Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Secruoser

Rate my breakfast

Secruoser — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 11:11:21 +0800

Raw Blue Fin Tuna in Tsukiji Fish Market. ¥2800

If you don’t eat raw meat, learn to eat, otherwise you don’t know what you’re missing.

In Tokyo now, come in chit chat.

Secruoser — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 14:08:41 +0800

Waiting for others to finish shopping. Just chillaxing in this cafe full of Japanese people. AMA.

QUOTE(Fujisawa_Ruuzaa @ Dec 26 2018, 02:11 PM)

japanese girl drill mana
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QUOTE(cHaRsIeWpAu^^ @ Dec 26 2018, 02:13 PM)

JAPANESE GIRL DRILLS WOI
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Drillz from convenience store

Brunch at Singapore

Secruoser — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 09:52:32 +0800

Delighted by this brunch during my Singapore trip. Free-flow of foie gras, wagyu, truffle, lobster, king crab, various quality cheese, champagne, wine, etc. Can’t get such a good deal in KL. Highly recommended if you visit SG.

anyone has experience with Yoodo data plan?

Secruoser — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 20:33:45 +0800

Is it the cheapest? I just need a basic plan as I never call/sms. Mostly connected to home wifi.

COINMARKETCAP Alternatives List

Secruoser — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 22:03:30 +0800

In case you're not aware, coinmarketcap.com, the cryptocurrency ranking site with 225 million visits in a month and is in the top 300 websites globally, was exposed for its fraudulent practices.

Part A1: Fraudulent data provided on CoinMarketCap distorts entire crypto-currency market perception

Part A2: False Circulating Supply changes Market Capitalisation, Ranking & Value of coins significantly on CoinMarketCap

Part A3: CoinMarketCap is an industry cancer who decides which coin “dies” and which one “wins” at their whim

Regardless of whether the accusations are real, here is a list of alternatives for cryptocurrency ranking:

coingecko (Rank 4073)
Shows developer score, community score, public interest score, and 30-day change. Has MYR currency. No night mode.

worldcoinindex (Rank 8441)
Shows 24-hour high and low. Has night mode. No MYR currency.

livecoinwatch (Rank 18449)
Still in beta, but I quite like it. Lots of custom filters. Night mode. Has MYR currency.

coincheckup (Rank 26889)
Colour coded P/L. 90-day change on top of the usuals. Also good custom filters. Has MYR currency. No night mode.

4th Dimension: Bitcoin-Manipulation-Cartel

Secruoser — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 08:46:07 +0800

4th Dimension: Bitcoin-Manipulation-Cartel — Price-Suppression is their Goal

Every market has three major dimensions and everyone knows that
1) Technical Analysis 2) Fundamental Analysis 3) Manipulation.

Cartel — The 4th dimension of the market
There is 4th dimension that exist in FEW Markets, Its called “Cartel”. Its primary Goal is “Price-suppression”. Please note — it IS NOT “Manipulation”.

s Cartel Active in Crypto Space?

Absolutely, YES.

I called for Bitcoin correction of 95% before CME opened its doors. Check my Twitter account @Super_Crypto So far 70% of it is already in place. (But don’t expect 95% correction to happen in one shot. We will see many Rallies and Dumps in between. Nothing goes in a straight line. 20K is just the first inning. We are in for a long ride of a few years.)

Since When Cartel Is Active?

Cartel entered Crypto space somewhere in Oct-2017. Their presence started showing the HOUR CME-Futures Market Opened its doors for Crypto.

Bitcoin DUMP started exactly at the moment CME opened Doors at 5PM on Dec-17–2017. It still continues (image last updated Mar-10–2018)

Don’t believe in Cartel?

I know, I know! You are one of those guys telling me “Everything is natural correction” — Right?

No buddy, it's NOT.

Everything that happened since CME opening on Dec-17–2017 has been “Manufactured”. Bitcoin is being taken for a Ride with the rookies at CME. Wait till the “real” players join the table.

This Is How Cartel has Worked Since CME opened

Check this chart. Click on the image and read all NEWS as they were “Released” EXACTLY at the important TA resistances levels.

Please note: The items listed under Jan-30 and Mar-07 below are the NEWS ONLY. This is how cartel uses media-propaganda to break the price. Ex: Mt. Gox did NOT sell on Mar-07 but the NEWS of this sell was released on Mar-07. Also, the Tether subpoena was issued in Dec-6 but the NEWS was released with the other critical news releases on Jan-30 with the objective to start the next dump….Why did they wait 55 days to release the Tether subpoena news and how did it hit with all other Bad news on the same day? Now you know why.

