Crypto currency/bitcoin and all other new age "currency"

[Darkness 401]

So I was reading a SHTF site and they stated crypto currency is good for preppers. I also have a cousin who suggested I get into it.. But I don't get it.. It's electronic and not physically there if the grid goes then all your cyber riches are as useless. I think cash, gold, and other precious metals and jewels are better for the SHTF scenarios. To me it seems like it's a new age ponzi scheme. Maybe I'm just being old school or paranoid. What do you all think? If you are into crypto also share your thoughts

 

[Mountain trapper]

Some people have made a lot of money from these crypto currency schemes. I think they could be good for short term investments, but I personally don't trust electronic currencies. Although they could be just as safe as any other electronic stock transaction. Do a lot of your own research before investing in any crypto currency.
In my opinion, I think precious metals and gemstones should be part of everyone's preps. What percentage of a person's preps should be in precious metals and gemstones? That could be different for each individual based on ones disposable income. I'd lean more towards gold and silver over gemstones. Only because it's too difficult to tell natural stones apart from synthetic stones, especially post SHTF. A good electronic gem tester will distinguish a real diamond from a fake, but they can't tell natural colored stones from synthetics.

 

[Darkness 401]

Some people have made a lot of money from these crypto currency schemes. I think they could be good for short term investments, but I personally don't trust electronic currencies. Although they could be just as safe as any other electronic stock transaction. Do a lot of your own research before investing in any crypto currency.
In my opinion, I think precious metals and gemstones should be part of everyone's preps. What percentage of a person's preps should be in precious metals and gemstones? That could be different for each individual based on ones disposable income. I'd lean more towards gold and silver over gemstones. Only because it's too difficult to tell natural stones apart from synthetic stones, especially post SHTF. A good electronic gem tester will distinguish a real diamond from a fake, but they can't tell natural colored stones from synthetics.

Yea this is part of my research I to crypto reaching out to the community and seeing who knows anything on this. I think if I do try this I will treat it like a casino slot machine and put in a small amount of money into (like $100). It's not alot and the return might not be as grand but I can lose and not freak out. I'll keep in researching and thank you for your input

 

[DrHenley]

I am highly skeptical of any investment that has the potential to go to zero value. And with cryptos it can happen instantly - Faster than any stock.

 

[Gazrok]

True, but it can also realize returns in the THOUSANDS of percent range...so there's that.

For prepping? Not so sure about that. Unless you are able to cash out BEFORE a SHTF event.

Currently, and for the past couple months (really since the start of the year)...crypto is down all across the board, and shows no sign of rising anytime soon.

But, personally, I believe it will skyrocket again, IF you pick the right ones. THAT is the trick though. And it may be a month, a year, or 5 years from now when it happens. Honestly, it's a good time to buy in, with some playing around money.

Most folks just don't understand the business problems it will solve. So, there isn't a lot of buy in yet. But it will come. And when it does, it will revolutionize our monetary systems.

 

[Darkness 401]

I am highly skeptical of any investment that has the potential to go to zero value. And with cryptos it can happen instantly - Faster than any stock.

Yea thats one of the things that I think about, it seems fickle and like a scam.

 

[Darkness 401]

True, but it can also realize returns in the THOUSANDS of percent range...so there's that.

For prepping? Not so sure about that. Unless you are able to cash out BEFORE a SHTF event.

Currently, and for the past couple months (really since the start of the year)...crypto is down all across the board, and shows no sign of rising anytime soon.

But, personally, I believe it will skyrocket again, IF you pick the right ones. THAT is the trick though. And it may be a month, a year, or 5 years from now when it happens. Honestly, it's a good time to buy in, with some playing around money.

Most folks just don't understand the business problems it will solve. So, there isn't a lot of buy in yet. But it will come. And when it does, it will revolutionize our monetary systems.

.
Do you invest in it? Or are you just observing

 

[DrHenley]

I think the appropriate expression is "House of Cards."

 

[Gazrok]

Do you invest in it? Or are you just observing

I invested a little into it. So far, sad to say, I've lost about half the investment (at today's prices), but it was only what I could afford to lose, that I put into it in the first place. It's one of those, hey, if it works out, great! If not, no big deal. Of course, if I had done it at the beginning of LAST year, vs. THIS year....I would have increased my investment about 5000%. So....maybe time will work for me. Maybe not.

