Tag: digital cash

Bitcoin Boom Bust – The Crypto Market Cycle: Episode 189

The Story: The four stages of the digital currency cycle

The crypto market reached 830 billion on January 8th 2018, and now by February 6th, it’s taken a sharp drop to 300 billion. Speculators all over the world are shaking their heads until they hold their heads and wondering why, what happened. Nobody has any clear answers, but it can be enlightening to look at the patterns that normally play out in this market.

  1. The boring phase. Savvy investors are quitely putting their cash in, developers are plunking away at their keyboards in dark basements. On the surface, nobody really cares about crypto. The only news that reaches the mainstream is sensational pieces about future technology, or witchhunts for Satoshi Nakamoto. The total market cap goes down, or sideways.
  2. The organic growth phase. New investors start getting involved, hobbyists and techies who see the potential of the technology. The media starts running some stories about the price action during the odd spike or drop. The market cap goes up, slowly and steadily.
  3. The hype growth stage. The greater public start hearing more about it, and seeing the price action makes them start sweating. They feel the fear of missing out, and they decide to invest. The market gets into a feedback loop with big media – media notices the price action, hypes it, leading to more buying, leading to more more price action and media attention. At this stage, you’ll start to see people on social media saying how Bitcoin can only go up, saying it’s a new paradigm. The market cap might jump up more than 10% in a day.
  4. The dead phase. Nobody knows exactly how it starts – perhaps a whale takes profits, and the price drops suddenly. Pretty quickly, all of the investors for the fear of missing out, decide they will exit based on the fear of loss. The media declares Bitcoin and digital currency dead once again, and slowly they lose interest.

Soon enough, the cycle restarts, and we enter a new 3 to 9 boring months where, from the outside, nothing seems to happen.

Of course, history never repeats exactly, but by being aware of these patterns we start to have an idea where things are headed, and wherever we are on the path we can learn to be grateful for the opportunities that we do have. Join Kurt on a roller-coaster ride of emotions from terror to gratitude in this spine-tingling, spine-rattling episode of… The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

Crypto Crash January 2018 – Episode 188

Bitcoin over 9000 – Time to take profits! Episode 184

Don’t get Goxxed – Bitfinex, Bittrex & Coinbase

Bitcoin’s path to ruin – Episode 185

The Links:

Crypto Crash – Lessons for the patient, and those who wish to be

Bitcoin’s uncertain future

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit.

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

Crypto Crash January 2018 – Episode 188

The Story: Bitcoin drops! Let’s prepare for the next bull run

Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market in general took a huge hit in mid January 2018, with the total market cap dropping from around $750 B to under $450 B. This happens periodically, as the young market sees new media attention and new money flooding in from hobby investors and big institutions.

If you haven’t seen this kind of crash before, if you’re new to the market, this type of thing can seem very alarming, and it might have caught you off guard. For others, this is just part of the natural cycle of an emerging market where high volatility is expected. While newbies feel stick to their stomach watching the Bitcoin rollercoaster, experienced speculators watch calmly and take advantage of the bargain basement prices.

In this episode, Kurt explains the signals to look for next time when the market is getting overbought, including the general sentiment on social media, people getting sucked up in the mania and getting agitated at any criticism. Kurt also explains how this time presents an opportunity, where media attention will likely drift away from the crypto market, allowing prices to consolidate, forming a foundation for the next bull run.

How can you turn this crisis into an opportunity, and how can you learn from it? These questions and more are answered in this bone-rattling, price-exploding, price-imploding episode of … The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

Bitcoin over 9000 – Time to take profits! Episode 184

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

The Dash instamine and why it doesn’t matter

When a digital currency is mined before it’s released to the public, that may be a symptom of a scam – but it doesn’t prove without a doubt that it’s a scam. It may be an indicator that the creators just intend to boost up the value of the currency a little, sell their holdings, and leave. However, if we find that the creators continue to work on the coin long after any get-rich-quick scheme should have expired, is it still reasonable to say that the coin is a scam?

 

The Dash Digital Cash D.R.E.A.M. – Kurt Robinson Raps

Every couple of years we look at our bank accounts and realise that our money buys less than it did. We work so hard for our money, and yet it seems difficult to get ahead. Why? It’s not by accident. The monetary system is structured that way. Central banks continue to print money, and bankers get rich, but as the currency supply increases, the value of our dollars decrease.

What’s the solution? Many people thought that Bitcoin could free us from this mess. The promise of decentralised currency – not controlled by any central authority, but instead governed by algorithms, using cryptography – could mean the end to central banks. Yet, it seems like Bitcoin hasn’t yet lived up to that dream. We can’t spend Bitcoin at the corner store, we can’t tip in it, and if we tell our bank manager that we have some bitcoins as collateral for a loan, he’ll probably laugh. And, as transaction fees go higher and higher, it seems less and less likely that Bitcoin will ever live up to our highest expectations. It seems that Bitcoin might not be anything more than Internet nerd money.

Dash is based on Bitcoin, but has certain other features which might just make it live up to those expectations. It allows the stakeholders to form a consensus to make decisions about where the project is going, and it has a focus on user experience. If the team manage to create virtual money which is stable, accepted, and so easy that your grandma could use it – could Dash be the currency of our dreams?

Here’s a rap song which explores those concepts.

To download the track, right click here and press “Save as“.

