Bitcoin Forum

Hi, long time reader..

I'm impressed that this website has lasted for such a long time. Eleven years! Certainly that time must have passed with occasional drama, not just with Satoshi leaving. It seems like this forum would attract more problems than most. (Although anything interesting and worthwhile attracts trolls these days..)   The increase of bitcoin's worth has no doubt helped.

But, how did you do it? How have the mods resolved issues? How have you avoided too many trolls, or kept interest (in moderating) this long?

Yes, It's pretty so long time journey for a crypto related forum. This was the first and biggest and still it is biggest forum in crypto world.


Mods don't care about the drama/trolls outside this forum. That means they have not need to solve the issue outside. They just monitor this forum and still they are doing their best to give us best support from their end.

When there's a legend associated with it, it's hard to die ;D

Moderating is part and parcel of every forum, so those mods handling those things are nothing out of the ordinary.

Not only one who moderating this forum there is many moderators here on the forum that keeps our forum healthy.
If you want to see all the forum mods and staff you can find it from this link below.

- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5206428.0

Also, without the help of the community, no one will report any issues, trolls, or posts that against the rules(That's the nature of forum).

Can't speak to the problems most other forums face, because I'm not active in many others.  The ones I have belonged to have invariably had much tougher rules than bitcointalk, though.  Some of them don't allow even the hint of offensive posts--or foul language, or scamming.  So yeah, I'd imagine that this forum does attract far more bullshit than others since there seems to be much more freedom to write what you want here.  It's not out of control, however.  The moderators do a damn good job deleting any spam or garbage posts, bots, and whatever else turns up.

Personally?  I created this thread (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5088527) a couple years ago when we had a member named cryptohunter constantly stirring up shit with thread after thread of the same crap for years.  It had gotten so bad by the time I made that thread that I felt I had to rally the community to stop feeding the monster troll. 

It didn't quite work, because cryptohunter had a nasty way of targeting members in his threads that would draw responses from them, which would then suck in other members....and it just went on and on.  And then we've had some outspoken, controversial members who've left the forum in the past two years or so: Vod, TECSHARE, Lauda, Phinnaeus Gage (Bruno), and TMAN, which has decreased the amount of drama here significantly.  Meta and Reputation used to be full of drama threads, but now it's relatively quiet.

It's the oldest and most popular Bitcoin forum, and it comes with a lot of history about the beginnings of bitcoin and different popular altcoins which means the more success Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies attract, the stronger the forum will go.

Let's not forget that the admins have done a very great job. I have seen certain forums suffer attacks or hacks, and they end up collapsing, but this forum I think had only one serious hack which i remember. After that, there hasn't been any major incident I know of.

It's a tough journey for this forum but still around after 11 years, The cryptocurrency is getting bigger so a lot of people are also interested in joining the forum and from different countries.

We have a lot of great moderators here in the forum and we have theymos the admin that maintain the forum, We are all in cryptocurrency as well, and doing or dedicating your time in this forum is a big commitment to moderators and members that still here in the forum, I guess it is just because we all win here as we continue our journey we learn and earn at the same time.

The fact that satoshi is the one who started the forum is I think a big factor, where also consider as one of the top cryptocurrency or bitcoin forums out there.

11 years  online is impressive achievement, but not something extraordinary. There is many forums (not about Bitcoin obviously) which are running for much longer. There is some websites which are online for more than 20 years.
But fact that Bitcointalk is working from early days of Bitcoin is amazing. I think fact that Satoshi and early Bitcoin adopters used to discuss here helped this forum to stay until now. I know that in Bitcoin world, word "official" shouldn't be used, but I think that from early days many people consider this forum as official Bitcoin discussion forum and because of this they aren't looking for alternatives.
Also, forum always been in good hands - theymos and his team of moderators are doing great job.
Though, in recent years many prominent members left forum, so, there is not much drama here these days.

The website lasted a long time and still lasts with its old software and UI...

Even if we forget everything, this forum is just an online treasure and museum, a place where the legendary Satoshi Nakamoto was posting, a place where the other legendary people were posting, a place where the businesses were built and conquered the crypto space and a place where you'll see the community like no other.

