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Ouch. This wasn't unexpected, but as much as I'd like to revel in schadenfreude here, I can't do it in good conscience because this is going to hurt a lot of go

by rpeden 9y ago

Ouch. This wasn't unexpected, but as much as I'd like to revel in schadenfreude here, I can't do it in good conscience because this is going to hurt a lot of good people who were naive and got caught up in the hype. I remember seeing the news circulating in the Canadian media about the couple of spent their life savings on Bitcoin mining ASICs [1]. Even though they'd should've been way more cautious, I don't enjoy seeing people potentially get wiped out. [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bitcoin-mine-canada-1.4436149 http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bitcoin-mine-canada-1.443614...

tome 9y ago
[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bitcoin-mine-canada-1.4436149 http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bitcoin-mine-canada-1.443614...
- rpeden 9y ago
  Thanks! I added it, but I wouldn't have realized it was missing if you hadn't posted this.
  - tome 9y ago
    Haha, you're welcome! It was fun adding someone else's footnote :)
eastendguy 9y ago
From the article: "I'm not planning on taking money out on a daily basis to live off of — I have a job for that," Ingram said. "This is for the long term. It's basically taking all of my savings so far and putting it towards it. It is a little risky, but I'm young." Sounds like he knows what he is doing, so I am confident he will be fine.
- rpeden 9y ago
  They approached it with more caution than many people did. But they're almost 40. They aren't so young that losing their life savings will have no impact. I don't write any of this to criticize them. And I realize they could still see a positive ROI on the money they've spent. For me, their story sort of humanizes the whole thing. It's easy to look at this as just a bunch of abstract people losing money. We'll see how it all works out. Between the time I wrote my first post and the time I'm writing this one, the price of Bitcoin has jumped from 7600 to 8300. Too volatile for me, but I'm sure someone, somewhere is having fun.
adventured 9y ago
Makes me think of this Dutch family that was in the news back in October: "Didi Taihuttu, his wife, three kids and their cat bet all they have on bitcoin. The Dutch family of five is in the process of selling pretty much everything they own — from their 2,500-square-foot house, to their shoes – and trading it in for the popular cryptocurrency. They have moved to a campsite in the Netherlands, where they're waiting for bitcoin to really take off." https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/this-family-bet-it-all-on-bitcoin.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/this-family-bet-it-all-on-bi...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- thesmallestcat 9y ago
  Natural selection at work.
  - millermp12 9y ago
    They seem to be breeding fine. Unlike a lot of high IQ people.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

by rpeden 9y ago

tome 9y ago

[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bitcoin-mine-canada-1.4436149 http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bitcoin-mine-canada-1.443614...

rpeden 9y ago
Thanks! I added it, but I wouldn't have realized it was missing if you hadn't posted this.
- tome 9y ago
  Haha, you're welcome! It was fun adding someone else's footnote :)

eastendguy 9y ago

From the article: "I'm not planning on taking money out on a daily basis to live off of — I have a job for that," Ingram said. "This is for the long term. It's basically taking all of my savings so far and putting it towards it. It is a little risky, but I'm young." Sounds like he knows what he is doing, so I am confident he will be fine.

rpeden 9y ago
They approached it with more caution than many people did. But they're almost 40. They aren't so young that losing their life savings will have no impact. I don't write any of this to criticize them. And I realize they could still see a positive ROI on the money they've spent. For me, their story sort of humanizes the whole thing. It's easy to look at this as just a bunch of abstract people losing money. We'll see how it all works out. Between the time I wrote my first post and the time I'm writing this one, the price of Bitcoin has jumped from 7600 to 8300. Too volatile for me, but I'm sure someone, somewhere is having fun.

adventured 9y ago

Makes me think of this Dutch family that was in the news back in October: "Didi Taihuttu, his wife, three kids and their cat bet all they have on bitcoin. The Dutch family of five is in the process of selling pretty much everything they own — from their 2,500-square-foot house, to their shoes – and trading it in for the popular cryptocurrency. They have moved to a campsite in the Netherlands, where they're waiting for bitcoin to really take off." https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/this-family-bet-it-all-on-bitcoin.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/this-family-bet-it-all-on-bi...

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
thesmallestcat 9y ago
Natural selection at work.
- millermp12 9y ago
  They seem to be breeding fine. Unlike a lot of high IQ people.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]