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Cryptocurrency is extremely environmentally unfriendly. It serves no purpose other than for the ones who have money to make (more) money. And as oppose to say gold, you have nothing in your hands other than some digital crap, unlike eg US$ which is government backed as almost all currencies
Isn’t it weird government is not looking into this but wants people to stop buying gas engine cars in the future? Bitcoin mining has huge impact on the environment.
 
Because that’s how it’s been for centuries if you don’t count barter. Why should we trust digital currency especially coming from someone who created doesn’t even have a name? If you don’t want to use paper money then burn it. LMAO
Why should you trust US dollar, since it’s disconnected from the gold standard and not backed by anything tangible? The US government has printed over $5 trillion dollars in a year, and Biden is about to print another $1.8 trillion shortly. You would be better off being paid in toilet paper at this point. The US dollar is done with because of the irresponsible fiscal policies by both parties. No one can dilute the Bitcoin supply. It’s limited in quantity of Bitcoin that can be issued. It’s all about how you prwserve the value you exchange for your work. You can try to preserve it in US dollars, stocks, real estate, precious metals, and now also in crypto currency. There is no intrinsic difference between exchanging your work for paper money, precious metals, or crypto currency - as long as you can later convert those instruments into goods and services you require to subsist on this planet. In a little over a decade of the existence of Bitcoin, exchanging your work for Bitcoin turned out to be thousands of times more beneficial than exchanging your work for US dollar or gold.
 
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Why should you trust US dollar, since it’s disconnected from the gold standard and is it backed by anything? The US government has printed over $5 trillion dollars in a year, and Biden is about to print another $1.8 trillion shortly. You would be better off being paid in toilet paper at this point. The US dollar is done with because of the irresponsible fiscal policies by both parties. No one can dilute the Bitcoin supply. It’s limited in quantity of Bitcoin that can be issued.
How is this not apply to Bitcoin? How do you know there are limited in supply? It’s limited by whoever that created it, bare in mind we still don’t know who this person is.. he/she can create more out of thin air. At least US dollars has value whether printing money causes inflation is another topic you need to discuss with economist. You sound more pissed off by Biden’s administration. I guess you don’t work to earn money then what do you earn for your paychecks? Bitcoin?
 
Forgot to add, whenever I ask someone to explain it to me, they say don't you know, look it up, go on Google. I hate it when people pretend to know a subject, but when asked to explain it they can't. 100% of the world understands the currency of their own country, and how to get foreign money. But crypto money, very few people understand it or can explain it. Until Governments around the world make the effort to explain it or develop their own version, or even companies like Apple, Microshaft, or Googly develop their own, crypto will be a word, that is not understood by 99.9% of the population. Even Banks or Bank staff can't explain it. So why haven't they developed one?
Maybe you should just finally go on YouTube and type in “how does bitcoin work” instead of airing out your ridiculous grievances on MacRumors. I can explain it very well. I just do not feel like putting it in a massive post only for you to probably get combative on some other tangential point afterward. I recommend the 3Blue1Brown video if you want a technical understanding. For the basics, I mean literally, you have thousands of options. The big issue here is that you don’t want to know how it works because you’re duped by the fiat mind into thinking that your dollar stays the same over time. There’s a currency market; there’s a crypto market. The volatility in the crypto market can be curbed through stablecoins (several are even gold-backed—can you say that about the debt-backed paper you hold?). Additionally, the nature of cryptocurrency is that it is an emerging currency in a pre-regulation environment. Regulation will simply not work the same as it has, but spending might not change much at all. For now, it’s an unregulated investment. Those invested do not believe it will be this way for much longer. I’m not gonna break the whole massive subject down further than this. If you want to know how Bitcoin is formed, its origins, the fears, the limitations, the advantages, look it up and stop trying to moan your way out of it.
 
