The Alternative Investments Thread

[Husky_Khan]

Thai Investors might have to reconsider their 'alternative' investments.

The law prohibits crypto exchanges in the country from listing utility tokens and certain types of cryptocurrencies. This includes Meme tokens, Fan tokens, Non-fungible tokens (NFT) and Digital tokens. The Thai SEC has directed digital asset exchanges to delist these within 30 days of the effective date of the notice, that is, June 11.

The Thai SEC states that the new regulatory guideline is meant to protect the interest of digital asset traders. It mentions that meme coins have “no clear objective or substance or underlying” and that their price is largely dependent on social media trends. Some famous examples of these include Dogecoin, SafeMoon, and Shiba Inu. Similarly, the SEC points out Fan tokens as those which are “tokenized by the fame of influencers,” deeming them unfit for traders.

They banned all of the digital assets with no clear substance or objective, tokenized by the fame of influencers and dependent on social media trends. 😁

Thailand bans meme coins, NFTs and exchange tokens in new regulation for crypto market

The Thai SEC board has issued a new Gazette banning specific tokens.

www.indiatoday.in

 

[Simonbob]

The best investing I ever heard of, was done by a guy I know.

He heard about the condensed milk scandal in China, and bought 50 grand's worth. They were so desperate for said milk, he made over a million dollars.

The thing that makes it the best was that there was no luck there. He saw it coming, bet perfectly, and made out like a bandit.

 

[Jormungandr]

Currently stashing away Safemoon crypto and Polygon/Matic: the latter of which can earn you about fifty bucks a month passively if you delegate a thousand dollars' worth (at its current price).

You can then either use that fifty a month as seed money into other such crypto projects that offer the same, and so on.

 

[DarthOne]

I'm just going for buying gold and silver. I've got $600 in silver already.

 

[Cherico]

I'm just going for buying gold and silver. I've got $600 in silver already.

Remember in an actual disaster gold for major purchases silver for the day to day stuff.

 

[ParadiseLost]

In an actual disaster, I'd rather have the most common types of munitions.

In a serious, society changing disaster, everyone important you'll be trading with is either armed or will soon no longer be important.

 

[Sailor.X]

I have Bitcoin. I have Etherium. I have Cardano. I have Tezos staked. I have XLM and I have Ankr. My portfolio is looking pretty good right now. Gonna HODL!!!

 

[almostinsane]

Silver and land here.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Mostly silver and land here as well. I have small quantities of crypto from a few companies that were dumb enough to give them to me for free when I signed up in hopes I'd spend more that have grown over the years.

 

[Husky_Khan]

In case you were wondering about 'stablecoins' and related crypto and their currently decentralized state.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told regulators Monday that the U.S. government must move quickly to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a rapidly growing class of digital currencies.

A group of U.S. regulators plans to issue recommendations in the coming months for fixing any regulatory gaps around stablecoins, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

Yellen urges quick U.S. adoption of stablecoin rules By Reuters

Yellen urges quick U.S. adoption of stablecoin rules

www.investing.com

 

[UberIguana]

And bitcoin is back over $40k. Whether it can keep going and find support above that remains to be seen.

4chan naturally has some memes to celebrate the occasion.

Spoiler

(Yes, this one is from the first time it hit that price, but this subforum was closed back then.)

 

[Husky_Khan]

Now Russia is apparently talking about banning of certain cryptocurrencies (and cryptomining) and the like, following in the path of China.

Russia's central bank on Thursday proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability, citizens' wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty.

The move is the latest in a global cryptocurrency crackdown as governments from Asia to the United States worry that privately operated and highly volatile digital currencies could undermine their control of financial and monetary systems.

Russia has argued for years against cryptocurrencies, saying they could be used in money laundering or to finance terrorism. It eventually gave them legal status in 2020 but banned their use as a means of payment.

Russia proposes ban on use and mining of cryptocurrencies

Russia's central bank on Thursday proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability, citizens' wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty.

www.reuters.com

 

[Abhorsen]

Now Russia is apparently talking about banning of certain cryptocurrencies (and cryptomining) and the like, following in the path of China.

Russia proposes ban on use and mining of cryptocurrencies

Russia's central bank on Thursday proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability, citizens' wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty.

www.reuters.com

Good! I want them to do this, as it means they aren't doing useful stuff in a powerful new industry, and are basically legislating themselves out of useful tech.

 

[Flintsteel]

Good! I want them to do this, as it means they aren't doing useful stuff in a powerful new industry, and are basically legislating themselves out of useful tech.

