Monday 20 December 2021

Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency & Opensea

20/12/2021 Mon 

After so many years since I first came across Bitcoin, the platforms for buying, selling and wallets are still the same.  More players now but none are flexible, none are safe. Fiat money disappears in trying to buy Crypto currency. Exchange platforms don't take fiat money, only take crypto currency. Supposedly more legit platforms want identity verification (KYC) (Coinbase/Binance) that puts people off. All these problems that prevented me from going into Bitcoin, are still the same. Even after so many years.

Now I take another look. Spend some time looking around. And nothing's changed. I wanted to buy Bitcoin but end up still didn't buy. 

Frankly, I don't see any value in holding Bitcoins or other cryptocurrency when people are having to give up--undoubtedly--a more valuable fiat currency. If fiat currency weren't more valuable, reviewers wouldn't be feeling painful when platforms take their fiat money but give no Cryptocurrency in return. Obviously, it's better to have held on to fiat currency. 

I downloaded Trustee Wallet on my phone based on good reviews. Only to discover that: How come the wallet search for "best" offer for buying Bitcoin and Ethereum keeps listing only 2 players: Mercuryo and MoonPay? Checking out these 2 shows several severely negative reviews.

I will most likely uninstall Trustee wallet. It's a pity because it's more intuitive than ChangeNow. It's also fun to select 12 words instead remembering just 1 password to get into my account, although those 12 words have to be saved somewhere.  

I looked around Trustpilot on Changelly reviews (bad). Gate.io reviews (bad), Fixedfloat reviews (they don't accept fiat currency, despite good reviews). Uniswap (bad). Simpleswap (bad).

ChangeNow? Somebody said high fees that were not stated in purchasing "coins". And how come the app doesn't allow me to buy $50 USD of Bitcoin or Ethereum? It only responds when I key in $90 USD (Ethereum) or $100 USD (Bitcoin). 

Looks like I will be deleting ChangeNow from my phone too. 

So what's left? Any more wallets?

What am I supposed to do with Bitcoin or Ethereum anyway? Even if I do buy a bit, like 0.001. Not keen on putting down more than $50 USD. Fiat money is still more precious and real in the hand versus a digital token. 

Token. Something that has no value except for the fiat currency that has value that goes to buying it. Like the token you put into a kiddy ride, that was purchased with real money.

I will probably just hang on to ChangeNow (and Trustee wallet) for a while until I need space for my phone. Will uninstall if it's still not in use by then.

I have looked up Opensea. Curious about making money with NFT. Tested it with a photograph and when I wanted to list it for sale, the bill came to $325 USD. Just to list X'mas lights in a tall bottle. Haven't make money, I have to spend money. And if it doesn't sell?  No idea why everyone is crazy about NFTs. Makes no sense.

Coinbase wallet? Cheat. Based on their app reviews.

These cryptocurrencies and "wallets" are just some clown games.

Coinbase? 78% negative reviews on Trustpilot. Only 9% positive. I don't know why Google articles keep saying they are the best. 8 hrs ago, a reviewer lost $100 USD or more. Even after his identity already verified at first, Coinbase still wants further "verification" action which sounds humiliating.

The more I read these reviews, the more it's obvious that these platforms are just fakes wanting money to be deposited with them. And those Google reviews about people getting huge profits from "investing" on these platforms could also be fake or they only made those "profits" on paper and not in their bank accounts.

Their modus operandi is let the person open an account first. Pretend to verify his identity so that he puts his first "investment" inside. When he makes a profit and wants to withdraw, ask him for further verification and then reject anything he sends or just ignore him. Or close his account or freeze it if it's a big investment he put in.

It's wanting-to-belief that's creating "value". Irrational, but nobody cares because they are desperate, which is why countries like Cuba or unstable economies are more into Crypto than other countries. People in unstable economies with depreciated local currencies need Cryptocurrencies to work. It has to work and so, they make it work by being part of the cogs, wheels and chains.  

I also want to be in on this Bitcoin and NFTs craze. I also want to believe in their value and investment potential. But what I find is what keeps showing me that it cannot be done 1) without input of a lot of money upfront. That 12 year-old or 13-year-old who is reported to make a heap of cash from NFTs by drawing some picture, needed to borrow thousands of dollars first. And nothing is said about how or where the "profit" has been cashed out. 2) without an exchange platform and wallet platform that can be trusted to handle money.