I’m really sick of all the “suggest a broker” post

[aubreyeg07]

@yjoeyh People pay for the software they need. What do you need crypto for?

What are the practical benefits of crypto for the average user or investor? I know a million things I could do with my 100eur Windows licence, yet I don't know what practical benefits crypto would have in my life. Could you name 2-3 products that would enhance my life? I'm seriously interested not being sarcastic.

 

[shahab]

@aubreyeg07 I 2010, the U.S. blocked donations to wikileaks. This included U.S. companies such as PayPal. This organization seeks to expose the truth, and were blocked due to the government of the U.S. decided they get to decide what people support with their money.

On a personal note, about 10 years ago I was using bitcoin to buy drugs online! Very convenient and anonymous, honestly better customer service than local net shops in my country at the time!

This is of course a rather shady/illegal use of bitcoins, but it highlights some potential. When the government you live under controls all your financial means they can control you. This is part of why a desentralized currency is appealing.

 

[aubreyeg07]

@pisos

So, gold and crypto are basically the same, but we should "respect" gold and "despise" crypto because gold is around for thousands of years?

They're not the same. People have wanted gold since thousands of years and gold has kept its value through millennia of technological advancements and different civilizations, crypto has proven nothing so far. Let's see how the next 1000 years go, but for now my money is on gold.

You can use it in many ways, depending on what you need and how you implement. Bitcoin is that implementation, with an specific use/goal.

Oh yeah, what is it useful for, exactly? A means of exchange? Hardly, since 10 years ago I couldn't buy a bottle of water with a million BTC, 2 years ago I could buy a house with a handful of BTC, and now... well, not a house with a handful of them. A place to store value far away from evil central banks? But then I want to trade it and I have to use centralized exchanges...

The increase comes from the halvings

Is it more and more expensive as time goes by?

I don't disagree, but the stock market sometimes also rises and falls because of the stupidest reasons and nobody gives a shit. Why is that only a problem with crypto?

It's a problem with stocks as well. Yet stocks create dividends, blockchains do not.

 

[pisos]

@aubreyeg07

They're not the same. People have wanted gold since thousands of years and gold has kept its value through millennia of technological advancements and different civilizations, crypto has proven nothing so far. Let's see how the next 1000 years go, but for now my money is on gold.

In 1981, internet was nothing more than an academic tool. In 2021, internet is an almost indispensable part of our lives.

In 2006, phones were not smart. In 2021, we are not smart without our phones.

TL;DR: I don't think that we will need to wait 1000 years to see if the cryptos will be part of our life or not.

Oh yeah, what is it useful for, exactly? A means of exchange? Hardly, since 10 years ago I couldn't buy a bottle of water with a million BTC, 2 years ago I could buy a house with a handful of BTC, and now... well, not a house with a handful of them. A place to store value far away from evil central banks? But then I want to trade it and I have to use centralized exchanges...

Maybe an anonymous way of payment. I don't know. What is, let's say, a short position in a share useful for, exactly?

It's a problem with stocks as well. Yet stocks create dividends, blockchains do not.

Stocks create dividends if the company wants to. As an example, AMZN does not pay dividends.

And again, "blockchain" is the tech, cryptocurrencies are simply an implementation of it.

 

[jsis]

@tricky1

I work professionally in the space so the notion this is for immature investors is extremely biased and short-sighted. I don‘t understand how censoring something that could be the investment opportunity of our generation helps anyone

Because people openly promote it, but never talk about risks. How come crypto is an investment opportunity of our generation but my feet pics are not?

This is a harsh question, but can you answer it with studies? Whats the value that crypto creates for us that it would be worth investing in it, other than speculative assumption that its price will rise.

I chose to invest in market etfs, because arguably its better than picking stocks and does not require a lot of attention from my side. Whats the benefit of crypto over ETFs? Whats the benefit of crypto over P2P or even savings deposits? What was better investment in 2021, crypto or GME? If GME grew faster then maybe we should buy it and skip crypto?

Those are not the discussions that we are having, just crypto promotion.