How is this not apply to Bitcoin? How do you know there are limited in supply? It’s limited by whoever that created it, bare in mind we still don’t know who this person is.. he/she can create more out of thin air. At least US dollars has value whether printing money causes inflation is another topic you need to discuss with economist. You sound more pissed off by Biden’s administration. I guess you don’t work to earn money then what do you earn for your paychecks? Bitcoin?
You really should Google it. How do I know it’s limited in supply? Because that’s the whole idea behind Bitcoin. There is a finite number of bitcoins that can be mined based on its algorithm, and with time, mining the Bitcoin becomes more and more difficult as well as costly. Most of the Bitcoin has already been mined. There is a limit to how many bitcoins can be mined before the algorithm allows the last Bitcoin to be mined, after which no more Bitcoin can be mined. That’s why Bitcoin is a deflationary currency. Goods and services will be depreciating against Bitcoin, and Bitcoin will be appreciating against goods and services. Fortunately, Bitcoin can be split into infinitely small fractions (unlike US dollar that can only be split in 100 cents), so you can continue receive Bitcoin for your work, but your work will be depreciating against the Bitcoin similarly to how everything else will be depreciating against Bitcoin and Bitcoin will be appreciating against everything else.
 
Maybe you should just finally go on YouTube and type in “how does bitcoin work” instead of airing out your ridiculous grievances on MacRumors. I can explain it very well. I just do not feel like putting it in a massive post only for you to probably get combative on some other tangential point afterward. I recommend the 3Blue1Brown video if you want a technical understanding. For the basics, I mean literally, you have thousands of options. The big issue here is that you don’t want to know how it works because you’re duped by the fiat mind into thinking that your dollar stays the same over time. There’s a currency market; there’s a crypto market. The volatility in the crypto market can be curbed through stablecoins (several are even gold-backed—can you say that about the debt-backed paper you hold?). Additionally, the nature of cryptocurrency is that it is an emerging currency in a pre-regulation environment. Regulation will simply not work the same as it has, but spending might not change much at all. For now, it’s an unregulated investment. Those invested do not believe it will be this way for much longer. I’m not gonna break the whole massive subject down further than this. If you want to know how Bitcoin is formed, its origins, the fears, the limitations, the advantages, look it up and stop trying to moan your way out of it.
I asked a simple question, and get an arsehole to pretend to be a expert on the subject. You would be great teacher!!! That's if you know sarcasm. I had no grievances, just simple questions. No wonder the world is going to pot, with pricks like you. I hope you lose what little money you have, on a ponzi crypto coin, my money is Government backed to 80%, if the bank fails. What backup do you have with ponzi crypto money/investments/stocks and shares.
 
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How is this not apply to Bitcoin? How do you know there are limited in supply? It’s limited by whoever that created it, bare in mind we still don’t know who this person is.. he/she can create more out of thin air. At least US dollars has value whether printing money causes inflation is another topic you need to discuss with economist. You sound more pissed off by Biden’s administration. I guess you don’t work to earn money then what do you earn for your paychecks? Bitcoin?
What I earn for my work is irrelevant. The question you should be asking is what I store my wealth is. Bitcoin is part of my portfolio.
 
Another one? I have yet to meet anyone who can explain what this crypto money is. Who runs its, who creates this digital money? Is it as safe as that Turkish crypto currency that collapsed a few days ago. I get paid in numbers into my bank account been like that for 25 plus years. I pay my bills, credit cards etc the same way. Don't we have crypto currency already? I use my Apple Pay for 99% of all purchases now. Who are these people behind crypto money? They seem more shady than the NSA, FBI or getting a day pass to Area 51.
>I have yet to meet anyone who can explain what this crypto money is.

It's currency that resides on a blockchain, which is a digital, decentralized/distributed ledger. It's immutable.

>Who runs its who creates this digital money?

Everyone does, or can. Depending on the currency, validating and recording transactions can happen in a variety of different ways. The most common one you're familiar with is through "mining." In the case of Bitcoin, there will ever only be 21 million Bitcoin, but as of now, there's only about ~18 million. When you hear that people are "mining" Bitcoin, it means that they're both recording and validating transactions on the network, AND attempting to solve very difficult mathematical problems at the same time. If you happen to be the one to successfully solve the problem, you mine the block of transactions, and you are rewarded with Bitcoin. This will continue until the 21 million Bitcoin are all mined (which I think is about 80 years from now), at which point the plan is for fees to be paid to the miners, as opposed to the creation of new Bitcoin (since there won't be any new Bitcoin to create).

