Bitcoin...surprised there isn’t more uk discussion/press coverage?

[Dancinggertrude]

Bitcoin has had an interesting few months, steadily rising.
Twitter feeds are full of American discussion about it, US press coverage etc.
Yet here it is still not v mainstream..
Aibu to be surprised ?
I’m neither a convert to bitcoin or an investor btw, I like to dabble and watching the charts /world press coverage really interests me.
Most (Uk)people I mention it to aren’t even aware you can purchase fractional bitcoin.

@pandemos

I sort of very (very!) vaguely know you/know of you I think. I used to be a trustee of a Rape & Sexual Assault Centre and I think you (if it is you) gave us some free help with our website?

This was quite a few years ago on my side though, most likely we would have only met once or twice at an AGM

Anyway - I have no remote interest in stalking anyone on MN and presumably you don't mind that you're identifiable because you mentioned your company name but thought I would say in case you wanted to name change/delete post/whatever

How is it linked to blockchain?

Blockchain is the ledger behind bitcoin. Every ten minutes all the computers on the bitcoin network process transactions and keep a copy of the full history of transactions. Bitcoin is the reward given randomly to these ledger keepers for doing this.

And what is blockchain?

Blockchain is the ledger. Bitcoin has a blockchain behind it, and so do other cryptos. It is a record of all the transaction that have ever taken place on the network and all miners have a copy, so it cannot be falsified.

Why is it so terrible for the environment?
Its not. People think it is bad for the environment because it uses energy to run the computers used to mine, but its driving investment in renewable energy. It has the highest proportion of renewable energy use of any industry in the world.

Who monitors how much it is worth?
Everyone and no-one. A bitcoin is worth whatever someone is prepared to exchange for it at that point in time. No more, no less.

How do you buy it?
You can buy it through exchanges (like Gemini), through crypto banks (like coinbase) through ATMs or from a mate. It is always better to earn it than buy it. You can get all or some of your wages paid in bitcoin though third party processors (like Bitwage).

What is XRP?
A pseudo-cryptocurrency run by the Ripple Foundation that is used for international bank settlements. I intensely dislike XRP for lots of reasons that I wont go into here.

Some great investor said to never invest in something you don't understand....I definitely don't understand it confused

To properly understand bitcoin, you need a whole new perspective on money, government and the meaning of life...people dont talk about "going down the rabbit hole" for nothing. Bitcoin is a truly revolutionary technology.

Well this has the potential to have been one of the most interesting MN threads I've come across...at least once I've done more reading and understand it a bit more...

Thanks so much for all the reading tips. I'll start having a look at them...

some people suggest it could be like the people who bought 3 digit domain names in the early 90s
eh?

This is brilliant.
Thank you so much to everyone for posting on this thread ... i’m going to read every link and suggestion thoroughly. I’m totally blown away by the thread, it’s really interesting reading (to me anyway)

I really can't advise strongly enough not to invest money that you cannot afford to lose in an unregulated, highly volatile asset with no intrinsic value that you do not fully understand.

@familycourtq sorry I was fast posting as I have a house full of mad children and they’ve frazzled my brain out. What I meant was the people who purchased short , sought after domain names very early in the nineties and sold them for millions later

I for one, would never invest money I can't afford to lose on anything that's high risk so don't worry that I'm going to go trotting off investing my life savings on the basis of a random internet thread

A friend invested in this and was raving about how the value has shot up recently and that I should invest but I’ll be honest I don’t understand it at all and don’t want to naively throw my money away when I don’t really understand what I’m investing in.
This thread is interesting though I will check out the links that have been shared.

But I think that’s the thing Cohle.
Nobody is suggesting that anybody should invest their life savings.
I’m talking about putting £20 in once in a while and leaving it there to see what happens.

It's not that new though OP, you used to be able to get it for free.

Again it is the misconception that one single bitcoin costs so many 1000’s that you’d have to invest your life savings to be in the game. Yet it isn’t like that.
We have a bitcoin atm nearby.
I have seen it in use plenty, but I’ve never ever seen a woman use it?

