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Bitcoin for pinball

Maybe someone should have invented a pinball currency back in the mid 90s called 8bitcoin as game prices seem to have tracked the same path as bit coin exchange to £ ;) !!
 
So, trying to get my head around the mining thing right now, as times have moved on, but i'm pretty sure its going to be at 'hobby' level for me if i decided to build another setup.

As I understand it, you get whatever ASIC miner you can afford and join Slush's Pool. Can you build an ASIC miner yourself?
 
I remember buying more than one ATI card from a guy who was mining Bitcoin years ago. Must've been at least 7 years ago now, the guy probably got in on the ground floor.

At the time I was just buying his cast offs to play games on, like a normal person. I didn't really question why he was getting through so many graphics cards, why he was "constantly upgrading". This thread has made me wonder where he is now. :)
 
As I understand it, you get whatever ASIC miner you can afford and join Slush's Pool. Can you build an ASIC miner yourself?

Slushs pool is just one of many pools that you join in order to combine your hashing power with the pools. Doing things this way is the most profitable mining method if you are a relatively small miner but it is entirely possible to mine coin blocks outright yourself if you have enough power. Joining a pool gets you a regular payout so everyone does it. ASICs (Application Specific Integrated IC's) are just pieces of hardware specifically built to crunch numbers for a specific algorithm (SHA-256, Scrypt, Kekkak etc...). You could build one yourself but you would have to be pretty good at circuit design and be able to produce (or have produced) the ASIC chips themselves. Everyone else just buys GPU's, fit as many as they can into one system, and run them until they die.

Here's another interesting pic. These USB things were the first Bitcoin mining ASIC devices that were available to the masses. Aptly named 'Block Erupters'. They were stupidly expensive to buy for what they were, but it was because they mined Bitcoin directly using the pool method. This was my setup for mining BTC and managed to get 1.11BTC in total using them. Like a fool, i dumped that BTC when it was worth less than the steam off my p*ss. *slaps forehead*. I think you can still buy these as well as many other types that have been upgraded/redesigned over the years but none of them will make money. Just like most ASICs nowadays they all make Bitcoin, but you'd be better off investing the money they cost to buy in BTC directly. The best machines are never available to the average joe unless you sat on a very expensive preorder list for eternity.

20131230_170844.jpg

Here's an ebay link if anyone wants one of these 'Block Erupters'. Wont make you a penny, but can offer a way to learn mining very easily with no silly electricity bills:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333mhs-t...240283?hash=item2f0f7be35b:g:-B4AAOSwK~RaF0qt

I remember buying more than one ATI card from a guy who was mining Bitcoin years ago. Must've been at least 7 years ago now, the guy probably got in on the ground floor.

At the time I was just buying his cast offs to play games on, like a normal person. I didn't really question why he was getting through so many graphics cards, why he was "constantly upgrading". This thread has made me wonder where he is now. :)

This is why a lot of miners buy GPU mining rigs. They know that they can still get good money for the hardware after it becomes too expensive to run. I did this with my rigs and got 60% the value of the hardware once i was done with it by selling the stuff on ebay.
 
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Just sold my last of these,
....
Mistake?

Perhaps. The CME futures thing on Dec 11 pegging the entry price at 10K is probably responsible for the current pump as everyone thinks that from that point it will be big news = the moon.

Me, i'm sh*tting myself.
 
Now trading less, so happy, may look in get back in the early hours
 
If you'd bought £250,000 worth of secondhand £6 PS Move Controllers from CEX last year before the PSVR came out - you'd be a millionaire today.
 
So, assuming this is another massive bubble, are there any good ways to short it as and when it goes down?

And if so, how long can you hold open a short position?
 
Yes. You can margin trade till your hearts content. Borrow the bitcoin at a fee and make your trade. Try cex.io. i think 28 days is the longest you can hold open a short but ill have to check.
 
Dipping in to this thread instead of creating a new one...