I'm currently in Bitcoin, Etherium, Litecoin, Ripple, Stellar, NEO, and a few others.

Just don't bet the farm on it. It's FAR too volatile a market. Any little HINT of suppression, and the market tanks hard. The world isn't ready for it yet, but it's (in my mind) the logical evolution of currency in a global marketplace. So, you can hop on the train, or be left at the station. Way I see it. (of course, they are still BUILDING the station...so you have some time...)

 

[DrHenley]

Bernie Madoff made some people rich.

 

[DrHenley]

But I guess my biggest problem with cryptos is nobody has ever been able to explain to me the fundamentals because as far as I can tell there aren't any.

 

[Gazrok]

Basically, the idea is digital cash.

I mean, we kind of think of it that way anyhow, in the form of our money being in the bank, and doing things with it electronically, like with a debit card, etc.

The difference though, is that cryptocurrency is DE-CENTRALIZED. Any transaction with your bank is basically a record in a database. In current banking systems, these records are CENTRALIZED (in your bank's network).

With cryptocurrency though, EVERY peer in the global network basically has a fully encrypted (hence the "crypto") record of all the balances, all the transactions, etc. (this is all using what's called "blockchain" technology. Thus, a transaction is realized much more IMMEDIATELY and all throughout the network, but more importantly, WITHOUT the need for a bank to make it all work. (and with far more security, since only YOU can send the money, and only the recipient can receive it).

That's basically it in a nutshell, though there's really a lot more to it, that I'm sure some Googling could define in a bit more detail than my attempt at it.

But this is why I think it is the way of the future of cash. Of course, you can bet that until the big banks have their piece of it, they are going to do all they can to halt the progress of it. The only saving grace though, is that really, there isn't much they can do about it. At some point, they'll either have to jump onboard, or be left at the station. Whether it's a year, 5 yrs, or 10yrs from now, it's hard to say.

 

[Gazrok]

Bernie Madoff made some people rich.

Sure, at the expense of the more vast majority who didn't cash out at the right time. But he also did it by outright lying to his investors.

This isn't a scam, it's just more like a HIGHLY volatile stock market. Instead of investing in the potential of companies to grow in value, you're investing in the potential of currencies being worth more than they are now. Similar to investing in other currency markets (like taking your dollars and buying English pounds or Chinese yen instead.)

 

[Gazrok]

Yea this is part of my research I to crypto reaching out to the community and seeing who knows anything on this. I think if I do try this I will treat it like a casino slot machine and put in a small amount of money into (like $100). It's not alot and the return might not be as grand but I can lose and not freak out. I'll keep in researching and thank you for your input

Feel free to message me anytime. I'll be happy to share what I've learned, my experiences, etc. Granted, I'll likely be able to share more about my mistakes (which really, are more about just unfortunate timing). I first got into it in Jan. of this year. So I'm about 6 months in.

Of course, this was RIGHT before the first big bottoming out of the market. It's gone up and down since then, but still on the lower end of that scale this year. So sadly, I bought in mostly when it was higher. I did another buy in after the big drop, and this helped me somewhat recover....but then the most recent dips kind of have me where I'm at now.

Again though, not a big deal. Like you said, not putting a ton of money into it. I'm only in a few hundred. (but then, if I had that in at the beginning of last year).

I figured out, that if I had made the same investment in Jan of LAST year (and in the same currencies), and then sold in Dec of last year, I would have turned that $400 into about $55K. So, I kind of take the hits in stride, and hope for a better day in the future.

 

[Gazrok]

My advice, from what I've learned, especially if putting in small amounts....

1. Start with Coinbase (phone app and website). It's easy to use, and supports the major cryptocoins.

2. Try to buy as much as you can in ONE transaction (so you don't take as much of a hit on numerous transaction fees).

3. For the reason above, stick more to the main coins supported there. (Bitcoin, Etherium, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash) - Diversifying into different coins can help offset losses in others. Just as with any other investment.

4. If you do want to get into other coins, use Binance. Pretty easy to use, and they support just about anything. They are also no longer based out of China, so no regulatory worries there.

