Bitcoin Forum

Before all of y'all start complaining and making a billion new topics about being demoted, read this announcement (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5030366.0) from theymos. Essentially:


It's not super difficult to get one merit. Make decent posts that add something to the conversation rather than just rephrasing something someone else has already said. Also, if you're concerned about any bounties you were in that had a rank requirement, talk to your bounty manager about seeing if they will still give you credit for your work.

Finally, don't beg for or buy merits. I can understand that this is frustrating for a lot of you guys, but there's no reason to risk your account for just one merit.

And for those of us that have merits to send, please keep this in mind:


You may not agree with everything someone says, but try to look into the effort behind the posts. It will encourage those who are at least trying to make decent posts to continue posting in the future. Spend some time in the patrol section and look for posts to give merit to.

As a further aid to non-English speaking members, Jet Cash has created an image hosting site for Fit to Talk members. You can post pictures of your local activities, historic monuments, or your pet dog. Then discuss the picture as best you can in English, and we will help you to improve the content and flow. He has done this so that members can avoid accusations of posting off topic content in Bitcoin Talk, and to help members to produce English prose with good content and fluidity. This is a skill that will help you to attract the attention of the merit awarders, and let you rank up by becoming a good quality contributor here.

Don't let "newbie" mean "he doesn't speak English".

This update is good for the forum because it's minimize the shit posts of some Jr.member on ICO to bump their thread and make some attention to gain investors.

As a relatively new member to this forum, I would like to offer opinion from other side of the “barricades”. I mean don’t get me wrong, i will be the first one to want to stop sh*t posting, but want to express my opinion about this 1 merit rule.

I believe it is relatively hard to get merit,in contrast what everyone is saying. For getting merit your post have to meet 2 criteria:

-be of good quality/helpful/motivating etc
-you need to be lucky enough for the person reading it to like it so much that they will actually give you merit.

I personally found the 2nd part to be extremely hard to meet, doesn’t matter how good your post is. Thank god for that one amazing person that gave me my only merit, if it wasn’t for him I would be “demoted” now. Funny thing is, he had about 20 merits himself and he gave me one. There are people here that have hundreds of merits and hardly ever share.

Just something to think about 🤔

You have pointed out something which is really important. Its not always your efforts it depends upon the mindset of people reading it and what their opinion is. Like you I was also lucky enough to have that 1 merit.

Though I am inclined to agree on the new rule about being a jr member that needs 1 merit, (and also agree to your post), let us not forget that some users are really struggling in terms of this new rule. 

I am not saying that many new members are highly affected of this (yes it is not that difficult to get 1 merit) but there is this minority of people who lack the fluency in communicating in english hence they just stay in their local board (which really scarce in merit sources and merit circulation). 

And how about those who are incompetent in the english language (they can read and understand but cannot construct proper english when they want to express their opinion) and also do not have a local board?

The point is, the struggle is real... the frustration of the newbies are real... and the problem growing population of shitposters in this forum is real.  Let us not leave some minority behind.

Well, obtaining merit is in fact hard, no matter how insightful you are with your contributions, people don't give out merit just because usually.

I honestly think this is not fair, and it can definitely lay the ground for a merit "sharing" black market. Finally, this will also force many accounts to pay for 'copper' accounts, how convenient huh?

Ok, that was a nice analysis, merit for me anyone?  ;D

I don't think so i think if we want to join signature campaigns we must do much effort like get some merit and high ranked. And when you get merit for the first time you will get more excited and then think how to get the second merit and so on (make good post or good thread that is useful for all members here). And because this forum i think is good but then came many newcomer that only this how to get money from this forum. And if they leave this forum this will great to us.

Actually this is a difficult issue for those who sign up for the bonus. I think bitcointalk should have a policy to give real hunters so they can jr.rank. Thank you

This is correct I am a new source.

I gave you 2 points.

I have a lot of points to give and will be looking at newbies in this thread only.

The price is fixed at 0.00208333BTC for everyone.

Btw, careful with the multi posts.

