about it and move to something else which reduces demand.

Yeah. I'm no expert on Bitcoin, but essentially the concept of halving is designed to mimic the mining of real gold. As gold miners all over the world mine gold out of the earth, gold becomes naturally harder (and more expensive) to find and mine. Thus, by halving the amount of Bitcoin that miners recieve as a reward, the cost to the miners for mining said Bitcoin doubles. 

Miners are also subject to the inflationary pressures of the cost of mining Bitcoins (computer hardware and software costs, electricity, etc.), so these pressures combine with the halving episodes to "supposedly" naturally inflate the cost of Bitcoin. 

All of that makes perfect logical sense, but I'm still not a believer. Why? It all comes down to intrinsic value. Someone still has to come along and be willing to pay more for Bitcoin than the person before them. To me, it's illogical to think that simply doubling the costs associated with manufacturing a product will directly correlate to increasing the value of the asset WHEN THE ASSET ITSELF LACKS INTRINSIC VALUE. 

All I see the halving episode accomplishing is making it more expensive for miners to mine bitcoin, which will in turn reduce the number of miners (as you surmised WallStreet).

I know there are a bunch in here that are proponents of Bitcoin, but I highly doubt they have taken the time to consider the points I discussed here. I would love to hear a well thought out opposition to my opinion.