Bitcoins/Litecoins/Virtual Currencies

  • Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and give us your nominations!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,763
Senators aren't very smart.
I think of it the following way.

Every large country has a government that is a large net debtor in it's own currency. Each country devalues (inflation) it's own currency yearly. Take the US governmental debt at 5 trillion. If inflation is 3%, then that's $150 billion dollars per year (trillions and trillions of $ over decades with compound interest and much, much more worldwide) of money the government stands to gain having their own currency to devalue. If bitcoins every become more than a novelty niche, they become a trillion dollar threat to debtors. What happens to trillion dollar threats? They get killed. Fast.

Secondly, bitcoins offer privacy. Privacy on transactions is bad for governments who want tax and power.

Now whether or not governments have the power to make using bitcoins unusable? I wouldn't underestimate them for 99% of the population. Sure, they may always be accessible to the technically savvy. But I have confidence governments can make using them scary enough to make using them not worth it for the vast majority. Consigning bitcoins to a tiny illegal niche market.
I don't think you understand currency.

Not everyone has and not everyone will acept bitcoins. You will need to take a good portion of your bitcoin and change it into currency and you will need to report that on your taxes. The amount of money they don't get from the bitcoin to bitcoin spending might be made up from the amount of people too stupid to report their income properly and will get boned on their taxes when the audit man comes.
 

rinthe_sl

shitlord
102
2
You ignore and strawman my main argument. Which isn't tax, it's inflation. That bitcoins are competition to governments monopoly on the zero cost financing of their own currencies.


I don't think you understand currency.

Not everyone has and not everyone will acept bitcoins. You will need to take a good portion of your bitcoin and change it into currency and you will need to report that on your taxes. The amount of money they don't get from the bitcoin to bitcoin spending might be made up from the amount of people too stupid to report their income properly and will get boned on their taxes when the audit man comes.
 

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,763
You ignore and strawman my main argument. Which isn't tax, it's inflation. That bitcoins are competition to governments monopoly on the zero cost financing of their own currencies.
I didn't strawman anything. I referenced the second half of your discussion. The part about privacy and tax and technical skill .....

Your main argument was made up drivel based on some conspiracy theory.
 

Falstaff

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
8,435
3,380
I have no problem with bitcoin and find it fascinating and intriguing as a new currency, but to me the issue with bitcoin is why would I want to accept 1 bitcoin for ~US$500 worth of services today, when that bitcoin could be worth ~US$300 tomorrow or even 3 hours from now? I think some sort of stabilization is key for more mainstream adoption.
 

Asshat wormie

2023 Asshat Award Winner
<Gold Donor>
16,820
30,968
You guys remember Greece? What happened to them is largerly due to the fact that they do not control their currency. Bitcoins will never be allowed to become an acceptable currency in any stable country. And while the bitcoins themselves cannot be banned due to enforcibility issues, transacting in bit coins can be banned very easily.
 

Asshat wormie

2023 Asshat Award Winner
<Gold Donor>
16,820
30,968
Sure, you could easily ban transacting in bit coins. Enforcing that ban would be the impossible part.
How so? Implement massive fines for any business that accepts bit coins => no more legitimate businesses accepting bit coins.
 

Df~_sl

shitlord
975
0
That would just stop legitimate businesses from that country from directly accepting bitcoins... just like banks are "banned" from handling suspected terrorist / drug cartel money...

For the folks talking about taxing or controlling bitcoins... how well do you think you understand how the bitcoin transaction system works?
 

Burnesto

Molten Core Raider
2,142
126
I think most people are only speaking of taxation in relation to converting it to a physical currency. If you're cashing out large amounts with no explanation, your bank account will get flagged. That's when the IRS will get excited and nail you with late fees and back taxes.
 

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,763
My friend working at a local power company makes a lot of dough mining virtual currency. How about you, genius, how many asic miners do you have hustling your employer for free power? :)
I have $45k of miners on order and have been doing mining since about a year in. I have given away a few hundred coins in the past when they were less than a dollar each.
 

