A large part of the answer is in the question and by that I mean the dollar value or index direction likely helps BTC to a large extent.   Recent news is an unexpected lack of dollar rate rises which presumably helps restrict its speculated value thereby helping all assets denominated or traded in parallel.   I think we can say BTC is a dollar proxy used international by an online population especially in restrictive economies, when dollar falls BTC likely rises in use or I hope it goes that way as dollar does inevitable fall

Everyone knew something was up with Mt.Gox but nobody minded because it meant the price there was higher so it seemed a good thing.   Turns out it was illiquid, you know this was stupidly similar to present day US Treasury bond prices with QE supported pricing that allows it to be overvalued.    Whys that matter to you the little guy, your dollar or any western note of promissory bank paper rests on that inflated value.   None of us object because it benefits us to have a high price (low rates) so it goes on, lots of angry ants when it blows up in our faces I bet still

I know the person who made that gif, notice its London underground and even UK newspaper websites copy his image and give no credit or royalties for his original work

such is the price of infamy, you're part of the machine now.  Did you favourite it to show the hitrate out of interest

My not likely repeated meme attempt

Account ready to play straight away pre levelled to distinguished master guardian for convenience.   I'll take payment in mBtc or csgo skins, keys if preferred

Why do people like minecraft though, its just a sandbox not an actual game ?  Am I right because I saw they bring out a new game for it that might actually include missions for the first time if I read it right and before that it was just a case of build stuff and just an occasional spider but not actual multiplayer competitive games like alot of massively popular games ?  I mean the game who wrote this is a billionaire I think

Another old game (you can still play this on pc) stuntcarracer, sorry if I mentioned it already but its unique and made by physicist more famous for F1GP


relevant to thread - https://i.imgur.com/7esmUMl.webm

Can I ask how much this costs in mbtc and if its possible to get that new expansion pack also.   I'll probably wait for a big sale but just for comparison Im interested, also do you want people to carry your avatar /motif for a discount    Also would you leave feedback on my trust ?

I think the Japanese people and the Japanese government deserve two separate comparisons because the people save alot which has allowed their government to take advantage and distribute alot of new money against that security.   Also they have the oldest working population profile in the world with a very low birthrate, Germany has immigration and Japan does not, this difference changes alot with internal growth.   Also Germany is the diametric opposite on fiscal responsibility due to its past of a failed government and currency in the 1920's

I remember when CM first setup responses to enquires were not always immediate, Im not sure you should be worried on that point alone.  It doesnt do any harm to hedge your bets on any operation though

 A newspaper can carry private ads which allow the spread of crime, doesnt make them liable exactly.   I dont think you can relate as if he ordered or arranged any deaths, if he was guilty of that then fair enough try him on those counts but if he just setup a means of communication and transaction its not quite the same as 'being involved'  
What percentage of business on that site was legal, what percentage on these forums is legal or illegal.   Not everything is going to be perfectly legitimate anywhere, its not a simple case for or against.  Should he serve life no and personally for non violent crimes I dont believe in prisons of this kind as its purely punitive not corrective or preventative imprisonment.  

USA has created the largest population of illegal people of any nation, at some point I believe its unsustainable to keep just throwing away the key.  Government will either ramp up executions or hopefully develop a greater level of reasoning.  Its not just big cases like this either, in news recently was a case someone passed out and died in solitary confinement while on a traffic fine charge.  

