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George Soros, Rockefeller Take Their Marks Before Diving Into the Cryptocurrency Pool (businessinsider.com)

john of sparta shares a report from Business Insider (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source): Reports of a crackdown on cryptocurrency advertisements by tech giants such as Google and Facebook as well as regulatory uncertainty in Asia and the U.S. have weighed on the coin for much of March and April. The coin is down 50% since the beginning of the year. But investors appeared to be more bullish during Sunday's trade following reports that two Wall Street icons were looking to get into the market for cryptos. More notably, the investment fund founded by billionaire George Soros is preparing to dive into cryptocurrency trading, even though Soros himself previously described them as a "bubble." Adam Fisher, who oversees global macroeconomic investing for Soros Fund Management, has gained internal approval to invest in and trade cryptocurrencies, according to a Bloomberg News report. Also, Venrock -- a venture capital firm founded by descendants of famed capitalist John D. Rockefeller -- announced it was partnering with a cryptocurrency investment firm based in Brooklyn. Fortune first reported on the partnership.

100 comments

  1. Fasten your seatbelts... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is it.

  2. NNWO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can't control the world if you don't spread your tentacles into all forms of currency.

    1. Re: NNWO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He has power. His testicles are always in your mouth.

    2. Re: NNWO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your teeth are sharp...

  3. What? When naysayers finally eat crow? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    IT'S A SCAM!

    No, it's not. You just don't understand it.

    1. Re:What? When naysayers finally eat crow? by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Interesting

      All this announcement means is: They think they can game the system.

      (Possibly by buying a load of cryptocoins then going around spreading rumors that they're "getting into crypto"...)

      --
      No sig today...
    2. Re:What? When naysayers finally eat crow? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You just don't understand it.

      Go fuck yourself, asshole.

    3. Re:What? When naysayers finally eat crow? by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What's hard to understand?

      A handful of Chinese own most of the cryptocurrency and are busy manipulating the markets* so they can take all the round-eyes life savings and college funds.

      (*) By buying and selling between themselves at artificial prices

      Here they are, all sitting in a row:

      http://cointimes.tech/2017/01/...

      --
      No sig today...
    4. Re:What? When naysayers finally eat crow? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, I read this whole story to mean something more like, "Hey guys, I think bitcoin is making a comeback, and I'm trying really hard to dig up evidence for this conclusion."

      Even according to the article, Soros isn't looking to invest in it, and says it's a bubble. Some guy who works for Soros has gotten some approval to make some investments for an indeterminate amount of time. Rockefeller isn't looking to invest. Some investment firm who was founded by the Rockefeller family has announced that it will form some kind of partnership with a company that deals with cryptocurrency. Essentially, the story is so light on details that it's saying, "Some people look like they might invest some amount of money in crytpocurrency... maybe."

      So why is this being reported at all? Is this just a sensationalistic story looking for clicks? Or did someone at Business Insider just dump their kid's college fund into bitcoin?

    5. Re:What? When naysayers finally eat crow? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They've probably already quietly bought shitloads of it, and now it's time to talk up the price.

    6. Re:What? When naysayers finally eat crow? by jythie · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, I read it as 'there are enough sheep with enough money for the wolves to be interested'.

    7. Re:What? When naysayers finally eat crow? by jwhyche · · Score: 2

      All this announcement means is: They think they can game the system.

      I can promise you that is what it means. People like Soros don't see it as something that can benefit everyone. Right now all they see is a way to increase their own personal money and power. It is just another tool they can use to accomplish this.

      Personally, I think bitcoin and its like is nothing more than a ponzi scheme and will collapse sooner or later. But with Soros and his like getting involved, that will lend it a air of legitimacy. Which will only make the collapse so much bigger when it does happen. Only now fuckers like Soros will walk away with a fat bank roll while so many other people will be left destitute.

      To bad someone can't figure out how to game Soros through this and empty a few of his bank accounts.

