Bitcoin

Bitcoin Price Surges To $15,000 Today (December 23)

Bitcoin Price Surges To $15,000 Today (December 23)

Volatility in Bitcoin prices continued on Saturday, with the value of the cryptocurrency or digital currency recovering to $14,715 on Bitstamp, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Luxembourg. Bitcoin prices have swung wildly this week. From a record high of $19,666, hit on Sunday, bitcoin prices fell over 36 per cent, losing more than one-third of its value, to hit $11,159.93 on Friday. Despite the sharp fall this week, Bitcoin's price has jumped nearly 13 times this year, leading to some regulators caution the public dealing with the cryptocurrency. At 6:08 pm, Bitcoin was trading at $15,101 on Bitstamp. The bitcoin price hit a high of $15,297 in past 24 hours and dropped to a low of $13,496.

https://www.ndtv.com/business/live-...rade-below-15-000-five-things-to-know-1790827
 
Researchers find that one person caused bitcoin to spike from $150 to $1,000 in 2013

https://ca.yahoo.com/finance/news/researchers-one-person-caused-bitcoin-144100582.html

In 2013, bitcoin was worth just $150 when suddenly, the price spiked.

Within two months, one bitcoin was worth $1,000. Four researchers from the Tandy School of Computer Science at The University of Tulsa and the Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University now believe that this spike was caused by one individual person.

In a paper titled "Price Manipulation in the Bitcoin Ecosystem," published in the Journal of Monetary Economics, Neil Gandal, JT Hamrick, Tyler Moore and Tali Oberman describe the ways in which suspicious activity on the Mt. Gox bitcoin currency exchange impacted the value of the cryptocurrency in 2013.

As reported by TechCrunch, their research calls attention to the potential risk of price manipulation and fraud withing cryptocurrencies. "If bitcoin wants to be taken seriously it probably shouldn't be this easy or legal to manipulate the markets," writes John Biggs for the publication.

Unlike traditional currencies, bitcoin does not have a central authority. Instead, cryptography is used to oversee transactions, manage supply and prevent fraud. Gandal et al. analyzed data that had been anonymously dumped in 2014 after allegations that 650,000 bitcoins had been fraudulently taken.

They found that a majority of the price manipulation happened due to two bots with "??" listed as the name of the user country. They named these bots "Markus" and "Willy."

Markus bought and sold bitcoin at seemingly random prices and did not pay transaction fees. Upon further review, they found reason to believe that Markus was not actually paying for the bitcoins he was receiving. Markus acquired a total of 335,898 bitcoins and was active from February 14th, 2013 until September 27th, 2013.

Seven hours after Markus became inactive, Willy appeared as a group of 49 accounts. Each of these Willy accounts would sequentially purchase $2.5 million worth of bitcoin and then become inactive. Over this period, the price of bitcoin spiked.

On days in which this suspicious activity occurred, the USD-BTC exchange rate rose by $20 on average. On the days in which no suspicious activity occurred, the exchange rate saw a slight decline.

By analyzing the identification numbers associated with Willy's account the researchers were able to confirm their suspicion that a single actor was responsible for both bots that, over the course of 2013, had acquired approximately 600,000 bitcoins.

"We conclude that the suspicious trading activity caused the unprecedented spike in the USD-BTC exchange rate in late 2013, when the rate jumped from around $150 to more than $1,000 in two months," they write.

"As mainstream finance invests in cryptocurrency assets and as countries take steps toward legalizing bitcoin as a payment system (as Japan did in April 2017), it is important to understand how susceptible cryptocurrency markets are to manipulation."

The potential for manipulation is one reason that Grant Sabatier, founder of Millenial Money, says that people should not invest in the cryptocurrency — even though it made him a millionaire.

"Even though I'm a bitcoin millionaire, I don't recommend that you invest in it today," he writes for CNBC Make It .

One reason Sabatier is hesitant to suggest others invest is because volatility in the market makes it difficult to accurately estimate bitcoin's value.