I think this forum needs something new, I feel that as time goes, more people leave this forum. I loved the 2014-2017 years of bitcointalk. Sadly, right now, even cointelegraph has 2x better Alexa rank than bitcointalk.org

See?  This is why I need my sMerits replenished ASAP.  I'd love to merit this post but can't because I'm all out--can someone please merit shield132's post as a favor to me? 

Bitcointalk in its present state does indeed feel like a museum, and that's one of the things I love about it, that it hasn't changed in its appearance over the years (or at least since I've been here, which was 2015).  Plus all the old posts made in the early days of bitcoin are pretty much still here if you care to look.

Those years had a lot of drama in them, that's what I remember--plus the bitcoin fever that happened leading up to the crash at the end of 2017.  It was a giddy time for all, because bitcoin was soaring.  The ICO craze started in that period as well, and I don't think that was a good thing.  There were tons of scams and it led to idiot shitposters almost ruining the forum because of all the bounties.

By the way, what does it matter that bitcointalk isn't ranked as highly as cointelegraph on Alexa?  It's not a competition.

No, it's not extraordinary and I'd say it's not even unexpected that this forum would last this long given how many people use the site to make money.  Bitcointalk would probably still exist if there weren't any campaigns or bounties, but I'd bet that there would be much, much less activity here.

The dramas were handled pretty great by the mods despite some of it lasts for either weeks, months, or even years as for some still keeps their burden on the issue. Imagine Satoshi is still on hunt by some users in the forum and still posts "who really is satoshi" lol. But yeah, trolls or dramas that doesn't makes any sense were just mostly not given too much attention and mods just either ban them or users just flags them. I think from time to time where dramas and issues keeps popping out, most users who engage in such discussions tend to just not give a f* when the discussions is just circling around opinions.

Moderators come and go. Admins come and go and the head admin position has been changed many times, from satoshi to Sirius and theymos.

Moderators do their moderation by their own scanning, cleaning time. I am sure they will take moderation on any post they see that breaks rule.
In addition, moderators do their works with reports from the community members. You report, they handle your report.

The forum has admins, moderators and members. It does not exist for long without those vital elements.

kaggie, you asked very interesting questions  :D
This forum is not perfect and actually has a lot of problems, and some problems have already been mentioned like trolling, spam etc.
A lot of members have actually left this forum and it seems to me that young people lately prefer telegram groups and social networks for crypto discussions.
The popularity of this forum is actually related to the popularity of bitcoin and crypto, and also the power of the habit is very important.
People find it difficult to change their habits, over the years some friendships have been created here and also the possibilities of earning bitcoin on this forum should not be neglected.

Signature & bounty campaigns will keep the forums alive. Otherwise, Without the campaigns, I think most people will move away to other social media sites. Theymos & Mods really did a great job.

Signature campaigns and bounties do help.
Also the forum is known as a good starting point to fix problems (various services and software may be pointing here), and I agree that the ranking in search engines needs certain improvement.



Since trolling is against the rules, trolls are usually reported by the community, helping solve the problem.


I think that the winning "strategy" is a mix of history, common sense rules, helping community, good mods and, again, the paying campaigns.


Fixed that for ya  ;) Not as a favor, just simply because it's well deserved.

That's pretty much the truth. Most (especially without jobs/ experience) are motivated to earn and with bounty campaigns paying quite decently depending on rank, it's a no-brainer once they attain the eligible status.

Maybe there are more niche subforums, such as Lending but if Bitcointalk were to further incorporate common topics; latest hardware, travelling, automotive, it would make discussions more interesting, and make signature campaigns more diverse. Not to mention it becomes a more enjoyable place to socialize.

However I'm pretty certain there would be hardcore naysayers to this, defending the nature of the whole branding/ Bitcoin cause; Satoshi be rolling in his grave should this happen.

I've backed away from posting over the last few months.. The dig spammers who believe in fiat rather than Bitcoin dropped the posting quality quite a bit. The bankers' pandemic has change things quite a bit for me - I no longer spend hours on the computer in Mcdonalds drinking coffee, and I don't respect the sheeple who wander everywhere wearing face masks. I find it difficult to believe that so many people have fallen for the manipulation that has ramped up a minor virus that has been around since the 1930s into a massive transfer of wealth away from people and the national reserves.
I'm srill converting my van, and once I have got a decent comms centre installed, then I'll try to create some non-political discussion threads.

