To retire with crypto held now, the average American would have had to invested 5k or 10k back when BTC was under 1k, and back then, crypto was just a game gimmick thing.

...back then, crypto was just a game gimmick thing.

I ran some numbers on that a while ago and posted it here. I just picked a starting point and went through, not doing a best case scenario (profits only, no losses).

Straight line, the numbers were astounding. I don't think there's anyone extant that would've been strong enough to "let it ride" without pulling profits or losses along the way.

Most of the guys I know would get scared during the downturns and bail, maybe breaking even or taking the loss. Most of the people playing, are penny ante types. I don't think I've got the stones for that ride.

I don't think there's anyone extant that would've been strong enough to "let it ride" without pulling profits or losses along the way.

I've let mine run. I'm long term optimistic on crypto. It's decentralized and can't be abused. Most of the cryptos are, at least. Some are centralized like Tether, which is pegged to the dollar by decree of Tether Limited, Inc, at $1 per coin. The company guarantees that redemption rate, meaning if anything happens to Tether such as a lawsuit from the SEC, then the crypto can go to zero instantly. And in fact the SEC does have a suit against them.

But the key to staying in the game is just to recognize that crypto is the future and the dollar is getting bludgeoned to death with all this debt being run up.

But I see decentralized crypto as the future as much as I saw the Internet being the future back in the mid 90's when I quit my job to get in on the internet scene.

I just wish I had converted 20-50% of my precious metal inventory to crypto back when bitcoin was about $450. Had I done that, then I would have been one of the ones retiring on crypto.

All of interest, Ping. What's the best crypto in terms of both solidity and privacy at this point? What do you suppose will happen with Tether. I assume what you mean above by "can go to zero instantly" means that everybody gets their stock if it leaving the govt goons with nothing to seize except its founder heroes.

All of interest, Ping. What's the best crypto in terms of both solidity and privacy at this point?

For privacy, Monero, ZCash, and Dash are privacy oriented. Bitcoin, while anonymous as all coins are, is quite trackable. You can look on the internet and see how much bitcoin is in every wallet in the world, and you can see transactions to and from every wallet in the world. You just can't tell who controls any wallet without some outside info.

But those 3 coins are designed to hide those things, while still allowing people to verify specific payments have been made, as is necessary in the course of doing business.

Solidity: Bitcoin is solid because it is king. It has name recognition which is difficult to overstate in importance, in spite of the coin being quite archaic compared to more modern cryptos.

Ethereum is also a solid bet. It's #2 in the crypto world after bitcoin and is far more advanced with it's blockchain able to support not only ETH transactions, but also numerous other lessor known crypto coins. I project ETH outperforming Bitcoin in the following weeks to months timeframe.

What do you suppose will happen with Tether.

I don't really care what happens to Tether as I don't really consider it a crypto because it is centralized. It's purpose is to act as a pseudo-dollar or crypto dollar. That's fine by itself, but the problem is that in order to be pegged to the dollar, the issuing firm has to guarantee it, which means if the company decides to, they could disappear one night reneging on their promises and if that happens, the Tether coin becomes instantly worthless.

I assume what you mean above by "can go to zero instantly" means that everybody gets their stock if it leaving the govt goons with nothing to seize except its founder heroes.

No, I mean that, as just described, the Tether token's value is founded upon the faith and trust of the people running Tether, Inc. That's not the case with decentralized crypto.

Frankly, I'm tired, and not real young any more. I'm at that point in life where financial advisors recommend lower risk investments.

But some people have the head and heart for crypto, obviously. My daughter, whom I've mentioned here before -- the one who everything she touches turns to money -- and her husband made $39 THOUSAND dollars last week trading some to-me-obscure crypto called Shiba Inu.

To me, that's the same as slapping down $6000 on Red 23 and spinning the roulette wheel.

BTW, do you care to tell us if the young couple pay 'income taxes' on their crypto wins? I hope not, but realize they may have no choice.

Me, I never know when to get out of an investment. Admittedly, I should listen to my daughter more -- she's made more on silver than I have over the years, despite having invested in it less than 1/20 what I have.

Your advice sounds good -- maybe I'll put $5000 wherever she says to, and sell whenever she says to. Compared to the $kinning that Bidet et al. have done to me (and most of us) recently, losing another $5000 can't hurt too much worse.

unless we buy literal Bitcoins in in a local shop?

From what I have heard, there is a Bitcoin ATM at Town & Country Mall in Joplin.

Not sure exactly how it works, but apparently you can insert cash and receive Bitcoin vouchers in return. ;)

I'm not quite old enough for my daughter to have a son-in-law!

I have neither the balls nor the brains to get into crypto on my own, thanks.

Or is it all over the country?

Say, Ping -- are Coinbase or Coinflip more anonymous ways to get the goods?

Coinbase

I know someone that was dabbling with Coinbase. And I think they made a profit at it too. ;)

www.rt.com/usa/fbi-owns-largest-bitcoin-wallet-458/

They have BTC vending machines in Keene NH, and unless I'm a monkey's uncle it's legit fizical coins.

How can you get physical coins when Bitcoin is a digital currency?

