Yesterday's Vikingur Reykjavid vs. Malmo match was high scoring, but most the matches were on the low side.  Still, both teams score is probably a good be for some of the matches, but I'm not familiar enough with those clubs to get accurate predictions.  The US's MLS is going strong right now.  Not the most competitive league, but some of the clubs are fun to watch.  Since I follow the league I'm usually more comfortable making predictions for those matches.

LOT 1; 1 @ 0.0147
LOT 2; 0.0156
LOT 3; 0.0124

If your private keys or seed phrase have fallen into the hands of a phishing site scammer then, yes.  If they have been compromised any and all coins, tokens, and accesses privileges are now within reach of the scammer.  Everything!  

There are many scams out there that imitate legit sites, if you remain diligent you'll stay safe.  Don't trust any site that aske for private keys or seeds.  If you really want to remain safe, learn how to verify stuff with GPG.

Hopefully that won't be necessary.  If theymos is willing to modify the requirements for DT2 according to the recommendations with the most votes, then it's not going to be an issue in the near future.  I hated to have to exclude him myself, I don't know him well enough to specifically distrust his judgement, but his use of the trust system is obviously self-serving. 

You make a good point.  


I thought Messi was too old last year, tbh, but he still won it, which is why I made the quip about PSG.  I know it's the most prestigious of soccer awards, but honestly I don't know how it's judged.  All I know is that Salah wasn't even in consideration a couple of years ago when he had more goals than anyone else in Europe, and if there ever was a selfless player on the pitch, he's one.



Lol, that's a cheap way of getting revenge for having a shitty season last year.  

Whatchu talkin' 'bout?  Really, what can go wrong?

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All kidding aside, of course I was being facetious.  I don't recommend you attempt write your own wallet software unless you are a competent programmer working as a member of competent team.  Even the best of us can overlook simple issues that can cause major damage.

Thanks for clarifying that for me.  I haven't used Sparrow although I've been seeing it mentioned frequently these days.  I looked into it a couple of days ago and like the features it provides, like an integrated block explorer.  I was hoping it could connect directly to core and wouldn't need to a remote SPV server, but from reading the documents it looks like it just uses Electrum SPV servers for it's connections.  I may install it and play around with it for a bit just get familiarized.

As for CoinJoin, I'm still on the fence about it.  Same with JoinMarket, tbh.  I don't mind using ChipMixer for some things, but usually I rely on Monero to break the link between me and my coins.

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You're not wrong, there are plenty of those types of services around, but I tend to forget about them because I haven't used them.  I have trust issues.  In fact, I mentioned one (ShapeShift) not long ago that I've been meaning to try out, but I still haven't had the guts.

My comments were more about tendencies, i.e. people want convenience; if I was a shitcoiner and I had to go to three of four different sites to trade fiat at one, XMR at another, Shithereum at a third, and Tron at a fourth just to avoid KYC or taint proclamations, I might just give up and hand over all my data to CoinBase.  If Bisq made trading those shitcoins easier, and included "accounts" for multiple smart-chains, more people might find it more attractive.

This could certainly fall into the category of "be careful what you wish for."  I do want to see more trade offers available on bisq, but do I want all these shitcoiners there?  Probably not.

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It is quite sad to see all these reputable accounts running around promoting a wallet that's hurting the fungibility of bitcoin.  Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.  I guess that's what you get when you mix greed with short-sightedness.

Wonderful initiative there, Agbe.  I hope you continue to contribute to the cryptocurrency ecosystem by introducing it to youngsters, but more importantly the contribution you've made to these youngsters' lives is so commendable I find my words lacking to express how appreciative and proud I am of you.

I don't know how much help I really offered, but if there's anything I can do to help you further please don't hesitate to ask.

