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Seven common mistakes crypto investors and traders make

Cryptocurrency markets are volatile enough without making simple, easily avoidable mistakes.

Investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets is now easier than ever before. Online brokers, centralized exchanges and even decentralized exchanges give investors the flexibility to buy and sell tokens without going through a traditional financial institution and the hefty fees and commissions that come along with them.

Cryptocurrencies were designed to operate in a decentralized manner. This means that while they’re an innovative avenue for global peer-to-peer value transfers, there are no trusted authorities involved that can guarantee the security of your assets. Your losses are your responsibility once you take your digital assets into custody.

Here we’ll explore some of the more common mistakes that cryptocurrency investors and traders make and how you can protect yourself from unnecessary losses.

Losing your keys

Cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain technology, a form of distributed ledger technology that offers high levels of security for digital assets without the need for a centralized custodian. However, this puts the onus of protection on asset holders, and storing the cryptographic keys to your digital asset wallet safely is an integral part of this.

On the blockchain, digital transactions are created and signed using private keys, which act as a unique identifier to prevent unauthorized access to your cryptocurrency wallet. Unlike a password or a PIN, you cannot reset or recover your keys if you lose them. This makes it extremely important to keep your keys safe and secure, as losing them would mean losing access to all digital assets stored in that wallet.

Lost keys are among the most common mistakes that crypto investors make. According to a report from Chainalysis, of the 18.5 million Bitcoin (BTC) mined so far, over 20% has been lost to forgotten or misplaced keys.

Storing coins in online wallets

Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are probably the easiest way for investors to get their hands on some cryptocurrencies. However, these exchanges do not give you access to the wallets holding the tokens, instead offering you a service similar to banks. While the user technically owns the coins stored on the platform, they are still held by the exchange, leaving them vulnerable to attacks on the platform and putting them at risk.

There have been many documented attacks on high-profile cryptocurrency exchanges that have led to millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency stolen from these platforms. The most secure option to protect your assets against such risk is to store your cryptocurrencies offline, withdrawing assets to either a software or hardware wallet after purchase.

Not keeping a hard copy of your seed phrase

To generate a private key for your crypto wallet, you will be prompted to write down a seed phrase consisting of up to 24 randomly generated words in a specific order. If you ever lose access to your wallet, this seed phrase can be used to generate your private keys and access your cryptocurrencies.

Keeping a hard copy record, such as a printed document or a piece of paper with the seed phrase written on it, can help prevent needless losses from damaged hardware wallets, faulty digital storage systems, and more. Just like losing your private keys, traders have lost many a coin to crashed computers and corrupted hard drives.

Fat-finger error

A fat-finger error is when an investor accidentally enters a trade order that isn’t what they intended. One misplaced zero can lead to significant losses, and mistyping even a single decimal place can have considerable ramifications.

One instance of this fat-finger error was when the DeversiFi platform erroneously paid out a $24-million fee. Another unforgettable tale was when a highly sought-after Bored Ape nonfungible token was accidentally sold for $3,000 instead of $300,000.

Sending to the wrong address

Investors should take extreme care while sending digital assets to another person or wallet, as there is no way to retrieve them if they are sent to the wrong address. This mistake often happens when the sender isn’t paying attention while entering the wallet address. Transactions on the blockchain are irreversible, and unlike a bank, there are no customer support lines to help with the situation.

This kind of error can be fatal to an investment portfolio. Still, in a positive turn of events, Tether, the firm behind the world’s most popular stablecoin, recovered and returned $1 million worth of Tether (USDT) to a group of crypto traders who sent the funds to the wrong decentralized finance platform in 2020. However, this story is a drop in the ocean of examples where things don’t work out so well. Hodlers should be careful while dealing with digital asset transactions and take time to enter the details. Once you make a mistake, there’s no going back.

Over diversification

Diversification is crucial to building a resilient cryptocurrency portfolio, especially with the high volatility levels in the space. However, with the sheer number of options out there and the predominant thirst for outsized gains, cryptocurrency investors often end up over-diversifying their portfolios, which can have immense consequences.

Over-diversification can lead to an investor holding a large number of heavily underperforming assets, leading to significant losses. It’s vital to only diversify into cryptocurrencies where the fundamental value is clear and to have a strong understanding of the different types of assets and how they will likely perform in various market conditions.

Not setting up a stop-loss arrangement

A stop-loss is an order type that enables investors to sell a security only when the market reaches a specific price. Investors use this to prevent losing more money than they are willing to, ensuring they at least make back their initial investment.

In several cases, investors have experienced huge losses because of incorrectly setting up their stop losses before asset prices dropped. However, it’s also important to remember that stop-loss orders aren’t perfect and can sometimes fail to trigger a sale in the event of a large, sudden crash.

That being said, the importance of setting up stop losses to protect investments cannot be understated and can significantly help mitigate losses during a market downturn.

Crypto investing and trading is a risky business with no guarantees of success. Like any other form of trading, patience, caution and understanding can go a long way. Blockchain places the responsibility on the investor, so it’s crucial to take the time to figure out the various aspects of the market and learn from past mistakes before putting your money at risk.

Controlled Supply

Bitcoin

“A fixed money supply, or a supply altered only in accord with objective and calculable criteria, is a necessary condition to a meaningful just price of money.”

Fr. Bernard W. Dempsey, S.J. (1903-1960)

In a centralized economy, currency is issued by a central bank at a rate that is supposed to match the growth of the amount of goods that are exchanged so that these goods can be traded with stable prices. The monetary base is controlled by a central bank. In the United States, the Fed increases the monetary base by issuing currency, increasing the amount banks have on reserve or by a process called Quantitative Easing.