There are many other sites like facebook etc which also last for many years and will continue even further. By bitcoin talk forum, you mean that bitcoin have managed to survive with all the governments and financial institutions opposing it ?     Well, that's an achievement to remain and grow when the main stream power is against it.

I appreciate it very much, and I hate that I have to ask like that, but for some reason it seems like my sMerits aren't being topped up as fast as they used to.  Or maybe I'm just using them up faster.  Anyway, thanks.

Hey, Jet Cash!  I'm one of those sheeple, but in the US the mask restriction has been lifted in most settings (you still have to wear them in government buildings and in medical settings).  I also think it's idiotic, but I actually don't mind covering my face.  Good to see you're still around and I hope you get that comm center up and running in your van.  You're one of the reasons why this forum has been a good place for the past few years, and you've done a lot to help newbies.

Indeed.  But as I've always said, just because someone is motivated by money to post, it doesn't mean that person's posts have to be garbage.  Look at the Chipmixer campaign (and *ahem* Foxpup's exclusive Merit Cycling Club); only members who know how to write and/or attract attention get into campaigns like that, and to be accepted you have to have an established history of making quality posts.  Sadly, a lot of other campaigns have much lower standards, and most token-paying bounties have almost no standards whatsoever.

Really the the platform have stayed more than my expectations, when i joined the community i taught the community is like a group that will not be interactive or been formative in terms of discussion, then i have to took my time to read through the history of the community, after then i have to notice that the community is broad and it's a continuous process irrespective the problems or challenges that is affecting it, i know vividly that for the community to stay up to one to five (1-5) years their is hope.

Can't answer for the mod but since I'm a part of the community and have spent nearly or over 4years actively participating in discussion here, i can say the dedication that the community members have for the forum is what's keeping it alive, not the signature or bounty as others might say. Take those features out and the forum would still be functioning although there's no doubt it won't be as active as it's now but it'll still be functioning.

The mottos has always been 'Don't feed the trolls' and that have helped kept the conversation clean to some extend, some argument here and there but overall the community has always found a way to go pass the trolls that pop up every now and then. The moderators are also getting some kind of compensation for their service but overall their service is seen as a volunteering service to the community so I guess that's what is keeping them going.

We have active members here, doing something to help in the continuity of the forum either via their selfless service to the forum like spam, scam busting or quality contributions to the ongoing discussion on the forum.

NeuroticFish touched on the subject briefly, but I think we aren't giving enough credit to the members who spend every day browsing various threads and helping users who made mistakes or are in doubt about anything bitcoin. The sheer amount of knowledge and experience those people have is amazing and a pleasure to read. I often find myself thinking, how could they have possibly acquired all this knowledge and how long did it take? So if you ask me what is the heart of this community, I'll tell you it's the fact that you can get professional help and advice from patient individuals who will take on anything thrown at them, and most of the times, they'll find a solution. And it's free.

Come to think of it, does every member get paid handsomely to join the campaign? I recalled Loyce's getting paid quite a sum every week based on some posts made by Foxpup, but that's all I know of.

For ChipMixer, that's the "laziest" campaign I ever come across that almost has near-zero chances to join. These two are one of a kind :p

If those campaign managers were to raise the bar, I reckon we'd see a handful of campaigns surviving for a few weeks tops. But after all, advertising has always been a mixed bag. You come across good posters as well as bad ones. As long as the advertisers gain the exposure and new clients, the posts quality don't really matter. Just like how spam works.

Bitcointalk is a part of bitcoin history and it will last as long as bitcoin exists, or as long as theymos and moderators are alive to maintain everything.
Great work of everyone who contributed for years and keeping this place alive and surviving all the attacks..

Honestly, forums with too much restrictions suck. Little dramas also help keep forum feel alive.

Yeah, it's nice to see the bickering over small matters and the color-laden posts by TMAN.

On a side note, I wonder what happened to him.

Just curious though and not trying to wish bad on anyone most especially our forum owner at the moment but if something was to happen to theymos that resulted to him not having control to the admin panel of the forum. Are there already measure put in place to help keep the forum running.