Do you know there were 6 days of daily dump after March-07 starting exactly at 11:30 ET?
Zerohedge has recorded it here — It’s 1130ET, Do You Know Where Your Crypto Crash Is?

A serial Killer on the Loose!!! (updated Mar-27)

Below is another interesting pattern-selling observed from Mar-24 to Mar-27, 2018. What do you see here?

Anytime price tries to recover Dump appears from nowhere

All these are HIGH Volume DUMPS

MOST of the DUMPS start Below the Previous DUMP Price

Does it look like a seller who wants a higher price for their Bitcoin or a lower price? I see they want a lower price. Why? You tell me.

Want to See How FUD is Propaganda is Manufactured?

Do you know on Feb-07 Someone hacked China’s central bank mailbox to email a bogus notice about bitcoin crackdown.

Bogus press invitations was distributed to US media organisations claiming that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and People’s Bank of China (PBOC) are about to jointly introduce new measures to crack down on “all aspects and services of bitcoin trading in both mainland China and Hong Kong”.

Read the above article and ask a question to yourself — Who would do such a thing? Only those who have interest in breaking down the Bitcoin price — Right? Would an ordinary IT guy or a hacker do this? NO — because they cannot benefit from doing this FUD. Only influential folks who can benefit by creating such a FUD would do this.

Let’s get into the fundamentals of the “Cartel theory”

What is Cartel?

Cartel is collection of entities that work together to attain certain goal on behalf of the financial elite. Their goal is to control-the-price or suppress-the-price of a particular asset as desired by their ultimate boss (mostly government). Who is Government’s boss? It’s the financial elite.

Is Cartel active in all Markets?

Not many. Cartel is active in only few markets

Which are those markets?

It’s Gold, Silver and Bitcoin. Bitcoin was added to the list two months back (in Dec-2017). Most people deny Cartel exists, even if they experience the results every day they will continue to deny until 95% REKT. Gold bugs denied it even when Gold and Silver was brought down to earth before their eyes. Gold and silver was REKT to its production cost ($1200/$14) and many miners went bankrupt. Still there are few Gold bugs that are clueless about Cartel.

— — — The PROOF

Before you read any further let me provide the proof of price-suppression in Precious metals (Gold, Silver, Uranium and all that)

See this 25 years Uranium Chart ?

1) Uranium rose from $5 to $130 from 1993 to 2007.

2) Futures Market started in May-2007

3) See what happened? DROP in Uranium started exactly from May-2007 and it never recovered since then.

Any doubts about what started the precipitous drop in Uranium? Its the Cartel people, and their playground is Futures market.

Lets look at Gold 25 years chart. Cartel started ACTIVELY Suppressing Gold price in Futures market since 2011. What do you see?

(Please note: The Gold futures started much earlier than this — in 1974. In fact Gold rose after futures were introduced in 1974. The reason it was not suppressed in 1974 was — A) there was no need to since Gold was just decoupled from USD in 1971 B) US did not have Debt of 21 Trillion that time. The need arrived with 2008 financial crisis when Gold rose parabolically in 2011 with DEBT. Since then the price-suppression actively started in Gold and Silver markets.)

Lets look at 25 years chart of Silver now. Same as Gold

Can we compare these charts with Bitcoin now? (as of Mar-2018). Do you see any Similarities here? What does it tell you? coincidence? Natural-correction? Naaaa. It’s Price-Suppression (not Manipulation).

So far Bitcoin has consistently gone down since the day CME futures started on Dec-2017. Will it follow Precious Metals path? I think so.

See this recent news in Gold market
Read “6 Traders Arrested For Manipulating The Gold Market” — Jan-2018

6 traders that manipulated the Gold/Silver markets were “Currently or formerly employed by UBS, HSBC and Deutsche Bank”

CFTC Files Eight Anti-Spoofing Enforcement Actions against Three Banks (Deutsche Bank, HSBC & UBS) & Six Individual

This is just TIP-of-an-ICEBERG. I hope to write a separate post on PM suppression scheme.

Cartel is like an Invisible Hand!! Deal with it

Who are these entities?

They consist of Government agencies, big banks, Regulators & Media. They all work in a perfect synchronization to pull coordinated attacks to attain the goal of price-suppression. See what happened on Jan-30–2018 and Mar-07–2018? (many bad news hitting the market within hours of each other as Bitcoin was sitting on a critical support at 10K). Once 10K was broken the Cartel took over and started shoring Bitcoin like HELL. today we almost hit 8K. (and we are again below 8K when this post was updated on Mar-18)

Why do they do this?