In a fully decentralized monetary system, there is no central authority that regulates the monetary base. Instead, currency is created by the nodes of a peer-to-peer network.

The Bitcoin generation algorithm defines, in advance, how currency will be created and at what rate. Any currency that is generated by a malicious user that does not follow the rules will be rejected by the network and thus is worthless.

Currency with Finite Supply

Block reward halving
Controlled supply

Bitcoins are created each time a user discovers a new block. The rate of block creation is adjusted every 2016 blocks to aim for a constant two week adjustment period (equivalent to 6 per hour.)

The number of bitcoins generated per block is set to decrease geometrically, with a 50% reduction every 210,000 blocks, or approximately four years. The result is that the number of bitcoins in existence will not exceed slightly less than 21 million.

Speculated justifications for the unintuitive value “21 million” are that it matches a 4-year reward halving schedule; or the ultimate total number of Satoshis that will be mined is close to the maximum capacity of a 64-bit floating point number. Satoshi has never really justified or explained many of these constants.

Cumulated bitcoin supply

This decreasing-supply algorithm was chosen because it approximates the rate at which commodities like gold are mined. Users who use their computers to perform calculations to try and discover a block are thus called Miners.

Seven common mistakes crypto investors and traders make

Cryptocurrency markets are volatile enough without making simple, easily avoidable mistakes.

Investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets is now easier than ever before. Online brokers, centralized exchanges and even decentralized exchanges give investors the flexibility to buy and sell tokens without going through a traditional financial institution and the hefty fees and commissions that come along with them.

Cryptocurrencies were designed to operate in a decentralized manner. This means that while they’re an innovative avenue for global peer-to-peer value transfers, there are no trusted authorities involved that can guarantee the security of your assets. Your losses are your responsibility once you take your digital assets into custody.

Here we’ll explore some of the more common mistakes that cryptocurrency investors and traders make and how you can protect yourself from unnecessary losses.

Losing your keys

Cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain technology, a form of distributed ledger technology that offers high levels of security for digital assets without the need for a centralized custodian. However, this puts the onus of protection on asset holders, and storing the cryptographic keys to your digital asset wallet safely is an integral part of this.

On the blockchain, digital transactions are created and signed using private keys, which act as a unique identifier to prevent unauthorized access to your cryptocurrency wallet. Unlike a password or a PIN, you cannot reset or recover your keys if you lose them. This makes it extremely important to keep your keys safe and secure, as losing them would mean losing access to all digital assets stored in that wallet.

Lost keys are among the most common mistakes that crypto investors make. According to a report from Chainalysis, of the 18.5 million Bitcoin (BTC) mined so far, over 20% has been lost to forgotten or misplaced keys.

Storing coins in online wallets

Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are probably the easiest way for investors to get their hands on some cryptocurrencies. However, these exchanges do not give you access to the wallets holding the tokens, instead offering you a service similar to banks. While the user technically owns the coins stored on the platform, they are still held by the exchange, leaving them vulnerable to attacks on the platform and putting them at risk.

There have been many documented attacks on high-profile cryptocurrency exchanges that have led to millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency stolen from these platforms. The most secure option to protect your assets against such risk is to store your cryptocurrencies offline, withdrawing assets to either a software or hardware wallet after purchase.

Not keeping a hard copy of your seed phrase

To generate a private key for your crypto wallet, you will be prompted to write down a seed phrase consisting of up to 24 randomly generated words in a specific order. If you ever lose access to your wallet, this seed phrase can be used to generate your private keys and access your cryptocurrencies.

Keeping a hard copy record, such as a printed document or a piece of paper with the seed phrase written on it, can help prevent needless losses from damaged hardware wallets, faulty digital storage systems, and more. Just like losing your private keys, traders have lost many a coin to crashed computers and corrupted hard drives.

Fat-finger error

A fat-finger error is when an investor accidentally enters a trade order that isn’t what they intended. One misplaced zero can lead to significant losses, and mistyping even a single decimal place can have considerable ramifications.

One instance of this fat-finger error was when the DeversiFi platform erroneously paid out a $24-million fee. Another unforgettable tale was when a highly sought-after Bored Ape nonfungible token was accidentally sold for $3,000 instead of $300,000.

Sending to the wrong address

Investors should take extreme care while sending digital assets to another person or wallet, as there is no way to retrieve them if they are sent to the wrong address. This mistake often happens when the sender isn’t paying attention while entering the wallet address. Transactions on the blockchain are irreversible, and unlike a bank, there are no customer support lines to help with the situation.

This kind of error can be fatal to an investment portfolio. Still, in a positive turn of events, Tether, the firm behind the world’s most popular stablecoin, recovered and returned $1 million worth of Tether (USDT) to a group of crypto traders who sent the funds to the wrong decentralized finance platform in 2020. However, this story is a drop in the ocean of examples where things don’t work out so well. Hodlers should be careful while dealing with digital asset transactions and take time to enter the details. Once you make a mistake, there’s no going back.

Over diversification

Diversification is crucial to building a resilient cryptocurrency portfolio, especially with the high volatility levels in the space. However, with the sheer number of options out there and the predominant thirst for outsized gains, cryptocurrency investors often end up over-diversifying their portfolios, which can have immense consequences.

Over-diversification can lead to an investor holding a large number of heavily underperforming assets, leading to significant losses. It’s vital to only diversify into cryptocurrencies where the fundamental value is clear and to have a strong understanding of the different types of assets and how they will likely perform in various market conditions.

Not setting up a stop-loss arrangement

A stop-loss is an order type that enables investors to sell a security only when the market reaches a specific price. Investors use this to prevent losing more money than they are willing to, ensuring they at least make back their initial investment.