I think you made a mistake there philipma. This is the exact kind of account for whom the step was meant to. This guy has over a 1000 posts that are only "Reports" while the other are one-liners.
He has had zero merits until you hastily awarded him 2 merits for this one-liner post. To all the new merit sources, This step will only be truly successful if you take the pain to at least read/browse/glance at the post history of the guys whom you decide to merit.

Spending it the way Philipma just did would only lessen the effectiveness of this courageous and desperately needed step from Theymos. Lets make sure it is put to the best use.

Go through the post histories to see whether the people you are meriting have actually made the effort. Not like this toheed2x account which is probably just someone's farming alt. Defeats the whole purpose, causes a lot of heartburn for people who have actually made the effort and have felt ignored because of the spam.

This new merit system hits a lot of us in the ballsack and expressing your dismay on the new merit system is not on the meta section. Just posted my opinion and immediately someone considered it a shitpost, and even humiliated me and I didn't even said it was a wrong step for the admins.  ;D

Anyways just good to see fellow demoted users here! Cheers :)

If you had shown up earlier, I might not have paid for copper, but I have a very important client now who couldn't wait for me to fix the problem.

Luckily, it is cheap enough, only about $13

Its really disgusting to decrease rank without any notice
wasted my many months hard work.

That post has value to every newbie that lost  jr status so
that post stands on its own for the merits it got. There are now 36 new merit sources such as myself.  I used to be slow to give merit as I would lose it.  I now don't drop when I give merit.  So I will give merit more freely.

Even if he is not  a good guy that was a good post.  It is important for people to know that there are 35-36 new people that can give merit As a source.  He mentioned it and gets my points.



Do you think I want to read hundreds of posts to judge a guy no I don't
 do You think I get paid to do that no I don't.

He wrote a truthful informative post worth  merits.

He wrote it On an important thread explaining these demotions. So once again he got 2 points.

Btw do you know on another thread  about this I read 98 posts  and gave out merits.
Did I get paid to do that no.
I spent 25 minutes reading to give out that 2 points.


https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5030976.msg45833279#msg45833279

Now I will tell you what this means to me I will end up reading an extra 300 to 500 posts a week  giving out points.

Totally your judgement man. Not questioning that. I am just pointing out that it is unfair to hundreds of those posters who get lost in the din because someone like toheed2x spams 1000 reports in the time a serious poster would actually manage to post much less. If the post histories are taken as a reference, then at least the deserving ones get a better chance. Those who just "woke up because of rules change" should have to wait a little longer.

I would just prefer that the "good guys" get more of a chance than the "not a good guys".. ;) So shared my opinion with you.

Of course as do I .

but when I give out points  they will not be to people asking for them.  which neither person I gave points to today were asking.

I will sift through about 5 to 10 people a day  that were jrs and were demoted.

I will ask if anyone would make that list  and post it in this thread  I won't give you any merits for doing it.

But the list would help me and others like me look at the demoted people's posts.

As for me, The fact that we are downgraded will not reduce the amount of spam on the forum. If earlier, I received a junior quietly participated in the bounty, reading and absorbing information about the crypto currency. now I'm being forced to write and talk about things that I have not really figured out yet.

until the backlog of "jr demoted to newb but did have the occasional good post in their history that was missed so not merited" people gets slogged through, this may look like some of us are too quick to merit someone who got demoted.

but the whole point is (per theymos) all they need is ONE good(ish) post thats meritable and get their rank back. or be able to get to jr rank to begin with.

although with some accounts ya gotta look pretty far back..

my question about demoting members rank, why it affect members register above one year and with moderate post, i mean they dont have post over 1000 or more personally i feel the administration of this forum should look beyond some criteria on this matter and the  effect on such account .

I joined this group many months ago, I just post or commend needed not spam or do something wrong. And now i receive my rank down from Jr to newbie. Just a litle upset for this change, why don’t we apply this change for newbie to reduce fraud or spam. It’s unfair with old users, I just think I was punished by other people fault. We have many way to encourage newbie to get merit don’t do like down rank.