This reminds me of Irwin Schiff who has been held 10 years for 'evading tax' and writing a book about it.   He at no point attempted to deceive or misled IRS just argue his case (ie. tax was not applicable) for which he received a similar harsh sentence as an example.   Clearly he is not the master criminal Ulbricht could be cast as but they are both naive in objecting or thinking they have a choice to wilfully object, (arrogant not to move abroad as many would)and the states reaction seems similar in that.
  He currently is 87 and is dying from terminal lung cancer yet cannot let be free for fear of being too soft on any threat to the superstate system.   I doubt Ulbricht gets any justice while he is also seen as any threat, any laws can be arranged if so desired to make progress unlikely.  If they cant even let out a book author after ten years who is going to die very soon, I dont see them extending any mercy elsewhere it would be seen as weakness within their ranks or something

Tetris helps typing speed ?   typing of the dead helps typing speed, using old 8 bit machines and having to manually type in the game before you could play it was how I learnt touch typing.  10,000 lines of code no typos allowed will improve your typing speed  

Tetris was a big one, I had it in 3D as one of the first PC games and pc was amazing at vector transformation.  Battlechess was another early pc one.
   Earlier games, probably nobody knows this one Arcadians is like turbo space invaders and they would swoop down on the player and chase him not just sit their passively.  That was a classic, watch this vid - https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3lNxeTZiuos#t=48


CSGO is a good one because they tightened up skill play so you can get really close games now, where old CS one guy just dominates

Whats to stop a women doing the opposite and getting her male friend cover her presence on a server chat briefly so she doesnt have to feel threatened by the never ending stream of salty net nerds who somehow believe gender implies ranking in some respect.   I can believe that has/does happen, voice changers are a thing and so on. Sad but true

In a proper economy, people spend & demand rises to a point they want the product more in exchange then an interest returned (even if speculative with 0% yield) on their 'hodling'    Thats a normal thing, to have that two way transaction and demand both ways.

Its counterproductive if people hold and nothing else.  So I'm going to break and say I do sometimes spend BTC but only when I see a service or goods I want sufficently, especially if it may increase my productivity then its 100% healthy to spend not save.  I hope this applies to BTC as it does any normal economic system

If the dream were anywhere near real that BTC will accumulate usage over 20 years and with only 21 million vs billions of people, the answer is plainly 1 BTC would be fine for retirement.   As always currency is not the answer but your own productivity and ability to buy working assets to reduce costs like a house then in retirement you have very low costs to meet

Japan has a declining population and working population, actually this is true of China now as their families are limited to 1 child its inevitable that they have less people and their working costs are rising.  (rising wages natural inflation)  Japan will not pay off its debts as its not been invested just spent.

USA also has this problem but does have a rising population, it could be argued they have greater productivity in future to pay off the debt.  Its unlikely any government will cut spending, switch to a surplus and keep taxes high enough for many years needed to pay off debt in excess of GDP.
   Cutting spending means less government basically, theres a self bias they just cannot turn off their own source of power and the people wont force this requirement until its completely obvious as all the various spending schemes are popular until funded from peoples taxes directly instead of delayed by debt accumulation as we have now.    Reagan did the same as Obama as Bush as Clinton as any president, they increase spending and debt regardless of politics.
  The only thing to look at is a natural change forcing rates to alter, economics should be more about this then politics but current doctrine is about forced moves and their effect rather then normal interaction in trade

Bryant is correct, gold is inert and does not change.   We could say well they mined more but as there are also more people born the amount of gold per person is alot more steady then dollars per person.  Theres trillions more dollars but not that much more gold so inevitably price in dollars goes up, I would not call this bullish or a biased outlook.  The value of the gold doesnt have to change for the dollars to go up as its clear dollars become increasingly worth less
Also there is the point that dollars were of course measured in gold, originally dollar meant pieces of silver but more recently it was in exchange for set amounts of gold.  

The gold not changing is the useful part.  Current world currency is dollars, as dollars change alot it causes problems in macro economics and trade between countries.   Anything which obscures trade in theory should eventually be discarded, like any deal if you can cut the middleman or however you want to view it.  Im close to the dollar, in my language and trade which means I benefit from its self bias but I still perceive its a system which fails.