In several cases, investors have experienced huge losses because of incorrectly setting up their stop losses before asset prices dropped. However, it’s also important to remember that stop-loss orders aren’t perfect and can sometimes fail to trigger a sale in the event of a large, sudden crash.

That being said, the importance of setting up stop losses to protect investments cannot be understated and can significantly help mitigate losses during a market downturn.

Crypto investing and trading is a risky business with no guarantees of success. Like any other form of trading, patience, caution and understanding can go a long way. Blockchain places the responsibility on the investor, so it’s crucial to take the time to figure out the various aspects of the market and learn from past mistakes before putting your money at risk.

Seven common mistakes crypto investors and traders make?

Cryptocurrency markets are volatile enough without making simple, easily avoidable mistakes.

Investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets is now easier than ever before. Online brokers, centralized exchanges and even decentralized exchanges give investors the flexibility to buy and sell tokens without going through a traditional financial institution and the hefty fees and commissions that come along with them.

Cryptocurrencies were designed to operate in a decentralized manner. This means that while they’re an innovative avenue for global peer-to-peer value transfers, there are no trusted authorities involved that can guarantee the security of your assets. Your losses are your responsibility once you take your digital assets into custody.

Here we’ll explore some of the more common mistakes that cryptocurrency investors and traders make and how you can protect yourself from unnecessary losses.

Losing your keys

Cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain technology, a form of distributed ledger technology that offers high levels of security for digital assets without the need for a centralized custodian. However, this puts the onus of protection on asset holders, and storing the cryptographic keys to your digital asset wallet safely is an integral part of this.

On the blockchain, digital transactions are created and signed using private keys, which act as a unique identifier to prevent unauthorized access to your cryptocurrency wallet. Unlike a password or a PIN, you cannot reset or recover your keys if you lose them. This makes it extremely important to keep your keys safe and secure, as losing them would mean losing access to all digital assets stored in that wallet.

Lost keys are among the most common mistakes that crypto investors make. According to a report from Chainalysis, of the 18.5 million Bitcoin (BTC) mined so far, over 20% has been lost to forgotten or misplaced keys.

Storing coins in online wallets

Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are probably the easiest way for investors to get their hands on some cryptocurrencies. However, these exchanges do not give you access to the wallets holding the tokens, instead offering you a service similar to banks. While the user technically owns the coins stored on the platform, they are still held by the exchange, leaving them vulnerable to attacks on the platform and putting them at risk.

There have been many documented attacks on high-profile cryptocurrency exchanges that have led to millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency stolen from these platforms. The most secure option to protect your assets against such risk is to store your cryptocurrencies offline, withdrawing assets to either a software or hardware wallet after purchase.

Not keeping a hard copy of your seed phrase

To generate a private key for your crypto wallet, you will be prompted to write down a seed phrase consisting of up to 24 randomly generated words in a specific order. If you ever lose access to your wallet, this seed phrase can be used to generate your private keys and access your cryptocurrencies.

Keeping a hard copy record, such as a printed document or a piece of paper with the seed phrase written on it, can help prevent needless losses from damaged hardware wallets, faulty digital storage systems, and more. Just like losing your private keys, traders have lost many a coin to crashed computers and corrupted hard drives.

Fat-finger error

A fat-finger error is when an investor accidentally enters a trade order that isn’t what they intended. One misplaced zero can lead to significant losses, and mistyping even a single decimal place can have considerable ramifications.

One instance of this fat-finger error was when the DeversiFi platform erroneously paid out a $24-million fee. Another unforgettable tale was when a highly sought-after Bored Ape nonfungible token was accidentally sold for $3,000 instead of $300,000.

Sending to the wrong address

Investors should take extreme care while sending digital assets to another person or wallet, as there is no way to retrieve them if they are sent to the wrong address. This mistake often happens when the sender isn’t paying attention while entering the wallet address. Transactions on the blockchain are irreversible, and unlike a bank, there are no customer support lines to help with the situation.

This kind of error can be fatal to an investment portfolio. Still, in a positive turn of events, Tether, the firm behind the world’s most popular stablecoin, recovered and returned $1 million worth of Tether (USDT) to a group of crypto traders who sent the funds to the wrong decentralized finance platform in 2020. However, this story is a drop in the ocean of examples where things don’t work out so well. Hodlers should be careful while dealing with digital asset transactions and take time to enter the details. Once you make a mistake, there’s no going back.

Over diversification

Diversification is crucial to building a resilient cryptocurrency portfolio, especially with the high volatility levels in the space. However, with the sheer number of options out there and the predominant thirst for outsized gains, cryptocurrency investors often end up over-diversifying their portfolios, which can have immense consequences.

Over-diversification can lead to an investor holding a large number of heavily underperforming assets, leading to significant losses. It’s vital to only diversify into cryptocurrencies where the fundamental value is clear and to have a strong understanding of the different types of assets and how they will likely perform in various market conditions.

Not setting up a stop-loss arrangement

A stop-loss is an order type that enables investors to sell a security only when the market reaches a specific price. Investors use this to prevent losing more money than they are willing to, ensuring they at least make back their initial investment.

In several cases, investors have experienced huge losses because of incorrectly setting up their stop losses before asset prices dropped. However, it’s also important to remember that stop-loss orders aren’t perfect and can sometimes fail to trigger a sale in the event of a large, sudden crash.

That being said, the importance of setting up stop losses to protect investments cannot be understated and can significantly help mitigate losses during a market downturn.

Crypto investing and trading is a risky business with no guarantees of success. Like any other form of trading, patience, caution and understanding can go a long way. Blockchain places the responsibility on the investor, so it’s crucial to take the time to figure out the various aspects of the market and learn from past mistakes before putting your money at risk.

Source: https://bitcointalk.org/

Seven common mistakes crypto investors and traders make?