>Is it as safe as that Turkish crypto currency that collapsed a few days ago.

I don't know anything about a cryptocurrency that collapsed a few days ago, but I know that Turkey banned crypto payments, and the owner of an exchange stole crypto that was hosted on the exchange. There's a saying in crypto, "not your keys, not your coins." Meaning, don't buy digital coins and leave them on an exchange where they can be more easily stolen if the exchange is hacked. If you simply buy digital coins of any kind and have them stored on a wallet of your own that you control the keys to, nobody can just steal your coins unless they also have your keys.

>I get paid in numbers into my bank account been like that for 25 plus years. I pay my bills, credit cards etc the same way. Don't we have crypto currency already?

No, we don't. What you're describing isn't based on a decentralized distributed leger. If your bank was hacked, information could be changed on their central server which would reflect for you. The blockchain can't be hacked or forged, unless the individual recording transactions owns over 51% of the network and maliciously changes something. Networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum are too evenly distributed to fall victim to anything like this.

>Who are these people behind crypto money?

In the case of Bitcoin, nobody knows. The creator went by "Satoshi Nakamoto," but hasn't been active in the crypto space for a decade. His wallet shows no transactions at all, and many have speculated that he may have died. In the case of other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, or Cardano, the creators are known, and they are involved in the day to day development still.
 
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I asked a simple question, and get an arsehole to pretend to be a expert on the subject. You would be great teacher!!! That's if you know sarcasm. I had no grievances, just simple questions. No wonder the world is going to pot, with pricks like you. I hope you lose what little money you have, on a ponzi crypto coin, my money is Government backed to 80%, if the bank fails. What backup do you have with ponzi crypto money/investments/stocks and shares.
Coinbase is FDIC insured for the funds stored in USD. Bitcoin is treated as a security by the IRS, so you invest at it at your own risk. If you sell Bitcoin, you pay capital gain tax to Uncle Sam, and the proceeds are FDIC insured.
 
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Crypto is treated as stocks by the IRS. This makes it impractical to be used as currency. You won’t be able to buy crypto, hold it for a while and then pay for goods or services in crypto. You will have to first sell it and convert it to USD and only then pay with the converted dollars. Once you sell crypto, you will be incurring a capital gain tax. So, you will be taxed to spend crypto and you will be taxed again to buy something (sales tax). It makes it a really bad idea to use crypto as money. Every time you pay for anything with crypto, you will have to make sure you have enough money to pay capital gains tax to Uncle Sam.
This isn't quite correct. You can literally pay for things with crypto today, but you're right, if you're paying with things like Bitcoin or Ethereum or Litecoin, yeah, that's causing a taxable event. Obviously not ideal as a currency, but there are plenty of stablecoins that exist in crypto that aren't speculated on the way Bitcoin is, and their value is pegged at $1 and backed by collateral. Many countries are looking at digitizing their currency in the same way.
 
What I earn for my work is irrelevant. The question you should be asking is what I store my wealth is. Bitcoin is part of my portfolio.
There is your problem. You still earn US currency. You should quit and find company that pays you in Bitcoin.
 
Cryptocurrency is extremely environmentally unfriendly. It serves no purpose other than for the ones who have money to make (more) money. And as oppose to say gold, you have nothing in your hands other than some digital crap, unlike eg US$ which is government backed as almost all currencies
Most of bitcoin mining is renewable. Stop reading headlines.
 
Most of bitcoin mining is renewable. Stop reading headlines.
Source for the? And even IF it is true, that renewable could be used for more important things, or, even better, turn other non-renewables off. Cryptocurrency IS HUGELY environmentally unfriendly, that's a fact that remains.
 
