Bitcoin

Aug 13 2017

$4000 for one Bitcoin?

It happened. And then we blew through that number. And then…

Psychological barriers are fascinating things. There’s the 4-minute mile, there’s the Dow 10,000, there’s the speed of sound, and there’s $4000 for one whole Bitcoin.

We achieved that magical number last night; if you want to see video of some guy in the right place at the right time, you can watch that here. It’s also probably about as exciting for most people as those concert videos everyone seems to post – the ones with the bad sound and not-so-good lighting and obscured by everyone else holding up their phones, too.

Where do we go from here? Well, the several hours after this barrier was broken might give us a hint: wild ride ensued.

For the past few hours, we’ve witnessed a rise to $4254, and then a drop to $3830, and now teasing that $4000 level again.

12 Days After…

Remember August 1? Remember all the craziness, the “Bitcoin Cash” fork? The services like Coinbase (AFFILIATE LINK) and Poloniex back-tracking on whether support would be offered for this new currency?

Yawn.

We’re looking at a pretty nifty little run of late, and we’re also getting people talking about a couple concepts:

The next psychological barrier: $5000
Whether the average Joe and Jane are now entering the Bitcoin game
Whether Bitcoin could replace gold as the de facto holding for those fearing a global meltdown.

Oh, and Gold Mania

I remember the late 70s and early 80s, when people were selling any and everything that had gold in it to cash in. Prices were crazy: the 400, 500, 600 bucks an ounce translate to $2000 or so when adjusted for inflation.

People weren’t holding their gold, they were selling it.

The difference this time is that people don’t have the Bitcoin to sell: they need to buy some to get in, and the idea is that today’s $4,000 is tomorrow’s $10,000.

Strap In, Buckle Up…

This could be fun.

By the way…

We’ve been trying out a few services here at Metacoin HQ, so on this site you’ll find AFFILIATE LINKS throughout. We’ve been learning a lot about the concept of “bot trading” and “volatility software,” as well as a couple automated mining services. Here’s a quick list of those we have an affiliate relationship with, and we encourage you to check them out:

Bitconnect. We studied this in depth on this post: Bitconnect Explained.

Control Finance. Similar to Bitconnect. They cap the daily profits, unlike Bitconnect, which caps them monthly. Both BCC and Control Finance have a “multi-level” component to them; so the affiliate commissions are potentially quite lucrative.

Ambis. Brand new. We just bumped into it yesterday and are giving it a whirl with a small amount of capital. Bot trading that you invest in.

Microhash. This is a mining solution, where you lease mining power from these folks. Another one we’re trying with a small amount of capital.

Caveats: Do your own research. Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose. Seek professional advice and counsel. Pay your taxes. We provide these as information only, not responsible for successes or failures.

Oh, and Coinbase, which had a nice investment this week and is now considered a “unicorn” (pre-IPO, valued at more than $1 Billion), is still the best way to get started. With that link, you even get a bonus of $10 worth of Bitcoin when you sign up and make a qualifying purchase.

Aug 10 2017

On Testing and Learning

If you think you have all the answers, you probably haven’t asked the right questions.

I don’t know where I first heard that maxim, but boy does it apply to cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and this learning experiment of ours.

What…you don’t think this is an experiment? This entire space is an experiment: the whole concept of Bitcoin is only eight years old, and the goal posts continue to move. We’re ten days into August of 2017, a month that began with The Great Fork and launched a new currency that seemed headed for the stratosphere – and then came back down to earth – and then the mother ship that launched it decided it would reach for new heights.

If you’re not Testing and Learning, then you’re probably doomed to fail. And if you think you have all the answers, start asking more questions.

Exhibit A: Altcoin Du Jour

Each day brings with it a new “Altcoin” that will take off – if you believe the Twitter experts – and if you don’t get in on the ground floor of this coin, be prepared to cry a river once those early adopters pump it and sell it for their Lamborghini. (We’ve taken to calling them “Lambo Coins,” because that seems to be the auto of choice for the crypto people.)

But…

The prevailing wisdom – and I tend to believe this – is that, of the hundreds of coins and tokens out there, once we’re past bubble territory, a handful of them will be worth something. The rest? Dust. Vapor. Ones and zeros.

We’re not near bubble territory yet, though – and that still creates opportunities for even the most casual of traders.

Which is where the “test and learn” concept comes in. If you’ve been following this site at all, you know we have a couple of hypothetical portfolios; these experiments have ranged from one that does okay (the Hedge Fund) all the way up to one that would have made tons of money (the BRED Portfolio).

You also know that we’ve shared some other experiments – posts on coins that COULD go stratospheric, and lists of coins that we think might be good fits for a more speculative portfolio.