Cryptocurrency markets are volatile enough without making simple, easily avoidable mistakes.

Investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets is now easier than ever before. Online brokers, centralized exchanges and even decentralized exchanges give investors the flexibility to buy and sell tokens without going through a traditional financial institution and the hefty fees and commissions that come along with them.

Cryptocurrencies were designed to operate in a decentralized manner. This means that while they’re an innovative avenue for global peer-to-peer value transfers, there are no trusted authorities involved that can guarantee the security of your assets. Your losses are your responsibility once you take your digital assets into custody.

Here we’ll explore some of the more common mistakes that cryptocurrency investors and traders make and how you can protect yourself from unnecessary losses.

Losing your keys

Cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain technology, a form of distributed ledger technology that offers high levels of security for digital assets without the need for a centralized custodian. However, this puts the onus of protection on asset holders, and storing the cryptographic keys to your digital asset wallet safely is an integral part of this.

On the blockchain, digital transactions are created and signed using private keys, which act as a unique identifier to prevent unauthorized access to your cryptocurrency wallet. Unlike a password or a PIN, you cannot reset or recover your keys if you lose them. This makes it extremely important to keep your keys safe and secure, as losing them would mean losing access to all digital assets stored in that wallet.

Lost keys are among the most common mistakes that crypto investors make. According to a report from Chainalysis, of the 18.5 million Bitcoin (BTC) mined so far, over 20% has been lost to forgotten or misplaced keys.

Storing coins in online wallets

Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are probably the easiest way for investors to get their hands on some cryptocurrencies. However, these exchanges do not give you access to the wallets holding the tokens, instead offering you a service similar to banks. While the user technically owns the coins stored on the platform, they are still held by the exchange, leaving them vulnerable to attacks on the platform and putting them at risk.

There have been many documented attacks on high-profile cryptocurrency exchanges that have led to millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency stolen from these platforms. The most secure option to protect your assets against such risk is to store your cryptocurrencies offline, withdrawing assets to either a software or hardware wallet after purchase.

Not keeping a hard copy of your seed phrase

To generate a private key for your crypto wallet, you will be prompted to write down a seed phrase consisting of up to 24 randomly generated words in a specific order. If you ever lose access to your wallet, this seed phrase can be used to generate your private keys and access your cryptocurrencies.

Keeping a hard copy record, such as a printed document or a piece of paper with the seed phrase written on it, can help prevent needless losses from damaged hardware wallets, faulty digital storage systems, and more. Just like losing your private keys, traders have lost many a coin to crashed computers and corrupted hard drives.

Fat-finger error

A fat-finger error is when an investor accidentally enters a trade order that isn’t what they intended. One misplaced zero can lead to significant losses, and mistyping even a single decimal place can have considerable ramifications.

One instance of this fat-finger error was when the DeversiFi platform erroneously paid out a $24-million fee. Another unforgettable tale was when a highly sought-after Bored Ape nonfungible token was accidentally sold for $3,000 instead of $300,000.

Sending to the wrong address

Investors should take extreme care while sending digital assets to another person or wallet, as there is no way to retrieve them if they are sent to the wrong address. This mistake often happens when the sender isn’t paying attention while entering the wallet address. Transactions on the blockchain are irreversible, and unlike a bank, there are no customer support lines to help with the situation.

This kind of error can be fatal to an investment portfolio. Still, in a positive turn of events, Tether, the firm behind the world’s most popular stablecoin, recovered and returned $1 million worth of Tether (USDT) to a group of crypto traders who sent the funds to the wrong decentralized finance platform in 2020. However, this story is a drop in the ocean of examples where things don’t work out so well. Hodlers should be careful while dealing with digital asset transactions and take time to enter the details. Once you make a mistake, there’s no going back.

Over diversification

Diversification is crucial to building a resilient cryptocurrency portfolio, especially with the high volatility levels in the space. However, with the sheer number of options out there and the predominant thirst for outsized gains, cryptocurrency investors often end up over-diversifying their portfolios, which can have immense consequences.

Over-diversification can lead to an investor holding a large number of heavily underperforming assets, leading to significant losses. It’s vital to only diversify into cryptocurrencies where the fundamental value is clear and to have a strong understanding of the different types of assets and how they will likely perform in various market conditions.

Not setting up a stop-loss arrangement

A stop-loss is an order type that enables investors to sell a security only when the market reaches a specific price. Investors use this to prevent losing more money than they are willing to, ensuring they at least make back their initial investment.

In several cases, investors have experienced huge losses because of incorrectly setting up their stop losses before asset prices dropped. However, it’s also important to remember that stop-loss orders aren’t perfect and can sometimes fail to trigger a sale in the event of a large, sudden crash.

That being said, the importance of setting up stop losses to protect investments cannot be understated and can significantly help mitigate losses during a market downturn.

Crypto investing and trading is a risky business with no guarantees of success. Like any other form of trading, patience, caution and understanding can go a long way. Blockchain places the responsibility on the investor, so it’s crucial to take the time to figure out the various aspects of the market and learn from past mistakes before putting your money at risk.

Source: https://bitcointalk.org/

Blockchain Spectrum

The Blockchain Spectrum

Now, even if someone does not have the drawbacks of decades-long experience and mental models with a specific asset class, it is still very hard to understand Bitcoin.

Why? Because Bitcoin is the intersection of many, many different fields.

To truly understand Bitcoin, there is no other way than being a polymath.

Even if one has made it as far to (a) realize Bitcoin is something completely new and solely using existing heuristics and mental models will not work and (b) with Bitcoin, more than anything else, we do not know what we do not know — understanding still requires a very broad set of competences.

The correct approach to understand when one starts going down the Bitcoin rabbit hole is therefore to assume one knows nothing and any experience and insight one has from previous aspects of life brings
very little to the table.