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,763
I think most people are only speaking of taxation in relation to converting it to a physical currency. If you're cashing out large amounts with no explanation, your bank account will get flagged. That's when the IRS will get excited and nail you with late fees and back taxes.
This is what we are talking about when we bring up taxes.
 

Asshat wormie

2023 Asshat Award Winner
<Gold Donor>
16,820
30,968
That would just stop legitimate businesses from that country from directly accepting bitcoins... just like banks are "banned" from handling suspected terrorist / drug cartel money...
Well, unless I am mistaken, the discussion is about bitcoins replacing current forms of currency. That cannot happen if large portions of the population do not accept it as such.
 

Asshat wormie

2023 Asshat Award Winner
<Gold Donor>
16,820
30,968
Replace for individuals sure. As a countries currency? Not a chance.
Yeah thats what I am saying. It will never replace currencies issued by countries and thats a good thing. Losing control of your own currency will be disastrous for any country.
 

Solariss

Golden Squire
141
13
In other news, Litecoin is up to $18-19 and I bought all of the parts for a mining rig except the video cards.. anybody know where the fuck I can find 4 7950's?!

Better yet, are the other cards any better? 280x or 7970? Where can I find a good deal on some? Also, I got a Seasonic 1250 watt and am praying that will run 4 cards.

Please help!
 

Eidal

Molten Core Raider
2,001
213
In other news, Litecoin is up to $18-19 and I bought all of the parts for a mining rig except the video cards.. anybody know where the fuck I can find 4 7950's?!

Better yet, are the other cards any better? 280x or 7970? Where can I find a good deal on some? Also, I got a Seasonic 1250 watt and am praying that will run 4 cards.

Please help!
Heads up on scrypt mining -- its not easy like sha256 mining. Expect to spend hours and hours tinkering with clock speeds and voltage settings. 4x 7950 at full load will put out a considerable amount of heat so you're definitely looking at an open air rig. It also beats the shit out of your equipment running at 100 percent capacity; be very careful buying used 7950s because their fans may be already shredded from months of mining.

EDIT: If you're doing this partially because you're interested and you want to enjoy it as a hobby, thats cool... but you're almost always better off buying coins instead of mining hardware if return is your priority. I bought a 3x 7950 setup in April and enjoyed it, its more than paid for itself, but had I simply invested $ in BTC/LTC I would have made 450 percent more PROFIT with zero of the 100+ hours spent fucking with the miner and exchanges between altcoins/btc.
 

Solariss

Golden Squire
141
13
Heads up on scrypt mining -- its not easy like sha256 mining. Expect to spend hours and hours tinkering with clock speeds and voltage settings. 4x 7950 at full load will put out a considerable amount of heat so you're definitely looking at an open air rig. It also beats the shit out of your equipment running at 100 percent capacity; be very careful buying used 7950s because their fans may be already shredded from months of mining.

EDIT: If you're doing this partially because you're interested and you want to enjoy it as a hobby, thats cool... but you're almost always better off buying coins instead of mining hardware if return is your priority. I bought a 3x 7950 setup in April and enjoyed it, its more than paid for itself, but had I simply invested $ in BTC/LTC I would have made 450 percent more PROFIT with zero of the 100+ hours spent fucking with the miner and exchanges between altcoins/btc.
Were you new to it when you started? Just curious if the initial setup took you a long time to figure out. I definitely know what to do as I'm mining on one of my gpu's right now and have mined in the past. I also mined Bitcoin about 2 years ago when it was around $5-18 range and if I kept the hundreds that I had then I would definitely be in good shape right now. Who knew.

Anyways, I am more interested in a return, but am also more comfortable making an initial investment and mining the coins rather than buying and figuring out when to sell. I'll be able to mine more coins with the $1,500 for the mining supplies than I could just buying coins now. I'm really not willing to invest much more than that. Because I'll end up just holding the coins and waiting for a miracle in a few years.

edit: also, I'm not putting them in a case