And these range in success from okay down to meh.

Because it’s an experiment.

Exhibit B: Passive Crypto Income

That’s probably the best category to call these other things, lending/interest platforms like Bitconnect (which we told you about a couple of times and which we’re still monitoring; use that AFFILIATE LINK to get started if you want to try it out for yourself) and its competitor Control Finance (which we’re investigating as we speak; it appears to be free to sign up, so we have an AFFILIATE LINK over there for that one, too). Or there’s a mining program called Microhash that we just signed up for yesterday. (AFFILIATE LINK.)

Since we’re still learning, we’re asking some questions about these particular platforms:

Are they legitimate?
Are the revenue projections realistic?
What’s the potential for anyone to take their blocks and go home?

Answers:

Well, they appear to be…as far as we can tell from what we’re finding on the internet…but things aren’t always what they seem, right?
Well, that’s an interesting question…we don’t know, and it might take a while for us to find out.
We’re quite familiar with Mt. Gox – that’s ALWAYS a risk.

The issues, for this site and your intrepid reporter/guinea pig, stem from sustainability – are these platforms really creating systems that can allow someone to passively, casually, create the kind of income that could be life-changing? And, if they do, can they continue ad infinitum? Or will there be a crash and burn element that is going to get ugly?

The more that I study this space, the more I believe the following:

Bitcoin, the blockchain, and the cryptocurrency industry together create the potential for the largest transfer of wealth in human history.

But…it is still an experiment.

What’s The Point?

Sitting on the sidelines may be an option for you. Some people do prefer just casually going about their business while small changes happen around them; and maybe those small changes won’t turn into big changes.

But for us…the answers are out there, and we plan on testing and learning and asking more questions as the days go by.

Join us.

Aug 09 2017

11 Ways to Get Started Now

Just like anything else, at first the whole concept of Bitcoin, the Blockchain, and cryptocurrencies can seem really overwhelming.

Imagine walking into a shopping plaza in a foreign country, not speaking the language, and not really knowing what any of the products are. That’s this space…at first.

But once you get the hang of some of the concepts, it’s not that bad. Really.

In that vein, we present a post that could actually be an ebook. It’s called 11 Ways to Get Started Now.

DISCLOSURE: some of the links on this page are AFFILIATE LINKS, and we’ll do our best to blatantly identify them as AFFILIATE LINKS. That means we may be compensated if you set up an account or make a purchase.

Here goes:

1. Get a Coinbase Account

Let’s face it, there are really two big categories of Bitcoin users: the hardcore ones – mining rigs in their basements, wallets on all sorts of machines, exhaustive lists of which coins are PoS and which are PoW – and there are those who just tuned out at everything you just read.

If you’re in that second camp, Coinbase is for you. (THAT’S AN AFFILIATE LINK.)

(If you’re in that first camp, you might actually have started with a Coinbase account, but you don’t want to admit it.)

Coinbase offers the most silly simple service you can use to get into Bitcoin – or Ethereum or Litecoin; those are their three currencies as of right now – and you can link it through a US bank account or a credit card. (We are based in the US, so we

Note that Coinbase will actually give you a bonus of $10 worth of Bitcoin when you set up an account, so using our link actually benefits you as much as it benefits us. (But it probably benefits you MORE than it benefits us, since you are now “in the game.”)

2. Transfer some of your funds to one of our three favorite exchanges

First, let’s explain an “exchange” vs. a wallet/purchase platform such as Coinbase. Simply put, exchanges where you can trade cryptocurrencies are like stock exchanges were you buy and sell stocks.

Dozens of exchanges are out there, but we have so far only used three:

Poloniex. We used this one first. “Polo” is based in the USA. Most of the largest coins by market capitalization are traded here.
Bittrex. We started using this one a month or so after we started with Poloniex. It, too, is based in the USA. If you hear about a “small cap altcoin” (small market capitalization, alternative to Bitcoin) that isn’t traded on Polo, it might be traded on “Trex.”
Cryptopia. THAT’S AN AFFILIATE LINK. It’s based in New Zealand, so if you want to feel all exotic, trade there. Speaking of exotic, we’ve got a decent chunk of small cap altcoins over there. “Topia” is their common abbreviation.

Ask people about their experiences with these and you might get a varying degree of answers; our own experience has been just fine.

3. Get a Steemit account…get paid to blog?

I’ll admit, this is the most fun I’ve had with any site since the early days of Twitter. Steemit is pretty cool – you’ll find all sorts of people there, with all sorts of interests.

It’s a social network that is powered by a cryptocurrency of its own, Steem. You’re given a certain amount of “voting power” and you earn more power through more interactions. It can get a little complicated, but suffice it to say you can start to see some results – a few dollars here and a few dollars there.