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
  4. unprecedented evile never sleeps... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    keeps us awake sometimes with terminator terror style poisonous exploding media monologue.. phewww.. cease fire stand down,, there are moms & babys all around us.. starvation, deception, wmd on credit, MANufactured 'weather' are the leading killers of us since who knows when... in the moms we trust.. our creators of origin as far as anyone can really tell.. then we were trained to be greed fear & ego based by our environmental overlords.. better days ahead.. good sports with good spirits will prevail.. intend along... thanks.. again

  5. Yes please by demon+driver · · Score: 2

    But introducing yet another kind of money, let alone one that is without substance insofar as its value isn't backed by a profitable industry which is the only thing that can induce real value into a currency, and even one that is devoid of every safety that conventional banks are bound to offer by law, would not really be the way to go.

    And to get rid of money, we'd need to get rid of capitalism in the first place.

    1. Re:Yes please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      let alone one that is without substance insofar as its value isn't backed by a profitable industry which is the only thing that can induce real value into a currency

      Not true, the USD is backed by debt and the threat of violence, for instance.

    2. Re:Yes please by jythie · · Score: 1

      USD is backed by being the only currency you can pay your taxes in.

    3. Re:Yes please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only a profitable industry? False. Only the gub'mnt tax-collecting gunbarrel can validate a "monies". Force citizens to pay gub'mnt taxes in arbitrary tokens and by-definition you have created a monies. Nothing else will substitute as industrial or farm goods can be bartered ... not so with gun-barrel enforced taxation. PAY ME MY MONIES !!!

    4. Re: Yes please by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      And how do they ensure that taxes get paid...??

    5. Re: Yes please by DannyHallwood · · Score: 1

      A few US states accept bitcoin to pay taxes. Arizona , as example. http://fortune.com/2018/02/10/...

    6. Re: Yes please by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

      They look at how big you are. If you're a small fish then you better pay your taxes. If you are wealthy enough to hide your money off shore then you're OK. Finally if you can get connected politically then you're fine as well. It's most definitely a scam and I hope that I live long enough to see the guillotines brought out for the corrupt billionaires who thrive off this corruption.

    7. Re: Yes please by stinerman · · Score: 1

      Without even reading the article, I guarantee that they immediately convert that to dollars, and the exchange rate changes pretty regularly.

      Arizona is not sitting around holding Bitcoin. They're allowing people to pay off their dollar-denominated debts by use of an exchange as an intermediary.

    8. Re:Yes please by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      That is not what 'backed' means.
      And I pay my taxes in EUR, you insensitive clod!

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    9. Re:Yes please by FordenFreeman · · Score: 0

      Bitcoin's value is in the kostenlos nature of the services and transaction network; it has far lower transaction cost, carry cost, etc... than does the USD.

      As for the USD, it is backed by debt, death, and utility. You can say it's value is from taxation, but that isn't accurate. The dollar has value to those who pay no taxes.

      Banks offer no true safety. By engaging in fractional reserve lending, they rob from everyone with every loan they make. The value of every dollar is eroded by each loan. This is similar to the government spending money that it doesn't make in tax revenue. More dollars chasing the same number of goods/services will result in monetary inflation and eventually in price inflation. Right now, we are seeing this trend in various investment and asset class products/services, but it's making its way into everything slowly but surely. Those banks damn near collapsed in 2008 as the market dictated that they ought, but the government stopped that from happening because their cronies cannot be allowed to fail.

      Getting rid of money is the wrong idea. Do you really think having no money would be better? People what, barter? Club each other to death and take each other's shit? Or are you a zeitgeister/venusprojecter/digitalcommie? Human wants and needs are infinite and resources are finite. This means that there will forever be inequity. As that is the case, we must have a way to figure out what things are worth relative to something else, and distribute goods efficiently. The market has been proven to be the best at this task. Every command economy has introduced deprivation, and market economies have produced bounty. Since the introduction of fiat currency, price floors, and 3 letter agencies dictating to industry, the US economy has had its worst boom/bust cycles ever... furthering that with more government control isn't going to magically make things better.

    10. Re: Yes please by jythie · · Score: 1

      Taxes are self reported regardless of where you get your money from. If you defraud the IRS they might not notice, or they might.

    11. Re:Yes please by demon+driver · · Score: 1

      Bitcoin's value is in the kostenlos nature of the services and transaction network; it has far lower transaction cost, carry cost, etc... than does the USD.

      That's not 'value' in the economic sense of being a reliable exchange equivalent for goods. A currency gets real and reliable purchasing power only if there's an underlying industry that successfully fulfills its only purpose, transforming money in more money through investing labor in commodities and base products, producing end-products which are worth more than the sum of what was needed to produce it.