First principles thinking is required.
We can, however, try to define a little deeper what Bitcoin is. Below is listed some different ways of wrapping one’s head around Bitcoin.

Not an exhaustive list.

A living organism

Bitcoin is Free and Open Source software. It is not a piece of IP owned by a centralized joint-stock company that needs to optimize for the bottom line of the next quarter and is incapable of cannibalizing itself. Since the Bitcoin whitepaper was released and the
genesis block was mined, we have seen an explosion of experiments, ideas and creative geniuses get involved in Bitcoin and crypto as a whole. To think of Bitcoin as a living, technological organism that adjusts, develops and constantly changes to survive can be useful.

A religion

Money, as many have learned and realized in recent decade, is just a social
construction we are all part of. The value therefore comes from the amount of true believers.

Continuing this line of thinking, one could describe the religion as consisting of:

  • Prophet: Satoshi. No longer present. Impossible to ask questions.
  • Convictions: Decentralization.
  • Rituals: Running nodes. Mining. Hodling.
  • Holy scriptures: Bitcoin whitepaper. As with all holy scriptures, people interpret them in their own way.
  • Sacred objects: Genesis block, lowercase bitcoin
  • Sects: Different interpretations resulting in different factions/sects: small blockers, big blockers, etc.

An emerging economy

  • The consensus protocol can be thought of as the constitution
  • The society as the constituency (users on the demand-side; miners on the supply-side)
  • Core developers as the executive department who write the code and execute on the strategy, but amendments to the protocol (i.e., constitution) require approval from the constituency)
  • The native token is the internal currency
  • The investors underwrite the currency

Additionally, many one-liners and memes exist to describe Bitcoin. Not an exhaustive list.

  • Sound money
  • Digital gold
  • “An insurance policy against an Orwellian future”
  • “A tool for freeing humanity from oligarchs and tyrants, dressed up as a get-rich-quick scheme”
  • Censorship- judgment & seizure-resistant money
  • Peer to peer digital cash
  • Swiss Bank account in your pocket
  • Unstoppable and uncensorable hard money

Source: https://backed.ai/

Au – 💲 – ₿

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum) and atomic number 79, making it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally.

It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal in a pure form.

Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions.

Gold often occurs in free elemental (native) form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element  silver (as electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite.

Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides).

A relatively rare element, gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage,  jewelry, and other arts throughout recorded history.

In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy.

Still, gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after 1971.

As of 2017, the world’s largest gold producer by far was China, with 440 tonnes per year.

A total of around 201,296 tonnes of gold exists above ground, as of 2020. This is equal to a cube with each side measuring roughly 21.7 meters (71 ft).

Gold’s high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions, and conductivity of electricity have led to its continued use in corrosion-resistant electrical connectors in all types of computerized devices (its chief industrial use).

The world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments and 10% in industry.

Gold is also used in infrared shielding,  colored-glass production, gold leafing, and tooth restoration. Certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatories in medicine.

F I A T

Fiat money (from Latin: fiat, “let it be done”) is a type of money that is not backed by any commodity such as gold or silver, and typically declared by a decree from the government to be legal tender.

Throughout history, fiat money was sometimes issued by local banks and other institutions. In modern times, fiat money is generally established by government regulation.

Yuan dynasty banknotes are a
medieval form of fiat money

Fiat money does not have intrinsic value  and does not have use value. It has value only because the people who use it as a medium of exchange agree on its value. They trust that it will be accepted by merchants and other people.

Fiat money is an alternative to commodity money, which is a currency that has intrinsic value because it contains a precious metal such as gold or silver which is embedded in the coin.

Fiat also differs from representative money, which is money that has intrinsic value because it is backed by and can be converted into a precious metal or another commodity.

Fiat money can look similar to representative money (such as paper bills), but the former has no backing, while the latter represents a claim on a commodity (which can be redeemed to a greater or lesser extent).

Government-issued fiat money  banknotes  were used first during the 11th century in China.

Fiat money started to predominate during the 20th century.

Since President Richard Nixon‘s decision to default on the US dollar convertibility to gold in 1971, a system of national fiat currencies has been used globally.

Fiat money can be:

  • Any money that is not backed by a commodity.
  • Money declared by a person, institution or government to be legal tender, meaning that it must be accepted in payment of a debt in specific circumstances.
  • State-issued money which is neither convertible through a central bank to anything else nor fixed in value in terms of any objective standard.
  • Money used because of government decree.
  • An otherwise non-valuable object that serves as a medium of exchange (also known as fiduciary money.)

The term fiat derives from the Latin word  fiat, meaning “let it be done” used in the sense of an order, decree or resolution.

Bitcoin – Digital Gold

The most common, and best, ways to think about bitcoin is as “digital gold”.

Like gold, bitcoin doesn’t rely on a central issuer, can’t have its supply manipulated by any authority, and has fundamental properties long considered important for a monetary good and store of value.

Unlike gold, bitcoin is extremely easy and cheap to “transport”, and trivial to verify its authenticity.

Bitcoin is also “programmable”. This means custody of bitcoin can be extremely flexible. It can be split amongst a set of people (“key holders”), backed up and encrypted, or even frozen-in-place until a certain date in the future. This is all done without a central authority managing the process.

You can walk across a national border with bitcoin “stored” in your head by memorizing a key.

The similarities to gold, plus the unique features possible because bitcoin is purely digital, give it the “digital gold” moniker.

Sharing fundamental properties with gold means it shares use-cases with gold, such as hedging inflation and political uncertainty.

But being digital, bitcoin adds capabilities that are especially relevant in our modern electronic times.

The world does indeed need a digital version of gold.