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Forgot to add, whenever I ask someone to explain it to me, they say don't you know, look it up, go on Google. I hate it when people pretend to know a subject, but when asked to explain it they can't. 100% of the world understands the currency of their own country, and how to get foreign money. But crypto money, very few people understand it or can explain it. Until Governments around the world make the effort to explain it or develop their own version, or even companies like Apple, Microshaft, or Googly develop their own, crypto will be a word, that is not understood by 99.9% of the population. Even Banks or Bank staff can't explain it. So why haven't they developed one?
Because it would take too long to explain it? And if someone cannot do a simple google or youtube search on it, then they must not be really interested.
 
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Crypto is treated as stocks by the IRS. This makes it impractical to be used as currency. You won’t be able to buy crypto, hold it for a while and then pay for goods or services in crypto. You will have to first sell it and convert it to USD and only then pay with the converted dollars. Once you sell crypto, you will be incurring a capital gain tax. So, you will be taxed to spend crypto and you will be taxed again to buy something (sales tax). It makes it a really bad idea to use crypto as money. Every time you pay for anything with crypto, you will have to make sure you have enough money to pay capital gains tax to Uncle Sam.
Look up "stablecoins". And there are crypto debit cards that lets you spend stablecoins.
 



The company's Coinbase Card for the EU and UK has supported Google Pay since March 2020, but Apple Pay remains unsupported and Coinbase Card for the United States is yet to support either digital payments platform.
Coinbase Card does not support either in the US, because Coinbase Card is still not available yet in the US.
 
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Another one? I have yet to meet anyone who can explain what this crypto money is. Who runs its, who creates this digital money? Is it as safe as that Turkish crypto currency that collapsed a few days ago. I get paid in numbers into my bank account been like that for 25 plus years. I pay my bills, credit cards etc the same way. Don't we have crypto currency already? I use my Apple Pay for 99% of all purchases now. Who are these people behind crypto money? They seem more shady than the NSA, FBI or getting a day pass to Area 51.
I dunno, think of it this way maybe. We used to pay people for out debts through barter. But that has limits. So payment evolved into gold, gold dust, etc. That has limits too. So currency tied to gold was developed. That too has limits. So fiat currency was introduced (or we were sold it as a good thing). Fiat currency is the, "numbers paid into your bank account".

Guess what I'm going to say next... Fiat currency has it's own problems. And if you've had the misfortune to have your local currency hyperinflate and collapse you'd understand and most definitely agree. But you most likely use either the US dollar or the Euro, so you're fairly well insulated (for now) from those problems and as such can make jokes about "that Turkish crypto".

Who are the people behind this "crypto money"?

They're the people who have been burned by the banks and financial institutions abuse and manipulation of money - e.g. the 2008 market and housing collapse. Or they're the people that recognize how bad it is that the Federal Reserve "quantitatively eases" money into the market and that with narry a thought the US government passes legislation giving trillions of dollars in corporate social welfare to prop up and bailout the mega giant businesses that should themselves have their own "rainy day" emergency funds for when times get rough.

I don't blame you, at all, for saying "hey, money works." I won't criticize you for being oblivious to the problems that money has. I mean, like you say - the only thing that matters to you is the numbers that go into your bank account. And making sure you have enough numbers in there.

It's hard enough to to use those numbers already. Let alone understand how stocks, bonds, index, mutual funds, or derivatives work to get you enough numbers to retire on when your age turns 65 (or whatever). And you just pray to your lucky stars that a 1939, 2008, or March 2020 doesn't wipe out your numbers in the middle of your life or during retirement.

But, the long and short of it is that crypto currency is about trying to solve problems. "Bitcoin" in particular is more about creating a better version of physical actual gold (or other precious metals) to store wealth. That is you buy gold to theoretically protect you against a local currency collapse.

Physical actual gold has problems with this, though. The main problem being that anyone, especially the government, can just seize it. Whether that's by executive order, robbery, or just killing you for it.

Crypto currency, though? Bitcoin in particular? Not much of a chance. There's a lot of nuance, but when used properly it is highly resistant to confiscation by executive order, subpoena, civil seizure, criminal robbery, or murder.