      Bitcoin itself can only exist because 1. there are such real currencies with real value it can technically be exchanged to, and 2. because there are enough gamblers who speculate on there being enough gamblers believing in Bitcoin's value.

      As for the USD [...]

      See above.

      Getting rid of money is the wrong idea. Do you really think having no money would be better?

      I guess in the long run, it will be the only option if humanity wants to survive. Because even real currencies are sowly losing their real value, too, because, with technological progress, less and less labor is needed to produce the goods that have to be produced. What, in a naive way, sounds "good", slowly bereaves the economic system from its capability to feed its populations. (And because alternative currencies, whether Bitcoin or regional currencies or something else, are no solution of that problem.)

      People what, barter? [...]

      How about people simply deciding together, with democratic means, firstly, what they want to own and consume, and secondly, also what they want to produce?

      Or are you a zeitgeister/venusprojecter/digitalcommie? Human wants and needs are infinite and resources are finite. This means that there will forever be inequity [...]

      What I am is completely irrelevant. What you are, too. But what you're writing is just the old dogma out of the capitalists' prayer book, based solely on pseudo-religious belief, not on fact.

    12. Re:Yes please by demon+driver · · Score: 1

      Only a profitable industry? False. Only the gub'mnt tax-collecting gunbarrel can validate a "monies" [...]

      If there wasn't a profitable industry that would charge the currency with value, your money wouldn't buy your bread, regardless of what the goverment does or doesn't do. After all, both the value of a currency and the amount of money floating around depend on how good the chances are for someone who invests money in the currency area to get more money back. (There are more aspects and details to it, but at its core, it's as simple as that.)

    13. Re:Yes please by demon+driver · · Score: 1

      let alone one that is without substance insofar as its value isn't backed by a profitable industry which is the only thing that can induce real value into a currency

      Not true, the USD is backed by debt and the threat of violence, for instance.

      Which does not give it it's value, its purchasing power. If there was not at least a halfway functional industry that successfully transforms goods and raw material into more expensive goods, so that money invested in the currency area has a plausible chance of coming back as more money, it wouldn't have the purchasing power.

  6. Bubble by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    though Soros himself previously described them as a "bubble."

    Getting involved with it does not necessarily prove it otherwise, he may just want to get his fair share of that bubble before it bursts for good.

    1. Re:Bubble by Zocalo · · Score: 1

      Or to somehow try to pop the crypto-currency bubble so that people get burnt and go back to investing their remaning funds (if any) in more traditional funds, such as those managed by Soros and his partners, e.g. by using his political leverage to get various legislations passed with the aim of driving the privacy and anti-regulation types into increasingly more niche and sketchy alt-coins, thus undermining a lot of the original support. Whether such a scheme would even work is another question entirely, but as long as he *thinks* it will he may be prepared to give it a try. I guess it depends on whether Soros is personally involved in decisions at this level or it's up to lower-level management, has changed his view on crypto currencies, or - as you say - just thinks he can get in, make some money, and get out before the pop he's expecting.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    2. Re:Bubble by nonBORG · · Score: 0

      Bubbles do have a very sharp upside. I may be of course that the upside is pretty much done. There is nothing like hindsight to say oh that was where the bubble collapsed. Of course it looks like a bit of a pop when 60% down from the peak.

      When Warren Buffett gets into crypto currency then that will be news.

      --
      You can't handle the truth! - Because I don't post left all my comments get modded down, bye bye Karma.
    3. Re:Bubble by tomhath · · Score: 2

      Getting involved with it does not necessarily prove it otherwise

      Hedge funds are a bet that the market will move, you can bet on it moving either up or down. It's likely Soros was waiting until he could short the funds and profit from other people's losses.

    4. Re:Bubble by FudRucker · · Score: 1

      yup, never can tell what sneaky schemes those financial wizards have going

      --
      Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
    5. Re:Bubble by rahvin112 · · Score: 1

      Soros isn't getting involved, a Fund he set up a long time ago is. I doubt he has $0.10 in that fund today.

    6. Re:Bubble by ckaminski · · Score: 1

      Most likely already has a shitload of crypto, and saw what the news of the Bitcoin ETFs did to the price, and now lending their support to them will cause it to go back up so they can cash out the rest.