I don’t do it for the money, though – I’m there to trade ideas with others, and to find out what folks are thinking a bout a variety of topics.

4. Investigate coins at CoinMarketCap

CoinMarketCap.com, or CMC, is the leading site for getting a snapshot of what is happening with cryptocurrencies. Pretty much all of them are listed here, they’re ranked by market cap, you can see what’s trending up or down or sideways.

Here’s where you can keep track of the Crypto Unicorns (those coins with a market cap of $1 Billion or more), all the way down to the tiny market cap coins that, again, seem to dominate our Cryptopia account.

5. Start Lending at Bitconnect

We did a pretty big write-up on this one last week. That write-up includes several AFFILIATE LINKS, but if you want to cut to the chase and just get started, here’s an actual banner ad you can click on.

In our post the other day, which we tried to make “warts and all” in nature, we did mention our skepticism around this lending platform. As with ANYTHING in this space, remember to do your own research, to seek the advice of tax professionals and accountants, and to not invest more than you can afford to lose.

We still consider Bitconnect to be rather speculative in nature; but we’ve also studied the coin behind the solution, and it has a large market cap ($540 million-plus) and we don’t think the coin itself is going anywhere.

6. Lock up some coins in DOT at Cryptopia

If you tend to be impetuous with your trades, you might want to consider cooling off a little – and one way to do that is to lock some coins down in an interest-bearing coin such as DOT, which helps to fuel Cryptopia. (AFFILIATE LINK over there.) For a minimum term of 90 days, you can receive interest at 0.5%, compounded monthly, with higher rates for longer-term deposits.

Once you’re on Cryptopia, you’ll need to mouse over “More” and then “Term Deposits.”

7. Buy a Trezor, store your coins offline

We love this little device so much that we joined its AFFILIATE PROGRAM (here’s the link).

What you’re doing is moving the keys for the coins you own (that are supported by Trezor) over into cold storage, on a device that you own that can’t be corrupted.

If you have a decent amount of coins, you’ll want to explore Trezor.

8. Invest in an ICO

With all the news surrounding ICOs, you wonder why we have this so far down the list. Well, ICO investing is A LOT of WORK. You want to research them thoroughly, and you’re still making a leap of faith.

Hands down, ICO Countdown is the best service for this.

We’ve got an okay track record so far getting involved in ICOs, but one thing that gets in our way as an American site is that we’re Americans. Some ICOs won’t let you participate if you’re an American citizen or even an American expat living abroad.

9. Visit the Bitcoin news sites

The ones that we like the most are Coindesk and CoinTelegraph. Both may, at first, seem over your head. That’s okay. We’ve got to start somewhere.

10. Set up an Automatic Investment Program

This is one of those super-simple ways to “set it and forget it.” Just hop on over to Coinbase and, when buying your next batch of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin, ask to repeat that purchase daily, weekly, every two weeks, or monthly.

You’re “averaging in,” or “dollar cost averaging” your crypto purchases, so that’s another way to smooth out your returns and your risk.

11. Think about a Bitcoin IRA

Yes, that’s a thing. Bitcoin IRA is the world’s first and we’re sharing this link as a public service – we’re not in their affiliate program and we haven’t gone this route ourselves. Yet.

You can search and find a few other links – some ads, some not – but, in our limited investigation of these, this appears to be the best and most reputable service.

Wow. 11 Ways to Get Started. We’re exhausted now, so we’re going to take a break. But you…you should really consider getting started…look around and consider getting into the Bitcoin game.

Aug 07 2017

Crypto Hedge Fund Update

One note before we dive in: we’ve actually made one minor tweak to the “Hedge Fund,” which you’ll see below. We’ll also explain why, but suffice it to say that this is a space that’s always shifting, and we thought this shift was important.

Hi! How was your weekend in Cryptoland? Oh, you didn’t visit?

Wait, you don’t know how to find Cryptoland? You must be new here.

Anyway, sit back and relax. Let’s take you on a little journey to the small corner of Cryptoland we call the DIY Hedge Fund.

***DISCLOSURE: As always, do your own research. This is not investment advice or financial advice. We aren’t responsible for gains or losses. Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.***

Why We Invested In What We Invested In

The main reason behind the hedge fund was…well, to act as a hedge against other things happening in the world economy. As we mentioned back when we launched this fund, this was (1) hypothetical and (2) based on an assumption that someone has net investment funds of $100,000. That’s how we arrived at the $10,000 figure – 10% of the overall funds.

We gave it variety – didn’t want it all in Bitcoin, and we needed to have a couple emerging coins, too.