It could be anything like death (not wishing for that) or illness (not also wishing for that) but if this were to happen, how will the forum continue functioning. I remember I read Satoshi gave the forum to theymos before disappearing which is why the forum continue functioning and not die off as someone else was in charge. How'll we function if theymos is no longer in charge and unfortunately the forum wasn't handled over to someone else before that happened.

The scenario was briefly discussed at least here some years ago: if theymos die what happen ? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5056801.0).
 @Cyrus (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=78147) is also a forum Administrator, so the forum’s operative scenario should be covered. There’s likely some contingency plan drawn-up, although these have to be properly tested every now and then to asses that they cover all the required angles properly, and adapt to changes (i.e. admin access, backups, forum funds, etc.).

The forum is the oldest of all forum simply because the users and community moderators have maintain the let down rules for this community and everyone of them has been diligent in doing their various task

I wouldn't just limit it to that. I'd say why this forum has been so successful would be a combination of Satoshi being a fundamental part of the draw, even after he became inactive. The fact that there's been multiple big occurrences on the forum that have embedded itself in history, the 50 btc pizza springs to mind. However, the absolute reason its so successful is because of the community. This forum has been fragmented at times, with various users squaring up against each other, but there's always been a collective mentality to discuss all things Bitcoin, while primarily focusing on quality discussion around it.

Simply put; This forum has lasted so long, because of its community. Right from the newbies asking the questions, right up to theymos making the decisions.

Forums associated with bitcoin since its infancy. So happy to be a part of the forum.Thanks to Satoshi who created and bitcoin and bitcointalk.In addition to the bounty campaign has maintained the forum existence.The forum is also a place full of knowledge for people when they start getting involved in cryptocurrency.

If there's a daily activity and constant increase in those activity, the website will be able to do the good and can possibly sustain their presence online since their site is constantly used. I was doubtful that this site will last long at first but seeing how active each board is, I slowly changed my mind saw that this forum is probably here to stay. I think the great work of mods and the people who report trolls to the mods did a pretty good job at keeping the trolls at bay even though there's a season when there's just too many.

Considering how active TMAN was during January and February 2020 and that he didn't mention anything about leaving, taking a break, or doing something else, one can only fear the worst. His last post dates back to the end of February. February-March is the time when the pandemic really started breaking out all around Europe and the US. He might have gotten caught up in it.

It doesn't have to be COVID at all. Maybe he just got fed up with the forum, or he is in jail, or he is spending his crypto fortunes on an exotic island somewhere.

Satoshi might have something to do with it, but I don't think that him having been here is that big of a deal. New users who come and register on Bitcointalk mostly due so for two reasons:

• They are looking for help and a Google search or friendly advice led them to Bitcointalk.
• They are looking to profit from bounty/signature campaigns and heard they can do that here.

Its likely not that big of a draw anymore, as I'm assuming a lot of users probably don't even know about Satoshi's involvement with the forum early on. However, the initial success of it being the only one, and the creator was posting exclusively here, must have been a draw, and probably contributed to why Bitcointalk remained on top.

It potentially does play a factor with users looking up what Satoshi has said, since multiple news sources link to his posts here.

Not sure how would COVID cause him to be fed up, but you might be right about the island thing... he realized his profits and settled there, riding off into the sunset :p

No, no. Go back to the beginning of my post when I said "one can only fear the worst". He might no longer be with us (deceased). That's what I meant. The second part about him getting fed up with Bitcointalk or being in jail, or on an exotic island somewhere are just other possibilities why he is missing.

I know, I was kidding about the last sentence.

To be frank, I do have some suspicions about what you said (death) ever since he went off the radar. Especially with COVID taking the lives of many people including prominent ones...

The moderators of this forum are trying their best to keep this forum clean and they are doing their job successfully. There are some members in this forum whose contribution is adding more new things so that it is beneficial for everyone. Bitcointalk is a place to learn more about cryptocurrency, and to gain knowledge. So the contribution of admins, moderators, members, this forum will spread to more people in the coming days.

Anything man get or did out of desperation, he will loose it.
This forum was not a product of desperation but a product of the future and we are bound together with the same goal which is pushing cryptocurrency forward with the respect of each other privacy this are the force kept forum operation till now.

These two reasons are why I don't visit Facebook or reddit much these days!

Too many restrictions on people who don't go with their admin think.

Facebook is cancer, Reddit - it depends on sub you are in, I find it free as bitcointalk.