Lyrics

Dash rules everything around me
D.R.E.A.M. get the money, digital cash y’all

I grew up where half dollars have 12 sides
Queen’s head on the front, roo & emu behind
But instead of gaining value the Aussie lost it
So I wondered what could have possibly caused it
In the minds of politicians corruption’s forming
Abusing the system of inflation we’re born in
To make an honest livin’ you work, it takes time
But central banks just print their money – that ain’t right
Now I’m living in Mexico, collecting the pesos
stash a little silver case the bank goes broke
Once upon a time a peso was “buen dinero”
1990 it got away & they dropped “tres ceros”
Your man Trump – I don’t believe in him
Puppet Peña Nieto – you can see the strings
Politicians criminals thieves & kings
See your money float away like leaves in the wind

Dash rules everything around me
D.R.E.A.M. get the money, digital cash y’all
Dash rules everything around me
D.R.E.A.M. get the money, digital cash y’all

I guess I wondered ’bout a way out the struggle
Starvin children dotcom housin’ bubble
The system’s rigged, the dollar has to topple
That’s when I heard the name Satoshi Nakamoto
Stranger emerged to the world to give it code
& change it forever through digital gold
He’s still vanished, with the code it could manage
To give us an exit from the whims of banksters
And as it rose, nouveau riche control the cheese
A new breed of millionaires promoting peace
But as the years passed we found we had a problem
This nerdy tech wasn’t ready for mass adoption
Some still suspect the government payroll
Agents provocateurs COINTELPRO paid trolls
Thought Bitcoin’d save us from one thing we wanted it
Instead fell victim to the same thing – politics

Dash rules everything around me
D.R.E.A.M. get the money, digital cash y’all
Dash rules everything around me
D.R.E.A.M. get the money, digital cash y’all

You’re never gonna get, outta debt
When every cent you’ve met is borrowed from the Fed
They’ve got you in an awkward position
But the dream’s still alive, I can see it in my vision
They arrested Von Nothaus, stealing his ingots
they got charlie shrem for laundering digits
They snapped up Ross saying he sells dope
They arrested so many, but you can’t arrest hope
The goal is to create a system so resilient
It evolves whenever it’s fisted out of commission
The dream is to cast off these banker’s shackles
That have been for centuries on our hands & ankles
The dream is this, whatever cards you dealt
Whoever you are, can find a path to wealth
They’ll get lines blurred, nothing’s what it seems
No matter what occurs, don’t give up the dream

Dash Rules Everything Around Me – D.R.E.A.M.
Get the money – digital cash y’all
Dash Rules Everything Around Me – D.R.E.A.M.
Get the money – digital cash y’all
Dash Rules Everything Around Me – D.R.E.A.M.
Get the money – forget the dollar bills y’all
Dash Rules Everything Around Me – D.R.E.A.M.
Get the money – forget the dollar bills y’all

Bitcoin vs Dash – Ridiculous comments on Dash

The Story: Fun, interesting and exciting comments about Dash

If you bring up the cryptocurrency Dash among people who know anything about it, you’ll probably get a diverse range of opinions. Some people hate it and believe it’s nothing but a fraud. Other people love it and believe it’s the currency of the future. And others still believe its rise has more to do with sex appeal than any usefulness.

In this episode, Kurt digs into the cesspool known as “the YouTube comment section” and responds to the most interesting and bizarre among them. He discusses SegWit and how it causes mental blocks among Bitcoiners, user experience, Bitcoin as a blue chip company or international clearing house, the security of Bitcoin compared to Dash, the sex appeal of Dash, the fantastic dream of cryptocurrency, what Dash’s marketing says about it, Dash as a business, centralisation, whether someone could control 50% of masternodes, the instamine or fast mine of Dash, what is a Ponzi scheme and whether Dash is one, and finally whether Dash is just a big scam in general.

Join us on a crypto adventure in the next exciting episode of … The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

Why Amanda B. Johnson loves Dash – Episode 155

Dash vs Bitcoin – which will reach mass adoption first? – Episode 154

The Links:

Dash Central

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

Bitcoin vs Dash – Security & Bitcoin as blue chip

An interesting argument people make for the long-term viability of Bitcoin is this: It’s fine to use Dash for fast transactions and private transactions, buying cups of coffee or whatever… but for big transactions people don’t need fast confirmations, and so they will probably continue to use Bitcoin for certain large, cryptocurrency clearing-house transactions. My question is always, okay, they don’t need fast confirmations, but they don’t really gain anything by having slow confirmations. So why are people going to continue to use Bitcoin?

The forthcoming answer is security. It’s true, Bitcoin has been around longer, has had more tests, and so the network is more secure. However, having a secure network resistant to hacking is actually only one part of security. Another part is, how many people have lost thousands or millions of dollars over the years due to negligence or malicious actors? A lot.

If you have to be a tech nerd to secure your Bitcoins, that means it’s actually not secure, and it’s definitely not ready for mass adoption.

The other thing is, if you’re trying to defend Bitcoin compared to Dash, you’re fighting a retreating battle. Sure it does privacy, speed, user experience and adaptation to a changing market better than Bitcoin, but other than that, what does it do? If Dash has the incentives in place to improve in all these areas, then surely it has the potential to improve in security as well. After all, security is one of the most important parts of user experience. If your coins are constantly getting stolen or the network is going down, that gives the worst possible user experience.