I know it isn’t new...

No I'm perfectly aware of that Dancing, which is why I said "money that you cannot afford to lose".

If £20 once in a while is money that you can afford to lose then great, but that's not true for everyone and I think there is an unfortunate tendency to view Bitcoin as a get rich quick scheme.

If you know you are doing and are comfortable with the risks then crack on. But unregulated financial speculation isn't a great idea for most.

• know what you are doing

Sorry.

Absolutely .
But anyway my question wasn’t even why isn’t everyone investing in bitcoin.
My question was more around the fact that globally right now there have been some pretty huge cryptocurrency changes/ movements/debates/mainstream media coverage.
International policy affects us all.
I’m surprised that more people aren’t talking about cryptocurrency. That’s all.

I think the primary problem for people in the UK is that they are over-exposed to the pound. That is an enormous risk, especially in these times of Brexit. I wouldnt recommend that anyone kept 100% of their savings in government backed currency.

Who do you trust more - Boris Johnson or mathematics?

Anyway Uk culture IS ‘get rich quick’
See: property development, bankers, consumer credit....

Why is it so terrible for the environment?
Its not. People think it is bad for the environment because it uses energy to run the computers used to mine, but its driving investment in renewable energy. It has the highest proportion of renewable energy use of any industry in the world.

See...I’m interested in the concept of crypto currencies and if it really does drive the growth of renewables then that is great. However, I don’t believe it is currently environmentally friendly at all. That response sounds far too convenient to try and convince people “it’s all fine”.

Does anyone have any reliable stats on how much blockchain is driven by renewable energy? Not trying to be contentious... really interested and would consider investing if I could be sure the environmental impact was mitigated. But I think we are far from that. And with climate change being a huge issue for the world...I can’t bring myself to at the moment.

Okay...I'm listening to Saifedean Ammous on one of the podcasts while cleaning the house tres glamorous and he's just made an assertion that has made my face go----

Can anyone help me to understand it?

Basically he says contrary to Keynesian economic theory the economy isn't driven by spending but by production.

I understand what Keynesian economics is (that's not the issue) but how can the economy be driven by production without spending?

Keynesian economics is easy to follow - I spend money, some of that goes to taxes which might help fund infrastructure projects or other investments by Govt which creates jobs. Those people spend money. The bit that doesn't go to taxes goes to the person in the shop, the manufacturer and their employees. This demand creates jobs, those people spend money.

Can someone explain in simple terms how the economy can be driven by production without spending? If I produce more widgets that doesn't drive the economy forward unless someone buys them?

74% of the bitcoin network is powered by renewable energy
cointelegraph.com/news/study-over-74-of-bitcoin-mining-is-powered-by-renewable-energy

Energy is the primary cost in bitcoin mining, finding sustainable sources of energy is critical to mining operations.

I don't think there's ever much coverage of the "inner workings" of our financial system outside of the financial press, until there's a crash when everyone gets very interested in e.g. sub-prime lending.

It's just not something that's of much interest or relevance to many people.

When and if the potential ramifications of blockchain begin to actually impact people's lives then perhaps there'll be more interest. As it stands bitcoin investors are seen as hobbyists really.

In my experience investment is not a very common thing to do in the UK at all.

Other than very simple vehicles such as ISAs I know very, very, very few people that invest money in any way other than in property or in savings accounts.

I don't know anyone in my close circle of c.30+ people who invest in shares let alone alternative investments.

I would also bet that there is a huge male bias with those that invest.

Obviously I'm excluding pension pots here which people seem comfortable with because it's all done at arms length (i.e. typically invested in some kind of 'standardised' option).

I’m not sure CoinTelegraph strikes me as impartial! However I do want it to be true

The full report is available for download from this site
coinshares.co.uk/research/bitcoin-mining-network-june-2019

@pandemos mentioned that she was doing a PhD into industrial computing and climate change, so she should be able to confirm their findings.