Am so much in support of this new rule because it will not only maintain a good serenity of the forum it will also make a lot of people very conscious of the kind of things they post, the idea maybe hash to some people especially the demoted junior members I really feel their pains though but for sanity to be implemented some disciplinary measure have to be adhere to, I suggest you guys (demoted junior members) should put more effort in the quality of your posts and I believe in no distant time you will eventually bounse back to your former rank.

I looked at all of your posts before the Rule change. Barring  one post about automatically adding LinkedIn contacts (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4577746.msg41286314#msg41286314) (which is also dubious as far as linkedin policy is concerned), you have sadly made no useful posts. All of them are simply reports. This gives the impression that you are here just for farming bounties.

I'd recommend you spend some time at the forum engaging in fruitful conversation. I am sure you will get that 1 merit in a jiffy. I'll be glad to check in later too.

I myself started-off with a couple of bounties, and that soon turned out to be rather boring really. I felt that I was kind of going against my own nature doing silly fake social network tasks, which I never really do in real life, and soon gave up on it. More to my nature, I adapted to being constructive and swerved away from bounties and social reports. All this is a sort of experiment for me, both in terms of crypto and social networks with which I hardly ever engage (except for here now).

There are some forum members that have a good equilibrium of bounty hunting and decent regular posting. That seems fine to me and the forum would benefit quite a bit if that equilibrium became a trend for those that want to do their bounties.

This new rule is Bad for Individuals like me. Who have been frequently contributing but no one is intrested in reading.

I am optimist and I know someday someone will read one of my post and provide me with a Merit to become a Jr Member.

I do understand that this rules is to curb spam and increase the level of discussion happening on Bitcointalk. But, people like me are suffering.

It would be nice if the managment can add an optional criteria for achieving Merits depending on the number of actual post written by an individual and if one of the moderators can check them.

In fact, it is very useful for the forum, because there are a lot of speculation, I know people that hold 50 accounts. It is necessary to invent something to get 1 merit  :)

I don’t want to seem that I am complaining, because frankly, I have nothing to complain about, but one good post is unfortunately not enough, in order to get merit. You would have to “invest” months of daily (kind of) posting of helpful stuff and if you’re lucky you get that merit at some point. Problem is newbies or Jr Members don’t receive Merit too often. A least that was the experience I made.

Tbh I expected change of rules sooner rather later, because recently the sh*t posting, just for the sake of posting “something” (to qualify for bounties) was getting unbearable. Unfortunately there is no way of deciding between Jr Members posting quality posts and those that post rubbish. And that’s why everbody was affected 🤔

You reproach the participant, that he is engaged in bounties, but in fact everyone here came to the crypto currency to make his life better. And the way a person earns is his personal business. I, for example, have no money for trading, investment, .. The most suitable for me to earn at this stage is the bounty. And the fact that we are clogging the forum is not our fault.Terms of companies require you to submit a report in the forum branches. And if you require companies to accept reports in Google forms, then the amount of spam has decreased dramatically!

You cannot say that. People should more contribution in this community to keep moving, even I'm demoted as well ;).
Visit the other discussion boards and make good posts over there and they will give you merit if you deserve it and stop complaining here.
This is the best way to contribute to this community. Goodluck!

Thank god I have a few merits! I hate getting demoted.  :( Too bad for others who does not have merits. But the good part is that this will make more valuable post in the forum rather than just spamming to get stakes from bounty campaigns. I like this new ranking rules because before, newbie and jr. member looks very much the same.


Holy cow! You just got 2 merits toheed2x! Ahahaha! What an epic post.

Well, suppose that the newbie (in the past jr. member) received 1 merit and became a jr. member, and now nothing not prevent him to continue to write the shitposts, respectively, the goal that was inspired when the rules will change will work until the first merit.
In this regard, I propose to do aproving your rank +1 merit per week or per month, what should give a greater effect!

The new system is good for spam prevention, this forum has lots of spam posts, i agree. But is it really going to work?  I have been a member since May but one day i woke up and all of a sudden i am a "Newbie". And taking about quality posts, some people do make a quality post but they don't get a merit at all. I have seen such posts. So, yes its kind of hard to get 1 merit. I guess i will just have to engage with the community and one day i will get a merit for that! Well, best of luck to everyone.

