For a long time, there have been several negative campaigns about the electricity consumption of Bitcoin. Several companies, NGOs and individuals have sponsored diverse campaigns to make people see bitcoin as an enemy of the environment. Most researchers and their findings were manipulated just because they wanted to spread lies and their evil agenda. So it is good news to see biased free research that gave a reasonable picture of Bitcoin energy consumption. With bitcoin miners embracing the more green source of power the energy consumption will keep reducing in the future. Each time these acclaimed environmentalists point to Bitcoin as one of the problems of the environment, I refer them to this website: https://bitcoincleanup.com/

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BTC address (Segwit)-bc1q2gyx8djznd0yenhy9jfrkufp7hh3322j48uscy

Username: Fiatless
BTC Address (bech32): bc1q2gyx8djznd0yenhy9jfrkufp7hh3322j48uscy

Businesses should ensure they abide by the laws or regulations before engaging in any form of business activity. Carrying out an unregistered business in not acceptable and SEC should not be blamed for going after them. I don't see it as a witch-hunt but the SEC is carrying out its regulative function. These NFT tokens need strong regulations because it has become a free market for scams.

I read through the terms of service of your casino and it was stated that you will not be held liable in cases of loss of data or profit. This means the casino doesn't guarantee that there will be no identity theft. I doubt if there is any casino that can protect users from hacks because it is impossible to stop them. This is why it is important not to keep money on the casino and put on only what you are willing to lose. And if care so much about your protection don't solely place the responsibility on casinos, you should take your personal security measures.

A few decades ago China was a developing nation but they were later blessed with good leadership. Their leaders saw the population as an advantage and took advantage of it. They invested heavily in education and made many citizens skillful. Many Chinese students were sponsored to study in US universities where they were exposed to American technology. They began to copy American technology and created cheap labor and products. In a few years, they became the cheapest place to produce many products and many nations moved their industries to China. China gradually became the major trading partner of the most powerful nations and built their influence.

Currently, China is facing several problems due to its aging population because of bad birth control policies. Donald Trump made some policies that made many US companies sever ties with China. And the Covid 19 also affected the economy. But China is an example of a country that turned a problem to an opportunity and it is also an example of how good political leadership can change a country positively.

I will not discourage anyone from learning from any source but my advice will always be do your own research. You don't have to depend fully on the social media for information. Most of them are there for profit making so they can promote FUD that can favor them. Some of them also promote some shitcoins they have an interest in. Like I earlier stated it is important you come up with a trading strategy through learning and research. It is also important to know that trading is risky especially when you are dealing with altcoins. It is possible to lose 100%, so those people might have sound trading skills but the market can sometimes make one lose all, especially with altcoins. This forum is also another good place to learn about the movement of the market.

The word investor is anyone who does business in the Bitcoin space to achieve a goal which can be monetary or non-monetary. Somebody can invest time, skills, or money in Bitcoin and the reward he is expecting can be in the form of money or other intangible reward. People who do bitcoin awareness and education voluntarily can be said to be investors. They might not be expecting money but he expects his students or audience to learn about Bitcoin and become believers. The joy of a bitcoin volunteer is the natural sense of accomplishment.

Now investors can put in money with the main of making profit within a short, medium, or long period. Some traders target daily profits and others within days or months but bitcoin Hodlers can keep the currency for years or even decades. Bitcoin hodlers are generally referred to as real investors.

Gambling is unpredictable so you cannot be certain that your friend will recover his loss. If he is not careful he will love more money. Taking a loan to gamble is a very bad decision that can put him into more debt. It is better to gamble with your own money and preferably your spare cash.

Your friend should take a break and take care of himself. Tell him that he cannot pursue his losses in gambling. He needs to gamble responsibly and look for other sources of income. You can partner with someone to invest in a business but a gambling partnership is strange to me.

There was a pathetic story of a boy who was scammed in the US. These scammers collected all he had and they were still asking him to send more money or they would expose his nude pictures and post them on different social media. This young boy pleaded with these criminals and told them that he had spent all he had and that he was becoming depressed and contemplating suicide. One of the scammers told the teenager to "Do that fast, or I’ll make you do it," and this young boy committed suicide. I was happy when they were arrested and extradited to the US.

All these criminals need is the money. They don't care if it was your last saving or borrowed money. If you are going through emotional trauma, health problems, or even death, they don't care. This is why it is very important to give proper attention to our security because these criminals won't have feelings. It is cheaper and easier to apply security measures than to trace scammers.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/08/14/us/michigan-sextortion-ring-nigerian-suspects-extradited/index.html

Username: Fiatless
BTC Segwit address: bc1q2gyx8djznd0yenhy9jfrkufp7hh3322j48uscy

CBDCs were created because of the existence of crypto. The government is creating something similar to attract more and my observation was based on my experience in my country. The sole reason why the government of my country created CBDC is to encourage people to abandon crypto for the central bank digital currency. There were campaigns in the media about the benefits of CBDCs and the risks of using cryptocurrencies.