      You. Will. Be. The. Bagholder.

      Again.

    7. Re:Bubble by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Hedges aka options aka derivatives.

      Hedge funds are mutual funds for the rich and connected. High fees, high minimum deposit, but usually they've got returns to (sort of) justify the fees. Insider traders that will take the hit for their investors, what Madoff was pretending to be.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  7. The coin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was not aware that there were no other coins in existence beyond bitcoin. Someone should really look into that.

    1. Re: The coin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are all sorts of scams out there. College kids have student loan money to grab.

  8. Fools and their money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "John Burbank, who shuttered his main fund last year, plans to raise $150 million for two funds investing in digital currencie"

    Please be clear. Burbank is taking US Dollars for a 'Fund'. Funds take money (real actual $$$ money) and buy something with it, and take a fee for managing that something. He is not investing in crypto, you are, he is taking fees as $$ for your investment in it. He is not the idiot making the bad pseudo investment, you are.

    "Soros has already been indirectly betting on crypto. The firm amassed a stake in Overstock.com in the fourth quarter, making it the third-biggest shareholder of the discount e-commerce company. In August 2017 it became the first major retailer to accept digital currencies. The company had also planned to start an exchange for cryptocurrencies as well as offer digital coins that could trade on the platform."

    Again, he is not investing his money in crypto, he bought Overstock.com who in turn were planning to setup an exchange TAKING MONEY FROM IDIOTS BUYING CRYPTO. A different thing.

    Don't be fooled.

    1. Re:Fools and their money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This... fund managers will sell you 20,000 shares of dog shit; as long as they get their fee, they don't care. You loose, they win. You win, they win. See a pattern?

    2. Re:Fools and their money by jythie · · Score: 1

      Isn't that the main use of cryptocurrencies though? The main industry that has popped up around and using the coins seems to be the 'exchanges' were various amature currency traders try to out-algorithm each other and profit off a steady flow of people trying to jump on the bandwagon.

    3. Re:Fools and their money by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 1

      As someone who is bearish on Bitcoin but bullish on blockchains, I would really like to know what portion of the transactions are really being used for the useful economic activities that can positively benefit from kind of system, e.g. sending money back to my parents in the old country.

    4. Re:Fools and their money by ckaminski · · Score: 1

      Why are you bullish on blockchains?

    5. Re:Fools and their money by jythie · · Score: 1

      I would also be curious what the actual numbers look like. The system and its usage though suggests most of it is going to trading. The fees have been going going up, making small transactions less and less viable, and more and more of the traffic has been going to the exchanges. BTC isn't very good at anything other than large transactions that lock in quickly but can take time to process.

  9. Re: Can we get rid of money yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's all about getting rid of debit cards and credit cards. There is no profit and security is unpredictable . The banks will gladly let that go.

  10. Re:Can we get rid of money yet? by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honestly this seems the way of the future, it is sweeping the globe. It works better than money, and it has none of the down sides of the bickerings of the international community.

    "Works better than money?" LOL!

    No bickerings? LOL!

    You're blowing off the "international community" and putting your money in the hands of a bunch of Chinese who've already shown that they'll manipulate the price all day long:

    https://hackernoon.com/the-gre...

    --
    No sig today...
  11. on the nature of capitalist champions. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People like Soros and the descendants Rockefeller arent visionary, but products of their respective dynastic wealth. They benefit disproportionately from a wealth that came about to an extremely lucky subset of people once in a generation. The methods by which their fortunes were amassed arguably could only ever take place once in history.

    Venrock, the venture capital company mentioned in tfa, has nothing to do with intrepid capitalists championing the helm of innovation and change and more to do with a branded venture capital firm seeking out new revenue streams, like an old dog seeking out the dinner bowl by smell.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:on the nature of capitalist champions. by wbr1 · · Score: 1
      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    2. Re:on the nature of capitalist champions. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see what's wrong with continuing a family's business

    3. Re:on the nature of capitalist champions. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey look everyone, it's Jon Willis! Hi Jon!

    4. Re:on the nature of capitalist champions. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, there are a lot of Rockefeller descendants. What any one or two of them goes off and does has very little to do with the name.

