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I know two things:
Listening to people talk about reminds me of kids 15 years ago talking about Pokémon cards,
And Everytime I try to type "bitcoin" autocorrect changes it to "bitching".....
It all seems like some kind of elaborate scam though. How can it possibly sustain this bubble and who has anything at the end?
The Shop
WENATCHEE — Bitcoin belligerence is on the rise, according to Chelan County PUD staff reports, prompting a boost in employee safety and security measures that include bulletproof panels and security cameras at PUD headquarters.
The reported bad behavior stems from two cryptocurrency-related groups — unauthorized miners whose power has been disconnected and high-density load service applicants denied because of the current moratorium.
“PUD employees in the field and those in the office who are handling issues related to high-density load service have encountered an increasing number of upset customers and potential customers,” said PUD spokeswoman Kimberlee Craig. “In some cases people can get agitated and argumentative. Our goal always is to provide excellent customer service, as well as to keep customers, the public and employees safe, especially when emotions may be running high.”
None of the incidents have escalated to the point of calling law enforcement, she said.
“The volume of requests and the sense of urgency by applicants has changed the dynamics of the interaction by staff with the cryptocurrency customers,” she said.
As a result, staff is taking some proactive steps, which PUD Security Director Rich Hyatt outlined for commissioners on Monday.
They include:
Designing a small, secure lobby at the downtown service building where people go to request and discuss new services. Construction is set to start soon on the estimated $20,000 project, which will be paid out of the current facilities budget.
Adding ballistic panels and more cameras to the headquarters lobby.
Providing more training on when to call PUD security staff for help.
Increasing visibility of uniformed security staff. Security staff are training to pay attention to negative body language to identify people who are agitated.
Assessing security at the Leavenworth and Chelan offices to determine what else may be needed. A trip to those offices is planned next week.
Creating the process for working with local law enforcement when power theft from unauthorized bitcoin operations is suspected.
The PUD already had security measures in place, including staff training and uniformed contract security staff. The new physical barriers are an added measure, Craig said.
The increase in tension follows steps taken to put the brakes on blockchain operations that use specialized computer equipment and require a large amount of electricity, running continuously, which can put a strain on the system.
The PUD commissioners in March declared an emergency moratorium on new high-density load hookups to give staff time to develop a plan for dealing with the demand for electricity from digital currency miners. The demand spiked when Bitcoin values topped $19,000 last fall. It’s now down to about $7,000, but still up from $500 in 2013.
Staff also reported concerns about unauthorized bitcoin operators overloading the system, creating fire hazards and damaging power grid infrastructure. In April, commissioners provided staff with tools to help enforce the moratorium, including the ability to immediately disconnect power, charge the violators fees — up to $6,150 for in-home cryptocurrency operations and $11,400 for those in commercial or light industrial space — and, eventually, prosecute for power theft. The details on how that will work is still being developed, Hyatt said.
The commissioners agreed to an amnesty period for unauthorized Bitcoin miners not yet identified by the PUD about high-density load use. To qualify for the amnesty, they must shut down immediately and notify the PUD.
The amnesty period continues until May 14 when commissioners will hear public comment on whether to continue the emergency moratorium.
At the time the moratorium was called, Chelan County PUD had 22 approved high-density load customers using a total of about 13.5 megawatts; 19 pending applications for 16.3 megawatts; and had identified 28 unauthorized operations, with a watchlist of 12 and growing. Of the 28, 19 were shut down. Since then, staff reported finding about three more unauthorized operations each week.
The Douglas County PUD is also a popular location for the digital currency miners, but a payment structure adopted in 2014 prevented some of the problems facing the neighbors across the Columbia River.
Douglas County PUD requires a month’s deposit for cryptocurrency miners and an increase in rates for higher-energy consumption. It also requires a contract for customers who use more than 1.5 megawatts. It currently has eight commission-approved contracts for loads over 1.5 megawatts, amounting to a total of about 15 megawatts.
Meaghan Vibbert, Douglas County PUD’s public information officer, said the PUD is still accepting applications for crytpocurrency connections, but the system currently has no excess capacity.