In context of the thread, bitcoin has challenges to its stability (not literally the network but the wider trade) and this is required for confidence and value. Some say it'll come good

Its not massively small chance as the big government system now that 'profits' from incarcerating non violent prisoners for extended periods could lapse into something more sensible.   The system we have now is funded by large amounts of debt and is it not justified by a benefit to society, if the gov should run into trouble with its cheap rates of debt then all sorts of spending changes could occur. 
They may stop spending so much on prisons when they have less to spend.   The negative view would be they will just execute people instead but for non violent crimes this would be even more nonsensical.  I imagine chances are better then perceived

It matters because of distribution.  This reminds me of stock issues and of course same deal that the total value of the company is not changed, the price just halves when you double the stock available.
However if the new stock is given out to different people, you enpower those new stock holders and destroy value for holders.   Its a terrible idea that only works in a company scenario with very strict rules, fund raising.  There is no viable BTC fund raising and no way to contact holders for a 'rights issue' it would only lead to one conclusion; a fall in value.

  An induced failure by misunderstanding and corruption of the bitcoin protocol

The answer to this question will only really come when we see a national currency with a fixed exchange to gold then you will have a proper comparison to bitcoin.   Gold of course has high margins, far and away from bitcoin and its efficiency but gold monetised into cash notes is very cheap to exchange

I dont trust the Russians to do anything sensible and realise they need to do this.  Yes they bought gold but they also feel compelled to drop their rates and buy dollars, their economy is driven by oil and its partly why Saudi is acting how it is.  (they fell out and putins side said he was threatened with terrorism, no small words between two big countries)

However Switzerland are relatively central enough but impartial from select trade to add gold back to their currency. I know they voted not to but I believe if any will it might be them, they were the last to depart gold standard.   Many were shocked they broke their link with EURO but with ECB QE what else could they do, any time I look at the future or investment its about what will be inevitable natural change not the words or promises of politics which rarely relate to reality directly

Dollar doesnt have to collapse, they have to provide proper accountability in the notes for value.  So they must not serve political interests or vested interests.   Ultimately this means the US gov would have to default on its debt or cut its spending by trillions while still taxing the same and its unlikely to occur so dollar will diminish greatly in value.
Since one countrys account are being white washed through dollar value and its diluted to benefit just USA, it does seem unlikely other countries will hold and use Dollar but who knows.  If dollars arent world currency like now, this also massively undermines its future use


You arent making a statement, its a very open question with varied views on why Russia or China holds dollars.   Nobody is being forced to hold dollar, they all want to in order to benefit from global trade and liquidity.  Alot of the system isnt capitalist, its done to favour the hierarchy of that country such as the house of Saud.   China exports alot to USA, they do not favour their own peoples purchasing power they do favour their political elite and maintaining the status quo and unequal power; dollar helps keep power centralised rather then distributed as a capitalism system of montary exchange passes power to the holders of capital such as normal citizens, workers and producers of wealth like the business owners.  This system opposes political elite who its no great stretch to realise do not do alot of work for a country rather vice versa

THe same argument is used when talking about gold and actually I think its correct.     People will point out gold sitting in a bank vault does nothing and serves no purpose however it is utilised by the bank issuing paper against its asset worth.  
Most obviously would be Fort Knox and dollar notes, though there is no fixed relationship the gold is effectively circulated within that system.

So just literally holding bitcoin and doing zero with it in any way is not productive or likely to produce value as the dollar system has managed or any bank with assets but also balance sheet liabilities.    Bitcoin is not worthless and does enable trade however I do think it relies on its usage to create value, so most often casino bets use bitcoin as a cheap way to pay out to their customers worldwide who are then obligied to carry out any translation personally into their local currency.   An efficent system is in play there that encourages business, so value is added.

Im not sure plain btc in a wallet is doing something useful exactly.  In a wallet as I travel overseas and its secure in allowing me to sell my house belongings in one country and then buy goods elsewhere and not risk the worth in the journey.  That example would be useful but most journeys dont take years.  

tl:dr  BTC velocity is high, other assets are likely better long term storage