    5. Re:on the nature of capitalist champions. by ytene · · Score: 2

      I think this is a fair argument as a general rule, with the caveat that there will always be exceptions to that singular rule. However, we've also had people who have become successful in multiple industries/sectors... Elon Musk: SpaceX/Tesla/etc, Sir Richard Branson: Virgin [Airlines, Media, Foods, Financial Services, etc].

      What is a little harder to determine is whether or not we've always had serial entrepreneurs of this magnitude and perhaps didn't really see earlier examples of people being ultra-successful in multiple fields, or whether this is a relatively recent phenomenon.

    6. Re: on the nature of capitalist champions. by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      And... they're parasites.

    7. Re: on the nature of capitalist champions. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rigger please, Branson became successful because MI5. Even the BBC reported his companies many espionage services when he was knighted. Just like Zuck, he's been owned since his wealth was created. for him.

    8. Re:on the nature of capitalist champions. by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      " products of their respective dynastic wealth"
      In Soros's case, that would be pretty much none.

    9. Re:on the nature of capitalist champions. by coastwalker · · Score: 1

      Enjoyable rant, just one small question though - has anybody who has billions in wealth actually earned it. No? I thought not.

      --
      Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
    10. Re: on the nature of capitalist champions. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is when the whole premise of your argument is based off BUILDING something on YOUR OWN.

      This man rides the coattails of his deceased father.

    11. Re: on the nature of capitalist champions. by ytene · · Score: 1

      Interesting - if true.

      Can you cite any sources?

  12. WARNINGS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Many people have warned U.S. law makers as well as the president of repercussions if they make any attempt to force any kind of crypto currency on people.

  13. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  14. Re: Can we get rid of money yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No profit in credit cards?

    Let the adults do the discussing.

  15. No JEW SOROS with APKoin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    See Subject: APKoin is better than all other cyypto coin guarantee to not loose value

    Get APKoin by spreading the word of "LORD of HOSTS" to all conrners of teh internet

    Get APKoin by "Kick stomping heart" FAKE name slashdot l[users] who dare defy brilliant APK

    Redeemable for ultra premium moose dik you can suck or take in ass

    Premium rewards like suk my MEGA MAN PENIS or lick my gaint ballz

    APK

    P.S.=> The Soros and ROTHSCHILD backed jew bankers want to destroy CRYPTO COIN because it can derail their plans to enslave great american worker. Trump was the first major disruption to they plans APKoins is the next... apk

  16. Re:Can we get rid of money yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    [can we get rid of money yet?]

    You first.

  17. Re: Can we get rid of money yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Didn't read past "works better than money" because you have already lied.

    It doesn't take days to settle a purchase with cash, and there are no fees.

    A thing worth trying to spread should be able to stand on its own merits without lying. The only thing crypto currency is good for is generating hype stories and bubble inflation.

  18. Cryptoscams by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Are (any) fiat-currency and (any) cryptocurrency really equivalent, as cryptocurrency fans claim?
    For example, US Dollar and Bitcoin are really equals?
    Value/validity/authorization of US dollar is provided/guaranteed by US Government (and in-turn whole US Public)!
    Also, not to mention, US Dollars in any US Bank is insured by US Government!
    What authorization/guarantee/insurance is behind Bitcoin? Nothing!
    Sorry but that is the end of discussion then!

    Why do you think Satoshi Nakamoto is really hiding his identity, if Bitcoin is really such a great innovation?
    He is just someone does not like media/fan attention?
    Or, could it be really because Bitcoin (and all cryptocurrencies followed it) are actually Ponzi Schemes?
    (So he knew very well that law enforcement would come after him sooner or later?!)

    If so-called cryptocurrencies are really good innovation, why they attract so many criminals/criminal activity?
    Could it really be because, all cryptocurrencies themselves are scams, and that is why they attract all kinds of criminals/criminal activity?

    If so-called cryptocurrencies are really currency, why no company/store can use Bitcoin as currency anymore?
    Because the price of Bitcoin proved to be extremely unstable to use as a currency?
    Would the result be different, if Bitcoin replaced by any other "cryptocurrency"?
    Aren't all work the same way?

    Or, they are not actually virtual currency but virtual investment?
    But, if they are actually investment, why we need/want them?
    What would happen to world economy, if people invested in virtual investments, instead of real investments?