And why is juniors responsible for everything? Are we the very ones who spammed the forum? I read a lot of information on the forum, and there are many posts from members, full members ... who after receiving merits none of them earned it! And it is especially interesting to read such messages https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5030366.msg45810963#msg45810963 from people. which themselves did not earn and did not send a single merit.But spammers are of course the same juniors and only juniors!

At first hearing the matter, I was very much scared. I was wondering how to do the work to be done off the end ??? But after a little while, when all the positive posts were read, mind mentality changed. In fact, all of us will benefit greatly through this system. Through this system, such scam will decrease and Post quality will improve greatly. I am also expressing solidarity with this system. Thank you sir theymos.
Thank you all... :) :) :) :) :)

again I'm a beginner, I'm a member of the bounty of companies and I just do not like this situation, why everyone should be tormented, you have to fight with spm in another way, some negative balls for spam well, or likes and dis for the message and merits it is desirable to divide into 100 parts to people dovali it kakto more easily and punish those who do not give no one merit all this system needs to be finalized ideally I seem to make a system of likes like a man read your post he liked it he put you likes got 100 likes got merit

I also feel sad when i my position decrease to newbie. But after reading the post from theymos and post of other member really the new rule help to remove the spammer many people are here only to earn money even they dont have any idea to trade as well as they even dont have enoguh knowledge about crypto. If you arent spammer real lover of crypto then focus on quality post. Have a great day Thanks  ;)

Increasingly scams are increasing daily. As a result, a large number of people are being damaged every day. Many people were happy to start this system.
I am also one of them I am very happy because of the system's launch. I would like to tell sir theymos many wishes and congratulations. I think that all the members of our group are all we are a family.
I do not want any family member to be damaged. Those who are affected, only understand how much of the pressure of loss. I wish everyone's health and longevity.
Everyone will help everyone in good work and stay with them. for me, thank you.

And, check the post history of someone who hasn't got a single Merit yet but has written something very good. Such users mostly plagiarize from other posts or simply copy/paste things from outer sources.

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https://i.imgur.com/pXMMnpq.png


@philipma1957, you, being a Legendary member, and a now a Merit source too, should know the basic rules (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0) of the forum and try not to go against them, and break them. You now have the responsibility to promote new users as you have the power of a source, so maybe you should be a little bit more careful with these things because younger members usually take motivations from higher rank users of the forum, and it won't be a good impression on them.

here is the list of people that posted in this topic and got demoted (included mine as well):

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2099348
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1855287
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1925023
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1821639
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1393506
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2169483
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1911471
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2110024
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2226189
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2112621
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1136975
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1931495
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2146224
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2032982
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1256570

Does newbies can't make a post ? I see newbies writing about it. In rules there is not mentioned they can't create a thread or reply to a thread.

I think that this is a good start to systematization of the forum in an even better way. And i want to add a few important thoughts.

To write something really decent, without getting lost in a bunch of other posts, and to avoid repeating other people's thoughts, you need to spend a lot of time studying all the topics and messages in them. I don't know, maybe most people have that time, but I'm not sure. It's great that there are moderators, without them it would be very sad, but it seems to me that we need a bot that will help to control messages, user actions and other activities. And also it would be interesting to make a topic summary and pin few main good users thoughts to help new users understand the line of thought. 8)

In addition, the introduction of subcategories within the forums is also necessary for companies, and in the future it would be possible to enter a rating of trust of users of a company depending on their behavior on the forum and the response they receive from users (like users trust).

The forum needs a systematization. Because to some extent, it has ceased to be just a forum very long time ago. And what is extremely important, this is one of the few sites that brings real benefit to the crypto community, allowing you to see the "true" value of some projects.

I agree with you. I often read these posts where you write, that people will not give merit to those who have a lot of bounty report in the message history. That's not quite right. If a beginner writes a good post that will be useful, why not reward him for it? And it doesn't matter that he has a lot of bounty reports in history. Each earns as he can.