It’s all about Dollar Hegemony and money control. Bankers and governments have recognized that Bitcoin and Crypto in general is a threat to their existence. What do powers do when they see anything as a threat or enemy? You got it, they try to destroy the enemy (by all means). Therefore, It is extremely important for the Financial-elite to stop bitcoin’s rise so their show can continue.

What do they do to stop the RISE of Bitcoin? They first let it rise to unimaginable height (20K first stop). Then they drop it to unimaginable lows. They will do this many times. They have trillions of dollar to maintain the show going, UNTIL the RETAIL investor gives up in frustration. What you are seeing since Mid-2017 is just the 1st inning of 9 innings Bitcoin game.

Bitcoin has been placed into Geopolitical chessboard since Mid-2017. Most of the Bitcoiners have no idea how big this game is. Crypto space is just a pawn on this chessboard and there are elite-fingers moving these pawns (Gold, Silver and now Bitcoin).

See this recent news — Trump Orders New Sanctions Against Venezuela’s National Cryptocurrency. Why should US place sanctions on Venezuela just for launching Petro? The answer is — because crypto challenges Dollar Hegemoney. Crypto can set the countries free from US’s repressive Dollar Regime. Therefore, no country is allowed to launch its own crypto. This is also a message for other counties “Don’t get involved in Crypto” — Any doubts?

Why only Gold, Silver & Bitcoin? Why not Stocks, Bonds, ETF, Index funds, Mutual funds etc?

The answer is in the previous question. “It’s all about Dollar Hegemony and money control”.

When money flows into Gold, Silver and Bitcoin it shows that governments are bankrupt and their “Fiat” money is worthless. If these assets rise, all money supply will dry up and move into these assets. World will know the King has no cloths.

When money stays in Stock and bond markets it supports Dollar trade. Therefore, it is very important that stock and bonds markets remain intact and have been kept elevated artificially.

In fact, you know what? There is a counter-party to Cartel in stock market and it is called — Plunge Protection Team — PPT.

Cartel’s job is to keep Gold, Silver and Bitcoin markets suppressed while PPT’s job is to keep the stocks and Bond markets elevated.

Here's a definition of PPT from Investopedia

Here is the job description of the PPT in Stock and bond markets

To keep the Stocks and bond markets artificially elevated using the printed (Helicopter) money so that the dream of fake-prosperity continues for ever as the nation goes bankrupt.

Understanding Tether (USDT)

Secruoser — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 08:51:00 +0800

Understanding Tether: Why it accounts for a substantial part of the crypto market cap and why it's the #1 outstanding issue in crypto markets today

In this post, I will go in-depth on:

1. How Tether got to be what it is today

2. Why Tether's market cap is a lot more than 0.5% of the total market cap for crypto you see on CoinMarketCap

3. Tether printing timing

4. Tether reserves

5. What could happen to the market if Tether is found to not be backed by reserves

Tether is incredibly important to the cryptocurrency market ecosystem and I've noticed far too few people understand what is going on.

Very little actual discussion of the 2nd biggest crypto volume happens here and whenever someone starts a discussion they most often got slapped for "FUD". Tether themselves recently hired the major New York-based PR firm 5W to spread positive information online and take down critics, I'm sure some of their operatives are probably on Reddit.

But its absolutely critical you understand the risks behind Tether and especially now with the explosion in reserve liability, breakdown in relationship with banks and their auditor and recently announced subpoena.

What exactly is Tether and what happened so far?

Tether is a cryptocurrency asset issued by Tether Limited (incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and a sister company of Bitfinex), on top of the Bitcoin blockchain through the Omni Protocol Layer. It is meant to give people a "stablecoin", for example, a merchant who accepts bitcoin but fears its volatility could shift Bitcoin into Tether, which can be easier to do than exchanging bitcoin for dollars. Recently they've also added an Ethereum-based ERC20 token. Tether Ltd claims that each one of the tokens issued is backed by actual US dollar (and more recently Euro) reserves. The idea is that when a business partner deposits US dollars in Tether’s bank account, Tether creates a matching amount of tokens and transfers them to that partner, it is NOT a fractional reserve system.

Tether makes the two following key promises in its white paper on which the entire premise is built:

QUOTE

Each tether issued will be backed by the equivalent amount of currency unit (one USDTether equals one dollar).

Professional auditors will regularly verify, sign, and publish our underlying bank balance and financial transfer statement.

Tether is centralized and dependent on your trust of Bitfinex/Tether Limited, and that the people behind it are honest people. For the new entrants to this market, it will be greatly beneficial understand the timeline of Tether and their connection to Bitfinex.