    Or, all so-called cryptocurrencies are actually just a modified (made decentralized and paying variable interest) Ponzi Schemes?
    (Price of cryptocurrencies would keep increasing in the long term (by their design), so it is equivalent of paying variable interest to all long term investors.)

    As more and more people invest in cryptocurrencies, it will become harder and harder to ban their trading everywhere!
    All cryptocurrencies need to be banned globally before it is too late!

  19. Soros by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do you really think if Soros was planning to start buying cryptocurrencies, he would want everyone to know?
    Wouldn't he know that many people would try to buy before him to take advantage?
    I think it is much more likely that he already bought a lot before and now trying to make others buy and raise the prices, so he can dump his for better prices!

  20. Re:Cryptocurrency Taxes by Zocalo · · Score: 2

    Same way they do any other transaction that is subject to tax but might bypass channels they can readily track: require you to declare your profits (or losses) from the transaction (or "investment", if you prefer) coupled with some deterrance in the form of severe sanctions (fines, jail time, etc.) for anyone who thinks they can keep their profits hidden from "the man" but fails to do so. Typically, in nations that are implementing this, the approach seems to be to class it as a form of capital gains (e.g. just like stocks, shares, etc.) and tax accordingly at similar rates. YMMV but, speaking from experience, if you're converting a large chunk of crypto currency into traditional currency and want it all above board, you can expect "the man" to take quite a large bite.

    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  21. Re:Cryptocurrency Taxes by lamer01 · · Score: 2

    This, the goal is to avoid taxation, that's why the crypto disciples are called crypto-anarchists.

  22. Making a "comeback"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's nearly seven thousand dollars for one magical Internet coin.

    Bitcoin hasn't lost; speculators have.

    1. Re: Making a "comeback"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tell that to my buddy who bought in when it was at 10k.

  23. the real question here: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does this mean Soros will be paying us in bitcoin to shitpost here now?

    1. Re:the real question here: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I presume the Koch Brothers and Putin are going to use gold still?

  24. Re:Can we get rid of money yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It works better than money

    I don't recall the cashier taking 10-30 minutes to decide whether my money was real or not, or having to bribe them 5-10% to consider taking less time.

    Cryptocurrency is absolute trash. It wastes an immense quantity of compute power and electricity pitting random pools of devices against each other for the honour of signing a transaction record. It's wasteful, difficult to use and still looking for that killer feature to take it past a pump and dump investment scam into something people can use. The blockchain is a different story - it has plenty of uses, but mainstream currency isn't one.

    EFTPOS takes a couple of seconds, maybe more if you're buying something past the paywave limit and have forgotten your PIN. It also costs less, there's manual fallbacks, the general public can't pull up my transaction history out of curiosity and it deals in money that has actual value, covered by government backed insurance - it doesn't disappear if my bank folds. I can even use it on an island with intermittent batched satellite connectivity or the middle of nowhere with just a sniff of 2G GSM. Amazing.

  25. Re: Can we get rid of money yet? by gnick · · Score: 1

    The only thing crypto currency is good for is generating hype stories and bubble inflation...

    ...and buying contraband. As long as it's good for this, it's not going to disappear entirely. Cryptocurrency is still the primary trading medium for the dark web.

    --
    He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  26. Mark by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    Of the beast. Considering the two.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
  27. Getting Into the Crypto Market... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    When people like this "get into the market," it does not mean what most retail investors think it means. They may be long, short, selling derivatives, buying derivatives, or, most likely, all of the above. They are also looking at being middle-men, making a few (more) cents on every transaction, being money changers.

    Having people think it just means they are going long helps them by bringing in dumb money. Their job is to help that dumb money find its way home to where the smart money lives. "Price discovery" is a nice way to tell people "you paid too much."

  28. Re:Cryptocurrency Taxes by jythie · · Score: 1

    It is only a way to avoid taxes or embezzle funds as pictured by people who do not know much about either and have only ever worked W2. They kinda hope that if enough people say 'no more taxes' and invest in their cryptothingie the various governments will just give up and stop collecting them or something.

  29. Re: Can we get rid of money yet? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

    The only thing crypto currency is good for is generating hype stories and bubble inflation...

    ...and buying contraband. As long as it's good for this, it's not going to disappear entirely. Cryptocurrency is still the primary trading medium for the dark web.