I agree with this, the 9ers are ready to move on from Garoppolo, and more importantly, so are the fans.  The trouble is it's just like ChiBitCTy said; Garoppolo isn't a great quarterback, but he's far from a bad one either.  He wins games, look no further than his record as a starter with 49ers for proof.  It's the must-win games and moments when he seems to have trouble.  I won't blame all that on Garoppolo, it's largely the coach's responsibility to get his players in the right mind set.  It's been obvious to Garoppolo and the fans that Shanahan doesn't trust him, and that's Garoppolo's biggest problem.

Look at the plays that Shanahan called during the fourth quarter of their Super Bowl loss, Shanahan wasn't playing Garoppolo to win, he was playing not-to-lose.

By running pip install bitcoin you're installing a software wallet, it's just lighter and runs with python.  That's how bitcoin works, you need software.  Unless you write your own software wallet, you'll have to trust someone else's.

Nice.  I just imported a wallet from my ColdCard, which makes it easy.  However, it's just a watch only wallet used to export PSBTs.  In the process I noticed that my version of Bitcoin QT doesn't have external signer support, the option is greyed out on the GUI wallet-creation dialogue, and I get an error when I try from the console:


Apparently I'll have to compile my own GUI with external signer enabled to use a wallet like the Trezor One.  That just turned into a two-rainy-day project, lol.


That's actually a pretty slick feature, I hope they fix it.  Although after thinking about it, I'm so anal I'd probably still end up verifying the address the old-fashioned way.

I get the feeling you're missing one small factor; no DT1 inclusions are required for a member to remain on DT1, a net score of 0 is all that's needed.  A member could have the required number of votes and be selected through the lottery process without having a single DT1 inclusion (or exclusions, of course.)

I ran into an issue once where a new install of Ubuntu wanted to partition my drive to no more than 200GB.  From the command terminal run "sudo df -h" to show your diskspace allocations.

Another issue you may have is that bitcoind may already be running in the background.  If so you won't be able to run bitcoin-qt, nor will you be able to start bitcoind from the terminal.  Did you set up a systemd file so bitcoind will start on machine startup?

This conversation just got me thinking about the privacy aspect of using Core instead of an SPV client.  It's probably not something newbies are going to pursue unless it's super user-friendly and easy to set up, but it might make for a fun experiment nonetheless.  I think I'll add the experiment to my list of rainy day projects, and see if I can get the Trezor One to work with Core.

There's nothing unique about that, every club or team in every major sport has conducted themselves in similar ways.  Here in the SF bay area people are still bitter about the way the 49ers handled Joe Montana's departure, and that was 33 years ago, lol.  The head coach at the time, Bill Walsh is famous for saying "it's better to move on from a player a year too soon than a year too late."  More recent example is the way Tom Brady and the Patriots parted ways.

It can be hard for the fans, who's loyalty often extends not only to the team but also the contributing players.  But as it is, professional sports are a business, and sentiment can often degrade revenue.

It's been a little over a month since I received my ColdCard Mk4, and I'd like to share my thoughts, opinions and observations here.  I purchased the ColdCard Mk4 with my own money, I was not offered a discount nor did I receive any promotional pricing of any type.  I have no affiliation with Coinkite, I have had no communication with them since my purchase, nor have they offered any incentive for making this post.

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tl;dr

If you can get over the fact that the firmware is not open-source, this is the most feature filled and among the most secure hardware wallet I've ever used.  It's not the most user-friendly or newbie-friendly wallet I've used, but for the experienced bitcoin maximalist, I do recommend it.

I am a bitcoin maximalist and the ColdCard is a Bitcoin Only hardware wallet, but I do wish they would integrate support for Monero's official wallet.

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Price

The price of the ColdCard as compared to the competition:

• Trezor Model One:   $77
• Ledger Nano S+:   $83
• Ledger Nano X:   $157
• ColdCard:   $158
• Foundation Passport:   $249
• Trezor Model T:   $280

At the time of writing this review the ColdCard costs $158, which puts it in the bracket of moderately priced competitor models, and nearly identical to the Ledger Nano X.  Despite it's price being roughly twice that of a Trezor One, I think it's still a good value given it's many features which I'll touch on below.

