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You think buying apple stock and bitcoin would put you on the radar of intelligence agencies? Wouldn't that grouping be some massive number of middle class mill

You think buying apple stock and bitcoin would put you on the radar of intelligence agencies? Wouldn't that grouping be some massive number of middle class millennials?

ben_w 2y ago
Perhaps I wasn't clear. When I wrote: > perfect play would have had me own all of it I meant literally all of it: with perfect play and the benefit of hindsight, starting with the money I had in c. 2002 from summer holiday jobs and initially using it for Apple trades until bitcoin was invented, it was possible to own all the bitcoin in existence with the right set of trades. Heck, never mind perfect play, at current rates two single trades would have made me the single richest person on the planet: buying $1k of Apple stock at the right time, then selling it all for $20k when it was 10,000 BTC for some pizzas. (But also, the attempt would almost certainly have broken the currency as IMO there's not really that much liquidity).
- snapcaster 2y ago
  I don't think I get your point, if any of us knew lottery numbers or roulette outcomes ahead of time we could get rich of course. Are you claiming you did have this knowledge but discarded it?
  - ben_w 2y ago
    I'm saying I role-play the scenario of being valued at order-of a trillion USD. Or quarter trillion if it's the two specific trades in the example above. Being that rich doesn't lead my imagination to new happiness that I don't already possess, only new stresses that I don't already posess. I don't want a super yacht, a personal jet, nor a skyscraper with my name on it, and a private island is less appealing to me than a tourist destination. Knowing this about myself, I don't need to chase higher pay or timing the markets to get things I can't currently afford, instead I focus on things that I do like. Those things in aggregate cost less than €12k/year, including travel.

You think buying apple stock and bitcoin would put you on the radar of intelligence agencies? Wouldn't that grouping be some massive number of middle class millennials?

ben_w 2y ago

Perhaps I wasn't clear. When I wrote: > perfect play would have had me own all of it I meant literally all of it: with perfect play and the benefit of hindsight, starting with the money I had in c. 2002 from summer holiday jobs and initially using it for Apple trades until bitcoin was invented, it was possible to own all the bitcoin in existence with the right set of trades. Heck, never mind perfect play, at current rates two single trades would have made me the single richest person on the planet: buying $1k of Apple stock at the right time, then selling it all for $20k when it was 10,000 BTC for some pizzas. (But also, the attempt would almost certainly have broken the currency as IMO there's not really that much liquidity).

snapcaster 2y ago
I don't think I get your point, if any of us knew lottery numbers or roulette outcomes ahead of time we could get rich of course. Are you claiming you did have this knowledge but discarded it?
- ben_w 2y ago
  I'm saying I role-play the scenario of being valued at order-of a trillion USD. Or quarter trillion if it's the two specific trades in the example above. Being that rich doesn't lead my imagination to new happiness that I don't already possess, only new stresses that I don't already posess. I don't want a super yacht, a personal jet, nor a skyscraper with my name on it, and a private island is less appealing to me than a tourist destination. Knowing this about myself, I don't need to chase higher pay or timing the markets to get things I can't currently afford, instead I focus on things that I do like. Those things in aggregate cost less than €12k/year, including travel.