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Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

“Over the last year, Charlie Shrem, a 28-year-old Bitcoin investor, has bought two Maseratis, two powerboats — one of them 32 feet long — and a $2 million house in Florida, along with smaller pieces of real estate.

...

Mr. Shrem...has said in recent interviews that he went to prison with almost no money.”

What an idiot. Right out of jail, owes the feds hundreds of thousands of dollars, and can’t help but conspicuously consume.

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Florida's a great place to do this because of the bankruptcy homestead exemption:

> In bankruptcy, the Florida homestead exemption allows a primary residence of unlimited value to be protected from creditors as long as the debtor has lived in Florida for 40 months or more, and the property is not larger than half an acre in a municipality or 160 acres elsewhere

OJ Simpson used the same trick to prevent the Goldman family from getting his house.

that explains it. the humidity and fire ants suck though

I feel like buying a ton of stupidly expensive shit and having no cash on hand might somehow be related.

I’m somewhat disappointed that he didn’t buy any Lambos...

Yeah, Maseratis are the Volkswagen/Chrysler/Fiat of the super-car world.

Well, Maserati is actually owned by Fiat/Chrysler Group. Plus, like all F/C vehicles, they're pieces of shit. Maserati used to be nice. Now, they're sport cars for people who want a sport car but don't know anything about said cars.

Volkswagen is actually, despite their scandals, a remarkably good quality group. They own VW, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Bugatti.

I own a 2013 Dodge Charger SRT (an FC brand). At $51k & 470hp out the door, it's the best performing and cheapest muscle car in its class. It can also seat my family of 4 comfortably. In 6 years and 42k miles, I've had zero drive train issues. Only problems I've had are suspension (I drive on pot hole ridden Chicago area roads) and tires worn prematurely due to bent suspension arms.

Dont know what your experience is with FC, but that's been mine.

Edit: math on years owned.

42k miles / 6 years is a barely used car. I would expect a post year 2000 car to go 150k, even 200k miles with no drive train problems assuming normal conditions. Also, the stats show Fiat/Chrysler experiencing the most problems:

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/jd-power-201...

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2017-vehicle...

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2016-us-vehi...

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2015-vehicle...

Pretty consistently at the bottom year after year.

Not saying that Dodge doesn't make power. Mopar power is for sure a thing. The Demon and Hellcat in particular are awesome feats of engineering. Now they've come out with a 1000 HPE crate motor, too (the "Hellephant").

But F/C reliability, construction quality, etc. are known issues. As the other comment shows via JD Power rankings, F/C has poor QC. However, as those rankings show, Ford isn't amazing in that area either.

But, I'd challenge the "best performing and cheaptest" statement. The 2018/9 Ford Mustang GT peaks at 460 HP and 420 lb-ft of torque, starting at $35k. One could argue the new mustangs are less "muscle" and more "sport" cars, but I'd say it's still muscle.

p.s. I'm not affiliated with any automotive company.

> Porsche SE currently owns 50.73% of the voting rights in Volkswagen AG as the largest (controlling) shareholder.

> Porsche SE currently owns 50.73% of the voting rights in Volkswagen AG as the largest (controlling) shareholder

Porsche AG is a car maker [1]. Porsche SE is a family investment vehicle "owned by the Austrian Porsche and Piëch families" [2].

Porsche SE owns a majority of Volkswagen AG. Volkswagen AG owns Porsche AG. Family name versus car company name.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_SE

Ferdinand Porsche designed the Volkswagen Beetle!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Porsche#Volkswagen_B...

not sure why you are being downvoted but this is essentially the truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QAHK1Uy9ao (this 2005 model is 20k vs a 2005 Ferrari F430 would fetch at least 100k)

It's like the C-class. Everywhere in Vancouver, BC. Especially downtown, where debt to income ratio is ridiculously higher than other areas.

People will pay for the brand, true supercar enthusiasts pay on future value. In fact, people who collect rare supercars, do not lose money on what is otherwise a known depreciating asset.

ex. F430 Manual transmission started appreciating in value past handful years because of demand for the last manual gated Ferrari, its approaching high-mileage 430 Scuderia prices, which is ridiculous. Everybody knows the Ferrari 430 Scuderia is the rawest Ferrari you can experience of last generation, even more expensive than a brand new 458.

I also think the F430 front and rear is the best looking. I died inside when they revealed those ugly sharp edges in the 458. Then the sacrilege of putting a turbo.

whew! I kinda went off on a tangent there. but yeah, tldr, parent comment is right and not deserving of downvotes.

Oh man, I thought cars were for driving, houses for living in, art for looking at, and Bitcoin was supposed to be a currency. No wonder I'm not rich; I've been doing it wrong this whole time!

Just think of all the value that you ate instead of saving in your fridge!

Excuse me, and with all due respect, but I think I should leave this here. "http://cars.mclaren.com/"

> two Maseratis

jesus christ. does this man have no taste? Maserati is the car poor people buy when they can't afford Ferrari in Vancouver, BC. Doug Demuro agrees.

> Mr. Shrem...has said in recent interviews that he went to prison with almost no money.

> Bitcoin

Please..

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