Crypto Currency Experts ?

[Walcrow]

Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me. Great for those who got in early, and bad for those who get in late. It will be interesting to watch this unfold ...

98........

In June of 1997, Amazon was $1.50 per share. Today it closed at $1134.00. That's a 66,600% return. Is Amazon a pyramid scheme? I think not. Many got hammered in 2008 in the market. Is Wall Street a pyramid scheme? Again, I think not. Bitcoins are not for everyone, I agree. But for those who have purchased them, and continue to purchase them, and one can buy 1/1000 of a Bitcoin today, have seen and will see returns that will cause them to curse the day they didn't buy even a sliver of a Bitcoin. In May of 1982, Apple was .20 cents per share. Wish I'd bought 10,000 shares back then. Today it's worth $1,670,000.00. The majority of humanity has no clue what a Bitcoin is and the analogy of Bitcoin to Amazon and Apple is apparent. Those who wish to jump on the BTC train will be pleased they did. Some see Bitcoins as trash, others like myself see the treasure. To each their own. FYI, tomorrow, time allowing, I'll probably take 1 Bitcoin and buy 8 American Gold Eagles @ $1345 per Eagle......and that's NOT a pyramid scheme.

[Walcrow]

Thank you ... I never knew anything about them or that they even existed. Now I want a bunch of them, but can't even afford one When did Bitcoins start ???

They became available around 7 years ago. Since that initial period, $100 then would have a VALUE of $140,000,000.00 today. Here's an interesting Facebook post by Andrew Athan..........

Andrew Athan
December 1 at 10:46pm ·

I note today that the CFTC has approved bitcoin futures to start trading, and that the date is currently set at Dec 18 (other sources state Dec 11). This is a watershed moment for bitcoin and bitcoin exchanges. Do not be asleep at the wheel on the first day of futures trading, or for the days following. Monitor market activity closely, and protect your investment according to your informed opinion, and try to avoid making your trading decisions based purely on emotion or “what everyone else is doing.” That being said, if you don’t feel qualified to make a trading decision for yourself, you may want to follow the advice of someone who is well informed, and that you trust (and you might also want to ask yourself if you’re just betting on the roulette).

Commencement of trading in bitcoin futures means exposure to the movements in bitcoin’s price will be made available to the vast hedge fund industry (with over $3T of assets under management), without trading bitcoin directly on the largely problematic, understaffed, underpowered bitcoin exchanges. Instead, these fund managers will be able to trade based on the cryptocurrency’s price fluctuations directly on the CME and other exchanges (such as NASDAQ). That’s not to say all of that hedge fund money will go into trading bitcoin futures, but some of it will.

The contracts are USD denominated and paid out according to the “BRR” (Bitcoin Reference Rate: http://www.cmegroup.com/tradi…/cf-...rence-rate.htm). This BRR is essentially “the price of bitcoin according to CME,” and will be calculated on the basis of data provided by a few bitcoin exchanges. Namely, Bitstamp, GDAX, itBit and Kraken. You can draw your own conclusions about how the CME feels about those exchanges relative to others in the ecosystem.

The contracts will initially carry a 35% margin rate, but speculation is that this rate may go as low as 10% at some point. This means futures contracts may be purchased for between 3x and 10x the value of your deposits at your broker. In other words, the bitcoin hedge funds that currently hold about $2-3B in assets, will be able to leverage that at least 3x, to bet on the movement of bitcoin using futures. However, I am uncertain as to whether they’ll be able to do that without actually converting their bitcoin holdings into USD first.

The contracts will be for 5 bitcoin at a time, and priced at $5 increments. This means that you can’t make bets on less than a $5 movement in the price of bitcoin, and it also means that to buy a single contract, you need ~$50k, or enough deposits to meet the 35% margin requirement (i.e., ~35% of $50k). The price fluctuation of the contracts at CME will be limited to 20% per day.

You’re probably wondering how trading futures at the CME matters to trading bitcoin on existing exchanges. The answer is that, via the activity of arbitragers, at least long term, after a period of volatility, the prices at CME and exchanges should be in direct correlation.

Take a quick look at https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/#markets. You’ll see about $7B of bitcoin was traded today. NASDAQ traded 2.4B shares valued at $133B. NYSE appears to be doing about half that. Futures markets and FX markets are ~5x and ~50x larger, respectively. Take away: Bitcoin exchanges are small.

A gorilla is about to enter the room.

[F6Bster]

This thread needs to be in the Off-Topic Forum.

[Walcrow]

It was started by the ADMINISTRATOR. Take it up with him.

[F6Bster]

Still doesn’t mean it’s in the right place. I generally don’t read off-topic stuff as that’s not the reason I come to this forum. Oil is contentious enough for me!!!!

It was started by the ADMINISTRATOR. Take it up with him.

[Phantom]

Still doesn’t mean it’s in the right place. I generally don’t read off-topic stuff as that’s not the reason I come to this forum. Oil is contentious enough for me!!!!

The reason why I posted it in the General section was exactly for the reason that you stated that you don't generally visit the off topic section.
Since this is a topic that many are not aware of I posted it here because so few visit the off topic section.
I just wanted the maximum exposure. I have had my questions answered, Thank you all.
I will move this to the off topic section, sorry if this inquiry offended anyone. Just seeking knowledge from as many people as possible.