I feel really sorry for this guy, but ......

exocet

rogd said:

But how the effing hell do you spend it or turn it into beer/guitar/nosebag etc tokens?

https://medium.com/@foiniocommunitiy/pos-terminals-for-merchants-accept-crypto-in-store-easily-ed4ce3ad19ba

jdgm

Then there is the Welsh guy who binned his hard drive with Bitcoin on it -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-55667622

We all know these people are stupid, greedy etc and we wouldn't fall for it....would we?  Would we?

In the right circumstance, yes we very likely would.

At the beginning of March, I was searching online for a jacket and I found it on a Chinese site for almost half-price.

Because I really wanted the item, couldn't find it anywhere and this was at a big discount, I clicked. 

Site was a complete scam, as I discovered after a few weeks - very luckily for me I used Paypal who refunded me the whole amount.  I hope I'm a bit wiser for it....but the scams will keep coming.

The obvious signs are - too good to be true, and 'hurry up and commit now now now'. Both of which the guy in the OP fell for, because he so much wanted it to be true.

John_A

My father-in-law called last week, he'd sold his iPhone on Gumtree

"Can you transfer £30 in to this bank account, can't get on to my online banking"

'why?'

"So the buyer of my phone knows I'm not a scammer, he'll send it all straight back minus 1 Ruble admin fee then pay me for my phone"

'are you stupid'

hollywoodrox

axisus said:

How monumentally stupid do you have to be to hand over £400k like this?!?!?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56402378

A moment of pure greed and it is gone ...

If someone can afford to have 400k sitting around in bitcoin , he can either afford to ,or is stupid 

It’s a shame but there are lots of people who haven’t got £40 in savings  

John_A

jdgm said:

Then there is the Welsh guy who binned his hard drive with Bitcoin on it -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-55667622

Don't know anything about bitcoin, can you 'back it up' or have it in a cloud account or something?

Hurling_Fruitmig

John_A said:

jdgm said:

Then there is the Welsh guy who binned his hard drive with Bitcoin on it -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-55667622

Don't know anything about bitcoin, can you 'back it up' or have it in a cloud account or something?

I've always assumes that you can't, hence dingbats like this literally mining landfill sites to find the original hard drive.

Simonh

It used to be that it could only be stored in one "wallet" at a time, hence losing a hard drive with your wallet on it can lose your coins. Not entirely sure if hat is still true.

LastMantra

skunkwerx said:

I still dont know wtf bitcoin is. 

Is it like the new gold or something except digital? How does that even have any worth whatsoever? i dont get it. 

I suppose it keeps me safe from losing £400k on the internet though. 

How does a wee bit of paper have any worth.

Simonh

a bitcoin isn't even a bit of paper, it is the result of an increasingly difficult calculation

Kilgore

skunkwerx said:

I still dont know wtf bitcoin is. 

Is it like the new gold or something except digital? How does that even have any worth whatsoever? i dont get it. 

It's difficult for people to identify with.

It doesn't have the same romance, spirit of adventure or sacrifice as panning for gold in the Klondike.

Of course very few people made a fortune from the gold. Mostly it was the middlemen and the people who supplied the food, tools, whisky and girls who made the money.


Maybe there's a lesson in there somewhere. 

thermionic

This is just a Nigerian prince scam for highly paid IT guys who drive a Tesla.

Sambostar

Still, surely a more worthy course than the plumber prince in charge of Checkatrade that routes all the best leads to his own company.

WiresDreamDisasters

I don't feel sorry for him.

crunchman

Kilgore said:

skunkwerx said:

I still dont know wtf bitcoin is. 

Is it like the new gold or something except digital? How does that even have any worth whatsoever? i dont get it. 

It's difficult for people to identify with.

It doesn't have the same romance, spirit of adventure or sacrifice as panning for gold in the Klondike.

Of course very few people made a fortune from the gold. Mostly it was the middlemen and the people who supplied the food, tools, whisky and girls who made the money.


Maybe there's a lesson in there somewhere. 

Sell graphics cards to bitcoin miners at grotesquely inflated prices!

Sassafras

It somehow seems unfair that such an idiot can be in possession of £400k in the first place.

Kilgore

Sassafras said:

It somehow seems unfair that such an idiot can be in possession of £400k in the first place.

Was he an idiot before or did he become an idiot when his brain deserted him?

Either way, being an idiot isn't a crime. It's more unfair that criminal scum ended up with the £400k.

Snags

Everything you need to know about bitcoin

https://threader.app/thread/1391309574762795009

hollywoodrox

I think you can write a number down on a bit of paper and store it that way too 

rogd

It seems Elon Musk has lost faith in bitcoin now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57096305

Deadman

WiresDreamDisasters said:

I don't feel sorry for him.

I'm struggling with it too.