    I'm guessing that one or more state actors can trace it. Unless it's based on the only secure software on the planet.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  30. Re:Can we get rid of money yet? by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 1

    It works better than money, and it has none of the down sides of the bickerings of the international community.

    I agree. Digital currency only has upsides. Stealing Bitcoins online is way easier than robbing a bank.

  31. I, too, watched Netflix's Marco Polo. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "round-eyes"

    1. Re:I, too, watched Netflix's Marco Polo. by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I forgot the apostrophe:

      It should be "...take all the round-eyes' life savings and college funds."

      --
      No sig today...
  32. Re: Can we get rid of money yet? by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    I hope you don't have to rely upon your "thinking ability" for anything important...

  33. Re: Can we get rid of money yet? by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    Yeah; no.

  34. Another Big Drop by DERoss · · Score: 1

    About five hours ago (9 April 2018 10:14 UTC), bitcoin fell off a cliff. It dropped $268.36 in 18 minutes. How can anything be a currency for use in financial transactions if it is so volatile? How can you price goods and services with such volatility?

    1. Re:Another Big Drop by stinerman · · Score: 1

      Because............blockchain!

    2. Re:Another Big Drop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol i take it you've never invested in the stock market before?

    3. Re:Another Big Drop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It can't. Yet. Stop being ignorant and think.

    4. Re:Another Big Drop by DERoss · · Score: 1

      Actually, almost half my living expenses are paid from dividends, interest, and capital gains on my investment portfolio. The other half of my living expenses are paid from a small pension and Social Security. I manage my wife's and my own portfolios as well as the portfolio in which I invested my grandson's inheritance from his deceased father.

  35. REPORTS that two Wall Street icons were looking to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    1. Soros and Rockefeller leak "reports" that they are about to get into cryptocurrencies
    2. Wait for the market to spike and short cryptocurrencies
    3. Soros and Rockefeller issue official statements that cryptocurrencies are a terrible investment
    4. Cryptocurrencies nose-dive and they sell their short
    Soros got rich shorting a currency...

  36. Useless waste of limited resources by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bitcoiners must be Satanists out to destroy the planet. Just like the Waltons & their Walmart where its always cheaper to buy 4 smaller size items than 1 large item of the same total size/volume (because all that paper & plastic packaging is free right??). SATANISTS.

  37. Rumors and speculation and name dropping by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

    Here's what I'm read from the article. The fund founded (not run by George Soros but his son) has approved trading in cryptocurrency.

    The Soros Fund Management venture internally approved the trading of virtual coins in the past few months. So far, no actual “big trades” have has been made, but that situation will come to change very soon.

    As for Rockefeller, this was the relevant passage:

    Also, Venrock — a venture capital firm founded by descendants of famed capitalist John D. Rockefeller — announced it was partnering with a cryptocurrency investment firm based in Brooklyn.

    The article makes clear that the fund not run by Soros himself has only approved trading not that it has traded in cryptocurrency. It doesn't necessarily say that the fund will invest in cryptocurrency as an asset; the fund could be shorting them. As for Venrock, there are no details on what and how much investment is being made. It could be a small amount.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  38. Re: Can we get rid of money yet? by gnick · · Score: 1

    That's not affecting its popularity.

    --
    He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  39. Re:Can we get rid of money yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Great article! Thanks for posting!

  40. if you are stinking rich... by hAckz0r · · Score: 1

    How to make lots more money

    1) Buy up a lot of Bitcoin very quietly
    2) Announce that you are thinking about buying Bitcoin
    3) Sell all your Bitcoin
    4) Tell everyone Bitcoinis just a bubble
    5) Go back to step #1

  41. Re:Cryptocurrency Taxes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can't tax crypto and they will give up.

  42. Bitcoin by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    I bet that if Soros infests in cryptomoney, it will not be in bitcoins. That specific bubble is already too much inflated.

  43. When the world's most evil man is involved... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it's probably a good idea to steer well cleasr.

    Not only is George Soros probably the only Hitler-era NAZI collaborator who has publicly said he is proud of that part of his life and that it was a happy time for him [making him a monster of historic proportions], but he is also the man who broke the Bank of England years ago - so he has a track record of damaging a currency [and thus the lives of millions of people] for his own personal profit. There is not enough power or money in the world for this slimeball.

    If you have any investments in this which uou cannot easily afford to lose then it just might be time to get out.