People’s Money
With 💚

ASICs vs. SuperComputers

Asics
SuperComputers

ASICs vs Supercomputers

Assigning the most powerful supercomputer to mine bitcoin would be comparable to hiring a grandmaster chess player to move a pile of bricks by hand.

The job would get done eventually but the chess player is much better at thinking and playing chess than exerting energy to repetitively move bricks. 

Likewise, combining the computing power of the most powerful supercomputers in the world and using them to mine bitcoin would essentially be pointless when compared to the ASIC machines used today.

ASICs are designed to do one thing as quickly and efficiently as possible, whereas a supercomputer is designed to do complicated tasks or math problems.

Since Bitcoin mining is a lottery based on random trial and error rather than complex math, specialization (ASICs) beats general excellence (supercomputers) everytime.

End of Lesson !!!

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Bitcoin Taproot

Bitcoin Taproot Timeline

On November 14th, block height 709,632, Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade was activated. The update brings with it improvements to the flexibility, security, and efficiency of bitcoin transactions. And as Bitcoin’s first protocol upgrade in over four years, it’s a major milestone in the development of the network. 

Below, we outline the Taproot upgrade, what it changes, and how it will impact the bitcoin network going forward.

Three interconnected upgrades, deployed simultaneously

The Taproot upgrade is actually an umbrella term referring to three interconnected Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) set to activate simultaneously: 

  1. BIP 340, or Schnorr. This proposal introduces Schnorr signatures, a digital signature scheme that is faster, more secure, and less data-intensive than the cryptographic method currently in use (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm, or ECDSA).
  2. BIP 341, or Taproot. This proposal defines Pay-to-Taproot (P2TR), a new way to send bitcoin that enhances privacy and flexibility for users. It also implements Merklized Alternative Script Trees (MAST), which compress complex Bitcoin transactions into a single hash. This reduces transaction fees, minimizes memory usage, and improves Bitcoin’s scalability.
  3. BIP 342, or Tapscript. This proposal defines Tapscript, an update to Bitcoin’s original scripting language that enables P2TR transactions, leverages Schnorr signatures’ improved efficiency, and allows for more flexible upgrades going forward.

Taproot adoption timeline

On June 12th, 2021, these upgrade proposals reached a 90% consensus among miners, thus locking in their November activation as a soft fork to Bitcoin’s protocol. As a soft fork, the Taproot upgrade is backwards compatible with older versions of bitcoin and does not create a separate, parallel blockchain, as was the case with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. 

Adoption of taproot is expected to grow slowly over a period of years, just as it did with SegWit, the last major Bitcoin upgrade. Two years after SegWit’s activation, roughly 50 percent of transactions used it; today, four years after, that proportion is 80 percent. The main reason for this slow rate of adoption is that cryptocurrency wallets and service providers choose to opt-in on their own schedule.

Taproot’s impact

The Taproot upgrade will improve Bitcoin in a number of ways, such as:

  • Lower fees: Since the data size of complex transactions will be reduced, transaction fees will decline proportionally.
  • Improved lightning network efficiency: Taproot will make transactions on the Lightning Network cheaper, more flexible and more private.
  • Enhanced smart contract functionality: With Taproot, Bitcoin will be able to host smart contracts with any number of signatories while retaining the data size of a single-signature transaction. This lays the technical foundation for DeFi on the Bitcoin network.
  • And many others

In other words, the Taproot upgrade is a massive improvement to the Bitcoin protocol.

Lightning network improvements and expanded smart contract capabilities will improve bitcoin’s utility; meanwhile, lower transaction fees and increased network speed will improve its scalability. 

For this reason, we’re thrilled to welcome BIP 340, 341, and 342 at block height 709,632 and beyond.

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BitHouse RedBubble Shop

Featured

Visit BitHouse-Co’s shop, for cool artwork on awesome products!

https://www.redbubble.com/people/BitHouse-Co/shop?asc=u

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Bitcoin active contributors

BTC contributors

A short list of active contributors to Bitcoin, ordered by first name.

Andreas Schildbach – original developer of Bitcoin Wallet for Android (Google Code Project).

Amir Taaki aka genjix – creator of the BIP process, Libbitcoin C++ developer toolkit, Obelisk blockchain server (later BS), SX bitcoin command line tool (later BX), Darkwallet, Darkmarket (later OpenBazaar), Darkleaks, Freecoin and well as inactive/defunct projects such as the Britcoin exchange, Intersango exchange, Spesmilo RPC client, Bitcoin Consultancy, Bitcoin Media Blog (author), Vibanko web wallet provider, GLBSE exchange client, Kartludox Bitcoin poker client, Pastecoinand Python bindings for Bitcoin.

Art Forz – developed the first GPU miner and at one time his GPU mining farm (the ArtFarm) was mining over a third of all blocks.

Gary Rowe – Contributor to the MultiBit (http://multibit.org) and BitCoinJ (http://code.google.com/p/bitcoinj/) projects. Working on various Bitcoin based businesses.

Gavin Andresen – Former Satoshi client maintainer. He previously worked at Silicon Graphics and now runs his own company.

Hal Finney – one of the creators of PGP and one of the earliest contributors to the Bitcoin project. First to identify a type of double-spending attack that now bears his name — the Finney attack.

James McCarthy aka Nefario – creator of the first bitcoin stock exchange GLBSE

Jed McCaleb – cofounder of Stellar.org and original developer of MtGox. Previously created eDonkey2000.

Jeff Garzik – Satoshi client core developer, GPU poold software and the founder of Bitcoin Watch. Works for BitPay.

Luke Dashjr aka Luke-Jr – Eligius founder, maintains BFGMiner and maintainer of bitcoind/Bitcoin-Qt stable branches.