A brief timeline:

• Bitfinex operators Phil Potter and CFO Giancarlo Devasini set up Tether Limited in the British Virgin Islands but told the public that Bitfinex and Tether are completely separate. Throughout 2015 and 2016, the amount of Tether stays relatively flat.

• On August 2nd, 2016, the second-largest digital currency exchange heist in history happened, when Bitfinex lost nearly 120,000 bitcoin. Bitfinex never revealed full details of the hack, but BitGo (the security company that had to sign off on the transactions) claims its servers were not breached.

• Just 4 days after the hack Bitfinex “socializes” its losses from the theft by announcing a 36 percent haircut for almost all of its customers. In return, customers receive BFX tokens, initially valued at $1 each.

• Two weeks after the hack Bitfinex announces it has hired Ledger Labs, to investigate the theft and perform a financial audit of its cryptocurrency and fiat assets. The public never sees the results of the investigation, and months later, Bitfinex admits it never actually hired Ledger Labs to perform an audit, to begin with.

• In May 2017, after long-standing calls for an actual audit, Bitfinex hires Friedman LLP to "complete a comprehensive balance sheet audit."

• November 7, 2017: Leaked documents dubbed “Paradise Papers” reveal Bitfinex and Tether are run by the same individuals.

• November 19, 2017: Tether is hacked, with 31 million USDT suddenly disappearing. Tether Limited reacts to this by creating a hard fork.

• December 4, 2017: Right after hiring the PR firm 5W to help improve their image, Bitfinex hires law firm Steptoe & Johnson and threatens legal action against critics.

• December 6, 2017: CFTC issues a subpoena to Tether and Bitfinex. This news isn't made public until the end of January.

• December 21, 2017: Without making any formal announcement, Bitfinex appears to suddenly close all new account registrations. Those trying to register for a new account are asked for a mysterious referral code, but no referral code seems to exist.

• After a month of being closed to new registrations, Bitfinex announces it is reopening its doors, but now requires new customers to deposit $10,000 before they can begin trading.

• Friedman LLP completely cut ties with Tether on January 27, 2017.

Most common misconception: Tether is only a small part of the total market cap
One of the most common misconceptions people have about cryptocurrencies is that the "market cap" amount they see on CoinMarketCap.com is actually the amount of money that is invested in each coin.

I often hear people online dismiss any issue with tether by simply claiming it's not big enough to cause any effect, saying "Well Tether is only $2.2 billion on CoinMarketCap and the market is 400 billion, its only 0.5% of the market".

But this misunderstands what market capitalization for cryptocurrency is, and just how different the market cap for Tether is to every other token. The market cap is simply the last trade price times the circulating supply. It doesn't take into account the order book depth at all. The majority of Bitcoin (and most coins) are held by those who either mined or purchased for a very low price early on and simply held on as very small portions of the total supply were rapidly bid up to their current price.

An increase in market cap of X does NOT represent an inflow of X dollars invested, not even close. A 400 billion dollar market cap for crypto does NOT mean that there are 400 billion dollars underwriting the assets. Meanwhile, a 2 billion dollar Tether market cap means there should be exactly $2 billion backing up the asset.

Nobody can tell for sure exactly how much money has been invested in cryptocurrency market, but analysts from JP Morgan found that there was an only net inflow of $6 billion fiat that resulted in $300 billion market cap at the time. This gives us a roughly 50:1 ratio of market cap to fiat inflow. Prominent crypto evangelist Julian Hosp gives the following estimate: "For a cryptocurrency to have a market cap of $1 billion, maybe only $50 million actually moved into the cryptocurrency."

For Tether, however, the market cap is simply the outstanding supply, 2.2 billion USDT is actually equal to 2.2 billion USD. In order to get $50 USDT you have to deposit $50 real U.S. dollars and then 50 completely new tokens will be issued, which never existed before on the market.

What is also often ignored is that Bitfinex allows margin trading, with a 3.3x leverage. Bitfinexed did an excellent analysis of how tether is entering Bitfinex to fund margin positions

There are $2.2 billion in Tether outstanding and the current market cap of the entire market is $400 billion according to CoinMarketCap. You can actually calculate Tether as a % of total fiat invested in the market according to the JP Morgan estimate, the following table outlines for a scenario of no margin lending and 15/25% of Tether being on a 3.3x leverage margin account:

Even without any margin lending Tether is underwriting the worth of about 27.5% of the cryptocurrency market, and if we assume only 25% was leveraged out at 3.3x on margin we have a whole 43% of the market cap being driven by Tether inflow.

