Bitcoin Take?

[ChiefRocka]

Bitcoin disrupts gold
Ethereum disrupts financial services
There will be others...

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

What banks are actually using Ripple? My understanding is they aren’t using the coin, just technology by Ripple. They don’t need the coin, therefore the price run up will eventually stop.

The price run up will eventually stop, of course, because the whole point of XRP is to be a stable, transactable currency with a steady value. I suspect they will ensure a stable coin once their own stake is worth $1 Trillion dollars. That happens at a market cap of $700 billion dollars - quite a ways away. (This is just a guess on my part, though, but I think they're going to try to stabilize at a $20 coin in the long run).

No, banks don't hold XRP coins. The XRP coin is a proof of concept coin that they use to prove the viability of a closed system for the banks replacing SWIFT. The long term goal for Ripple is for XRP to replace Ethereum. The way things are looking, it's likely that they will be able to do that. Ethereum has scaling problems that Ripple appears to have figured out (not to mention Cardano, and any number of other coins that are better than Ethereum at what Ethereum is trying to do).

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I bet if someone did an ICO for a new token, and named it "Poopcoin", then just found a reasonable name to associate to it people would be like. "This poopcoin is goin to the moon!"

Already done. It's called Dogecoin, and it ranks at 35 in marketcap with a billion dollars, and a coin that is under a penny. I've considered buying some to be in on the joke, but there are much better coins to stake on.

[ChiefRocka]

Originally Posted by Taco John

The price run up will eventually stop, of course, because the whole point of XRP is to be a stable, transactable currency with a steady value. I suspect they will ensure a stable coin once their own stake is worth $1 Trillion dollars. That happens at a market cap of $700 billion dollars - quite a ways away. (This is just a guess on my part, though, but I think they're going to try to stabilize at a $20 coin in the long run).

No, banks don't hold XRP coins. The XRP coin is a proof of concept coin that they use to prove the viability of a closed system for the banks replacing SWIFT. The long term goal for Ripple is for XRP to replace Ethereum. The way things are looking, it's likely that they will be able to do that. Ethereum has scaling problems that Ripple appears to have figured out (not to mention Cardano, and any number of other coins that are better than Ethereum at what Ethereum is trying to do).

The only factual statement in that entire uneducated rant.

[ChiefRocka]

Ripple in a Nutshell

Nodes or validating servers do not offer an incentive like the Bitcoin network’s proof-of-work (PoW) as the network is managed by independently owned servers. This has led to accusations that Ripple’s network is extremely centralized because most validating servers are operated by banks, market makers, and Ripple Labs. Financial institutions that have been using Ripple include Earthpoint, Fidor Bank, Bank of America, and HSBC.

No Proof-of-Work Created the Largest Pre-Mine Ever
With no PoW and just a group of validating nodes, all 100 billion XRP tokens were created during the initial launch of the Ripple network. 38 billion of these XRPs are currently in circulation, while the founders of the database and the company took the remainder of the XRP holdings. Skeptics say one of the scariest aspects of ripple markets is the fact that Ripple Labs controls over 60 billion XRP which is more than half of what is currently in circulation.

The Curious Case of Jed McCaleb and the ‘Founders’ Coins’
Is a Centralized Database With the Biggest Pre-Mine Really a Bitcoin Competitor?
One of the Ripple co-founders Jed McCaleb.
Ripple was established in 2012 by Ryan Fugger and Jed McCaleb and was initially called Ripplepay. The co-founder Jed McCaleb is well known for also helping Mt Gox get its start with Mark Karpeles. McCaleb at the time rebranded the Ripplepay company to Ripple and helped promote the public database until late 2013. McCaleb then left the company that year to start his own venture called the Stellar network which is basically a fork of XRP’s codebase but a different distribution process. In 2014 XRP markets dropped in value considerably as it was rumored that Jed McCaleb was planning to sell off his shares of 9 Billion XRP. It is still unconfirmed to this day if McCaleb actually followed through with the ripple sale.

Another Ripple founder, Chris Larsen, donated 7 billion XRP to charity roughly around the same timeframe. Then McCaleb appeared in the headlines again as publications ran stories about him trying to sell more of his founding XRP shares on the Bitstamp exchange. Ripple Labs decided that the sale was not in the best interest of the network so the XRPs were frozen.

A Distributed Ledger with Global Freeze Functionality
Is a Centralized Database With the Biggest Pre-Mine Really a Bitcoin Competitor?The “freezing” of McCaleb’s funds revealed an interesting feature tied to the Ripple public database. Ripple Labs can freeze XRP accounts using two possible methods: one can stop the functionality of an individual account while the “global freeze” can bring the entire network to a halt. The global freeze is not a rumor, and Ripple Labs issued a statement about it on August 1, 2014. Further, a Ripple Labs representative told the cryptocurrency columnist, Sean Wince, back in April of 2015 how the freeze works and supposedly users have a choice.

“The Ripple protocol allows each gateway to decide its own policy, so users have a choice between using a freeze or no-freeze gateway, depending on their preference,” Monica Long, VP of marketing and communications at Ripple Labs told the reporter Sean Wince.