5. Unless you are looking to "day trade" (buy and sell alot), and with high dollar amounts, the transaction fees will kill you. So buy it, and sit on it, if you are a small investor. (I already made this mistake a few times, and realized it). Try to only buy when you can do at least about $40 or more. Because you may not be able to do a transaction of these other coins, for any less (on Binance, or through any other broker site).

6. Get the Blockfolio app, and enter all of your values there, if you do use multiple brokers. This app will let you keep track of all of the investments in ONE place, which is handy.

7. As tempting as it will be, DON'T check the values every day, and especially not multiple times during the day (you will though, at first, I know it, hehe....). Just don't worry about it. The best site for checking though, is https://coinmarketcap.com/
(but the Blockfolio app has the values too)

8. Don't invest more than you can simply afford to lose. Think of it as buying a lotto ticket where the drawing isn't until a year from now, and your odds are anyone's guess.

9. There's no such thing as an "expert" in forecasting Crypto. They have ALL been wrong, so don't believe it. You'll see hype about all kinds of coins (like Ripple, Stellar, etc.), but personally, I've lost a lot of value in these (though still held on to them).

10. Once you are in for a few hundred (or whatever seems riskier to you), you may want to get a digital wallet (vs. storing your balances inside the exchanges (like Coinbase and Binance). That way, if anything happens to THEM, you'll still have your cryptocurrency in your physical digital wallet. (like a portable hard drive).

Most of all though, just have FUN!

 

[Gazrok]

Note, to create an account with these brokers (and be able to make purchases from your bank card), you'll need to provide just as much personal info (and ID) as you would for any other kind of account like this, so don't be surprised at that. Both Coinbase and Binance are huge and well respected in the community. Others, you take your chances. (and stay away from any that are based in China, as their government routinely threatens crackdowns on crypto (and seizing assets) - it's why Binance moved).

Crypto is already much more widespread in Asia, in both use, and common knowledge. This is mostly because it's far easier to deal with than the myriad of currencies in the regions. (and that market's propensity to buy things online vs. a physical store).

 

[Gazrok]

One last tip, the crypto NEO actually gives you a little bit in other cryptos, from time to time, and typically performs fairly decently. Not available in Coinbase though. Of course, ALL of them are pretty much down at the moment, (so about the lowest it's been to actually buy)....but no guarantee it all won't go lower.

 

[DrHenley]

Thanks for the explanation Gaz, but that's not what I meant by "fundamentals" which is an investment term meaning the underlying factors that will affect the long term value of the investment. With stocks you have have revenues, earnings, future growth, return on equity, and profit margins. With national currencies you have the country's GDP, inflation rate, national debt, gold reserves, tax revenues, Central Bank interest rate, and government bond yields. With precious metals you have mining costs, mining production levels, reserves, interest rates, demand from various uses like jewelry, electronics, coinage, and state of the economy.

I've never seen a fundamentals analysis for cryptos. Not that one doesn't exist - I've just never seen one. Yes, I have Googled "cryptocurreny fundamentals analysis". One site said basically there aren't any fundamentals but we need some. Another site said you need to do a fundamental analysis for cryptocurrencies, click here for a checklist. When you click here they want you to sign up. Another site went on and on about how important the fundamental analysis is for cryptos, but never actually have any concrete metrics. The closest thing I saw to a fundamentals analysis was talking about the crypto company, not the currency. When talking about national currencies, you really do analyse the country because that country stands behind the currency and guarantees it. Crypto companies cannot do anything like that. If their cryptocurrency tanks there's not a damned thing they can to about it, no matter how good the company is.

 

[Darkness 401]

True, but it can also realize returns in the THOUSANDS of percent range...so there's that.

For prepping? Not so sure about that. Unless you are able to cash out BEFORE a SHTF event.

Currently, and for the past couple months (really since the start of the year)...crypto is down all across the board, and shows no sign of rising anytime soon.

But, personally, I believe it will skyrocket again, IF you pick the right ones. THAT is the trick though. And it may be a month, a year, or 5 years from now when it happens. Honestly, it's a good time to buy in, with some playing around money.

Most folks just don't understand the business problems it will solve. So, there isn't a lot of buy in yet. But it will come. And when it does, it will revolutionize our monetary systems.

.
Do you invest in it? Or are you just observing

 

[Gazrok]

The only investment fundamentals you can go by here are: team behind it, adoption rate (usage), and partnering agreements. Not much really though.