"Because so many new people are buying it (and so quickly!), it's impossible to accurately value," he says. "When the price of anything fluctuates 20 to 30 percent in one day, it's obviously unstable, so you could lose all of your money very quickly."

"Most people aren't buying into the value of the technology, they're buying into the hype," he argues. "This is gambling, not investing."
 
I tripled my bc investment in one week, withdrew the profits and went to a beach with a guest for three weeks.
 
Bitcoin price CRASH 'BLOODBATH': Cryptocurrency could drop 80% as tether criticism ri

Bitcoin price CRASH 'BLOODBATH': Cryptocurrency could drop 80% as tether criticism rises

BITCOIN’S price could drop by as much as 80 per cent if the cryptocurrency tether is revealed to have been artificially increasing its value resulting in a “bloodbath” for investors, experts have warned.
Tether is owned by a trading company named Bitfinex which has recently come under scrutiny by a blogger identifying themselves as Bitfinex’d.
The user has detailed in posts, tweets and YouTube videos that tether has been plucked from thin air to boost the value of bitcoin.
Investor worries have stemmed from the fact Bitfinex has previously declared that all of its coins are backed by real US dollar deposits, giving it a one to one value.
To prove to investors that there is nothing to worry about, Bitfinex promised to release an audit of its financials - however this has not taken place.
Since then, Bitfinex has announced that it has cut ties with its auditor, Friedman LLP, adding to current market doubts.
In a statement, the virtual currency exchange said: “We confirm that the relationship with Friedman is dissolved.
However, market concerns have been heightened following the series of blog posts from Bitfinex’d that, if true, could send bitcoin crashing if it is discovered its value has been artificially bumped up.
“Given the excruciatingly detailed procedures Friedman was undertaking for the relatively simple balance sheet of tether, it became clear that an audit would be unattainable in a reasonable time frame.
“As tether is the first company in the space to undergo this process and pursue this level of transparency, there is no precedent set to guide the process nor any benchmark against which to measure its success.”
Nicholas Weaver, a professor from UC Berkeley’s International Computer Science Institute, declared that a “bloodbath” would ensue if tether fails to hold its value and reassure investors.
He tweeted: “At current prices, net new bitcoin requires $18million of net new dollars flowing in to maintain the price.
“Yet there is a net $100million a day of fake dollars in the form of Tethers...
“If that tether printing press ever breaks, there will be a true bloodbath on the cryptocurrency prices. Good.”
An anonymous analyst wrote in a report entitled “Quantifying the Effect of Tether” that it was “highly unlikely that tether is growing through any organic business process, rather that they are printing in response to market conditions”.
The report went on: “Tether printing moves the market appreciably.
“48.8 per cent of bitcoin's price rise in the period studied occurred in the two-hour periods following the arrival of 91 different tether grants to the Bitfinex wallet.
“Bitfinex withdrawal/deposit statistics are unusual and would give rise to further scrutiny in a typical accounting environment. If there is questionable activity, the author believes a 30-80 per cent reduction in bitcoin price could be forecast.”
Author David Gerard reiterated calls to Bitfinex to “release those audits” to “calm the market”.
He explained: “People don’t seem to be able to redeem tethers for US dollars at all. The tether web page says they’re ‘subject to frequent professional audits’ — so they need to release those audits, and calm the market.”
Meanwhile Bitfinex’d predicted a cryptocurrency crash larger than the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange that saw more than $450million (£318million) stolen.
He tweeted: “I called it months ago, multiple times, you’d never see a Tether audit.
“Next call: Bitfinex and Tether fail spectacularly and a crash worse than Mt. Gox.”
Following the series of criticisms from the blogger, Bitfinex threatened to file legal action against them.
The company said: “To date, every claim made by these bad actors has been patently false and made simply to agitate the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
“As a result, Bitfinex has decided to assert all of its legal rights and remedies against this agitator and his associates.”
The current value of bitcoin is £7,949.