Mark Karpeles – aka MagicalTux – Former owner of MtGox.

Martti Malmi aka Sirius – Former Bitcoin developer. Operates the domain names bitcoin.org and bitcointalk.org.

Matt Corallo aka BlueMatt – Satoshi clientand Bitcoinj developer.

Michael Hendrix aka mndrix – creator of the now defunct CoinPal and CoinCard services

Mike Hearn – Google engineer who works on Gmail and developed BitCoinJ(http://code.google.com/p/bitcoinj/) and Lighthouse.

Nils Schneider aka tcatm – Bitcoin developer, owner of BitcoinWatch, creator and owner of BitcoinCharts, GPU mining software and JS web interface.

Patrick McFarland aka Diablo-D3 – DiabloMiner author, and former BitcoinTalk forum moderator.

Patrick Strateman aka phantomcircuit – Bitcoin developer, creator of Intersango, member of Bitcoin Consultancy and creator of Python Bitcoin implementation.

Peter Todd – Bitcoin developer. Involved with Bitcoin related startup Coinkite and DarkWallet.

Pieter Wuille aka sipa – Satoshi clientdeveloper and maintainer of the network graphs http://bitcoin.sipa.be

Stefan Thomas aka justmoon – creator of the (We Use Coins) site/video and WebCoin.

Tamas Blummer aka grau – author of Bits of Proof, the enterprise-ready implementation of the Bitcoin protocol. http://bitsofproof.com

Trace Mayer – Host of the (Bitcoin Knowledge Podcast) where the top people in Bitcoin are interviewed

Vladimir Marchenko – runs Marchenko Ltd which sells mining contracts, previously developed the figator.org search engine.

Wladimir van der Laan – Satoshi clientmaintainer.

👍💯🤜 KUDOS TO YOU ALL 🤛💯👍

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List of stuff you can use bitcoin for

” List of stuff you can use bitcoin for

Website – Information

4Chan > do we really need to tell you what this is??

ALFA Top > Top-up your mobile phone with bitcoin or other cryptocurrency

All4btc > Online shop – buy from Amazon, Dell, Ebay, and Lenovo using BTC

Altushost > Hosting service – VPS – dedicated – web hosting – SSL certificates …

Alza > Buy electronic/mobile phones/health&beauty and a lot more (EU based)

Apmex > Buy Gold/Silver/Platinum -Never try,but I think they have good reputation.

Bastone & Co. > Hand made collection shop.

Bit Market > list of store that accept bitcoin in Philippines

Bit Refill > Recharge prepaid phones with Bitcoin

Bit Watches > USA based Luxury watches store.

BitDials > Online shop – Buy watches and jewelry using BTC.

BitGigs > Gigs for bitcoins.

BitPay > bitcoin payment service provider

Bitcoin RealEstate > Buy Real Estate with cryptocurrency – Sell your property for Bitcoin

Bitcoin Travel > Travel agency – Book your flight/hotel using bitcoin.

Bitrefill > Top up your prepaid phone, over 140 countries supported.

CR Servers > Hosting service.

CallWithUs > VOIP service that accepts BTC, pay only for the calls you make! There are no recurring membership fees

CoinPayments > -Payment Gateway -Use them many time for different service.

CoinVet > Coinvet is the groundbreaking new jobs and gigs marketplace where the crowd helps you find the best professionals for your exact needs.

Compusleuth > technical support to recover, restore, search, and produce electronic information (is that still operating??)

Crypto Emporium > offer a huge variety of high-end and luxury goods available for purchase in only cryptocurrency, no fiat.

CryptoGrind > Freelancing platform – Hire a freelancer or work as one, for bitcoins.

Echristopher and sons > Shop online for your jewelry and pay with Bitcoin.

Expedia > Travel agency – provides Hotels, Cheap Flights, Car Rentals & Vacations

Genesis Fire Protection > USA based fire protection company, fire extinguishers and fire suppression systems.

Gray and Sons > Online shop – Jewelry, Watches, and accessories.

Gyft > Buy, Send, & Redeem Gift Cards

HePays > dating website.

Hi-Tech > Computer service provider, website is very bad, probably they’re out of business.

Lamborghini Newport Beach > authorized dealership in Orange County providing Super Sports Cars to Southern California

Microsoft > you can charge your account with BTC

Mint > Finance service, all your finance in single place. “When you’re on top of your money, life is good. We help you effortlessly manage your finances in one place.”

Mosaika > Shop online for your jewelry, and pay with Bitcoin.

My Gemologist > Shop for jewelry, or CREATE your own design, and pay with bitcoin.

Namecheap > Domain Name Registrar

NewEgg > Online shop

OpenBazzar > Decentralized marketplace – Online eCommerce platform that unites buyers/sellers by virtue of the P2P/peer-to-peer network

Overstock > Online shop – designer brands and home goods

Piiko > Send money to your friends and family online or top up while travelling. Almost 600 providers from 137 countries. Pay with Bitcoin, Dash or Stellar at best rates possible.


Pizza for coins > Order Pizza online and pay with BTC

Pure VPN > VPN Service: Access US Netflix Instantly for just $2.87/m Making Security and Freedom Accessible for Anyone, Anywhere!

Purse > Online shop – buy from amazon using BTC and get a discount!

RandyBrito > Freelancer – A web developer with a passion for Bitcoin, Economics and freedom.

Reeds > USA based jewlery – Personally I like their goods (looks only, haven’ bought any yet)

Restaurants list > a map of USA restaurants that accept Bitcoin. (can anyone verify any of them?)

Sad Truth Supply > Pins, Patches, and other accessories for bitcoin.

Save the Children > Charity accepting BTC payment. P.S: probably you’ll need to contact them first to donate in bitcoin.