Hope that explanation helps some.
 
Forgot to add, whenever I ask someone to explain it to me, they say don't you know, look it up, go on Google. I hate it when people pretend to know a subject, but when asked to explain it they can't. 100% of the world understands the currency of their own country, and how to get foreign money. But crypto money, very few people understand it or can explain it. Until Governments around the world make the effort to explain it or develop their own version, or even companies like Apple, Microshaft, or Googly develop their own, crypto will be a word, that is not understood by 99.9% of the population. Even Banks or Bank staff can't explain it. So why haven't they developed one?
I agree, that is a problem. But, the government is never going to tell you there is a problem with their money. So it's rather part of good maturity to not remain ignorant or overly skeptical.

I mean, same thing goes for ordinary people who don't want to learn anything about "investing" because it involves risk. Sure regular stock market investing carries risk - but at some point you have to mature or "grow up" and understand why it exists and why when properly done it's not the same as gambling at a casino.

I get their can be panic and anxiety around learning what "when properly done" is or how to get their without losing money, but there's plenty of information out there already. You're going to have do some work on your own.
 
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I asked a simple question, and get an arsehole to pretend to be a expert on the subject. You would be great teacher!!! That's if you know sarcasm. I had no grievances, just simple questions. No wonder the world is going to pot, with pricks like you. I hope you lose what little money you have, on a ponzi crypto coin, my money is Government backed to 80%, if the bank fails. What backup do you have with ponzi crypto money/investments/stocks and shares.
Also. the most important one of all: if you lose/forget your password and you have a few million sitting in crypto, you now have $0 I saw some dude in San Francisco was getting ready to lose like +$20 million because he was down to like 3 password attempts. I do have a little crypto and I do mean a little, but I have my password in 1password backed up to iCloud as an encrypted .dmg file and it is also wrote down in our safe. Me if I lost all access I could care less. If I was losing access to $20 million then yes, I'd be quite perturbed to say the least.
 
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I asked a simple question, and get an arsehole to pretend to be a expert on the subject. You would be great teacher!!! That's if you know sarcasm. I had no grievances, just simple questions. No wonder the world is going to pot, with pricks like you. I hope you lose what little money you have, on a ponzi crypto coin, my money is Government backed to 80%, if the bank fails. What backup do you have with ponzi crypto money/investments/stocks and shares.
I get that you've been agitated by other members. I'm trying not to be one of them. But, i have to burst the bubble here over "protected" or "insured" money wither it's FDIC or anything else.

1st: The US Bank FDIC program does not cover loss of income from anything covered. Neither does it provide instant coverage. So if your bank fails or is forced to close then your principle is completely in limbo until they find another bank to assume the liabilities (IOUs) of the bank you used. If you need that money to buy food, pay rent, your car loan, or home mortgage - sucks to be you.

It could take months or years. The "guarantee" to not lose your money only kicks in only if the FDIC can not find anyone to assume the liabilities of your failed bank. And the FDIC will take as long as it needs.

2nd: The FDIC only has $60 billion in actual reserves to disburse in the event of a failure. Compare that to the liabilities of any major bank.

That's enough to cover a small local bank or credit union. But almost nothing else.

Should any decent sized bank become insolvent - the FDIC itself would be bankrupt. And any funds disbursed would go to the high value accounts first. That's only 240,000 accounts (at $250,000 per account). Anyone after that - probably out of luck. Congress could presumably step in. But, unquestioned immediate social welfare is only provided to mega giant corporations or businesses. Everyone else is supposed to have planned ahead for this and have their own self saved bail-out funds.
 
