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Post by blurnette989 on May 15, 2021 14:07:59 GMT -6
I agree it's not inherently bad. I do t truly understand how some coins are mined so i think there are some inevitable inequalities currently in people's ability to get the coins? I could be wrong but mh refers to mining operations and rigs- so it does seem like you need resources to get into it.
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willow
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Post by willow on May 15, 2021 14:20:00 GMT -6
It all feels so beyond what my brain likes to understand. Like the stock market has been explained to me several times and I still don’t get that either. I feel that I will be a loyal dollars and cents lady. If only because I don’t have the energy to understand another way to buy things lol.
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cnf
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Post by cnf on May 15, 2021 16:14:52 GMT -6
It all feels so beyond what my brain likes to understand. Like the stock market has been explained to me several times and I still don’t get that either. I feel that I will be a loyal dollars and cents lady. If only because I don’t have the energy to understand another way to buy things lol. Same. I don't get it on many levels. H randomly bought some Bitcoin a few years ago, like $100 worth I think? He cashed out all but his initial investment this year, which was $700. Random, I don't know. |
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piratecat
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Post by piratecat on May 15, 2021 18:23:24 GMT -6
It all feels so beyond what my brain likes to understand. Like the stock market has been explained to me several times and I still don’t get that either. I feel that I will be a loyal dollars and cents lady. If only because I don’t have the energy to understand another way to buy things lol. I ask my husband to explain it to me periodically and I still have zero idea how it works. He does do some cryptocurrency trading. |
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Post by blurnette989 on May 15, 2021 18:33:10 GMT -6
Mh wants to buy some sort of rig to do ethereum mining and I'm over here trying to go off grid and quit my day job lolololol.
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Post by blurnette989 on May 15, 2021 18:34:37 GMT -6
Sorry he just corrected me, it's helium.
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elle
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Post by elle on May 15, 2021 18:37:02 GMT -6
My H mines etherium and bitcoin but I don't pay much attention to be honest.
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Post by sheilathetank on May 15, 2021 18:50:02 GMT -6
My H mines etherium and bitcoin but I don't pay much attention to be honest. How's your electric bill? |
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elle
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Post by elle on May 15, 2021 18:57:27 GMT -6
My H mines etherium and bitcoin but I don't pay much attention to be honest. How's your electric bill? He has a reminder set up to start mining in off times during the cheaper rate. Every night just before 9pm Alexa says "start mining". 😆 |
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Post by sheilathetank on May 15, 2021 19:01:43 GMT -6
How's your electric bill? He has a reminder set up to start mining in off times during the cheaper rate. Every night just before 9pm Alexa says "start mining". 😆 Smart. The electric costs are why we don't mine. |
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Post by blurnette989 on May 15, 2021 19:03:02 GMT -6
How's your electric bill? He has a reminder set up to start mining in off times during the cheaper rate. Every night just before 9pm Alexa says "start mining". 😆 This is funny. Also thank you! I needed to starty dehydrator before I went to sleep and this reminded me! 😂 Cannot dehydrate jalapenos while we are up and about. |
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elle
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Post by elle on May 15, 2021 19:55:29 GMT -6
He has a reminder set up to start mining in off times during the cheaper rate. Every night just before 9pm Alexa says "start mining". 😆 Smart. The electric costs are why we don't mine. Yeah, even with a limited time mining per day I'm sure it's still not cheap. |
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Post by blurnette989 on May 16, 2021 2:12:21 GMT -6
I do think that my brain likes the practical and tangible and crypto is definitely not that yet so it does annoy me @clay. You are absolutely on point there.
And yeah all currency is nonsense. It's a made up value system we "trust" governments and banks to manage. And when not backed by anything more than trust the value is just what somebody decides it is.
This may be my fundamental issue with currency. The calculations for value are inequitable. I will say I'm also not crazy and don't think we need to go back to the gold standard or anything. It's just the socialist in me stamping her foot. 😁
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Post by blurnette989 on May 16, 2021 2:22:28 GMT -6
@clay
Now once these are all found, my question is what happens to the value? Is it just stagnant?
This is a great question. I was asking MH and he said basically thinks that it doesn't matter too much because there is a lot of "lost" Bitcoin out there. But it's def in a bubble and it's so volatile that it will probably crash at some point. When Musk tweeted the other day about Bitcoin it's value dropped 11% in two hours. That is crazy volatility. But rightnowthe value is entirely driven by how much people are willing to pay. So maybe it will just become less trendy and the value will settle somewhere along the line.
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euphony
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Post by euphony on May 16, 2021 4:01:23 GMT -6
I think the environmental impact of block chain makes cryptos unfeasible in the long term. I think that alone makes their existence morally questionable. We live in a time when we are on the brink of environmental catastrophe. Why does the human race insist on pouring gasoline on this fire? It is so unnecessary.