Grant County PUD is seeing a demand that has prompted a proposed rate change.
“Staff has proposed to commissioners a new ‘Evolving Industry’ rate class for higher-risk businesses,” said Grant PUD spokeswoman Christine Pratt. Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal Tuesday.
Safety concerns and overloading the system are not a concern at this point.
“Mining is likely happening, but as long as it poses no threat to Grant PUD infrastructure or customer safety, we don’t get involved,” Pratt said. “We have not shut off anyone’s power because of unsafe cryptomining.”
To date, 10 commercial cryptocurrency mining operations are active in Grant County, with an average load of 16.4 megawatts, as of February.
Since summer 2017, Grant PUD has received 125 new service requests that total more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity, about four times the power needed for all homes, businesses, government institutions and industry in the county. About 75 percent of these requests are from cryptocurrency firms.
One thing I do know. We work for a extremely successful client who owns several businesses, one of which is a major supplier to Costco. Very smart individual.
He has a financial wizard son, mid twenties who spends every waking hour staring at a computer screen dealing with bitcoin. Tells his dad he was up all night and made such and such on hours....ridiculous amounts like $37,000 in one night. The same kid still drives his daddy’s bmw that was given to him in high school and he also still lives at home. Now I’m no rocket scientist but if he just made 37K in one night don’t you think he may be living in a beach front estate with women hanging all over him? The problem I see with this scheme is where are the results? Where is his money? Can he cash it in and actually use it to go buy a new truck/bike or is it only in “bitcoin” land?
It’s way beyond my mind. And I do know his parents won’t touch it and they have money to wipe their asses with. I wish I could take the time to read up on it but I have a feeling I would still be confused
The same exact thing could be said about the dollar. Bitcoin acts exactly like any currency expect it has more potential for being accepted worldwide being that it is decentralized. The fact that it is decentralized also creates many hurdles for it to get off the ground. The powers that be (read banking systems-reserve) will continue to suppress crypto-currency like bitcoin until they can maintain power without controlling the currency.
You might say how can that be done, but is already happening by instead controlling the actual goods. The mom and pops are already gone, look for more and more amazon type giants to meet the needs of every single good.
A word of caution it can be very addictive just like motocross. Basically like day trading but in a much more Volatile market.
Win big and lose big go hand in hand. Since January I have been playing about 10k and have made about 15% mostly hedging bitcoin against eth.
It's interesting to read the optimism from a year ago. It's difficult to find rational reasons that people had for that optimism, though, anywhere on the interwebs.
http://mileswmathis.com/2pac.pdf
http://mileswmathis.com/lennon.pdf
http://mileswmathis.com/tate.pdf
http://mileswmathis.com/bitfraud.pdf
wow
who here is still holding cryptos with a smile?
Pit Row
I've got a couple BTC stocks that have been going pretty OK lately. But I had another one that I dumped a couple months ago because I got tired of waiting for it to move with BTC price while my others were doing well. So I sold on a surge, at an overall gain of around 40% or so, after being through multiple surges then unexplainable drops right after. Of course, pretty much as soon as I sold, it started on its current big climb and is now worth like 4x what I sold it for. Win some lose some....
Just like TV has gone from Rabbit Ears with tin foil if needed to Cable (with blackboxes--the BEST), then Satellite, to game stations PS4 and now Streaming where you need to purchase individual electronic gizmos just to watch Supercross!
friend of mine invested about $20k worth back when it was $4k each... i'd have to think he's pretty happy right about now
I have mine split about 70% BTC and 30% Ethereum currently, might venture into other coins along the way. I’m a big believer in the crypto space, I’ve done a hell of a lot of research on it and I think we’re going to see wider and wider institutional adoption over time. It’s a bit ironic in the fact that crypto is somewhat of a libertarian wet dream, yet institutional purchasing has been what’s driving the price through the roof lately and I think we’re only getting started.
Also bought $4k of XRP around $1.30
The Ethereum is working out, but I bought at what was the ATH in December 2017, unfortunately.
Where it goes from here, I have no idea. I’m just going to let it ride. For the last 2 years I thought I lost it all, so this is all bonus as far as I’m concerned
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