All Forum Posts by: Steve K.

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Steve K.

can we all agree to meet back here in 2030, 2035 and 2040 to see if anyone's predictions came true?

i'll say this.  i'm bullish on real estate.

@James Hamling

agree with your take although I confess that I do hold some IBIT just in case Bitcoin goes to $1M.

 If we're going to bequeath this thread to posterity, I will need to clarify my position. The comment above will provide some insight into my true feelings along with the admittance that I have been doing some devil's advocating in this thread (or "trolling" in the parlance of our times). 

I probably will continue investing in crypto extremely cautiously with a tiny percentage of my overall investment capital, just for fun and because it interests me basically. Perhaps I'll make a little money but am prepared to lose every penny. I'm definitely not selling any real estate or investing anything close to $1M in crypto. 

Crypto could actually go mainstream during this presidency, in which case I'll be glad to have invested somewhat early. Or alternatively, Trump's grifting tendencies could actually ruin it for everyone if he get's greedy with it and pushes the level of rampant corruption that we're currently witnessing to its breaking point. TBD!  

Quote from @Sam Levin:

I'd only put in that which you can afford to loose, just in case it all goes "poof"

 Yes, let's not forget to mention all of the bankruptcies, frauds, hacks, crashes and other various "black swan" events over the years... like Mt.Gox, FTX, Blockfi, Celsius, 3AC, Terra-UST and Luna, Genesis, Babel, Core Scientific, The BTC crashes of 2011, 2013, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, etc. etc. etc. or more recently AdsPower, Phemex and the biggest one of all, Bybit (hacked for $1.5 BILLION a few weeks ago by the same North Korean hacker group that has stolen $6 Billion in crypto and used it to fund their ballistic missile program). 

Invest what you can afford to lose is an understatement for the amount of volatility and lack of control in crypto. Anyone who has had their crypto assets frozen as the exchange they are on crashes, declares bankruptcy, or simply restricts trading is all too familiar with that. 

But now that we have a Crypto President who has promised to end all of the "unfair" "lawfare" SEC investigations and remove most of the existing government regulations, what could possibly go wrong (hopefully my sarcasm is apparent)?  

Most governments have sought to  regulate crypto to protect investors, prevent financial crimes, and maintain the stability of the financial systems. We've never had a president who is so committed to it before, or is so intimately familiar with and deeply connected to complex financial scams like this before. So I'm saying all bets are off now. 

He could be telling the truth about intending to make the US the "Bitcoin Superpower of the World" as he has said yesterday at the Crypto Summit, or his $TRUMP meme coin could just be the first of many big pump and dump scams he'll get involved in, in which case the whole thing could backfire and really turn the whole crypto space upside down in the worst possible way. Time will tell. In the meantime, you're very wise to tread carefully. 

Update: After signing an executive order to start a Strategic Crypto Reserve, the "Crypto President" held a "Crypto Summit" at the white house today with all of the "Crypto Bro's" in attendance (including his own crypto company, World Liberty Financial). He seems all in on crypto. Although he did flip/flop on having XRP, Solana and ADA (or any altcoins) in the strategic reserve... and it was announced that it would consist only of bitcoin seized by the US government. So a lot of crypto bros are actually upset with the way things went, despite Trump claiming to have ended the US Government's "War on Crypto". 

It's crazy how not long ago he was crying about how crypto was a scam and calling Elon Musk a "bullsh*t artist", now he's got his own meme coin and platform for selling crypto, and Elon Musk paid for his election campaign with crypto.  

Even though XRP is down on today's news, I'm going to buy some more anyway. $TRUMP (the meme coin) was down today also, but Trump and his company that started it have already made $350M on it, so I doubt he cares, even though most people who invested in it lost money. I am never buying that. Crazy world we are living in!

I think it could easily be a better year for crypto than real estate! But like everything else with this president, the jury is still out...

Quote from @Henry Lazerow:

Even all the red states are voting against state crypto funds. 0 chance congress passes that 🗑️

 Who needs congress? Executive Order baby. Signed yesterday, done deal. Poof, we have a strategic crypto reserve. 

Quote from @Eric Bilderback:

Good call if Eric Trump said buy it you can take it to the bank!  I know you put up a tough front but deep down inside I knew you were all in for MAGA baby!  

 Hey if you can't beat 'em, might as well join in on the scam. 