https://www.express.co.uk/finance/c...itfinex-dollars-market-investors-value-latest

https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/22/590x/Bitcoin-Bitcoin-price-Bitcoin-crash-Bitcoin-cryptocurrency-Bitcoin-tether-Bitcoin-Bitfinex-Bitcoin-dollars-Bitcoin-market-911293.jpg
 
I am wary.
Eventually, gov's will figure out a way to tax bitcoin - and in Australia, that will likely mean back-dated legislation. So people will get fines for not paying tax, and those fines will have penalties with compound interest.
It has happened before - a family member invested in tree farms. The tax office successfully implemented a tax, backdated for 7 years. His fine was $72,000 on a $25,000 initial investment.
 
I am wary.
Eventually, gov's will figure out a way to tax bitcoin - and in Australia, that will likely mean back-dated legislation. So people will get fines for not paying tax, and those fines will have penalties with compound interest.
It has happened before - a family member invested in tree farms. The tax office successfully implemented a tax, backdated for 7 years. His fine was $72,000 on a $25,000 initial investment.

Bitcoin is a currency not a product. there's nothing to tax.
 
Bitcoin is a currency not a product. there's nothing to tax.

Yes there is - profits made from trading attract a tax in Aus, and as soon as they figure a way to track profits off bitcoin you can be absolutely certain they will tax it.
 
Yes there is - profits made from trading attract a tax in Aus, and as soon as they figure a way to track profits off bitcoin you can be absolutely certain they will tax it.

I don't think you understand Bitcoin. I mean I get what you're saying but you're treating it like it's something it's not. It's money like any other money. You pay or don't pay taxes in the exact same way. If you're honest. But Bitcoin is similar to cash in that it is totally anonymous if you're not a complete moron. You don't pay tax on the cash in your wallet unless it's already reported income or you're super honest and report everything. Bitcoin is the same. Sort of.
 
I don't think you understand Bitcoin. I mean I get what you're saying but you're treating it like it's something it's not. It's money like any other money. You pay or don't pay taxes in the exact same way. If you're honest. But Bitcoin is similar to cash in that it is totally anonymous if you're not a complete moron. You don't pay tax on the cash in your wallet unless it's already reported income or you're super honest and report everything. Bitcoin is the same. Sort of.

The difference, as I see it, is that while cash leaves no footprint, bitcoin trading is done online which leaves a trail that can be followed.
And if it can be followed, any profits can [eventually] be taxed.
 
The difference, as I see it, is that while cash leaves no footprint, bitcoin trading is done online which leaves a trail that can be followed.
And if it can be followed, any profits can [eventually] be taxed.

The expense behind finding even a few bitcoin holders would outweigh any tax they'd get. Bitcoin isn't 100% anon but if you take even reasonable precautions it's 99%.
 
The expense behind finding even a few bitcoin holders would outweigh any tax they'd get. Bitcoin isn't 100% anon but if you take even reasonable precautions it's 99%.

Heh - here in Aus, you can be pretty confident the gov't will come after you for even the slightest profit that can be taxed!
I got fined for not declaring $81 on a bank account I hadn't used for the year. But, the money in the account earned interest, and I forgot to declare it. They came after me for tax on the 81, plus the fine.
 
ECB official backs bitcoin clampdown

Yves Mersch joins growing list of experts calling for restrictions on cryptocurrencies

A top European Central Bank policymaker has joined calls for a global clampdown on virtual currencies such as bitcoin because of their threat to financial stability.

Yves Mersch, a member of the ECB’s executive board, said the central bank shared the views voiced by Agustín Carstens, the head of the Bank for International Settlements, who on Monday condemned bitcoin as “a combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster”.
How long can government crackdowns be dodged?
 
Here is EXACTLY and EVERYTHING that Ƀ and its revolutionary blockchain technology is:

Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System

If you read and understand those 9 pages, you will practically know more about Ƀ than probably 99% of the entire rest of the world will EVER know.