Can you say, "Ooo eee ooo ha ha ting tang walla walla bing bang?" ;)

But don't our banks and ergo the tax thieves routinely know about any money we put into crypto -- unless we buy literal Bitcoins in in a local shop?

Not as a matter of routine, no. It's a more complex question, but crypto is borderless, so if one obtains crypto from an international source that doesn't answer to your government's regulations, then you get the crypto and no one really knows about it.

Now they can see that a credit card was used to send dollars to that entity, but they can't normally ID the crypto that was sent back in return as belonging to you.

A caveat here is that if the gov does learn which crypto wallet belongs to you, such as the place you bought crypto from reporting it to the gov, then they can see all transactions going in and out of that wallet and ask you questions about that. To prevent that one would need a wallet that is never disclosed as being your wallet, and such non- disclosure would mean never xferring crypto funds from the wallet to another entity that knows who you are AND will report it to the gov in the form of any inquiries or financial reports.

This does not apply to privacy coins like Dash, ZCash and Monero. With those, it's not known from their blockchain how much crypto in is each wallet, nor can one associate any two transactions involving that wallet as being related. For example if you received a payment and paid someone else, outside entities can probably see those 2 transactions, but cannot tell that those 2 transactions involved your wallet, or even whether they involved the same wallet. So if you are using those coins then you got your privacy.

But even without the privacy cryptos, once crypto is obtained by one person, its effective cash for many practical purposes as there is no ID tied to that crypto after one has it. You can hand it off to another person and they do the same and pretty soon, stuff gets pretty convoluted when it comes to tracking.

And you can always create a new wallet periodically yourself to obsolesce the old one and force a reset of any tracking that may be going on.

Your advice sounds good -- maybe I'll put $5000 wherever she says to, and sell whenever she says to.

That is legit to think that way, however, do understand that thinking that way assumes the dollar is a stable unit of wealth measurement. I generally don't do that myself. I instead view dollars as a sinking ship, and in fact, crypto as a safe-haven against that sinking. In fact, "safe-haven" implies that crypto will merely preserve my spending power when in fact if & when dollars do start to implode, it will mean my spending power should go up exponentially.

But it's an approach and philosophy that makes holding crypto through price swings tolerable, and has worked well for me. Sure trying to milk more dollars out of crypto trading can be profitable, even very profitable, but if the titanic moment does come when dollars collapse and crypto goes to the moon, those in that practice will likely find themselves having sold a lot of their crypto for dollars at the wrong time.

Say, Ping -- are Coinbase or Coinflip more anonymous ways to get the goods?

For anonymity, one is best off buying crypto from an international entity that accepts credit cards but isn't in your gov's jurisdiction.

I'll let you know what she advises me to do with my $5000.

BTW, my Generac stock that I bought after the big Texas Freeze is doing great. Thanks again for suggesting that.

How can you get physical coins when Bitcoin is a digital currency?

Bitcoin ATM's would only dispense bitcoin and accept physical dollar cash, or more likely a credit card. Someone once had the idea of making a physical bitcoin, and it would work by having the coin sealed up in a non-counterfeit fashion, but when opened, would reveal the private key of the wallet holding the face value of the physical bitcoin. So by destroying the physical coin, you can obtain digital access to the actual bitcoin backing that particular coin.

Don't think it took off, but in theory it could work.

Back to the kiosk thing, a basic problem with xferring bitcoin is the high transaction fees. It can cost $20-$30 to do a transaction. The high cost is a combination of the low capacity of the bitcoin blockchain to record transactions and the cost of bitcoin constantly going up, as the payment is made in bitcoin itself.

Now there is something called a "Lightning Network" overlay of the bitcoin blockchain that is supposed to address that, and I t hink El Salvador is making use of that. I understand it makes bitcoin transactions free or nearly free, and fast, such that you can buy a stick of bubblegum with it (do tiny transactions) without breaking the bank.

It's on my to-do list to look into that. The wallet is called, I think, Chivo (spanish for "goat" -- don't ask me why).

It's on my to-do list to look into that. The wallet is called, I think, Chivo (spanish for "goat" -- don't ask me why).

I knew this Spanish girl online. I told her I knew a true Spaniard in Chicago. His name was Gomez. Everyone called him Gomer. She said Gomez was a good name. ;)

The current financial system is obsolete but few have figured that out so far.

Currently, the FED has been buying up all of the short term notes being sold into secondary markets by China and Brazil.

If the time ever comes when they fail to do so, the inflation rate here will make the price of a loaf of bread in the Weimar Republic pale by comparison, when you needed a wheel barrow full of German Marks to buy a loaf of bread.

BTW, Hitler had a great sense of irony. He forced the French to sign the Armistice in the same rail car the French had Germany sign the Versailles Treaty. ;)

www.rt.com/usa/fbi-owns-largest-bitcoin-wallet-458/

I am sure this amount would be a drop in the bucket compared to what the CIA had put aside running Opium out of Afghanistan. All of those funds went directly into the CIA black budget for clandestine operations.

