It's shocking that anyone over the age of 5 could be so gullible, but my buddy said the FBI agent told him that rings of these types of criminals stole $160 million from old people in 2020, and that was just in California.
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You’ll be a CP legend if you can confirm this.

Totally worth it.
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May he overdose on Fentanyl.


I know a grave that gets shit on during homecoming weekend every year. It's hilarious because everyone knows it's one of three people, but no one even bothers to care which one it is because it was well earned. Bitch took hundreds of thousands of dollars from several old men in the form of cash, payments via check, and titled assets prior to their death. The families all discovered it post funeral and nothing ever came of it. Worse yet, the houses she scavenged continue to be resided in by her shitbum descendants who have all become professional grifters and .gov dependents themselves. The families can't even drive by dad or grampa's old house without being reminded of what she did.

She had been quietly cashing mid 3 digit checks for several months and filed for lost titles on multiple vehicles before we finally caught her with enough proof she was at least going to face forgery charges. If it wasn't for having a bank on the hook for their part in the mess it was looking like even having proof wasn't going to be enough to get her exposed.

Most funeral dates that get celebrated out here in BFE are bankers from the 80's, but she ranks right there with them and if you're in the right bar on the right date, and know why you're there on that date, you get to drink for free.
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I'm a boring investor tied up entirely in semi-aggressive mutual funds. But I've been reading this thread with interest for over a year. It's fascinating and I find myself rooting for all of you to make your fortunes.

I don't consider myself a hippie, but I heard a factoid recently that game me pause. I heard that the energy used in one day to mine bitcoin exceeds the energy collectively produced in a day by every solar panel on earth.

If that's true, you don't have to be a hippie to be concerned. Bitcoin mining appears to swamp every step we've taken on clean energy. Isn't that a concern? Does all cryptocurrency run on the same amount of mining energy? If not, wouldn't a non-energy consumer coin eventually be more profitable?
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Clay / IQ
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There is much to be learned about the energy consumption of cryptocurrency. I really hope that a reliable study can be conducted to figure it out. The only two things I believe at this stage are:

1. Miners use the energy available to them. It could be coal. It could be solar.
2. Bitcoin energy usage is a fraction of what is used by the centralized banking system, which also consumes other resources like water and paper.

I am very interested in finding sustainability for decentralized and centralized systems.
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Read that Citadel Friday sold off 28 billion dollars in securities to raise cash! Hmmmm.
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Bitcoin Can Use Energy That Other Industries Can’t

In the wet season in Sichuan and Yunnan, enormous quantities of renewable hydro energy are wasted every year. In these areas, production capacity massively outpaces local demand, and battery technology is far from advanced enough to make it worthwhile to store and transport energy from these rural regions into the urban centers that need it. These regions most likely represent the single largest stranded energy resource on the planet, and as such it’s no coincidence that these provinces are the heartlands of mining in China, responsible for almost 10% of global Bitcoin mining in the dry season and 50% in the wet season.

Another promising avenue for carbon neutral mining is flared natural gas. The process of oil extraction today releases significant amount of natural gas as a byproduct — energy that pollutes the environment without ever making it to the grid. Since it’s constrained to the location of remote oil mines, most traditional applications have historically been unable to effectively leverage that energy. But Bitcoin miners from North Dakota to Siberia have seized the opportunity to monetize this otherwise-wasted resource, and some companies are even exploring ways to further reduce emissions by combusting the gas in a more controlled manner. Of course, this is still a minor player in today’s Bitcoin mining arena, but back of the envelope calculations suggest that there’s enough flared natural gas in the U.S. and Canada alone to run the entire Bitcoin network.

https://hbr.org/2021/05/how-much-ene...tually-consume
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You can read conflicting energy stories on the internet.

Keep in mind that the big boys create these stories (FUD) to get the average investor to panic sell, causing prices to fall drastically where they can come back in and swipe it all up.

This has been a pattern.
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Exactly.

Same with the China "news". How many times now have we heard about China banning crypto? Once a year? They put out news like that just to create a panic so they can load up during the fire sale.

The international central bankers may hate crypto, but that doesn't mean they're not going to trade, hoard, and manipulate it along the way.
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Is there a less energy-dependent crypto out there? Or are all "mining" operations pretty much the same? (apologies in advance for what I'm sure is a dumb question)
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Yes, there are several. Doge being one and ADA as well.
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Ethereum is addressing it with Ethereum 2.0. Supposed to be only a tiny fraction of current Ethereum energy consumption as well as much lower fees.
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Thanks, MTG and Johnny.

I'm just getting my feet wet in crypto, but would have to think currency without the energy drawbacks (if indeed there are such drawbacks) would eventually rise to the top.
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