A much better indicator on CoinMarketCap of just how influential Tether is actually the volume, it's currently the 2nd biggest cryptocurrency by volume and there are even days where its volume exceeds its market cap.

What this all means is that not only is the market cap for cryptocurrencies drastically overestimating the amount of actual fiat capital that is underwriting those assets, but a substantial portion of the entire market cap is being derived from the value of Tether's market cap rather than real money.

Its incredibly important that more new investors realize that Tether isn't a side issue or a minor cog in the machine, but one of the core underlying mechanisms on which the entire market worth is built. Ensuring that whoever controls this stablecoin is honest and transparent is absolutely critical to the health of the market.

Two main concerns with Tether
The primary concerns with Tether can be split into two categories:

1. Tether issuance timing - Does Tether Ltd issue USDT organically or is it timed to stop downward selling pressure?

2. Reserves - Does Tether Ltd actually have the fiat reserves at a 1:1 ratio, and why is there still no audit or third party guarantee of this?

Does Tether print USDT to prop up Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?
In the last 3 months, the amount of USDT has nearly quadrupled, with nearly a billion being printed in January alone. Some people have found the timing of the most recent batch of Tether as highly suspect because it seemed to coincide with Bitcoin's price being propped up.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/technolo...coin-price.html

This was recently analyzed statistically:

QUOTE

Author’s opinion - it is highly unlikely that Tether is growing through any organic business process, rather that they are printing in response to market conditions.

Tether printing moves the market appreciably; 48.8% of BTC’s price rise in the period studied occurred in the two-hour periods following the arrival of 91 different Tether grants to the Bitfinex wallet.

Bitfinex withdrawal/deposit statistics are unusual and would give rise to further scrutiny in a typical accounting environment.

https://www.tetherreport.com

I'm still undecided on this and I would love to see a more statistical analysis done because the price of Bitcoin is so volatile while Tether printing only happens in large batches. Simply looking at the Bitcoin price graph over the last 3 months and then the Tether printing it's pretty clear there is a relationship but it doesn't seem to hold over long periods.

Ultimately to me, this timing isn't that much of an issue, as long Tether is backed by US dollars. If Bitfinex was timing the prints then it accounts to not much more than an organized pumping scheme, which isn't a fundamental problem. The much more serious concern is whether those buy order are being conducted on the faith of fictitious dollars that don't exist, regardless of when those buy orders occur.

Didn't Tether release an audit in September?

Some online posters have recently tried to spread the notion that Tether has actually been audited by Friedman LLP and that a report was released in September 2017. That was actually just a consulting engagement, which you can read here:

https://tether.to/wp-content/uploads/2017/0...17_Redacted.pdf

They clearly state that:

QUOTE

This engagement does not contemplate tests of accounting records or the performance of other procedures performed in an audit or attest engagement. Our procedures performed are not for the purpose of providing assurance...In addition, our services do not include determination of compliance with laws and regulations in any jurisdiction.

They state right from the beginning that this is a consultancy job (not an audit), and that it's not meant to be an assurance to third parties. Doing a consultancy job is just doing a task asked by your customer. In a consultancy job, you take information as true from the client, and you have no mandate to verify whether your customer's claims are true or not. The way they checked is simply asking Tether to provide them the information:

QUOTE

All inquiries made through the consulting process have been directed towards, and the data obtained from, the Client and personnel responsible for maintaining such information.

Tether provided screenshots of two bank balances. One of these is in the name of Tether Limited, and while the other is a personal account of an individual who Tether Limited claims have a trust agreement with them:

QUOTE

As of September 15, 2017, the bank held $60,919,810 in an account in the name of an individual for the benefit of Tether Limited. FLPP obtained an engagement letter for an interim settlement plan between that individual and Tether Limited and that according to Tether Limited, is the relevant agreement with the trustee. FLLP did not evaluate the substance of the letter and makes no representation about its legality.

Even worse is that later on in Note 1, they clearly claim that there is no actual evidence that this engagement letter or trust has any legal merit:

QUOTE

Note 1: FLLP makes no representations about sufficiency or enforceability of any trust agreement between the trustee and the Client

Essentially what this is saying is that the trust agreement may not even be worth the paper it’s printed on.

And most importantly… Note 2:

QUOTE

“FLLP did not evaluate the terms of the above bank accounts and makes no representations about the clients' ability to access funds from the accounts or whether the funds are committed for purposes other than Tether token redemptions”

Basically, Tether gave them a name of an individual with $60 million in their account according to a screenshot, Tether then gave them a letter saying that there is a trust agreement between this individual and Tether Limited. They also have an account with $382 million but no guarantee that this account holds to any lien or other commitments, or that it can be accessed.