Here's what 0.001 Bitcoin (or currently around $8) looks like:

https://imghaven.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/001-btc.jpg

If that is your private encrypted key, you can send the equivalent of $8 to any Bitcoin address/wallet in the world (but it's not yours because it's fake, and the blockchain knows that, so you're shit out of luck). You have no need of any 3rd party (bank, exchange, etc) to do so - you simply send it from your Bitcoin wallet (comprised of some of the digital code found in the Bitcoin whitepaper above) to another Bitcoin wallet address.

This is the raw hex version of Bitcoin's block 1 - the Genesis block - the first block of Bitcoin's now renowned blockchain, mined on January 3, 2009 (the Ƀ blockchain 11 minutes ago sat @ 508347):

https://imghaven.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/raw-hex-version-genesis-block.jpg

Note the text on the right side of the Genesis block reflects the newspaper bottom fold headline of the same date:

https://en.bitcoin.it/w/images/en/1/1d/Jonny1000thetimes.png

The anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto specifically created Ƀ to replace the financial system ruled by government and banks after the banking debacle and taxpayer FORCED government bailout of them earlier in 2008. Bitcoin is simply digital code, the value of which is whatever the individual actions of its community determines it to be. In October of 2008, when Satoshi's white paper above was first published, that paper represented Bitcoin's entire value. When the Genesis block was mined a few months later on January 3, 2009, it carried a reward of 50 BTC (Bitcoin) to the miner - still essentially worthless then to the rest of the world, but a value system begun nonetheless. The first noteworthy and now infamous transaction took place in December of 2010, when one Bitcoin nerd traded 10,000 BTC to another Bitcoin nerd for 2 pizzas. A few months after that, in February 2011, 1 BTC had soared to equal 1 USD ($1). Exactly one year ago today, 1 BTC had soared to equal $994, and it then atomically rocketed to 1 BTC = $19,415 on December 18, 2017 - not even two months ago (it's ATH = All Time High, btw). And in that less than two months since, amid so much American Idolesque FUD and outright speculation such unbelievable accomplishment has naturally drawn from literally every corner of the planet, Bitcoin has "sunk" back down to 1 BTC = $7,949 right now.

So, that then-worthless 50 BTC rewarded for mining the Genesis block on January 3, 2009, was worth $970,750.00 on December 18, 2017, and is worth $397,450.00 today. (Current Bitcoin block mined reward is 12.5 BTC = $100,000.)

That 10,000 BTC which was traded for two pizzas in December 2010 was worth $194,150,000.00 just 7 years later on December 18, 2017, and is worth $79,490,000.00 today.

:D

You know that 1 USD ($1) contains 100 denominations called cents / 1¢ / 0.01, right?

Well, 1 BTC is made up of 100,000,000 denominations called satoshis / 1シ / 0.00000001, and an individual can obtain increments of 1 Bitcoin just as they can obtain increments of $1.

Right now, you can obtain 1シ for $0.0000809178. :D If you wanted to splurge, for $1 you'd get 12,358シ, which also equals 0.00012385 BTC.

When you read Nakamoto's white paper, you learn just mathematically short of 21 million Bitcoins will ever be mined, with the last Bitcoin currently projected to be mined somewhere around 120 years from now, or 2140 (the mining formula increases drastically as time passes). And then consider that as of right now, just short of 16.9 million of those total 21 million Bitcoins have already been mined in just Bitcoin's first 9 years...

That leaves just 4 million more Bitcoins to be mined over the next century.

Consider also that some current estimates claim that 4-6 million private keys of those 16.9 million Bitcoins already mined have been lost forever, never to be found, let alone spent, again (look again at that encrypted private key which is/= 0.001 BTC above - SERIOUSLY, that's all a Bitcoin is, and if you lose or misplace that series of #s and letters, you're out the entire $ amount they represent, too. There is no customer service to help you, there is no loss and found department to rely on: when you possess the world history revolutionary power of being your own individual bank/banker, you best take that individual responsibility seriously, or it's going to cost ONLY you).