Silver.ag > Jewelry and Accessories for Bitcoin.

SoftRare > software solutions provider, probably out of business since their website has copyright logo for 2015

SteadyTurtle > Buy Hosting&Domain -I use them for years,great service.

Tanzanite America > North American member of The Tanzanite Authority, a group of like-minded collectors, investors, and who are dedicated to informing and supplying the very finest top quality AAA certified Tanzanite.

XBT Freelancer > Freelancing platform – Hire a freelancer or work as one, for bitcoins.

mclarennb >  Authorized McLaren Dealer

List of stuff you can use bitcoin for.

Website – Information

4Chan > do we really need to tell you what this is??

ALFA Top > Top-up your mobile phone with bitcoin or other cryptocurrency

All4btc > Online shop – buy from Amazon, Dell, Ebay, and Lenovo using BTC

Altushost > Hosting service – VPS – dedicated – web hosting – SSL certificates …

Alza > Buy electronic/mobile phones/health&beauty and a lot more (EU based)

Apmex > Buy Gold/Silver/Platinum -Never try,but I think they have good reputation.

Bastone & Co. > Hand made collection shop.

Bit Market > list of store that accept bitcoin in Philippines

Bit Refill > Recharge prepaid phones with Bitcoin

Bit Watches > USA based Luxury watches store.

BitDials > Online shop – Buy watches and jewelry using BTC.

BitGigs > Gigs for bitcoins.

BitPay > bitcoin payment service provider

Bitcoin RealEstate > Buy Real Estate with cryptocurrency – Sell your property for Bitcoin

Bitcoin Travel > Travel agency – Book your flight/hotel using bitcoin.

Bitrefill > Top up your prepaid phone, over 140 countries supported.

CR Servers > Hosting service.

CallWithUs > VOIP service that accepts BTC, pay only for the calls you make! There are no recurring membership fees

CoinPayments > -Payment Gateway -Use them many time for different service.

CoinVet > Coinvet is the groundbreaking new jobs and gigs marketplace where the crowd helps you find the best professionals for your exact needs.

Compusleuth > technical support to recover, restore, search, and produce electronic information (is that still operating??)

Crypto Emporium > offer a huge variety of high-end and luxury goods available for purchase in only cryptocurrency, no fiat.

CryptoGrind > Freelancing platform – Hire a freelancer or work as one, for bitcoins.

Echristopher and sons > Shop online for your jewelry and pay with Bitcoin.

Expedia > Travel agency – provides Hotels, Cheap Flights, Car Rentals & Vacations

Genesis Fire Protection > USA based fire protection company, fire extinguishers and fire suppression systems.

Gray and Sons > Online shop – Jewelry, Watches, and accessories.

Gyft > Buy, Send, & Redeem Gift Cards

HePays > dating website.

Hi-Tech > Computer service provider, website is very bad, probably they’re out of business.

Lamborghini Newport Beach > authorized dealership in Orange County providing Super Sports Cars to Southern California

Microsoft > you can charge your account with BTC

Mint > Finance service, all your finance in single place. “When you’re on top of your money, life is good. We help you effortlessly manage your finances in one place.”

Mosaika > Shop online for your jewelry, and pay with Bitcoin.

My Gemologist > Shop for jewelry, or CREATE your own design, and pay with bitcoin.

Namecheap > Domain Name Registrar

NewEgg > Online shop

OpenBazzar > Decentralized marketplace – Online eCommerce platform that unites buyers/sellers by virtue of the P2P/peer-to-peer network

Overstock > Online shop – designer brands and home goods

Piiko > Send money to your friends and family online or top up while travelling. Almost 600 providers from 137 countries. Pay with Bitcoin, Dash or Stellar at best rates possible.


Pizza for coins > Order Pizza online and pay with BTC

Pure VPN > VPN Service: Access US Netflix Instantly for just $2.87/m Making Security and Freedom Accessible for Anyone, Anywhere!

Purse > Online shop – buy from amazon using BTC and get a discount!

RandyBrito > Freelancer – A web developer with a passion for Bitcoin, Economics and freedom.

Reeds > USA based jewlery – Personally I like their goods (looks only, haven’ bought any yet)

Restaurants list > a map of USA restaurants that accept Bitcoin. (can anyone verify any of them?)

Sad Truth Supply > Pins, Patches, and other accessories for bitcoin.

Save the Children > Charity accepting BTC payment. P.S: probably you’ll need to contact them first to donate in bitcoin.

Silver.ag > Jewelry and Accessories for Bitcoin.

SoftRare > software solutions provider, probably out of business since their website has copyright logo for 2015

SteadyTurtle > Buy Hosting&Domain

Tanzanite America > North American member of The Tanzanite Authority, a group of like-minded collectors, investors, and who are dedicated to informing and supplying the very finest top quality AAA certified Tanzanite. (first time to hear of tanzanite to be honest, but they look cool)

XBT Freelancer > Freelancing platform – Hire a freelancer or work as one, for bitcoins.

mclarennb >  Authorized McLaren Dealer

schwartzkopff>

KFC Canada > Hunger no more, get your KFC for BTC.

Subway restaurant > Eat healthy, with bitcoins too.

CheapAir > Cheap Airline Tickets, Airfares & Discount Air Tickets

Alza > Largest Czech online retailer accepting BTC.

Pembury Tavern > Snap up a pint in Britain’s first Bitcoin pub.

FC Canada > Hunger no more, get your KFC for BTC.

Subway restaurant > Eat healthy, with bitcoins too.

CheapAir > Cheap Airline Tickets, Airfares & Discount Air Tickets

Alza > Largest Czech online retailer accepting BTC.

Pembury Tavern > Snap up a pint in Britain’s first Bitcoin pub. “

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