None is better because they are both centralized. Some altcoins are totally under the control of individuals.

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Reapplying.

The decentralized nature of Bitcoin gives everybody equal and free access to its network from any part of the world. With robust mobile and internet connectivity, India has one of the fastest-growing Fintech industries in the world. Yet about  22% of Indians are unbanked as of 2021 and a recent report put the number at 190 million people. Cryptocurrency indeed can be a banking option for them to save and also make some transactions.

But it would be wrong to assume that cryptocurrency is the solution to all their economic problems. Cryptocurrency alone can not make an underdeveloped nation develop. We should understand that cryptos are alternative currencies and investments but not a quick-fix economic development tool.

Currently, cryptocurrency is a big player in the global financial system since it is used either directly or indirectly in many parts of the world. To challenge the progress of the crypto industry many central banks have introduced CBDCs. These CBDCs have similar qualities to altcoins due to their centralized nature, but none can be decentralized like Bitcoin. So for anyone to enjoy the true benefit of privacy and security Bitcoin is the only option. With the recent improvement in bitcoin awareness and adoption, by 2030 more nations, corporations, and individuals will embrace the technology but I doubt if it will spread to everywhere in the world. Most nations might still be lagging due to stringent laws and infrastructural deficits.

Most stable coin issuers or creators are not registered or regulated by any country, which means suing them can be complicated. Most of them are operated by inexperienced and unqualified individuals thay lack basic financial management skills. The accounts or books of these exchanges are kept secret and not audited periodically. I would prefer to keep my money in dollars in a bank. Banks are insured by national deposit insurance companies so customers might not lose their deposit in case of bankruptcy. You don't have any assurance to get back your funds if a stablecoin collapses or loses its value. Like you also said Mate, you have the privilege to seek legal action in the court against the bank in the country because it is registered.

Institutions accepting cryptocurrency help to build public trust and spread crypto awareness in a country. But the challenge with this awareness is that it misinforms the people. People will not get the truth about buying and selling cryptos because they will be introduced to shitcoin and brainwashed to depend on middlemen. These people might not be unaware that they don't need any intermediary to buy or sell Bitcoin.

They don't want to accept payments directly from decentralized wallets so that they can have access to people's information. PayPal acting as a middleman will ensure that the customer has an account and has submitted the required KYC. I just see the news as a move to attract more clients for PayPal.

If they say Bitcoin is risky, you can ask them which investment has no risks. People with no knowledge about the sector will always spread lies or rumors. In most cases people don't know the difference between Bitcoin and altcoins they assume that cryptos are the same. Just like every other business, investing in Bitcoin has some level of risk. That is why it is important to invest only what you can live without or what you can bear if there is any loss.

The easiest way of avoiding scams is to invest only in Bitcoin, use an open-sourced noncustodial wallet and keep your keys and password safe.

You can buy Bitcoin through centralized or decentralized platforms. You have to study how these platforms operate to check the one that suits you. If you don't care much about your privacy and you can risk keeping your funds in the custody of a third party, you can choose exchanges. But it is risky since they are unreliable. But if you are not comfortable with KYCs and you want to have total control of your funds, the best option will be decentralized platforms that promote P2P such as bisq.


Bitcoin is better because it is
Decentralized: It is not issued or controlled by the government or organization. So it cannot be easily manipulated by any government.

Promotes privacy: It can hide the identity of an individual because it is pseudonymous. Transactions can only be traced to wallets or addresses but your identity cannot be known if you use a non-custodian wallet or use exchanges that don't require KYC. Using Mixers can also promote your privacy.

Serves as a hedge against inflation: Bitcoin has proved that it can help individuals protect their finances from the loss of value of local currency during inflation.

Grants unlimited access to funds: Money kept in banks can be seized by banks or government. However, using Bitcoin through a non-custodian wallet will give you unlimited access to your money.

Competitive transaction fees: Bitcoin transaction fees can be cheaper and more reliable than fiat transactions.

Cannot be counterfeited: Although we have some altcoins that want to duplicate bitcoin such effort ended in futility. Fiat can be faked easily but it is not easy to counterfeit bitcoin.

You need to do your research before engaging in trading for the reason that there are other important things you need to learn. You need to learn how to secure your wallet against hacks or scams. Just make sure you do your research.

Horse race is rare in my country, it is solely reserved for the elites. The cost of playing this game is high so people pay less attention to it. And when a sport is not popular people will not place bets on it since they know little or nothing about it. I have watched some of the live games and I find sport interesting but very risky.

There is nothing that is not possible if money is involved. Running a production bet will attract more interest and members will watch games and predict matches. I will personally be interested because no knowledge is wasted. There is no harm in a trial, it could come out great.