I will be honest, we (generally we) always talk about alternative energies like those will save us and we can continue on the way we have been. That is not going to work. If you could snap your fingers and turn everything to solar power, global warming would continue because the heat reflected off solar panels would continue to raise the earth's temperature. We don't get to trade in our electric cars every couple of years and pat ourselves on the back. We have to cut back on our consumption. And instead we are creating imaginary currencies that take an unimaginable amount of energy to "mine". I am just gobsmacked by our shortsightedness as a species.
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euphony
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Post by euphony on May 16, 2021 4:17:06 GMT -6
I should add that it is not just mining crypto that uses a tremendous amount of energy. Blockchain relies on having a multitude of users tracking the path of these coins. The redundancy is what makes them so secure and makes them remotely viable as currency. They are designed to be an energy suck. The technology would be impressive were it not for what it costs us.
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Post by blurnette989 on May 16, 2021 6:30:07 GMT -6
This is a great perspective euphony. And a reminder that reduce is always the first of the three R and probably the most ignored. I hadn't considered how the impact of the environment would lead to lack of viability. |
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Post by sheilathetank on May 16, 2021 6:57:47 GMT -6
So the benefits I see are in countries with volatile political situations. The value of bitcoin is the same in Mali as it is in Canada. When you have governments in the world that have historically fucked with their currency causing hyperinflation, its an insurance plan.
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euphony
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Post by euphony on May 16, 2021 7:16:30 GMT -6
This is a great perspective euphony. And a reminder that reduce is always the first of the three R and probably the most ignored. I hadn't considered how the impact of the environment would lead to lack of viability. I sat through a lecture about blockchain a while back, and the person conducting it was very high on the technology but completely handwaved the tremendous energy usage, which I found weird. Right now the authentication of the chain of custody on these cryptos is being done by miners. Basically, these bitcoins are a kind of compensation to the people running the necessary authecations that keep the currency secure and viable. She was asked what would happen when all the bitcoins were mined so people would have no incentive to continue running these processes and she was like "interesting question! Something else will have to be figured out!" Also, most hedge funds I come in contact with through my work won't touch the stuff. |
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cnf
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Post by cnf on May 16, 2021 10:40:29 GMT -6
Ok, so I'm glad the mining was explained because that was a question I had. I'm a very literal person and the lack of a tangible item just confused my brain. Like what is the coin? Is it really a coin? How did it get hidden in the internet? How did someone figure out what they were, where they were, and that they are of value? And how did others buy into the value of something that is not tangible? I just, like, can't really wrap my brain around it. My dumb is super showing.
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euphony
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Post by euphony on May 16, 2021 11:45:52 GMT -6
Ok, so I'm glad the mining was explained because that was a question I had. I'm a very literal person and the lack of a tangible item just confused my brain. Like what is the coin? Is it really a coin? How did it get hidden in the internet? How did someone figure out what they were, where they were, and that they are of value? And how did others buy into the value of something that is not tangible? I just, like, can't really wrap my brain around it. My dumb is super showing. It's kind of a lottery at this point. There aren't many bitcoins left and only the first person to decrypt gets the coin. There is no guaranteed payoff. The mining process is what allows for the continued provenance of these cryptos, because they aren't traceable in the traditional sense but the chain of custody is perpetuated by ever single miner making it very secure. But I really need to go back and watch the presentation to recall the precise mechanics of it. |
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Post by ldubhawksfan on May 19, 2021 20:50:00 GMT -6
I don’t have much to contribute because I still don’t totally get it, but I listen to a conspiracy theories podcast and this week’s theme was Bitcoin, talking about its history, and the stupid conspiracies that go along with it. But it was the first time I had heard what was actually involved in the “mining” process.
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elle
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Post by elle on May 19, 2021 20:54:23 GMT -6
So my H tried to explain to me today that there are environmentally friendly methods of mining but I failed you all because I inadvertently tuned out about a minute in to the explanation. 😬😆
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Peekaru
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Post by Peekaru on May 20, 2021 10:13:51 GMT -6
So, I can discuss the monetary portion of bitcoin/ cyber currency and the pros and cons of it.
If you want to know how to mine it or the environmental impacts, I got nothing because I am a tech dinosaur.
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Post by blurnette989 on May 20, 2021 13:08:00 GMT -6
So, I can discuss the monetary portion of bitcoin/ cyber currency and the pros and cons of it. If you want to know how to mine it or the environmental impacts, I got nothing because I am a tech dinosaur. would live to hear your perspective. I'm always curious the benefits. |
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