Community Coffee Break

This is a friendly community chat. Opinions are solely those of the participants and not financial advice.

Robert
- Bitcoin was initially set up for small transactions (coffee, etc.) but has changed now to stored value.
- Currently 1 bitcoin is around USD$32,000
- Bitcoin transaction fees
- Ways to mitigate Bitcoin fees.
- While using a credit card means you now rely on someone else to facilitate the transfer of funds, that is the "new normal" for bitcoin as it becomes more integrated into real-world systems.
- There are wallets available such as trezor where the vendor validates the entire blockchain on your behalf and you keep your wallet on your local machine without needing to download the entire blockchain.
- The trust behind bitcoin is stronger that that of even the US Dollar because of the blockchain that is in public view and available to anyone to audit.
- If you get serious about bitcoin (more than USD$10,000), then get a hardware wallet like trezor or ledger, and make sure you get them from the vendor directly, not Amazon.
- If you are investing less than $10,000 then a software wallet will probably do (such as exodus).
- Look for a wallet that allows you to hold keys for multiple currencies, not just Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin is not a good solution any more for just sending funds; better to use a stable currency such as tether (which is linked to the US Dollar) - also USDC.
- The recipient must be able to exchange the cryptocurrency to Aussie Dollars. Banks won't do it, and ATMs are far too expensive (even if they support your cryptocurrency).
- Here is USA, you could use kraken to exchange fiat currency for crypto currencies. It is NOT REQUIRED to connect a bank account! You can send wire transfers to buy crypto currencies.
- Stresses the importance of understanding the motivation of the development team behind each coin.
- Dogecoin has no usefulness in the cryptocurrency world and price is driven by rumors and speculation in social media, which makes it very volatile.
- For that reason, Dogecoin has no usability, except to exchange it for fiat currency.
- Bitcoin's value is the blockchain, the strong network and the trust behind it.
- Ethereum's value is in "Proof of Stake", not "Proof of Work", so you have to put up at least as much Fiat currency as you have in Ethereum. That is "Proof of Stake".
- Volatility of price of bitcoin is nowhere near as bad as Dogecoin.
- It is NOT recommended to short trade cryptocurrency because the price of any cryptocurrency is too volatile.
- Do your research before you invest in any cryptocurrency.
- Kraken, Cardano and Ethereum is what Robert plays in.
- Bitcoin has a limited supply of coins, so transaction fees will go up over time.
- Other crypto currencies do not have the finite supply that Bitcoin has.
- Do NOT think of cryptocurrency as you would shares. Think more about reputation and how the network is managed.

bp9
- Has questions for Robert about cryptocurrency
- Everyday uses for cryptocurrency?
- Wallets that are available for Android and Linux that do not have to download the entire blockchain?
- Is bitcoin suitable for day to day use? i.e. small transactions?
- bp9's cat says hello :-)
- Previously had a Linux wallet that downloaded the entire blockchain, and the android wallet just synced to the Linux wallet without having to hold the entire blockchain.
- What happens when supply of bitcoin runs out?
- If your use case is just to send funds to friends or relatives overseas, is bitcoin a good solution for that?

Doug
- Doug and his Cat Maddie say hello :-)
- What is the best cryptocurrency to invest in for a small investor?
- Where to go to invest in cryptocurrency?
- Robert suggests Ethereum or Cardano for small investors
- Is there a specific place to go to invest?
- Robert suggests Kraken because it does not report to anyone.

Solbu
- Bounces in and out a few times before finally dropping in.
- Talks about GameStop, Dogecoin and the Wall Street response.
- Reinforces that you should NEVER put more money into crypto currencies that you can afford to lose.