 

[tricky1]

@jsis The reasons for investing into Bitcoin are extremely simple and none of these reasons apply to your feet:

- It is a scarce deflationary asset that cannot be controlled by one central entity and there is a high demand for it as it can be used a hedge for uncertain political or economical situations (see Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Iran pre-COVID or pretty much any country during COVID that has printed billions of FIAT money out of thin air

- From an investment perspective it is similar to gold with most of the positives and none of the negatives (transportability, divisibility)

- It is uncorrelated to any other asset class and is therefore extremely valuable from a risk management perspective

- Blockchain technology has led to the creation of an entirely new industry of companies that are in the process of replacing many legacy processes in the financial industry. This new boom that can be compared to what the internet did for all technologies companies will also manifest itself in the appreciation of the original assets like BTC and ETH that launched it

- More and more technology companies will be investing a part of their balance sheet into BTC (see Tesla as latest example) which will further drive the demand and the price

 

[aubreyeg07]

@tricky1 Did you just suggest to use as an edge something that can swing like 50% in less than a week?

Also, can you provide some examples about what are these technologies that will increase bitcoin value so much? A first year CS student could create a blockchain software, but it would have absolutely no impact on the market value of BTC

 

[tricky1]

@aubreyeg07 People have an extremely biased view on volatility. The swings (nowhere near 50% anymore) are pretty much irrelevant if you're not a day trader / speculator. If you look at the 10 year performance of the asset the swings you are talking about are extremely irrelevant.

What people have realized is that in times of negative interest rates (thank central banks) even if you just put in a small percentage of your portfolio into it (1-3%) and decide to hold for a 5 year period it literally outperforms any other portfolio allocation.

Your CS student example completely misses the point of network effects. There are more innovative blockchains out there than Bitcoin but the network and reputational effect of remaining intact for now over 10 years is impossible to reproduce. And that's why it has value over other blockchains.

 

[melodyonpoint]

@gurshwin Greetings. If someone feels they would be a good fit to mod the sub I’m happy to add them. I’m not hugely active but You can always mention me and I’ll pop up.

 

[ktarra]

@gurshwin For anyone from Austria that needs a great website regarding finding a brokerage and tax questions, this place https://www.broker-test.at/ is quite fantastic.

Edit: There also seems to now be a section for Germans on there, so anyone from 'Schland should also find the information they need.

 

[belladonna6852539]

@gurshwin We could just point them here: https://brokerchooser.com/broker-reviews

 

[feelinglost7896]

@belladonna6852539 That doesn't say anything about the securities the broker is serving, which an important factor too. If you want something like EURN etoro is the wrong broker.

 

[wrennelson143]

@belladonna6852539 These affiliate sites are not to be trusted, their business model is getting funds from the brokers, the broker that pays them the most gets more favorable review, not the one that provides the best service.

 

[belladonna6852539]

@wrennelson143 Maybe so, but this site does provide a lot of information, besides just the overall score. They write specific recommendations on different brokers, such as whether they are best suited for experienced investors. I don't have a lot of experience with brokers, but it seems to me that the ratings correspond well with sentiments here on reddit, such as degiro being commonly recommended. Do you have any specific complaints about brokers who are rated either higher or lower than you think they ought to be on that site?

 

[wrennelson143]

@belladonna6852539 Unfortunately I can’t agree, having used eToro, Freetrade, Trading 212 and Revolut - I claim that the reviews there just don’t reflect the reality well.
And they don’t differentiate well between CFDs and real equities.

 

[belladonna6852539]

@wrennelson143 I does seem like there is very little spread in ratings among the different brokers.

 

[thegreenchef]

@gurshwin Ikr lol 90% of posts on this sub have been "which broker should I use" lol its annoying asf.

 

[amielynn]

@gurshwin Honestly I can understand the question but people need to Google one phrase and they'll get their answer.

There aren't many in Europe so the solution is quite simple.

 

[heretolong]

@gurshwin It's a free sub. If you don't like it quit and move on. We can't have rules made after one person's preferences.

 

[tekela]

@heretolong What about we make things better instead of starting from scratch everytime it is not perfect.

How about creating 10 different eupersonalfinance for an idea ?

Stupid af.