...in what way is a wastefully-computed distributed ledger the game changer people like to claim it is? Because that's all Blockchain is

 

[Abhorsen]

...in what way is a wastefully-computed distributed ledger the game changer people like to claim it is? Because that's all Blockchain is

So first of all, not actually that wasteful. the ability to ramp up and turn electricity into cash is very valuable for electrical companies needing to smooth the demand over time of electricity (which is an ever more prominent problem with green energy availability not lining up with use).

Second, a distributed ledger, and the things you can do with it, including verification of ownership, vast reduction of transaction cost, ability to store money safely without banks, and privatization, are very valuable, especially to a free society (which is why China and Russia seek to ban them).

Moreover, their existence is pumping money into chip design and chip production, incentivizing new chips to be made, which incentivizes new chip factories, which will make it harder to temporarily monopolize control over chip production, as some fear China might do by seizing Taiwan.

 

[ParadiseLost]

Cryptocurrency is just the latest Dutch Tulip Bubble.

Russia and China are (wisely) protecting their citizens from the inevitable crash.

China is getting ahead in AI (the real "powerful new industry") while we're wasting time investing in technology to sell links to pictures of mediocre art.

 

[Agent23]

With all the shady shit that has now been exposed in Wall Street. And with certain governmental officials wanting to cover for them. It is time to consider investing our money on other things. Some people choose Real Estate, Some people choose collectables, Some people choose small businesses. And Some people choose Crypto currency. So I ask you what are you doing now for your long term investments?

As for myself I have moved some of my investments into crypto currency. I also have some real estate as well. I will never trust the Stock Market again.

Look into an Index fund that is not owned by Black Rock, tracks a non-Western/non-US index or invests in an industry that is not over-hyped.
make sure it is not something tech-related, you can buy gold and silver company ETFs or invest in the whole stock exchange of a whole emerging market country or countries.
You can buy stuff that is part of the real economy and is too boring for the Wall street pump and dumpers.
Fertilizer, Agricultural ETFs, Staples, those things will probably keep more value when the bubble pops.
You also have other commodity ETFs, however ATM we are in the middle of the biggest, most over-inflated bubble in history, everything, EVERYTHING is hugely overpriced and due for a correction, IMHO, so best not try and plant trees in a snow storm.

A few interesting books on the subject:
The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Mastering the Market Cycle

Also take a look at https://www.youtube.com/c/TheMaverickofWallStreet and Wealtheon, they have interesting analysis.

#NOTAFINANCIALADVISOR

 

[Agent23]

Cryptocurrency is just the latest Dutch Tulip Bubble.

Russia and China are (wisely) protecting their citizens from the inevitable crash.

China is getting ahead in AI (the real "powerful new industry") while we're wasting time investing in technology to sell links to pictures of mediocre art.

A.I. and Fusion are, tbh the two "great new technology game changer" propositions that haven't panned out since at least the 80s and that have always been a few years away.

 

[Agent23]

Good! I want them to do this, as it means they aren't doing useful stuff in a powerful new industry, and are basically legislating themselves out of useful tech.

There is a world of difference in developing blockchain-based stuff and throwing massive amounts of energy to crank out crypto tokens.
Also, most of the stuff that blockchain can do is doable with other tech, like SWIFT.

 

[Abhorsen]

Also, most of the stuff that blockchain can do is doable with other tech, like SWIFT.

SWIFT a) doesn't allow regular users to use it directly, b) is beholden to laws and regulations, c) is not in anyway decentralized, d) doesn't cut out middlemen, e) doesn't anonomyze, etc.

It's nowhere near as useful

There is a world of difference in developing blockchain-based stuff and throwing massive amounts of energy to crank out crypto tokens.

The second, and the ability to get rich off of it, is a good chunk of what incentivizes the first. That's capitalism at work: incentive driven innovation.

Cryptocurrency is just the latest Dutch Tulip Bubble.

Russia and China are (wisely) protecting their citizens from the inevitable crash.

China is getting ahead in AI (the real "powerful new industry") while we're wasting time investing in technology to sell links to pictures of mediocre art.

No it isn't. Crypto has real financial value, as I've described above. Now is AI useful? Yes, but there very much is a limit to that usefulness.

Neural net and other 'AI' driven analysis is one of the two great inventions of the 21st century, the other is blockchain and related developments.

The implications for both are huge.

China and Russia just said "no, we'd rather not" two one of the two. It's classic commie thinking: oh, this time central planning of the economy will work out!