People have actually thrown away a hard/thumb drive they had 10 BTC on back when that amount of BTW was only worth $10-20 bucks; today, that 10 BTC is worth $80,000 and those folks' nightmares never stop. And they're the lucky losers: there are those who've paid to have landfills closed down just so they can comb through all that trash hoping to find the hard/thumb drive or Bitcoin hard wallet they mindlessly tossed sometime in the past.

What's also truly outfriggingstanding about Bitcoin's blockchain is the potential it technically presents to, eg, replace all the infamous bureaucratic red tape in the world and so many of the millions of people it takes today to deal with that waste. Just consider that possibility alone and it's easy to understand the treasured value of Bitcoin's "System" today and why the word "blockchain" is actually inspiring TRILLIONS of $$ in imitating development by the biggest corporations in the world. Alas, there is only one Bitcoin - the original - and only one original blockchain, too.

Wanna be your own totally individual/independent bank? Wanna do your own individual Bitcoin business without any need of 3rd party exchanges, etc, all of which are falling further and further under statist federal government dictate/regulation? All you need to do is download the Bitcoin Core software to your own computer and you become a "Peer", a Bitcoin full node, joining thousands of other Bitcoin full nodes, forming the immutable, trustless, decentralized, "Peer-to-Peer" "System" of Bitcoin, validating every block (transaction) of its blockchain. It really is that simple, but the more you learn, the faster you'll really bring yourself up to speed. Go here to really start learning and to download the latest version of the Bitcoin Core software:

https://bitcoincore.org/

So, you see, Bitcoin is simply software/digital code, nothing basically different than email software/digital code, or browser software/digital code or any other software/digital code that dominates all our lives these days...

Which means that WHEN (not if) statist government gets done exerting their statist FORCE to make 3rd Party corporate/company/LLC entities fully comply with their statist KYC/AML crap (all of which is outside and totally irrelevant to Bitcoin Peer-to-Peer software/digital code), then statist government will be face-to-face with how to CONTROL/RULE over thousands and thousands and thousands of PEERS all over the world, all independently/individually an equally strong full, Bitcoin blockchain validating node, presenting the very same draconian dilemmas to statist government as if they decided to CONTROL/RULE over the software/digital code any individual freely chooses to use for their email, to surf the 'net, to calculate their income taxes every year...

If statist federal government really (foolishly) chooses to, Bitcoin and its blockchain most certainly stand ready to validate why many believe it will one day virtually replace almost all of what we know as physical government today. To try to stop that natural progression of Free Open Source Software technology, statist government will have no choice but to execute the very überdraconian measures that will surely help bring it down just as naturally in an America that simply won't stand for such unconstitutionally criminal radicalism.

Do you know a bunch of visionary, forward thinking Bitcoiners, those who are into Bitcoin primarily because they develop/maintain/understand the revolutionary power of its digital code (compared to all the current 3rd Party, Johnny Comelately, crony capitalist, $whore speculators) have not a hard time at all figuring one day the "System" value of 1 BTC may equal $1,000,000.00?

Decentralization is coming.

$20 will get you 242,523シ / 0.00242523 BTC right now. :D
 
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Bitcoin is 10 years old today

Bitcoin is 10 years old today


Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of the paper which led to the creation of bitcoin, the first ever cryptocurrency.
On October 31 2008, bitcoin's mysterious founder Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-page long academic style paper called "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System."
Since its creation, bitcoin has seen wild price swings, major battles for control, and $500 million hacks, but is now well in the mainstream....

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/top...ck-at-its-crazy-history/ar-BBPaJIT?li=AAggFp5


https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBP9mWI.img?h=633&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f
 
Bitcoin was designed to be a self-maintaining and self-regulating fully electronic currency system that isn't tied into the economy of any single country and operates on the public internet outside the banking grid and thereby outside any governmental control or oversight.

What would be the point of that?!
 
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