So I've been watching Bitcoin for a year or 2 now, didn't do anything, listened to far too many so called "experts" calling it all the names under the sun etc. I did consider turning a few old computers and Raspberry Pi's in to miners but ended up not bothering, thinking it wasn't worth the effort. Really wish I'd sunk a few grand into it back then instead of buying another pin. I'd probably be a millionaire by now lol.

Despite the fact it's sky rocketed over the last month, I've finally bought small amount from Coinbase on the 6th December. Nothing too much, just some beer money I'm quite happy to lose if the ship sinks. So far, it's gone up by over 15% yesterday and then about 20% again today.

Is anyone else in on this? What's your thoughts on this madness?
 
Valve stopped taking it as a payment method on Stsam games yesterday. I'd say thats not a good sign.
 
I'm loving every moment of watching the dumps being eaten up by new money every single day. As i type, another big dump is taking place (not had my coffee yet, so not mine) so it will be interesting to see how far this one goes. My guess is that more new money will eat it up like its nothing in just a few hours, but we'll see.

If someone had said "Yeah, i'll take Bitcoin for my MM" at the beginning of this thread. I'd have done it in a heartbeat. What a mug i'd have been then, eh? The seller however would have doubled that money in a week.

Perhaps taking Bitcoin for a pin is not suitable after all. Well, at least not until (if) there's ever any price stability.
 
Valve stopped taking it as payment because the transfer fees are high compared to the cost of computer games and it's too volatile. As a trading instrument it's fantastic though. I just woke up and bought some up at an average of $13.9k on Bittrex, it's currently at $15.6k and rising as we speak an hour or 2 later. Have fun at work today, I'm going back to bed for a bit.....

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Luckily I'm not working today! :) But I get paid to make and play video games all day anyway, so it's not too bad ;)
 
If you got involved in the small ball bearings business a year ago, you'd be cashing out big time from fidget spinners. Smart money and all that.
 
Technically speaking a Ponzi scheme is very profitable if you're one of the lucky ones being paid a return from the money coming in from new entrants before it collapses.

That's pretty much how I see people who already have skin in the game. It has all of the hallmarks of a bubble without any intrinsic value floor of a tangible asset.

That said - if you're participating, good luck and don't lose your shirt.
 
I would prefer to say greater fool than ponzi. I have seen loads of people recommending "investment" in USI-Tech, now there's a ponzi scheme.
 
Bitcoin isn't a ponzi scheme. That's like MLM etc. This term has been getting thrown around in the media I think in an attempt to discredit Bitcoin in some way.
 
Bitcoin isn't a ponzi scheme. That's like MLM etc. This term has been getting thrown around in the media I think in an attempt to discredit Bitcoin in some way.
It's more that it may as well be one for people, because it doesn't offer the layperson any benefits (that may just be restarting the circle of arguments on this topic...) Better comparison is tulip mania.

The difference is because it has the pretence of a working currency behind it, so people are attracted to the idea that it will become more than commodity trading, and to be in on the ground floor when that happens. It's not going to happen because the developed nations moved to fiat currency for countless reasons. It's no more sensible to consider bitcoin a potential future currency than it would be to listen to the fringes that want to trade only in gold.

On technical aspects, I think cryptocurrencies are cool as all hell. But the way people treat it triggers my financial-quackery detector, and I would bet that of many others.
 
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I'm yet to meet a Bitcoin millionaire. I'm yet to meet anyone who has met a Bitcoin millionaire.
 
I'm yet to meet a Bitcoin millionaire. I'm yet to meet anyone who has met a Bitcoin millionaire.

I'm a Dogecoin millionaire. Does that count?

dodgemillionslocked.jpg

Doesn't matter anyway, because i encrypted this wallet 4 years ago, and cant for the life of me remember the pass phrase to unlock the funds. FAAAAAAAAWWWWK!!!!

Might get that pic on a T-shirt to remind me to write important stuff down. Grrrr.
 
Have you read about the guy who thinks he has 36 million quid worth of Bitcoins in a landfill?
 
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