Currently, Tether has 2.2 billion USDT outstanding and we have absolutely no idea whether this is actually backed by anything, and the long-promised audit is still outstanding.

What happens if it is revealed that Tether doesn't have its US dollar reserves?

According to Thomas Glucksmann, head of business development at Gatecoin: "If a tether debacle unfolds, it will likely cause quite a devastating ripple effect across many of the exchanges that see most of their volumes traded against the supposedly USD-backed cryptocurrency."

According to Nicholas Weaver, a senior researcher at the International Computer Science Institute at Berkeley: "You could see a spike in prices in tether-only bitcoin exchanges. So, on those exchanges only you will see a run-up in price compared to the bitcoin exchanges that actually work with actual money. So you would see a huge price diverge as people see that only way they can turn tether into real money is to buy other cryptocurrencies then move to another exchange. That is a bank run."

I definitely see the crypto equivalent of a bank run, as people actually try to secure their gains an realize that this money doesn't actually exist within the system:

QUOTE

If traders lose confidence in it and its value starts to drop, “people will run for the door,” says Carlson, the former Wall Street trader. If Tether can’t meet all its customers’ demand for dollars (and its Terms of Service suggest that in many cases it won’t even try), tether holders will try to snap up other cryptocurrencies instead, temporarily causing prices for those currencies to soar. With tether’s role as an inter-exchange facilitator compromised, investors might lose faith in cryptocurrencies more generally. “At the end of the day, people would be losing substantial sums, and in the long term this would be very bad for cryptocurrencies,” says Emin Gun Sirer, a Cornell professor and co-director of its Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts.

Another concern is that Bitfinex might simply shut down, pocketing the bitcoins it has allegedly been stockpiling. Because people who trade on Bitfinex allow the exchange to hold their money while they speculate, these traders could face substantial losses. “The exchanges are like unregulated banks and could run off with everyone’s money,” says Tony Arcieri, a former Square employee turned entrepreneur trying to build a legally regulated exchange.

https://www.wired.com/story/why-tethers-col...yptocurrencies/

The way I see it, this would be how it plays out if Tether collapses:

1. Tether-enabled exchanges will see a massive spike in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices as everyone leaves Tether. Noobs in these exchanges will think they are now millionaires until they realize they are rich in tethers but poor in dollars.

2. Exchanges that have not integrated Tether will experience large drops in Bitcoin and alts as experienced investors flee crypto into USD.

3. There will be a flight of Bitcoin from Tether-integrated exchanges to non-Tether exchanges with fiat off-ramps. Exchanges running small fractional reserves will be exposed, further increasing calls for greater reserves requirements.

4. The exchanges might slam the doors shut on withdrawals.

5. Many exchanges that own large balances of Tether, especially Bitfinex, will likely become insolvent.

6. There will be lawsuits flying everywhere and with Tether Limited being incorporated on a Carribean Island whose solvency and bankruptcy laws will likely ensure they don't ever get much back. This could take years and potentially push away new investors from entering the space.

Conclusion

We can't be 100% completely sure that Tether is a scam, but it's so laden with red flags that at this point I would call it the biggest systematic risk in the crypto space. Its bigger than any nation's potential regulatory steps because it cuts right into the issue of trust across the entire ecosystem.

Ultimately Tether is centralizing one of the very core mechanics of the cryptocurrency markets and asking you to trust one party to be the safe keeper, and I really see very little reason to trust Bitfinex given their history of lying and screwing over their own customers. I think that Tether initially started as a legit business to facilitate the ease of moving money and avoiding regulations, but somewhere along the lines greed and/or incompetence took over (something that seems common with Bitfinex's previous actions). Right now we're playing proverbial hot potato, and as long as people believe that Tether is worth a dollar everything is fine, but at some point, the Emperor will have to step out from hiding and somebody will point out they have no clothes.

In the long term I really hope once Tether collapses we can move on and get the following two implemented which would greatly improve the market for all investors:

1. Actual USD fiat pairings on the major exchanges for the major currencies

2. Regulatory rules on exchange reserve requirements

I had watched the Bitconnect people insist for the last 2 years that everything about Bitconnect made perfect sense because they were getting paid daily. The scam works until one day it suddenly doesn't.

