scrubbedexpat141

We had an old thread, got canned years ago and has popped up in a few others but not really moved.

We've talked before about ETFs and other such things, I've been prioritising them over everything.

Curious though, anyone putting anything in crypto? Or have done and won/lost? I have a bit, want it to be about 10% of what I've got invested I think, but currently about 5% and happy for now. Will steadily grow during what could be a nice dip.

Has anyone seen any crypto ETFs or other vehicles to invest rather than buying coins (or fractions of coins in my case)?

Makes it hard to justify property as an investment at the moment, the prices in the UK are outrageous and the fear around interest rates seems very real.

Millhouse

Hope you are mining on company resources. All those empty offices with idle computers is a massive opportunity.

scrubbedexpat141

Just not worth it, is it. Easy enough to buy each month.

Getting sensible info on the alt-coins is the hard bit. Working out which is a good buy and which is a wallet emptier is harder than making the same decision at the York.

BritInParis

Bought Doge around a month ago, currently 20% up. Waiting for it climb a few more pence and then I’ll swap it for Ethereum. Also might have a punt on Cardano depending how it’s doing on payday.

scrubbedexpat141

Cardano gets a lot of press.
Doge - I've avoided, but christ on a stick some of the % profits taken are huge.

Millhouse

You do realise that you're entering a world only teenagers (who have no ****ing understanding of trading, money supply, taxation or regulation) understand?

BritInParis

Cardano and Ethereum seem to have utility and thus legs to keep climbing so they’re more of a mid term investment. Doge is really just for fun. Joined the party a bit late to enjoy the 10,000% returns but happy with how’s it going currently. It’s ridiculously volatile as its value is almost solely predicated on Elon Musk’s Twitter feed. Lost half my original investment before more than doubling it in a single week. Learnt to just ride the rollercoaster as the general direction of travel remains up. It’s not something I’d be putting my life savings into though!

DXBtoDOH

I do think about dipping my toes into the shark infested waters of crypto. People have obviously made enormous fortunes but I suspect most of it is driven by teenagers or wildcat investors rather than savvy long term investors.

If you can afford to lose the money, go for it. But I do agree that eventually reality will catch up with crypto. However, there's always the element of human vanity and crypto may be the new mechanism by which vanity is priced and may be kept alive and valuable on that basis as well as a new hedge against inflation. Never underestimate the human capacity for making money out of anything.

weasel decentral

That's the first time I've heard someone describe a wildly fluctuating speculative investment as a hedge against low percentage inflation. Try property or variable rate bonds if you want to hedge inflation.

csdf

BTCE is a bitcoin ETF. Or more accurately, an ETC. Only available on certain exchanges though. And an obscene 2% management fee.

scrubbedexpat141

I think that's the wrong way round. I think it's a world that those in those areas of expertise don't understand.

Yeah, Cardano I've not looked into but ETH is sort of the next one to start building. I'm holding Bitcoin for obvious reasons and have taken a punt on Fantom.
Doge - I just don't have the bollocks for it yet. Fair play for chucking some in and seeing what happens. Maybe I should but the thought of even $1,000 in it gives me the willies when that could be in an ETF

It's more exciting than gold....

2%. Crumbs.
Thanks for that, I've not looked in a while but might do again.

weasel decentral

For sure, but it's the investing equivalent of putting money on a grand national long shot or penny stock pump and dumps. If you had a few thousand without a home why not - I'd keep pulling it out as the price rose though.

Millhouse

For sure that is me. What I do know though is that governments need real currency for tax, and they have the power to regulate crypto to death for whatever reason. The Europeans will be salivating at regulating or taxing it for death under the disguise of its environmental footprint, the Americans will want to kill anything that threatens the dollar, the Chinese want absolute control over their money flows. These factors make it very hard for it to become mainstream. That said, must punters probably don't care if it will become mainstream or not, but certainly it cannot form a part of any speculative investment thesis.

Then you have all these unregulated ICOs. A disaster waiting to happen.

scrubbedexpat141

I even think that's generous....see below

I think the whole thing is a giant, decades long pump-and-dump basically.

Bitcoin has a buzz, has a finite volume that's shaken down every 4 years. It has hype, it has '**** the man' qualities, it has people who know nothing claiming it'll bring down money etc. It's all just hype, literally buy the hype, sell the news.

I've still got stocks from the 2008 crash, some I'm capable of HODL-ing.

DXBtoDOH

It's not Weimar Germany but inflationary fears are all over the US and has been for a few months and is starting to make noises in the UK. The point remains that your punter is likely looking at crypto to avoid inflation. The value of silver has shot up recently for similar reasons. People are looking at anything to park their money in.