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I asked a simple question, and get an arsehole to pretend to be a expert on the subject. You would be great teacher!!! That's if you know sarcasm. I had no grievances, just simple questions. No wonder the world is going to pot, with pricks like you. I hope you lose what little money you have, on a ponzi crypto coin, my money is Government backed to 80%, if the bank fails. What backup do you have with ponzi crypto money/investments/stocks and shares.
I’m not here to teach you. I’m here as part of a public forum to contribute to the topic. You essentially pissed on Bitcoin—as you continue to by labeling it “ponzi” without a moment of reflection on currency at large—all without knowing the first thing about it. The questions expose the ignorance and an unwillingness to do anything more than to remain uneducated on the topic. The entire basis of what I’m saying is RTFM the most minuscule amount first, and then you’ll understand what the original post is about and how the Coinbase card doesn’t even remotely carry those concerns. Otherwise, don’t throw in your two worthless satoshis about it.

P.S. You don’t have to like me; it’s not a prerequisite for my day. Your well-wishes are ultra petty and further demonstrate your desire to troll and spread vitriol instead of contributing tangibly to the topic. Take notice that others are also suggesting to Google it, not out of a necessary superiority (based on your projection) but likely out of their exhaustion on dispelling “old news” fundamentals about a technology with trillions of dollars invested into it already. In 3 years, you’ll probably be laughing at yourself, so my work here is done. If it all goes into flames, I’ll sigh saying, “thankfully, I had a stop loss and never had more than 10-20% invested in it.” It can at worst wreck my day but at best make my decade, but my personal skin in the game has virtually nothing to do with the topic of how cryptocurrency works or the Coinbase card.
 
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I get that you've been agitated by other members. I'm trying not to be one of them. But, i have to burst the bubble here over "protected" or "insured" money wither it's FDIC or anything else.

1st: The US Bank FDIC program does not cover loss of income from anything covered. Neither does it provide instant coverage. So if your bank fails or is forced to close then your principle is completely in limbo until they find another bank to assume the liabilities (IOUs) of the bank you used. If you need that money to buy food, pay rent, your car loan, or home mortgage - sucks to be you.

It could take months or years. The "guarantee" to not lose your money only kicks in only if the FDIC can not find anyone to assume the liabilities of your failed bank. And the FDIC will take as long as it needs.

2nd: The FDIC only has $60 billion in actual reserves to disburse in the event of a failure. Compare that to the liabilities of any major bank.

That's enough to cover a small local bank or credit union. But almost nothing else.

Should any decent sized bank become insolvent - the FDIC itself would be bankrupt. And any funds disbursed would go to the high value accounts first. That's only 240,000 accounts (at $250,000 per account). Anyone after that - probably out of luck. Congress could presumably step in. But, unquestioned immediate social welfare is only provided to mega giant corporations or businesses. Everyone else is supposed to have planned ahead for this and have their own self saved bail-out funds.
Great post. And yes, I am one of the irritants of that poster for sure. Essentially this is what I mean by being duped by fiat: all of the things you mentioned are examples of false guarantees. Blind faith in money—and subsequent arguments surrounding worth and wages—has really been an example of total stupidity in humanity. I don’t think Bitcoin answers the class problem; it may very well end up exacerbating it. But at least it stands a chance to expose the warp zone humanity (especially within first world countries) have all been living in that has seen consolidated wealth into the hands of a few. Most of us are living much worse than we would be if we knew the real value of our exchange and labor. “How much is a life’s worth of work worth?” is the question, and largely it’s been ignorance and deception as to how money functions that has made it to where a ditch-digger is paid orders of magnitude lower than someone who effectively gambles with a large pot to use money to make money.

Like many things, there is more to it than the extremes though. One does not have to forego believing in the benefits of status quo currency to support cryptocurrency, and the extremism comes into play when it’s presumed that that is the belief that has to be held. I think fiat currency has brought us social cohesion, purchase protection, payment technology, standardization and calmness when it comes to unifying under exchange, has contributed to peace in certain ways (as people who hate each other can still manage to make a deal), and many more benefits. I think cryptocurrency—as well as payment and legal/regulatory innovations in banking—is nascent, emerging, volatile, experiencing growing pains with promising progress, poses regulatory and social concerns as well as energy usage concerns, and even often lacks real world use case potential. However, I know we’re onto something based on the engineering alone, and I like most that we are questioning the nature of monetary exchange.
 
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