<div dir="ltr"><div>I'm somewhat disappointed to see the general sentiment in this thread to be focused only on Bitcoin's value as a "speculative investment." Bitcoin is so much more than that. <br><br>The idea of cryptocurrency in general is a revolutionary concept. A currency that is produced by pure math and raw computational power, instead of multimillionaire bankers releasing money as they see fit. However, the currency is not what I find interesting about Bitcoin itself. The technology behind Bitcoin, the Blockchain, is the real star of this advancement. <br><br>The Blockchain is essentially an unalterable public ledger. It safe guards Bitcoin against double spending, incorrect wallet amounts, and all transactions, but it has further potential. It could be used for Voting, for contracts, for Deeds: anything that previously required records being kept manually and physically can be stored virtually. <br><br>I've even applied for an ID, a "Proof-of-Existence", showing that I'm a citizen of the planet Earth. My birthdate, sex, name, place of birth, all of that can be encoded into the Blockchain. <br><br>Anyone who thinks Bitcoin is just a bubble or a speculative investment or a place to "pump and dump", is not looking at the whole picture. This has the potential to change the way our world operates. </div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 10:19 PM, Brent Allsop <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:brent.allsop@canonizer.com" target="_blank">brent.allsop@canonizer.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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I have a good story too. It's much longer, so sorry, but for those
interested....<br>
<br>
I liquidated a significant portion of my IRA to invest in Bitcoin,
and bought in at an average of about about $120. I was having fun
at the Bitcoin Miama conference, in Jan of this year, while Bitcoin
was arround $900, and I was thinking I was going to be way more rich
than I really was.<br>
<br>
At that conference I heard more about Either, and Bitshares, and
realized Bitcoin was doomed, so I started selling, while still
arround $800. At least, I was doing this slowely. I still fealt
Bitcoin had a good chance at making at least one more 10 times in
value run, so was taking my time. But as things started to crash,
likely because of MtGox, I panicked and activated my rehearsed plan
to get out as fast as possible. This plan included selling the
maximum limit on many exchanges I had established accounts with,
including MtGox. So this include sending 90 of my Bitcoin through
Mt Gox with an immediate sell. I knew the risk, but figured the
better price was worth the cost, and obviously lost that bet, and
those 90 Bitcoin.<br>
<br>
So, when all is said and done, I made a crap load of money, and then
lost most of it during this expensive panic selling on exchanges.
incliding being Goxed. But we were able to pay off our house with
what was left, and we had near the same amount of money left, not in
IRA money, taxes and penalties paid, so kind of a constellation,
finally not having a house payment, and some non IRA money could
could now spend/invest.<br>
<br>
I then invested (not near as much) in both Bitshares and Either,
still thinking these will take over where Proof of Waist Bitcoin
left off. At the Bitshares Price peak, I made more money, with a
much smaller investement, than I did with Bitcoin, so was feeling
rich again. But, at the current valuations, the profit is much
smaller. I sometimes wonder if even Bitshares or Either will be
able to survive and make crypto currency any more than a flash in
the pan, like most all grass roots efforts to revolutionize the
world. People just need to find some way to make a grass roots
efforts scale to become as powerful to compete with Hierarchy and
bureaucracy. (You know, like you can do with Canonizer.) and
become more than just a flash in the pan. I think at least Ripple
will disrupt things, and contribute to the hierarchical
bureaucracies that created them, and make things more efficient than
currently. It'd be too bad if we can't do more.<br>
<br>
I could sell out now, with little if any profit, again. I am
wondering if I should. Or, could a 2.0 currency take over where
Proof of waist left off?<br>
<br>
What would you guys do? Anyone still holding any crypto currency of
any kind, besides me? What is your favorite Currency (most likely
to have a future) today? Bitshares and Either are still quite pie
in the sky, but you never know, if they can manage not to destroy
each other (again, as Canonizer.com might be able to enable, by
building consensus for things like mergers between such). After
all, the singularity is near, right?<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
<br>
Brent</font></span><div><div class="h5"><br>
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<div>On 1/25/2015 5:53 PM, John Clark wrote:<br>
</div>
</div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div class="h5">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_extra">
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 1:51 AM,
Stuart LaForge <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:avant@sollegro.com" target="_blank">avant@sollegro.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid"><br>
Don't feel so bad, John. You didn't profit but neither did
you lose. I too have a tale of woe regarding bitcoin. I
bought 120 btc from MtGox back in 2011 at about $8 per
when MtGox was the only exchange with any reputation.<br>
<br>
Because my computer is old and slow, except for some
experimentation, I never transferred the btc into my
wallet. I figured I was going to be trading on the highs
and lows anyway so I left my bitcoins in my MtGox account
as I would stocks on E-trade or a similar online brokerage
account.<br>
<br>
When the price went through the roof back at the end of
2013, I sold off my coins for about $60,000. I was
congratulating myself for having made a $59,000 profit on
a $1000 investment.<br>
<br>
But when I tried to get my $60,000 wired back to my bank
account, the nightmare began. MtGox started demanding
copies of my ID, bank account statements, and even some
kind of letter from my bank to prove that I was who I said
I was. This was all despite the fact that it was the same
bank account from which I had wired Gox my original $1000.<br>
<br>
Well needless to say, I started get really nervous about
sending all manner of personal info to them especially
when the forums were full of people saying they had sent
all their info months earlier and still had not gotten
their money. So I bought back into bitcoin at a loss,
upgraded my wallet, and tried to transfer the bitcoins out
of MtGox at which point, they announced that they were
halting all bitcoin withdrawals. Then a few weeks later
MtGox declared bankruptcy.<br>
<br>
So I guess what I am trying to say is that I got into
bitcoin early but still managed to lose $60,000 (really
only $1000 & 2 yrs of waiting) and feel kind of
idiotic because of it. So don't feel bad for not making
money in bitcoin if you didn't lose any either.<br>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
There are worst Bitcoin stories, A man names James Howell in
the UK mined 7,500 Bitcoins in 2009 on his home computer but
then lost interest in it. A few year later he junked his old
computer, including the hard drive, and sent it to a
landfill. Then in late 2013 when he realized it was worth
millions he talked to the dump manager to ask where his old
computer might be, he said it was burred between 3 and 5
under potentially hazardous waste in a area the size of a
soccer field. He never found it. </div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"> John K Clark
<div> </div>
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