Should I go to the moon to get merit ?? whatever the cause and effect, don't be sad, think positive, keep trying, for me this is a forum to give and receive knowledge, so just enjoy ..

Good day everyone, I've been here since 2017, and working for bounty every day.
The Merit system was a good way to reduce the spammers. The new rules are necessary, but im not spammers, scamer.
What  can i do?

Me demoted too

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1906656

How should we do to get merit if people wont to give it?
Pay member?🤔

This merit system is the best way to avoid spamming of post.It will definitely clean the forum and put in your mind that this is just for the sake of the forum. To be honest even i cried in the new update but instead of making a rant. I will just do my best to receive a merit. Not because you've been demoted you will demotivated. Just stay positive and dont make this rule block your dreams.

There are a lot of people praising the Merit system to get Merit, but I think differently.

Of course it is true that Merit has many advantages.
However, there are many drawbacks.
Merit Abuse, Merit black market, overly concentrated authority on High ranker. useless arguments consumed by the Merit dispute, etc.

That's obvious ;D Do you see any solutions?

One may ask whether the level obtained can not be treated as acquired right?

The  European Court of Human Rigths proved in its decisions, that acquired rights are property, and therefore are protected under First Protocol for European Convention of  Human Rights.

You can buy a copper or wait for someone like me to read your posts
maybe you were not all bounty or bounty with very little content

Or it will stifle the growth of this forum and turn many people away who could have contributed positively to the growth of crypto in general.  Merit is finite, the time people have is finite, so that doubles up to a lot of people not advancing in rank that likely earned it.  I don't have an answer for spam I simply ignore it.  You already had it gated at Jr Member which just had a minimum post amount along with an amount of time needed on the forums I believe. 

Really this only matters because you have removed our ability to set signatures or personal texts which is a dick move in my opinion.  Who exactly are you protecting with this move?  You say people are getting scammed right?  Who the hell is looking at a spam post looking at their signature and going that guy spamming LEET CRYPTO BLOCKCHAIN MOON MONEY MOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He looks like the guy I want to take advice from.  Realistically it allows people to look at what that poster is advertising and maybe avoid it because of that.

What it does take away is people who would have been Jr. Member making reasonable to quality posts (but not exceptional enough to get merit or simply was never seen) from advertising whatever project they have found.  Giving them less reason to even use this forum.  Overall this change is just going to drive people away from this forum imo. 

Great idea, great way to improve forum quality.
I agree, it isnt hard to be helpful to others which equals to earning some merits.
People just want merits for nothing, begging etc. its worst way to get merit actually. You wouldn't want this. Be helpful, dont spam = you earn merits.

Never give up. This guy got 2 already and i have checked his post history. boy oh boy

I totally agree with these. To be honest I was a bit frustrated at first when I learn the new rules regarding Jr. Member accounts because I was affected by those mass demotion. I'm a bit disappointed because I believe that its unfair for us whose making good posts and contribution in this forum.

But then I realized that its actually a good thing because it will minimize the amount of garbage posts here in this forum. Also, I noticed that previously, in signature campaigns, most of the posts made by some participants are actually don't have any substance on it. Its like they are only posting it for the sake of stakes.

I just hope more members of this forum will understand the rationale behind this changes. Besides sacrifice is essential in able to be successful.

English is also my problem. So it's hard to those people like me to get merit.


That person is very lucky. Easy merits for him. Extreme luck and knowledge are all i needed now as a beginner to get some merits.

I see quite a few demoted newbies commenting here with 0 merits. I went through the post histories of few of you earlier to see if i can find a merit-worthy post and have created a new topic about it in the beginner's section here: Checking Demoted members to give Merit: Feedback and Helpful Links (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5035183.0).

I would also recommend that you all make a habit of checking the "Show new replies to your posts" link that appears alongside your avatar at the top-left. Whenever you login, first check the pages you have posted in earlier. Watch the discussion and add something useful or even your own perspective. Engaging with people is the best way to be on this forum as well as earn merit.