Just ask BillDBerger about the Air America planes he saw at that Air Force base in northern Thailand. ;)

decrypt.co/73125/el-salva...n-law-btc-is-legal-tender

www.fool.com/the- ascent/b...-billion-bitcoin-fortune/

How can El Salvador be on the leading edge of anything? just asking...

It actually makes sense one you realize Brandon is the leader of MS-13. It all makes sense then.

The Central Banks are bringing out their own digital currencies. The whole world might blow up before we get to the other side.

I expect very few of us will survive this Grand Solar Minimum which we entered in 2020. Might not end until 2060.

BTW, Hitler had a great sense of irony. He forced the French to sign the Armistice in the same rail car the French had Germany sign the Versailles Treaty.

Hitler was the front-man for the greatest scam ever perpetrated on humanity, the roll-out of a State in which any and all Jewish criminals are granted immunity from rule of law.

As it is, I'm nearing retirement and currently hold zero crypto. What percentage of my retirement savings would you recommend that I put in crypto? Which crypto(s)? (I realize you probably get asked that a lot, and that you might not want to answer in specifics for several good reasons. Understood, no problem.)

Thanks and Regards.

I can't recall the exact line near the end of one of Irving's books on WW2, but he said something to the effect that when Churchill surveyed Europe in its aftermath, he realized that Britain had lost the war.

Do you think Hitler was complicit in this scam, or an unwitting tool of the elites? Or what?

Do you think Hitler was complicit in this scam, or an unwitting tool of the elites?

Nothing happens by accident in politics.

I can see how crypto could render some functions of banks obsolete, but do you mean all (legitimate) functions? Mortgage lending? -- I guess there are alternatives to banks for that, but crypto wouldn't do for that, would it?

As you know, at present, local banks create loans via fractional reserve activity. They do it by creating an account for the borrower and type in the amount of the loan. New currency enters the economy that did not exist before.

With crypto, they cannot create it the way they do dollars now. If a loan is to be made, it has to be made the old fashioned way. Someone or some people who actually possess the needed amount need to hand it off to the borrower, so in that way, no new currency is created to inflate the economy, and savers would be rewarded for saving.

Would that make borrowing very hard? Maybe. The free market could come up with a solution if there is a market need for a solution, as the market always does.

Now in theory it would be possible for banks to arise to hold crypto for people that don't trust themselves or their housemates with access to their crypto wallets. If that should happen then all of the history that's transpired with gold and silver could repeat itself. If they can turn gold and silver into paper, then turn that paper into digital entries and make a lot more representations of gold and silver than actually exists, then they can most certainly do the same to bitcoin or any other. But it will be harder because whereas gold and silver is hard to keep safe in your house justifying a banks service as safekeeper, crypto is easier to keep safe. At least from burglars.

Am I repeating myself again.

For anonymity, one is best off buying crypto from an international entity that accepts credit cards but isn't in your gov's jurisdiction.

Pleasexplain. How is that more private when it still starts with an outlay from the mainstream financial system?

What percentage of my retirement savings would you recommend that I put in crypto? Which crypto(s)?

In my view, and this is a viewpoint I've acquired in the last few months, crypto is better than gold and silver. And I say that as one that really likes the metals.

The problem with gold/silver is that the price of those metals is manipulated by big finance, and I mean suppressed. Everyone knows that. Silver can't even be mined at the current price as miners would lose money so the only silver getting mined are as byproducts of mining copper and whatever else. And I expect they will keep manipulating the price down until the day the dollar collapses. THEN we will se $800 silver, but what good will that be when $800 buys as much as $25 does now?

It's great as an inflation hedge, but I want to do better than to simply hedge inflation, and crypto is doing that because unlike metals, the mechanisms are not in place to suppress crypto prices.

That's an aside, somewhat, but perhaps it argues well that if you have precious metals in your portfolio, consider converting a double digit percentage into crypto. Maybe 50% or ever 75%, depending on your specific circumstances. Obviously it would be best to do that on a crypto pullback (in dollar terms) to get the best bang, but doing it on a dollar cost averaging system isn't bad either. Convert 5% per month or something like that.

I don't know much about stocks and other assets to compare with crypto, but if the balloon goes up, then those stocks might crash. Again, I don't see crypto as risky. I see it as a safe haven, and I'm not kidding or exaggerating with that. The value of most other assets can be manipulated. So long as crypto is immune to that manipulation, it's the place to be.

As for which cryptos, I'd diversify. Bitcoin is a bit of a stage coach tech, compared to 18-wheeler tech that other coins offer, but it has name recognition which is a factor that should not be underestimated. I expect it will be around for the long haul, and there is also the element of software upgrades that Bitcoin and any crypto can benefit from.

Ethereum is the world's #2 crypto by market cap, and it's a high tech coin. The blockchain supporting Ethereum also supports a number of other crypto coins whose makers were too lazy to make their own proprietary blockchain. So that lends a need-value to Ethereum. Eth is also in the process of being upgraded to 2.0 so it's capable.

If you want to just buy and hold crypto, those are the 2 to get, IMO. If you want to make bigger money then there are a number of other cryptos that could be juggled, and if you're lucky, you might pull off some of the profits others have reported here. But there are many hundreds of cryptos out there. I don't venture much beyond about 25 or 30 of them.