Cryptocurrency

[MountainGirl]

...

Using Verizon as my carrier is a big problem. They can and do track the phone and are able to associate it specifically to me. Unfortunately, we live far enough out in the sticks that Verizon is the only reliable option for a carrier that I have found so far. There is another small carrier that just started out here and caters to folks like us that want privacy. My neighbor who wants the bee hives just signed up with them. So I am waiting to see how well that works for them. If it works for them, I will kick Verizon to the curb and start using my de-Google phone with the new carrier and be sitting fat.

So, in short this a FAR bigger effort than "just use BTC and fly under the radar".

We face the same problem here: Verizon is the only reliable option. Plus, we're using V's wifi for internet until we're here full time - but with the Google/Verizon incestuous tangle nothing is anonymous. Ever.

My understanding is that some of the smaller outfits (StraightTalk, etc) buy bandwidth from Verizon - to avoid having to put up their own infrastructure; which means during busy times their pipe would be cranked down in favor of V customers... pffft... What I've always wondered is if V has access to the 'data' that runs through their system - even though it's just technically 'space' that they're selling to smaller carriers. Do you happen to know?

Under the radar = use cash and leave your phone at home.
Then again...the gps in your truck will always give you up.

[1skrewsloose]

MG, thanks for this, it didn't occur to me the smaller carriers were being cranked down. I wondered why when I checked my messages or phone calls and find out the call or message was from two hours ago before I got a notification.

[Inor]

I have been working the BTC thing for about 5 months now, so here is the update I promised...

Overall, I am pretty pleased with the experiment and am calling it a limited success so far. But there are a few things to note...

First and foremost, you absolutely have to pay attention and be patient! The price of BTC especially, swings wildly from day to day and sometimes even hour to hour. As I mentioned when I started this experiment, I am not doing it to "make money" but rather to fly under the radar and allow those I trade with to gain the benefits of not using Federal Reserve Notes to transact business. That said, if you watch the exchange rates and learn to play the moves, you can get some pretty good savings as well.

Mostly I was using it early on at the feed mill and a couple local restaurants. That worked fine, but... It does have some of the same challenges as doing business in Canada using Federal Reserve Notes. The businesses I have been using it with have an "exchange rate" that they usually update daily, in the morning. If the price of BTC happens to jump between the time they post the exchange rate and the time I make the purchase, that works against me. Conversely, if BTC goes down, it works in my favor. In the end, it is probably a wash. But it is something to be aware of.

The feed mill does give a me discount, beyond the exchange, just because I am saving them some cash on the transaction as well. (I assume that is due to them saving on taxes, but that is a conversation we would never have in public.)

For the first couple months the price of BTC was pretty stable (by BTC standards) and was bouncing around between about $32,000 and $37,000. I was just exchanging about $50 or $100 in Federal Reserve Notes per week and just using it strictly for purchases so I never had more than a couple hundred USD worth in my wallet.

Somewhere at the end of May/beginning of June the price of BTC fell off a cliff. Up until about two weeks ago, it was bouncing around between $19,000 and $21,000. When that started, I stopped doing purchases with it and went back to buying stuff in Federal Reserve Notes. At the same time, I had become comfortable enough with the process of trading with BTC that I started to exchange larger amounts of Federal Reserve Notes and just keep it in my wallet to dollar cost average the price down in my wallet. So I have built up some reserves in my BTC wallet now. The last couple weeks, it has come up some to around $23,000 so when I go back to buying with BTC again, I will have some pretty good savings (assuming the price holds in the current range).

I do expect it will fall hard again this fall and when it does, I will double check with the folks trading with it to make sure they are still okay continuing to trade with it. If they are, I will exchange some larger amounts of Federal Reserve Notes into BTC. Until then, I will start going back to buying with it again in limited doses.

So, like I said at the beginning of this post, I am pretty happy with how it is working out. The feed mill people (the ones I talk to most about it) also seem to be doing well with it. So as long as they continue to make money on the arrangement and I continue to have some savings, it is a win/win arrangement.

The biggest caution I would offer if you are thinking about trying it yourself is to make sure you pay attention to the exchange rates. Also, make sure you keep some Federal Reserve Notes handy to be able to buy down the average cost of BTC when the price moves down. If you try to run your wallet too close to your actual expenses, you will almost certainly lose. But if you can keep and build some BTC in your wallet when the price is falling hard and only spend it when the price is rising, you can actually make out pretty well and the folks you are buying from will also benefit.

[MountainGirl]

Thanks for the update Inor. Appreciated.

Small tangential question.

When/if CWII happens - what (is your guess) will happen re BTC?

My question leans towards sustainability rather than value; but if you have hunches on either I'd sure like to hear them.

[Inor]

Thanks for the update Inor. Appreciated.

Small tangential question.

When/if CWII happens - what (is your guess) will happen re BTC?

My question leans towards sustainability rather than value; but if you have hunches on either I'd sure like to hear them.

That totally depends on the availability of electricity and a network. If both are available, it will continue to be used as a means of trade since it is much more convenient than using gold or silver. If there is a situation, will electricity and a network be available? I don't know but what I thought about when starting this whole thing was Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. When they were in the depths of their wars, the electricity and the network was largely still in tact.