I am saying this because I have notices many newbies who write on these pages and never show up again to continue the discussion.

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Nobody needs you to pass an English proficiency test here. Your English also seems fine. You are able to navigate this space and learn about bounties, translations etc. means you can learn more and help those below you to gain and understanding too.
For that, first you have to show an intent of actually being here to join the bitcoin ecosystem and not make it just another way to earn some tokens which may or may not be worthless. The user LeavingEden seems to have some English issues too but he is engaging in the discussions. I saw it worth my time to merit one of his posts.

If users like you refrain from these report posts and you actually engage in discussion for next 2 activity periods, i.e. 28 days, I or any of the other sources will be glad to give you some merit. Check the link I have given above to look for resources that can help you be better.

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This is primarily a forum for discussion on bitcoin. Its a big problem if Newbies are not actively engaging with the bitcoin ecosystem but simply getting swayed by the glittery promises of ICOs, a lot of which are turning out to be scams. What is wrong if Theymos wants to take steps to avoid this slide as the forum admin?


Jr. Members who have been demoted but have reasonable quality posts will be back up in no time. Additional merit sources are working actively so these people can come back up. If it drives those people away who are here only for alts and have no stake or interest in bitcoin itself, well then, to each his own. Honestly though, nobody wants to be away from bitcoin too long. Which brings me to ask your opinion about bitcoin and bitcoin's goals. You are at Sl. 17 in the list at the link i shared in this post.

Stay where your posts are acceptable. In your Local board. There are Merit sources in Local boards too, who can Merit the posts that are worth it. Don't post outside it unnecessarily if you know you are not good at it. Do it only when you learn to write English in a proper way, or to at least in a decent manner which a person should understand by reading.

What if they don't have local board? Not every language have accepted to have local board here. English is't that important with some people but it's a big problem with many people out there because they don't even understand an English word, they have to use google translate to understand and just can guess a little of meaning, so how to write an answer?

Having local board is a benefit that not every member here have.

I think he only do his job as a great administrator. Because for me that's the best thing to do to reduce spammers and he only make the newbies and the merit seekers to work hard more. For the goodness sake of the forum, he did great.

As a newbie again i think no need to complain, just take this as a challenge. We need to level up ourselves and do great post to earn merit and that's what a good person should do. Don't let the problem stay's in you, must look for the solution. We just have to get started and step up ourselves and do our best to get what we want.

This is primarily a forum for discussion on bitcoin. Its a big problem if Newbies are not actively engaging with the bitcoin ecosystem but simply getting swayed by the glittery promises of ICOs, a lot of which are turning out to be scams. What is wrong if Theymos wants to take steps to avoid this slide as the forum admin?


Jr. Members who have been demoted but have reasonable quality posts will be back up in no time. Additional merit sources are working actively so these people can come back up. If it drives those people away who are here only for alts and have no stake or interest in bitcoin itself, well then, to each his own. Honestly though, nobody wants to be away from bitcoin too long. Which brings me to ask your opinion about bitcoin and bitcoin's goals. You are at Sl. 17 in the list at the link i shared in this post.
[/quote]

First I'd like to thank whoever gave me 1 merit I really appreciate it. 

As to my opinion on Bitcoin and it's goals,  I like almost everyone on these forums believe in Bitcoin long term.  I am thinking its going to be more of a store of value like gold instead of a fluid currency.  It seems to me using bitcoin for micro transactions will just be to expensive to make it worthwhile. I think the problem I have with how the merit system is working partly has to do with talking about Bitcoin.  Many of the longer standing members here obviously know a significant amount more about bitcoin so it's very rare that a newer person would have anything of value to add to a conversation about bitcoin.  Now if we are talking about alt coins it becomes a more even playing field.  It seems far more reasonable to me that a newbie comes here reads a bunch of stuff learns things, sees another project they research and learn about and then they are able to say something of value to a SR or Legendary member.  Personally I'll read threads about bitcoin and I simply won't have anything to add that isn't already stated.  I have to assume this happens to a fair number of newer members.