The Bitcoin world and all the other cryptocurrencies are just a blip on the radar. It is funny that people overestimate Bitcoin's influence on the world and vice versa. A lot of peoplein the mainstream still think that Bitcoin is a scam and a ponzi. If you think deeply about it, it is not that yet but it could be depending on what happens to it 10 - 20 years from now.

So my opinion on the Trump thing would be if he imposes more regulations then that is what Bitcoiners should be looking for because now there is a need for Bitcoin to fill that market just like how it filled the darknet. Imagine if drugs were legal and that you could pay with your credit card for them. That would suck for Bitcoin.

This could be just another gimmick and that they just want to ride the bandwagon. We keep hoping for Bitcoin to "get adopted by the mainstream" when its real strength comes from enabling markets that the banks and payment processors do not want to serve. That means the darknet markets, criminals, hackers, illegal gambling sites operating outside of regulation, etc.  When I read titles of articles like that, I just roll my eyes and ignore the news. The current centralized systems is already more efficient and cheaper to use for their use case.

Why would you like to convert? From your OP then maybe the best reason for you to convert is for the purpose of speculation so that you could grow your "real money $". It is what you want right? It is what we all want. Then along the way you discover that it really is not that bad to buy a fake Rolex in the darknet market, or drugs if that is what you are in to. Gambling in a Bitcoin site is also easier. No docs necessary and the cashouts are very fast. You will also discover other stuff can be done with Bitcoin.

Then you just realize that you became a Bitcoiner naturally along the way.

Then all the economies around the world will be affected in a negative way. The US Dollar is the world's no. 1 reserve currency. Almost all of the countries hold their reserves in USD. Importers, exporters, international traders, crude oil prices are all transacted in USD so it would be possible that the global economy could go thru a depression.

I would believe that BTC will be affected negatively also because all the mining farms, Bitcoin merchants and other Bitcoin based businesses all need fiat, their operations do not depend solely on BTC.

Yes and there is an argument that it would be cheaper and more efficient for the banks to use their current systems or use a database. Also why would the banks use a blockchain? That would mean that they would have to share their data to all the other banks. Do the banks really trust each other that much? What secures this private blockchain, is it also proof or work? I cannot imagine a real blockchain without proof of work.

Having shown the Bitcoin companies that are dead or showing a loss in their balance sheet. What then are the companies that are making money? I can only think of some of the darknet market places are making money, some high traffic gambling sites like NitrogenSports and maybe a few of the more dominant exchanges. I would think that even a Bitcoin company that is highly funded like 21 Inc. has no revenue and profit as of now.

I have read a book about Japanese candle sticks and no it did not work for me so I gave up. I just buy and hold Bitcoin and usually wait for dips to buy more because I believe that this is a good long term investment. It is working for me so far even though the dips I am waiting for do not come and I am forced to buy at higher prices sometimes.

Then "they" have already won, Bitcoin or no Bitcoin. It makes the argument wider and beyond the scope of Bitcoin because "they" control everything. There is nothing we can do but to accept our lives as it is and that there is no way out of this. For all we know "this" has been going on for centuries.

Then Bitcoin may have back fired on "them". The darknet market prefers to use Bitcoin and it is growing. The regulations "they" have imposed is what subsidised Bitcoin if you get what I mean. Drugs, stolen goods, fake goods, and all other unregulated, illegal items could now be bought online using Bitcoin. Bitcoin is making those illegal markets online possible and easier to participate in.

Is there really a need for a smart contract platform for Bitcoin? What would be the possible use cases for these and what markets would it possibly serve? The other question is would it be cheaper and more efficient to run services as a smart contract?

The people in the darknet market would prefer to use Bitcoin, so will the ransomware hackers, etc. There are also other niches where the underserved and the unbanked will prefer to use Bitcoin or because they have no choice. Bitcoin is serving and will be present in markets where the banks do not want to go into.


No. You are not seeing the whole picture. There are untapped markets where Bitcoin will be preferable. They will mostly be unregulated black market places and illegal but still potentially worth billions of $.

There was an article somewhere that said that 21 Inc. will pivot from a hardware maker to software. I googled to search for the article but I could not find it. Maybe it was posted on /r/bitcoin or in this forum.

What sort of "good tools" did they create? I remember the Bitcoin computer was only a raspberry PI with a node and a bootstrapped blockchain. It was a big let down.

Will it really matter who the president is? Bitcoin is supposed to be outside the mainstream and it is subsidized by the current fed regulations in the United States. Think about if Paypal was allowed by the government to be open to the darknet drug market. Bitcoin will lose its market niche. I know a lot of you want mainstream adoption but I like the underground to become mainstream because of Bitcoin.

My initial thought would be no. But I am not closing my mind to the idea. 20 - 30 years ago we would not have thought that computers in our pockets were possible, now it is a part of regular life. Maybe in the future a Bitcoin node would run in a smart phone like it was nothing. Although there is the bandwidth issue to consider.

I would like to see what gmaxwell and the other Core developers' response to this is. Calling Segwit a "bait and switch" seems a little unfair. Everyone is free to check and look at the code to see for themselves. I am not a coder so it would be nice for someone who is neutral to comment on Roger Ver's bait and switch statement.

It really depends on what you plan to trade. If you want to trade BTC/USD go to BTCE or Bitstamp, for BTC/EUR use Kraken. If you plan to trade altcoins go to Poloniex, they are the most popular exchange right now for altcoins. I would also advice to stay away from Bitfinex. They are having problems right now.

How can they really even "ban" Bitcoin? By design it is censorship resistant. They could ban the exchanges but the people will find other ways to convert their fiat to Bitcoin. Bitsquare.io is right there waiting, the darknet markets will not go away and there will be other markets that have yet to be discovered right now. They could threaten to "ban" it but they could not do anything except stop the conversion to fiat. That is good because maybe we need to start realizing that there is no need to convert to fiat.

Generally that is sound advice. Any dips in price should be viewed as an opportunity to buy more. I know this sounds funny when you give this same advice for altcoins. With Bitcoin it is not. There is already a market where value transfer is needed and there are more markets out there that have yet to be discovered.

To the OP. That is a stretch sir. You have to remember that we already are enslaved one way or another with or without Bitcoin. Also fiat currencies are a more preferable tool for them to maintain the status quo because they control the supply and are also regulated by them.

Small solar powered mining farms located around the world would be an ideal scenario for Bitcoin. At least that is one problem solved to make the network last for the long term. Imagine all the energy to do Proof of Work is all coming from the sun. That would be something.