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I hope they figure this out soon. This is the kind of thing that scares me and the primary reason that I decided against speculating in bitcoins. For someone li

by ashray 14y ago

I hope they figure this out soon. This is the kind of thing that scares me and the primary reason that I decided against speculating in bitcoins. For someone like me who can't really afford to lose a lot of money, I need to trade in historically stable stuff (even if they are as rigged as they are..). I don't really understand bitcoin very well, that is reason #2. I hope the Coinbase folks though have a solid grasp of it and can fix this otherwise this is going to look very bad.

wting 14y ago
If you can't afford to lose your investment, you shouldn't be investing at all. Scared money is essentially lost money if you can't make rational decisions without being influenced by fear. As for #2, that can be solved through self education. Why use an investment vehicle that you don't understand?
- jessaustin 14y ago
  If you can't afford to lose your investment, you shouldn't be investing at all. I doubt they would have let Madoff use this excuse. I'm not saying these dudes are anything like that jackhole, but rather that there is a difference between the risks inherent in the security or commodity (in this case bitcoin) and the counter-party risk of your broker screwing up the bookkeeping. Coinbase have made the latter risk appear significant.
  - wting 14y ago
    Madoff is a straw man; he committed fraud.
    - jessaustin 14y ago
      If you said this was a poor example, I would at least understand what you're trying to say, but how on earth is Madoff a straw man in this instance? Try to to separate your [legitimately] dim view of Madoff from the fashion in which his example illustrates the phenomenon of counter-party risk.
      - saraid216 14y ago
        Hold on. I got this: http://www.shortpacked.com/2013/comic/book-14/09-same-planet-different-dimentia/strawman-2/ http://www.shortpacked.com/2013/comic/book-14/09-same-planet...
    - illuminate 14y ago
      He was disruptive :)
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- unclebucknasty 14y ago
  >If you can't afford to lose your investment, you shouldn't be investing at all. While I generally agree with that statement, it's a bit of a red herring in this context. That is, it typically applies to the notion of risk in the investment itself, not the risk that the intermediary or exchange will simply "misplace" your investment or your cash.
- trotsky 14y ago
  You might want to reconsider making uncompromising italicized statements about investing until you're more familiar common industry practices like pension funds and 401ks.

by ashray 14y ago

wting 14y ago

If you can't afford to lose your investment, you shouldn't be investing at all. Scared money is essentially lost money if you can't make rational decisions without being influenced by fear. As for #2, that can be solved through self education. Why use an investment vehicle that you don't understand?

jessaustin 14y ago
If you can't afford to lose your investment, you shouldn't be investing at all. I doubt they would have let Madoff use this excuse. I'm not saying these dudes are anything like that jackhole, but rather that there is a difference between the risks inherent in the security or commodity (in this case bitcoin) and the counter-party risk of your broker screwing up the bookkeeping. Coinbase have made the latter risk appear significant.
- wting 14y ago
  Madoff is a straw man; he committed fraud.
  - jessaustin 14y ago
    If you said this was a poor example, I would at least understand what you're trying to say, but how on earth is Madoff a straw man in this instance? Try to to separate your [legitimately] dim view of Madoff from the fashion in which his example illustrates the phenomenon of counter-party risk.
    - saraid216 14y ago
      Hold on. I got this: http://www.shortpacked.com/2013/comic/book-14/09-same-planet-different-dimentia/strawman-2/ http://www.shortpacked.com/2013/comic/book-14/09-same-planet...
  - illuminate 14y ago
    He was disruptive :)
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
unclebucknasty 14y ago
>If you can't afford to lose your investment, you shouldn't be investing at all. While I generally agree with that statement, it's a bit of a red herring in this context. That is, it typically applies to the notion of risk in the investment itself, not the risk that the intermediary or exchange will simply "misplace" your investment or your cash.
trotsky 14y ago
You might want to reconsider making uncompromising italicized statements about investing until you're more familiar common industry practices like pension funds and 401ks.