Tether could still come clean and avoid all of this "FUD" by simply getting a simple review of their banking, they don't even need a full audit. If everything was legit with Tether, it would be incredibly easy to have a segregated bank account with the funds used solely to back up Tether, then have a third party accounting firm simply review the account and a bank reconciliation statement then spend a few hours in contact with the bank to ensure no outstanding liabilities are held on that balance. This is extremely basic stuff, it would take a few hours to set up and wouldn't take a lot of man-hours for a qualified accountant to do, and yet they don’t do it. Why? Why hire a major PR firm and spend god knows how much money to pay professional PR representatives to attack "FUD" online instead?

I think I know why.

source

Bisq Network (P2P fiat-crypto exchange platform)

Secruoser — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 11:01:51 +0800

www.bisq.network

It works similar to Remitano, but has more features:

Welcome to Bisq!
Bisq is an open-source desktop application that allows you to buy and sell bitcoins in exchange for national currencies, or alternative crypto currencies.

How to get started
Bisq is unique in that it enables you to start trading in less than 10 minutes:

Download the app, or build it from source.
Add your national or crypto currency accounts.
Create new offer or take an existing one.
Follow the user interface to finalize the trade.

Features and Philosophy
Unlike traditional online exchanges, Bisq is designed to be:

Instantly accessible – no need for registration or approval from a central authority.

Decentralized – there is no single point of failure. The system is peer-to-peer and trading can not be stopped or censored.

Safe – Bisq never holds your funds. Decentralized arbitration system and security deposits protect traders.

Private – no one except trading partners exchange personally identifying data. All personal data is stored locally.

Secure – end-to-end encrypted communication routed over Tor.

Open – every aspect of the project is transparent. The code is open source.

Easy – we take usability seriously.

Bisq is for those who do not want to forfeit control or privacy to a central authority in order to trade with other individuals. We regard financial transactions as a form of private speech that should be protected from surveillance by banks, governments, and other institutions.

Cons:
* Still new
* Lack of users

Once the userbase grows it will be very good.

Cryptocurrency Technical Analysis Thread

Secruoser — Sun, 14 Jan 2018 01:24:47 +0800

This thread is dedicated to learning and sharing of technical analysis for crypto.

Copied disclaimer from the main thread:

QUOTE

A friendly warning before you proceed
If you're new to cryptocurrencies, then welcome to the world of cryptocurrencies!!! Before you proceed further, if your intention is to invest in cryptocurrencies, please be informed that cryptocurrencies are VERY high-risk high-return investments. If you have the money, you can earn a lot but you can also lose all and CRASH & BURN! Just as with any other conventional investment vehicle, you need to do your own research and make up your own strategy including the important exit strategy i.e. when to cut your losses.

In general, for risk-averse conservative investors, it is advisable to allocate not more than 10% of your portfolio to high-risk instruments such as cryptocurrencies.

Enter AT YOUR OWN RISK and if you lose your money, it is NOBODY's fault but yours!

You have been warned.

Also, trading analysis shared in this thread is not to be taken as a decision-maker for your trading advice, but merely shared opinions. Nobody is responsible for your trading except you yourself.

For people who are not just new to cryptocurrency, but also new to trading, I will share tutorials from time to time. Others are also encouraged to share materials.

Some sites to learn about trading in general:
http://stockcharts.com/
https://www.babypips.com/
https://www.investopedia.com/

Charting software:
https://www.tradingview.com/ (FREE)
https://www.coinigy.com/ (PAID)

Cryptocurrency list and market caps:
https://coinmarketcap.com/
https://www.cryptocompare.com/

Tutorial videos:

[YOUTUBE]7pYacxBWL2c[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]mMNw65bmjLQ[/YOUTUBE]

Anyone has experience buying monitor from Amazon?

Secruoser — Fri, 05 Jan 2018 13:11:22 +0800

If exceed RM500, need to go all the way to Klang and settle with Kastam?? No SIRIM cert, ok?

How the Banks Bought Bitcoin:The Lightning Network

Secruoser — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 20:49:54 +0800

Disclaimer: This is not a thread to propose an alternative to Bitcoin BTC. It is to question the integrity of Bitcoin BTC itself. Whether you continue to use Bitcoin BTC, or any other cryptocurrency is ultimately a decision that's yours to make.

The big picture:

Expectation vs reality of the Lightning Network
[YOUTUBE]UYHFrf5ci_g[/YOUTUBE]

Lightning Network is operated by Blockstream

Blockstream received $55 million funding

Blockstream is funded by Bilderberg (through AXA Strategic Ventures) and Mastercard (through Digital Currency Group).

AXA Strategic Ventures was initiated by Henri de Castries, CEO of AXA during his tenure

Henri de Castries is the Chairman of the Bilderberg Group

Bilderberg group is a collection of political and business leaders from Europe and North America that meets in private every year to debate “megatrends and major issues facing the world”.