[MountainGirl]

That totally depends on the availability of electricity and a network. If both are available, it will continue to be used as a means of trade since it is much more convenient than using gold or silver. If there is a situation, will electricity and a network be available? I don't know but what I thought about when starting this whole thing was Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. When they were in the depths of their wars, the electricity and the network was largely still in tact.

If it is able to continue, and I hope it is, any guesses as to how much the totalitarian US govt will be able to affect/control/block/etc ?
If they can't control/regulate it - I can see the day when they'll shut down businesses (via license denial, etc) that utilize it.

Tryin to jump out of the 'hell in a handbasket' here.
Fwiw, I dont think it will come to CWII. I think it will be much much worse.

[Jester-ND]

Here’s a partial list of companies that have dropped Bitcoin support for payments:

• Dell

• Expedia

• Fiverr

• Microsoft

• PayPal

• Steam

• Stripe

leadership at Steam — a popular digital distribution platform for PC games — cited the volatility of Bitcoin as well as its variable transaction fees, which they say skyrocketed from $.20 per transaction to $20 per transaction by the time they pulled the plug.

-During their initial rollouts and afterward, new cryptocurrencies spend some time failing at one of the most important things money is supposed to do: maintaining a reasonably stable value so people can use it to purchase goods and services.A great deal of the political process in civilized countries revolves around balancing the value of money with the state of economic opportunity and the productive output in that same country. For better and worse, and probably mostly for the better, Bitcoin throws everything about this ordered design straight out the window. Relative independence from fiscal policy is a “feature,” not a “bug,” for cryptocurrency evangelists.That’s the worry among these retailers: That Bitcoin is too untethered to any of the regulatory and social mechanisms that help traditional money maintain actual and perceived value.

To put it another way, everybody in America has a rough idea of what a dollar is worth, and we recognize it as part of a system in which we all already take part. Bitcoin isn’t necessarily a less ideal “financial system” , it’s just a less mature one that we don’t know how to govern yet without smothering its most attractive features.

There’s a lot of promise in crypto, but most people aren’t ready to commit to it. Why? Because other people aren’t ready to commit to it. The rollout of this technology has become a catch-22. But that doesn’t dull its vast potential. There’s a long uphill climb before Bitcoin and any other digital currencies earn legitimacy and a place alongside other world currencies. Some companies have decided it’s not a hill worth climbing , but that doesn’t mean history can’t prove them wrong in time.

(this was all cut and pasted but I agree with much of it)

[MountainGirl]

Here’s a partial list of companies that have dropped Bitcoin support for payments:

• Dell

• Expedia

• Fiverr

• Microsoft

• PayPal

• Steam

• Stripe

leadership at Steam — a popular digital distribution platform for PC games — cited the volatility of Bitcoin as well as its variable transaction fees, which they say skyrocketed from $.20 per transaction to $20 per transaction by the time they pulled the plug.

-During their initial rollouts and afterward, new cryptocurrencies spend some time failing at one of the most important things money is supposed to do: maintaining a reasonably stable value so people can use it to purchase goods and services.A great deal of the political process in civilized countries revolves around balancing the value of money with the state of economic opportunity and the productive output in that same country. For better and worse, and probably mostly for the better, Bitcoin throws everything about this ordered design straight out the window. Relative independence from fiscal policy is a “feature,” not a “bug,” for cryptocurrency evangelists.That’s the worry among these retailers: That Bitcoin is too untethered to any of the regulatory and social mechanisms that help traditional money maintain actual and perceived value.

To put it another way, everybody in America has a rough idea of what a dollar is worth, and we recognize it as part of a system in which we all already take part. Bitcoin isn’t necessarily a less ideal “financial system” , it’s just a less mature one that we don’t know how to govern yet without smothering its most attractive features.

There’s a lot of promise in crypto, but most people aren’t ready to commit to it. Why? Because other people aren’t ready to commit to it. The rollout of this technology has become a catch-22. But that doesn’t dull its vast potential. There’s a long uphill climb before Bitcoin and any other digital currencies earn legitimacy and a place alongside other world currencies. Some companies have decided it’s not a hill worth climbing , but that doesn’t mean history can’t prove them wrong in time.

(this was all cut and pasted but I agree with much of it)

Thanks for that, Jester - it filled in some gaps for me.
I wonder if the whole shebang will have enough time to mature - before everything falls apart.

[MountainGirl]

For those of you who indulge in crypto - here is something kinda interesting, from texas gun forum (TGT). The poster is one of the resident IT gurus; the thread is re the ATF's current attempts at confiscations - and where they get their lists of who to target:

"The Federal Government buys private data from the corporations that collect and analyze your internet browsing, cell phone movements, e-mails, purchases, TV watching, and spending habits.

Nowadays there are private government contractors who specialize in buying your data, and curating it into easy-to-use query databases where IRS, ATF, HHS, FBI, CDC, DEA Employees simply log-in and click check boxes to select the which type of algorithmic analysis they want on a Citizen.

In the financial markets we fight companies like Chainalysis tracking us on behalf of the I.R.S.

www.chainalysis.com
Chainalysis for Crypto Investigations - Chainalysis
Chainalysis for Crypto Investigations allows for real-time cryptocurrency intelligence to detect illicit activity, map addresses, and build cases.

My Son-in-Law got a call from our local ATF goon when he bought solvent traps on Alibaba using Bitcoin. He used BTC to avoid the credit card flag. They still saw it, seized his package at the post office, and told him to quit it."