Quote from @Michael P.:

I love the technology the makes moving money easier (apple pay, venmo). Haven’t carried cash in years. Switching to a whole different currency I don’t see a point in personally. 

 XRP is supposedly going to make wire transfers a lot easier and cheaper. Could be a good one to watch and it's only ~$2.50 right now... Trump's "Crypto and AI Czar" David Sacks seems to really like XRP. 

Quote from @Dominic Mazzarella:

Quote from @Steve K.:

The President Announced a Strategic Crypto Reserve consisting of ether, XRP, SOL, and Cardano/ADA. His son Eric said crypto is better than real estate for 2025. It seems like except for crypto, the economy is crashing. Should I sell my real estate and invest in crypto in 2025?

Most crypto projects are at all time highs right now. I don't mean to be rude at all, but that's usually not a good time to invest. I suspect you might be experiencing a little bit of FOMO right now and it's quite possibly the worst time to be feeling that because we are at an economic tipping point right now where a lot of folks are waiting to see how Trump's actions affect the economy.

I've been in crypto for about 5 years and experienced 2 big crashes and when I see people make posts like this, it usually tells me things are going to drop soon. If you're deadset on crypto exposure right now, maybe don't go crazy and just dip your toes in. To make money in this space, you have to buy low and sell high. So when everyone is saying negative things about BTC and whatnot and the prices are in the dumps, that is the time to buy if you want to make real money. Just my two cents. I've made more money in real estate than crypto, but that's because of leverage. There are tremendous opportunities in crypto, but it's also extremely risky. 

 Yeah but we've never had a "Crypto President" before... I think we'll see the world's first Trillionaires via crypto in the next few years. Calling it now.  

@Jay Hinrichs Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland @Jim K. @James Wise 

The President Announced a Strategic Crypto Reserve consisting of ether, XRP, SOL, and Cardano/ADA. His son Eric said crypto is better than real estate for 2025. It seems like except for crypto, the economy is crashing. Should I sell my real estate and invest in crypto in 2025?

Quote from @Brian J Allen:

There has been growing discussion about how capital gains tax laws are reducing the inventory of homes available for sale in high-appreciation areas. Specifically, homeowners who have lived in their properties for many years may find themselves financially disincentivized from selling due to the tax implications of their appreciated home values.

Consider the following example: A homeowner purchased a house 20 years ago for $250,000. Over time, the home has appreciated to $1.5 million. The homeowner, now older and living alone after the passing of a spouse, would like to downsize to a smaller home or condo that better suits their needs. However, upon selling, they would face a $1.25 million capital gain. Current tax law allows an individual to exclude $250,000 of that gain if they have lived in the home for at least two of the past five years, leaving them with a $1 million taxable gain. With a retirement and Social Security income of $65,000, they could owe approximately $260,000 in long-term capital gains taxes.

By contrast, if that same homeowner had moved every five years, upgrading to a larger home along the way, they would now own a property worth $1 million instead. Their capital gain would be reduced to $500,000, and after the same $250,000 exemption, they would only owe taxes on a $250,000 gain—resulting in a significantly lower tax bill of roughly $55,000.

This discrepancy effectively punishes long-term homeowners who have remained in their properties, disproportionately affecting those who may now find their homes unsuitable due to aging, changing lifestyle needs, or financial strain.

The capital gains tax exemption of $250,000 per person ($500,000 for married couples) has remained unchanged since 1997. If adjusted for inflation, that $500,000 exemption would be approximately $985,000 today. Increasing this threshold would likely encourage more longtime homeowners to sell, freeing up inventory in a housing market that is already struggling with supply shortages.

Revising this outdated exemption would not only provide financial relief to those who need to transition to more suitable housing but also help ease housing shortages by making more homes available to younger buyers. A simple policy update could have a profound effect on housing mobility and affordability, benefiting homeowners and prospective buyers alike.

This is interesting but I think the bigger problem that causes housing inventory to remain locked up by seniors is that there is no suitable housing for them to move to. At least in my area that is the case. I hear from empty-nesters all the time that they want to downsize but there are no small, single-level ranches or senior housing (that is reasonably affordable) for them to move in to in any of the areas they want to live. So they stay in the larger house that they raised their families in because there is nowhere for them to move. I have never heard any of them mention capital gains being a factor, always lack of a suitable option to age into. There has only been one new senior housing complex built here in the last 50 years and it is extremely expensive and sold out immediately.