Does anyone here invest in it? I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Yes I know it's high risk and technically not "real" money, but I plan on it only being around 1% or less of my total investments. I've been looking at both ADA and RTX which show some promise, but I get nothing is set in stone and if I lose a few hundred or a thousand bucks I'm not too worried about it.

I have tried to understand it but I don't have the first clue how it works. Guess this old dog will ride off into the sunset with jingle jangle from the coins in my pocket.

The way I think of it is like the scratch ticket of stocks. Maybe I'll win huge, maybe I'll break even, or maybe I'll lose it. But I expect to lose it.

Go big or go home.

I am watching this, but have little faith in understanding it. I have tried to figure some of it out, but to no avail. The "mining", the "wallet" and all the other things make no sense?

Maybe this thread will bare some fruit. Good luck Ryan.

Too much risk of this happening.



One could argue that there's a risk of this in conventional investing, and our money does exist mainly as electrons and on the government's say-so, but at least the latter can be redeemed for Benjamins when you ask for it. I believe the risk with crypto is far too great.

If you aren't interested in purchasing on a cryptocurrency exchange, you can purchase Bitcoin ETF's.

I'm not comfortable getting into crypto investing yet, and probably never will be at my age.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
If you aren't interested in purchasing on a cryptocurrency exchange, you can purchase Bitcoin ETF's.

I've used the Fidelity ETF's for both Bitcoin and Ethereum. They track almost exactly. You can easily trade in a brokerage account and don't need a crypto "wallet".

If I were to get involved, I know I'd go the ETF route. But it's something that so far hasn't interested me because of volatility, the unknowns, my lack of knowledge/understanding and being heavily into the stock market, which I can understand better.

Some might say the stock market is volatile...especially after the last couple of weeks, but over the long haul, it's proven itself to me and I've learned from it.

I bought Bitcoin and Ethereum through my PayPal acct. Bought $700 worth, it's been fun watching it go up and down.

Unlike traditional true investments like stocks/bonds/index funds or even real estate, cryptocurrency is 100% speculation, based not on any underlying solid business fundamentals, financial value, metrics, or market performance, and totally on what people think/hope it might be worth in the future. Therefore it's nothing more than gambling.

Now, there's nothing necessarily wrong with gambling, if you can afford it. If you have some expendable money laying around and want to toss some of it into crypto purely as a gamble, then sure. Same as sticking it in a slot machine.

I don't get it and I'm too old to care that I don't get it, or to try to understand it now.

quote:

Originally posted by pace40:
I don't get it and I'm too old to care that I don't get it, or to try to understand it now.

I couldn't have said it better. I have various investment types that have been working very well for me for the last 40 years. I see no reason to add crypto-gambling into my investment strategy.

kleptocurrency
crypticurrency

At this point in the game.

I've seen a couple interesting "confrontations" on Fox Business, trying to get folks in the Crypto industry to explain what Crypto currency is. I have yet to see an answer.

Having said that, I wish I hadn't avoided investing, just because it looks like a Ponzi scheme. I've been aware of it since it began, and I could have put a few hunnert into it and watched it "grow". Now it's too late.

I view it as being like religion. Nobody can prove God exists, but that hasn't stopped a lot of people from making money on it.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Unlike traditional true investments like stocks/bonds/index funds or even real estate, cryptocurrency is 100% speculation, based not on any underlying solid business fundamentals, financial value, metrics, or market performance, and totally on what people think/hope it might be worth in the future. Therefore it's nothing more than gambling.

Now, there's nothing necessarily wrong with gambling, if you can afford it. If you have some expendable money laying around and want to toss some of it into crypto purely as a gamble, then sure. Same as sticking it in a slot machine.

Great description and advice.

^^^^^
Gambling has an underlying value in that winnings are based on the existing pots.

Crypto doesn't even have that going for it.

Wouldn't the cost to mine the crypto represent its underlying value? If nothing else, it does respond to the laws of supply and demand. It's different than betting on a company and their business, but most stock speculation is a form of gambling.

Still on the fence myself, and doing my own research. I've found the following couple of vids informative along the way, so I'll share them here.

Just know that it isn't my intention to get the last word in, or to diminish anyone else's views, but I do want to contribute to the thread and add value if possible.

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
Still on the fence myself, and doing my own research. I've found the following couple of vids informative along the way, so I'll share them here.

Just know that it isn't my intention to get the last word in, or to diminish anyone else's views, but I do want to contribute to the thread and add value if possible.



[FLASH_VIDEO]<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5JDrK7sP3gA?si=N2764EZIKzYYoJxU" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>[/FLASH_VIDEO]

I listened to the second video and a few thoughts come to mind about his points. He talks about no middle man, but there technically is with crypto transactions - that is why people mine. He mentions all the hacks, Jeep, pacemakers etc. but there are constantly people getting ripped off on the exchanges. I know if I use Zelle it is going to be tracked, but if someone wants to, they can do the same on transactions on the exchanges. That is how the police track down the people doing the major ripoff of bitcoin (look up bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde).

So the difference between Zelle and crypto is that I always know the value of Zelle, it never changes. Yes, it has to be done from bank to bank and both side have to have access to it (just like crypto). With crypto the value can be different from minute to minute.

Honestly I do not see many benefits to crypto. Other than buying it to gamble and see if it skyrockets. Even after all these years, there are very few places I have seen locally that allow paying by crypto and I do not see that changing.