Criticism of Bilderberg Group

QUOTE

Partly because of its working methods to ensure strict privacy, the Bilderberg Group has been criticised for its lack of transparency and accountability. The undisclosed nature of the proceedings has given rise to several conspiracy theories. This outlook has been popular on both extremes of the political spectrum, even if they disagree about the exact nature of the group's intentions. Some on the left accuse the Bilderberg group of conspiring to impose capitalist domination, while some on the right have accused the group of conspiring to impose a world government and planned economy.

Mastercard invests in Digital Currency Group

Digital Currency Group co-founded by Glenn Hutchins

Glenn Hutchins is a director of The Federal Reserve of New York

How Blockstream ousted Bitcoin developers Jeff Garzik and Gavin Andresen that were not in-line with their direction.

"Bitcoin is Being Hot-Wired for Settlement" by Jeff Garzik and Gavin Andresen

Mathematical Proof That Lightning Network Cannot Be A Decentralized Bitcoin Scaling Solution

Blockstream crippled Bitcoin BTC with high fees so that people will have to use the Lightning Network (operated by Blockstream) for everyday transactions.

Result: The Bilderberg Group, the Federal Reserve central bank, MasterCard, and traditional banking sector have taken over Bitcoin BTC, crippled it, to turn it into a settlement system that they control & profit from.

Analysis: Bitcoin BTC has been compromised. It's no longer a 'people's currency' when it's owned by the same group of institutions that Bitcoin was created to avoid. If you want a centralized, regulated, payment system, use Visa, Mastercard and your current bank card, because Lightning Network is essentially the same thing owned by the same group of financial controllers.

My personal view:
I invested in cryptocurrency first for a future, a decentralized economy and power to the people, second for profit. Although I'm disappointed at what's taking place in attempts of global power to hijack and seize control of a 'world currency', it's pretty much expected. After all, do we really think they will just sit idly doing nothing and watch their control being 'decentralized'? But all is not lost. Bitcoin BTC is not the only cryptocurrency there is. This is why I believe a decentralized privacy coin will be the future without banks/governments controlling us. As always, do your own research.

Understanding Blockchain

Secruoser — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 15:37:38 +0800

This thread is for discussion of the blockchain technology and how it will disrupt and change the world. Bitcoin is probably the term that got you in this subforum, but do you know that Bitcoin is just one of the many applications what blockchain technology can do? Here are some short videos that may help you understand blockchain a bit more beyond Bitcoin.

[YOUTUBE]ru_vu-T0hd8[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]r43LhSUUGTQ[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]6WG7D47tGb0[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]OljQtssHsQI[/YOUTUBE]

Need advice for used car

Secruoser — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 15:59:32 +0800

Couldn't get answers from the pinned thread. Trying my luck here. Thanks!

QUOTE

1. Brand. Any (but why so many 2003 Kia Spectra?)
2. Below RM10k
3. Used.
4. Specs. Any
5. Automatic.
6. NA or FI? Any.
7. Sedan/Hatch
8. How much to pay foreman to check a used car whether it's safe/worth or not? Thanks!

The car will be used for work-commuting, about 60km mileage per day.

Good, Cheap & Quick PMP Cert?

Secruoser — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 12:33:42 +0800

Yes, I know what people say about good, cheap and quick.

But still, I'm looking for a PMP cert. Project Management Professional. Any recommendations? Thanks!

Need advice on moving to France/EU

Secruoser — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 08:35:07 +0800

Anyone here with experience can share? Studying won't be an option for me so need other options. I'm looking at moving to EU especially France. Thanks!

Bachelor/Masters Degree Online?

Secruoser — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 17:12:29 +0800

Any good recommendation? Looking at Business/Finance.

Fly like a Jet ah?

Secruoser — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 09:43:35 +0800

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Need advice on freelancing

Secruoser — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 11:34:47 +0800

Between Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer and Freelance, which is the best? Anything that I need to know about bidding/receiving payments?

I have 10 years of Illustrator + Photoshop experience but have never tried freelancing.

I'm looking for quick, small but consistent income with the 2 hour free time I have everyday.

Thanks!

Working @ Solaris Dutamas

Secruoser — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 11:42:19 +0800

Anyone familiar with Solaris Dutamas here?

If working there by own transport, where to park, and how much is the parking rate daily?

If take public transport, where is the nearest transit station? If take UBER from station to there, how much?

For lunch, where's the common place for workers?

Thanks!

Fastest way to learn programming?

Secruoser — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 23:10:32 +0800

What is the fastest way to learn programming on my own without going to college?