Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies

[Cailleachian]

Following on from this thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3655134-Bitcoin-surprised-there-isn-t-more-uk-discussion-press-coverage

I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread in the money section devoted to cryptocurrency. I know that not everyone rates crypto, but a lot of us do, and it can be hard finding accurate information, especially when the whole crypto field is so male dominated.

So ..here is a resource thread for finding out about crypto - how to earn it, how to secure it and how to exchange it. As a starter for 10, here is a short video introduction to Bitcoin (the best known form of cryptocurrency)

blockgeeks.com/guides/video-guide-what-is-bitcoin/

Brilliant @cailleachian
Place marking!

Hi. Good idea - hopefully the detractors can stay away!

There is a huge amount to learn and it can be overwhelming. Do you find friends are interested? As a demographic I am outside of the usual cryptophile - being female, in UK and older. As such, my friends seem to have no idea about or interest in cryptocurrency. When my dh and ds go to crypto meetings arranged locally, I always ask if there are any women there and the answer is always no.

I feel really strongly about encouraging more women to participate - both from a feminist pov and because I think mass adoption will rely on the involvement of women.

I've found this site an excellent resource, Nuggets News. The link goes to a beginners guide nuggetsnews.com.au/learn/

@AnnaForbes
No I’ve never met any other women who are remotely interested. But like you I sit completely out of the typical crypto demographic. I think it could be different if you work in the city, financial /tech sectors.

Thank you for starting this.
My husband and I have been talking about bitcoin for years. But to be honest it fries my brain.
Every time I look into it there are reports of scams etc.
However two of the friends who have done it have recently cashed in and made thousands.
So I would love to find accurate information.

Im interested in it but things like the current being 'mined' make it too risky. So you invest and then some fucked steals it...

Fucker*

I avoid meetups irl cos men. They are some of the most sexist and misogynistic environments I have been in and I have no desire to waste an hour or two of my life being alternately patronised and ignored. I went to an Andreas Anonopolis talk recently and as I walked in the door there were a group of men slagging off feminists.

My friends are a bit intrigued by it, but see it as a scammy version of the stockmarket, an environmental problem and a threat, so I cant really chat to them about it.

That sounds grim but not surprising.

horehound, what is your concern specifically? is it that you get scammed when you buy or is it that you buy and then someone steals the bitcoin that you own?

Yes @annaforbes. It's if I buy and then it's stolen from me. I don't think there's enough security around it yet.
Another thing is, I assume in the next 20 years or so there's going to be numerous cryptocurrencies appearing and who's to say if I buy Bitcoin (or another) that that will be the one everyone ends up using? Could just become worthless really.

@Horehound

The one thing you need to know to understand how to hold bitcoin securely is that

the person who holds the private key holds the coins

so long as only you have access to the private key, your coins are perfectly secure and can only be accessed by you. If you lose your key, your bitcoins are gone forever.

So you need to balance convenience with security. Bitcoin can be perfectly secure, but its time-consuming to always keep it perfectly secure (imagine if you had to go to Fort Knox every time you wanted to buy milk).

This is a pretty good guide to Bitcoin security.
bitcoin.org/en/secure-your-wallet

Does anyone know anything about tron?

Exchanges are unsafe Horehound. I would always advise anyone with cryptos to keep their coins stored offline on a hardware wallet.

If you keep your coins in an online exchange, if the server is hacked, you probably going to lose your coins. Remember Cryptopia? Keeping coins on an online exchange is like keeping cash in the bank - you are entrusting a third party to look after it and I don't like to do that. I only have money on an exchange when I want to buy or sell. Then I move it back into a hardware wallet.

I use a Ledger Nano S and a Ledger Nano x. Other hardware wallets available are Tresor and Keepkey. There are lots of reviews and comparisons to read. I would NEVER buy from Amazon/eBay though as goods could be tampered with/compromised. I buy direct from the Ledger store. Once stored on a hardware wallet, as long as you keep your private key completely private, your coins are isolated from anyone else. I'm obsessive about security and this works for me.

Another thing is, I assume in the next 20 years or so there's going to be numerous cryptocurrencies appearing and who's to say if I buy Bitcoin (or another) that that will be the one everyone ends up using? Could just become worthless really.
Very true. There is the potential of huge gains but it could all turn to shit too. It's a gamble which is why I stick to three coins only. I put this below on another thread about my choice of coins:

Bitcoin is the best known and it is widely trusted. It also has first-mover advantage. It is volatile but as more people buy into crypto, this will settle. I hold it long term and avoid looking at the wild fluctuations in price. I like the fact it has a finite supply and I think it will most likely stay a store of wealth.

Litecoin gives faster transactions with very small transaction costs - it is more likely to become the everyday means of exchange that Satoshi originally envisaged for Bitcoin.

Ethereum - I believe Ethereum is a good investment because it is a smart contracts platform and, as such, its value is likely to increase as smart contracts become common-place.

I don't really know anything about Tron @Ridingthegravytrain Do you have some?

No but my husband does and I know nothing about it but he seems to think it’s going to be the next big thing.

I, however, remain very sceptical

I'd broadly agree with you, @AnnaForbes, but there are loads out there, and its worth exploring the space. I guess it depends how adventurous people want to be, but these are defo the best ones to get started with, or to look to if your priority is to reduce risk.

@Ridingthegravytrain Tron focuses primarily on entertainment especially gaming. Depending who you speak to its either the next big thing, or a scammy coin for gamers and gamblers.

There's probably a bit of truth in both - blockchain gaming has all the makings of a huge industry in its own right, but at the moment most of the dapps that have been developed for tron are a bit scammy.

Complete newbie here. After seeing the thread in AIBU I started to have a look through the resources linked to as I was completely clueless. It's truly mind blowing once you get started!

I've only made baby steps so far - researching all about wallets and exchanges. I've yet to invest any actual funds as there are so many different coins to choose from. I did earn some free XLM and EOS with coinbase so I can at the very least watch those go up and down while I do some more research

@replica - welcome to the ride. Its a wild one! Fun, exhilarating terrifying and misunderstood! I guarentee you have no idea how utterly mind blowing it is. It will change your entire outlook on life, the universe and everything. It demands that you interrogate your values and how you impliment them, and questions your ethics. Crypto will change you far more than you realise. Its like LSD for the C21st.

Coinbase is defo the best place for a newbie to start, its like a bank for crypto. Once you get a bit more confident tho, download a wallet and look after your coins yourself. I would get yourself some bitcoin, even just £1 worth, because bitcoin is "ground zero" of crypto.

If you;re into airdrops (aka free coins) there's a [[https://wn.nr/dwdDqs pretty good one]] * going from the makers of BOMB token at the moment. , that gives you some free coins to start and then more from a number of new projects that they are sponsoring as they come onstream.

***
(*this is a referral link, and I get some extra free coins if you sign up through it. I've put the referral link in cos...extra free coins but if you would rather not use my referral you can sign up at bombx.io/million/ Its still a really cool project and worth signing up for!)

Pulling up a pew.

@Ridingthegravytrain, I was also sceptic when my husband decided to invest in cryptocurrencies. Of course, I didn't want to lose money. But time showed that it was the right decision as Bitcoin price has been increasing. Frankly speaking, I've recently started looking through cryptocurrency news sites and forecasts in order to be aware of the situation on the crypto market. Who knows, maybe one day I will try trading by myself

I hope you’re right @Erica234 as it was more than £10k, is currently worth half that value, and he didn’t tell me 🤦‍♀️

Anyone know anything about pii?