Plus, we wanted at least one recent ICO, leading us to WeTrust – which we’re actually getting out of in this hypothetical fund.

So we’ll have to change that fun graphic. But that’s not as important as telling you about the results…

First, where we started

Here’s how the initial investment, made on May 1, broke down.

Simple enough, right? 30% in BTC, and the rest split between those categories – “Established,” “Growth,” and “Emerging”) we talked about above.

(You could argue whether Litecoin should move into the second category of “Established” altcoins – it’s not a Growth coin anymore, and it’s one of the Crytpo Unicorns now, with greater than $2B in market cap – but let’s keep these categories as is for now.)

Now that we see where we started, let’s see what it looks like today, August 7, with the prices from this morning (as close to midnight as we could find, GMT, pulled from CoinMarketCap.com).

Not too shabby, right?

Actually, if you could get those sorts of returns from any asset, you should probably take them; any time you take $10,000 and turn it into nearly $40,000 inside of three months, it’s nothing short of staggering.

But We Had to Make a Tweak

That’s right, we ditched WeTrust, since we didn’t like the fact that it was our only negative return. We replaced it with Tierion, which is an ICO that – full disclosure – Dave personally invested in.

We simply swapped the dollar value of the WeTrust coin for an equal amount of Tierion, which was priced at $0.071 by the coin’s management team.

And we are now off to the races…again.

We’ll keep tracking this fund – as we do our BRED Portfolio – and we’ll let you know what happens as we continue our journey through Cryptoland.

BTW…

We’ve also been telling you about Bitconnect – the lending platform backed by the Bitconnect coin. Click on the banner ad below to get started; it’s our affiliate link but, if you join and get others on board, you can share in referral fees, too.

Aug 03 2017

The BRED Portfolio Update: Still Doing Okay

Since April, we’ve told you quite a few times about the BRED Portfolio: our own specially selected basket of currencies. Artisan, GMO-free, and tasty! Actually, no…just four of the cryptocurrencies that you would have done well with, had you invested $2,500 in each of them and left the basket alone.

Whether or not they’re the coins for hipsters or they’re the tokens of the future is beside the point: the idea here was to create an index of sorts. This basket was selected for its simple diversity:

B – Bitcoin. The crypto that started crypto.
R – Ripple. Their XRP token is taking on SWIFT, the international banking and money transfer protocol. (This is the closest thing to investing in a Silicon Valley startup you’ll find in cryptocurrency, as it’s an actual Silicon Valley startup.)
E – Ethereum. The smart contract underpins so many of the ICOs that have burst onto the scene.
D – Dash. Dare I say it still has the best community, and it is still the closest thing to a consumer-friendly cryptocurrency being used in the wild.

Before we share the updated results, a word on the fork.

Ah, the fork. The spinoff. The creation of Bitcoin Cash, which came “out of nowhere” this week and became the third-largest cryptocurrency on the planet. By market cap, at least – though, due to the nature of the beast and the system, price was all over the map and volatility was everywhere and some people have yet to find their coins.

For the purposes of this portfolio, we are going to assume that we held all the keys for all of the coins. Thus, any sort of fork would have given us the same number of BCH coins as the number of BTC that we started with.

Other than that move, nothing was done to the portfolio. Nothing pulled out, nothing added in.

So, How Are We Doing?

Yes, had you invested $10,000 in these four cryptocurrencies at the beginning of the year, you would have turned that basket into a rather large basket, growing it to 17 times its original size.

But, as you can see from that chart over there, we’re actually below the highs for the portfolio, and below even the June 1 levels.

What gives?

The combo of Ripple and Ethereum are both down from where they were, with each having hit all-time highs earlier this summer.

But we’re still way above the starting point – both Ripple and Ethereum took their original stakes and multiplied them 20-plus times.

The Question: Is Buy-and-Hold the Way to Go?

Only you can answer that question, and we encourage you to do your own research. And seek legal and financial advice from professionals, too.

We’re just here to share ideas and let you do what you want with them.

And one thing we did hear loud and clear this week was that different strategies to manage through “the fork” could all possibly work. Some traders we follow buckled down and held their Bitcoin and didn’t do much with it, other than wait for their Bitcoin Cash tokens to manifest themselves. Others dumped their Bitcoin and doubled down on altcoins – those cryptocurrencies that are lower on the totem pole and, in some cases, highly speculative investments.

The BRED Portfolio is likely somewhere in between – you’re holding your BTC, but you’re also holding some other coins and tokens that aren’t necessarily altcoins.

So this is one way to potentially manage through the Bitcoin and crypto universe – with a semi-diverse basket of four coins that have done pretty well this year.