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Blockchain Tech and Cryptocurrencies

So for a beginner just looking to gain more information on the subject and also looking for a fairly risky investment, how would you get started with 500.00? What's the sites I should join and is any external hardware needed (as with the wallet suggested above). Not looking for what currencies you would specifically purchase (unless you want to share that), but more of how to get started and everything up until the point of purchase.
If it's just $500 and you want to own some cryptocurrency, I'd just buy some bitcoin and watch it.

If you're more interested in learning about the market, the various cryptocurrencies, maybe investing in a company you like or a few different ones, I'd recommend spreading that money around a variety of cryptos.

Either way, start with a site like Coinbase. You'll likely transfer money from a bank account into their account, and then purchase bitcoin with it. Then if you want to play with some cryptos beyond bitcoin, open an account on Poloniex (my preference). You'll then transfer your bitcoin to a new Poloniex wallet where you can then exchange bitcoin for a variety of cryptocurrencies. A little googling of the different kinds will help in choosing between them.

Only recommendation I can give you on choosing one is don't be gouda and just listen to what jtp tells you.
 
Then buy some drugs on the dark web! Sell the drugs and then buy more bitcoins!
 
If it's just $500 and you want to own some cryptocurrency, I'd just buy some bitcoin and watch it.

If you're more interested in learning about the market, the various cryptocurrencies, maybe investing in a company you like or a few different ones, I'd recommend spreading that money around a variety of cryptos.

Either way, start with a site like Coinbase. You'll likely transfer money from a bank account into their account, and then purchase bitcoin with it. Then if you want to play with some cryptos beyond bitcoin, open an account on Poloniex (my preference). You'll then transfer your bitcoin to a new Poloniex wallet where you can then exchange bitcoin for a variety of cryptocurrencies. A little googling of the different kinds will help in choosing between them.

Only recommendation I can give you on choosing one is don't be gouda and just listen to what jtp tells you.

Terrible advice. JTP is a financial WIZARD

Also sia seems legit.
 
forget this. send me $500 bucks and i'll send you the foremost cryptocurrency on the planet:


latest
 
Understand your intent here but for many people it is very different to have faith in a country that issues currency vs a software program that we don't even know who created.

Right now the American government only accepts its taxes in US dollars.

Currencies are stores of value and means of exchanges. Right now, digital currencies are too volatile to be stores of value, and not accepted enough places to be means of exchanges. It seems like the main goal of digital currencies was to make it harder to track for governments. Not sure that is viable long term solution.

What makes bitcoin different than the tulip collapse?
 
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you are essentially chipping in computing power to facilitate transactions

I believe ELC's friend was a bit hyperbolic with his $1,200 / month figure; that would take many rigs to get that much going.

He really didn't have a reason to fib, but maybe he did. Looked like he had about 10 graphics cards setup to mine, plus a PC to coordinate or run them all or whatever the PC does in that case. All that processing power required some serious fans and it was still 100 degrees in that room.
 
Right now the American government only accepts its taxes in US dollars.

Currencies are stores of value and means of exchanges. Right now, digital currencies are too volatile to be stores of value, and not accepted enough places to be means of exchanges. It seems like the main goal of digital currencies was to make it harder to track for governments. Not sure that is viable long term solution.

What makes bitcoin different than the tulip collapse?
I'd question the bolded. Slightly in the present, but definitely in the long-term.

Bitcoin has only been around since 2009. The price of bitcoin is definitely volatile but that's because it's currently being traded far more as a speculative asset than a currency. However in the future, if Bitcoin were to become a standard method of digital exchange, the current price of bitcoin is irrelevant. In this future vision, 99+% of people that would be using the currency haven't touched it yet. When they exchange their local currency for bitcoin, it doesn't matter the price of a bitcoin because it would likely be fairly free from deviation.

People still don't know what the actual price of a bitcoin should be, hence the speculation. If you feel this will become the primary method of transacting on the internet (or potentially even greater), then you should be buying. I remember only a year or so ago when an article came out saying the price of a bitcoin should be $10,000. People thought that was ludicrous but we're almost halfway there. If you think Bitcoin is the Myspace to something else's Bitcoin, then go ahead and invest in the Ethereums and Litecoins of the world. And if you think Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies are just a fad, or maybe some governments will partner to create state-sponsored crypto, then go put your money elsewhere.

As for not accepted enough places...people said the same thing about credit cards when they were first introduced. Same with Paypal and any other form of technology. If you're rejecting the future potential because not enough places accept it now, you probably shouldn't be in the business of projecting technological trends (note: millions of online places accept bitcoin, including 260,000 stores in Japan).

And I don't know anything more than a quick google search on the Tulip collapse so couldn't compare/contrast the two.
 
And we haven't even gotten into the additional possibilities of things like colored coins. You can earmark digital currency for certain uses. I worked with a startup that was bringing transparency to the charitable giving process, earmarking digital currency so that it could only be used for specific purposes.
 
As long as there is a market for drugs and other goodies on the dark web, there will be a market for crypto currencies.
 
Thought this thread might get bounced back. It'll be interesting to see how far it drops and how long it takes to recover (it has actually come back a little already this morning). China is important to the game, but it isn't the entire game for sure.
 
If you have a magic eight ball that would be about as accurate as anybody's thoughts on bitcoin price
 
Value is heading back up as if the Chinese announcement never happened. My mule neighbor made $4,000 cash between Friday and Saturday because of all the volatility. I'm going in heavier, we shall see.
 
Jamie Dimon said crypto currencies were a fraud and he'd fire anyone trading it. The next day JPM made a huge buy.
 
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