It is a necessary legal requirement for a gateway to operate in most jurisdictions. It also supports a healthy ecosystem by reducing risks and protecting users. If a user thinks his or her funds were unjustly frozen, he or she can take legal recourse through the appropriate channels.

Despite Ripple Naysayers, XRP Markets Are Up 22,400% in 2017
As 2018 approaches, skeptics and speculators are concerned about investors jumping into ripple believing it to be the “next bitcoin.” People are leery because the company holding more than half the currency’s reserves and the centralized XRP freezing features can theoretically censor anyone’s transactions including the entire network. Most cryptocurrency enthusiasts are not the biggest fans of ripple and believe that because it’s not a blockchain, it shouldn’t even be represented on Coinmarketcap. However within the thick of ‘ripple haters,’ markets are doing extremely well, and investors don’t seem to be worried about the XRP ecosystem’s flaws.

[RunKC]

Hey Chiefrocka,

What do you like about Link?

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Hey Chiefrocka,

What do you like about Link?

I’m not trying to be an asshole in a civilized thread, but you should really do your own research into coins rather than relying on the opinions of strangers on the internet.

[ChiefRocka]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

I’m not trying to be an asshole in a civilized thread, but you should really do your own research into coins rather than relying on the opinions of strangers on the internet.

Oracles are what will link blockchains to actual real world events. LINK is a first mover trying to accomplish that feat.

[Taco John]

People learn by asking questions. What's wrong with that? Cryptocurrencies is a neverending series of rabbit holes to go through. It helps to borrow knowledge from people who've been down them and can at least give you the lay of the land.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

I’m not trying to be an asshole in a civilized thread, but you should really do your own research into coins rather than relying on the opinions of strangers on the internet.

I’ll be completely honest with you. I am not that educated in crypto. I bought into xrp after listening to a friend and so far it’s been great.

I’ve tried looking into 15 other coins, but I can’t find any real data. I refuse to look at reddit too bc it’s just people pumping up their preferred coin.

Let me rephrase:

What sites or twitter followers do you guys recommend to find the best info on these coins?

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by Taco John

People learn by asking questions. What's wrong with that? Cryptocurrencies is a neverending series of rabbit holes to go through. It helps to borrow knowledge from people who've been down them and can at least give you the lay of the land.

Nothing is wrong with that. I just fear he isn’t making educated decisions and is buying purely on speculation and will end up getting burnt.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by RunKC

I’ll be completely honest with you. I am not that educated in crypto. I bought into xrp after listening to a friend and so far it’s been great.

I’ve tried looking into 15 other coins, but I can’t find any real data. I refuse to look at reddit too bc it’s just people pumping up their preferred coin.

Let me rephrase:

What sites or twitter followers do you guys recommend to find the best info on these coins?

Honestly I think reddit is a great source of info, but you’re right, you do have to sort out the shills. That’s why I recommend doing your own research on each coin.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

Honestly I think reddit is a great source of info, but you’re right, you do have to sort out the shills. That’s why I recommend doing your own research on each coin.

Plenty of shit to wade through there too. I simply put in a $200 last week and got to learning. As such, TJ has great takes here, from my perspective. Dog him all you want about his compulsion for conspiracies, but he does do his homework.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by eDave

Plenty of shit to wade through there too. I simply put in a $200 last week and got to learning. As such, TJ has great takes here, from my perspective. Dog him all you want about his compulsion for conspiracies, but he does do his homework.

He does seem to be knowledgeable about the subject, although we do disagree on XRP and his lack of BTC and ETH holdings. I do agree that VEN is a great purchase right now, could see $20 this year.

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by RunKC

I’ll be completely honest with you. I am not that educated in crypto. I bought into xrp after listening to a friend and so far it’s been great.

I’ve tried looking into 15 other coins, but I can’t find any real data. I refuse to look at reddit too bc it’s just people pumping up their preferred coin.

Let me rephrase:

What sites or twitter followers do you guys recommend to find the best info on these coins?

Here are some of the best resources that I know of in a sea of resources:

Data Dash - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCa...YrkVXdxXb4cGXw
This is probably my favorite Crypto youtuber. This kid is very smart, committed to the ideals of Crypto, and a super geek about the technology.

Altcoin Buzz - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGy...QtXyUwvcy7Gmyg
This is probably my favorite place for news updates about the altcoins, and then examinations of interesting altcoins. It's a team of dudes who run this channel and they've always got new stuff going up. A great place for a crypto news fix.

Suppoman - https://www.youtube.com/user/Suppoman2011
This guy can be a tad obnoxious at times, but he's very smart in how he approaches the Cryptos. He's got a great track record for picks because his approach to fundamentals is solid. For a guy who just got started in May, he's amassed way more hits than misses, by a long shot.


I listen and read plenty in this space, but these three are my go-to resources when I'm in the car or doing dishes or something.

[Taco John]

Oh, there's one more I should metion:

BoxMining - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxO...Hk3p-7TU-IsDOA
The reason I like Boxmining is that he is able to give insight on a lot of the thoughts on asian adoption of cryptos, which is one of the amazing things about cryptos in general - the global nature of them.