Topic: Here come the accusations of "You were just lucky!" [crosspost to Reddit] - page 2. (Read 4069 times)

Are they like miners? What are these "taxes" that fiat users keep speaking of? Are they like transactions?

These federal taxes sound like a ponzi. I'd stay away were I you.

HAHAHAHA boy by far one of the funniest anecdotes to tell!!!

I lost all of mine on SatoshiDICE.  Sorry Feds.

I've every intention of paying my taxes, 99% of my stash is in very deep storage and even I cannot get at it without a trip to my safe deposit box, and anyone who might be under the misconception that they could extort me physically and made it part way to my home would likely realize what a terrible idea it would be to continue.

That said, this is outstanding advice which people should heed well.

Before you all gloat up a storm being bitcoin 'millionaires' you really should watch what you say on reddit and here because there could be federal tax authorities watching, your ex wife who doesn't know how much money you now have who's lawyer would love a copy of these posts, or jelly trolls who want to rat you out to federal tax authorities. Not to mention criminals who may find out where you live and beat you until you cough up the coins, or the Chinese 'red team' hackers who decide they want some extra money and use their government provided 0day library to loot your wallet next time you open it.

The same people who throw those accusations around are now heavily investing in Litecoin.

Man does this sound like my situation and mindset.  I actually downloaded the source code probably near the end of 2010, but didn't build it since I got tied up buying some property...else life would probably have taken a different path for me.  But I did spot the potential opportunity on the way down to late 2011.  It was damned 'lucky' for me that this happened.  Or at least it currently seems to be the case.

I to owe a debt of gratitude to the evil dirt-bags who tried to squelch Wikileaks for making me aware of and/or particularly interested in Bitcoin.

I was late to the game. Yeah I am jealous of those who got 10,000 bitcoins for a Pizza, and even those who got 10,000 coins for the price of a sports car.

But then I think it is more useful to focus on learning business and how to make one million dollars again and again, rather than relying on getting in on a 12 month window on a once in a century game-changing technology.

So I say well done to those who got the coins when they were cheap. They found the original big nuggets of gold. But there are other ways to build wealth.

Currency != wealth. People doing and creating useful stuff == wealth.

I've invested in so much stupid shit in my life, and the one time it works out for myself - nothing but hate and spite.

This is ridiculous self-serving shit.

I agree, I used to talk about this a lot early on because it was not yet viable for a business to use BTC. BitPay has helped a lot in that regard but we are still not quite up to the billion dollar company that we should be.

Think of it like a dotcom startup that just went live and are making a shitload of money and have a lot of customers but they were not quite ready for such volume. We need to scramble to get things in place to join the big boys. It would be at this point that Satoshi would have sold to Microsoft or Facebook for a huge profit. But we do not have that option.

If there is something to be worried about it would be the fact that Bitcoin as a technology lacks ALOT. It does not matter how much hype it gets. It must be further developed and tools must be made. For any individual or group reading this and able to do something about. It is on all of us to make Bitcoin succeed!

For example, Decentralized  exchanges and safer, more "idiot friendly" wallets. How about we start figuring out "Trading across chains". I still think it would be an amazing advance!

To be honest, I see a lot more of this type of "early adopter envy" within Bitcoin communities than I do outside of them.  It also extends to mining.  There's a subset of people who regard it as "just not fair" that acquiring substantial amounts of BTC is no longer as easy as it was even a couple of years ago.  They perceive the risks they would need to take in order to "get into Bitcoin" now as higher than the risks taken by early adopters.

Many people convince themselves that "given the chance" they would not only have been early adopters (whether of BTC, Google stock or some other new kid on the investment block) but they would have held onto their investments through the ups and down as well, when that's likely not the reality.  It's not an exclusively Bitcoin thing.

"Unearned" income is becoming an important contributor to financial security for many people who will never "get ahead" with the money they earn from their jobs.  People look to dabbling in real estate, playing the stock market, precious metals, and other types of investments to propel them across socio-economic barriers and give them a shot at the middle class and beyond.  Investments are never risk free, even if they may appear so in hindsight.  You can't "get lucky" unless you have skin in the game.

I see a certain desperation in some people in respect of Bitcoin.  They view it as their only path to financial well-being.  Counting on any one type of investment to secure your financial future can be very dangerous, but I don't see the problem as being Bitcoin itself but rather a particular attitude - if Bitcoin didn't exist these people would be regarding some other investment in the same manner.  Some people seem to have a talent for losing money on everything they touch and they're often the people who can least afford to lose it.  Those people will likely lose money on Bitcoin (I'm convinced they'd manage to lose money on Berkshire Hathaway stock).

Honestly, I think you need to stop worrying about whether people believe you "deserve" whatever you've made out of Bitcoin and just enjoy the benefits it's brought you.  Money doesn't care where it came from.

I had $1k to spend and I went on Google and typed in 'money' and clicked on Google's "Are you feeling lucky" button.

That took me to MtGox which I had no clue about but I went ahead and put my money into this "Bitcoin" thing out of random chance.

Then to my luck, this random thing called Bitcoin gained 10X in value.

Boy was I lucky.


Or there is the other scenario...I subjected myself to risk which could have ended up with me losing all of my money but having studied the underlying technology and having a good knowledge of how money works and the current political climate I understood that there was value to be found in Bitcoin so I invested my time and money into Bitcoin. It just so happened that others did the same and that such value was not stifled. I am still under the same understanding of the risk and continue to watch the climate for signs that such value is to be stifled where I can then re-invest elsewhere.

I didn't use that phrase but I agree. I would argue 'The community' does not actually exist other than as a shared (temporary, fluid) delusion, on the other hand everyone can agree that individuals exist. Give back to individuals who helped you get where you are, help out other like-minded individuals who you think will work towards your vision of a "better world", and attempt to bring out the potential of being such a person in others who are in need of bootstrapping. Seems like a decent philosophy to me anyway.

Pretty funny:
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3tlyz9/

Some "work" just worth more to others even though it costs way less "effort".

The ones who indulges a system that reward banksters and embrace tyranny with ignorance of the future consequences (More present than future IMO), don't get to call early adopters of Bitcoin "Lucky".

We and each one of us EARNED IT. We bet on the winning horse for the right reasons.

+1

Although I don't like the phrase "give something back to the community" because that implies that you took something from them, when in fact the majority of wealth is earned in the first place by helping others in some way. After earning wealth (in an honest and ethical manner), the decision to help others with that wealth should be considered doubly-charitable, for you have already helped the world once.

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
- Thomas Jefferson

There is some truth to this opinion even if the way it is being conveyed is dangerously misguided. If you end up a "winner" you should feel obligated to use that to make the world a better place. If you are born into a wealthy family you should feel the same. Choosing not to do this should be frowned upon but does not deserve any kind of violent response.