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Purchase

The purchasing process directly from Coinkite was easy, and secure.  When I ordered the Mk4 it was on backorder, but I received it within three weeks of reserving mine.  The wallet arrived in a non-descript cardboard box, with no indication that it had anything to do with cryptocurrency, other than the return address.  There were no accessories included with the wallet, other than a couple of stickers, and a card for a mnemonic seed phrase.  A USB-C cable is required to power up the device, which again is not included.

 

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Form

The wallet it's self is a very simple design, intentionally meant to look like a 90's vintage calculator that you got for free when opening your first checking account.  An uneducated thief looking for items of value wouldn't give it a second look.  The clear plastic housing is a cool look in my opinion; however I do believe a flat black option would further the intent of making it look like a cheap calculator.

The injection molded plastic housing is upgraded from the Mk3 in that it includes a protective cover for the keypad and screen.  The fit of the cover is secure, both on the front and the back where it stows away neatly during use.  The overall quality and feel of the device seems solid and practical.

 

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Function and Quality

Functionally, the wallet has some minor issues that are more annoyances rather than issues.  The keypad buttons are deeply set within the housing and my fat fingers have trouble getting in there at times.  Another observation is that as I scroll through some of the function pages if I start pressing a bit too quickly the scroll function doesn't keep up.  Again, I find these to be relatively minor observations.  It's worth noting, however that the only other wallet within my realm of consideration that has a physical keypad is the Passport which costs $90 more.  With the even more expensive Trezor Model T's touchscreen I tend to be prone to mistakes.  Again I blame my fat fingers.  So, even with the minor observations regarding the keypad, in contrast with the competition a full number pad of real buttons is a welcome feature.

The other hardware functionality seems pretty solid.  The USB-C connection is solid feeling, and so is the slot for the micro-SD card.  The screen is on the small side, but the font is bright, clear, and large enough for me to see without issues.

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Security

Now if it's one thing I've learned about trusted vendors and services within the crypto world, it's easily summed up by a Russian proverb that was made famous in the US by Ronald Reagan in 1987; doveryay, no proveryay (trust, but verify.)  So I'll take this opportunity to note again that the ColdCard is bult with source code for firmware that is licensed as common clause, not open-source.  The firmware is open for peer review, but cannot be forked or distributed.  Of course verification is possible, and verifying your transactions is always recommended.  Any bitcoin transaction can and should be verified prior to signing, and again prior to broadcasting.

Discounting the the controversies around common-clause licensed firmware, the wallet strikes me as a brick house in terms of security.  It includes the typical features one would expect; 24-word seeds, complex passphrases with full keyboard of special characters, and control over derivation paths for multiple, less prominent wallets. It also has a special configuration for entering PINs which I find to be more secure than the more common methods.  It can also create a fake pin to use when under "duress," and even allows a special configuration of the duress PIN which, when entered will result in the device being bricked.

As would be expected, the Bip39 passphrases (extensions) are entered on the device, and only stored while the device remains powered up and logged in.  An automatic logoff timer can be set, so if you must step away from the device for a few minutes it'll automatically log itself off.

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Privacy

This category is where I believe the ColdCard sets itself apart from the competition.  Due to the simplicity with which it can generate new, unaffiliated addresses, multiple HD wallets, and integration with Bitcoin Core the device makes it very simple to prioritize your privacy, and give you tools to make it easy.  I will discuss these features more in the next section.

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Features

The ColdCard is full of neat features that help the use remain safe and private.  Here are some of the ones I find useful:

• Bip85 sub-seed generator
• Paper Wallet generator
• Optional USB connectivity
• Wallet file generator for popular desktop clients
• Multiple user accounts
• Simplified backups

Most of the items I've listed above are, as far as I know, unique to the ColdCard.  Most are also self-explanatory, but I will touch on the Bip85 feature here because knowledge of its existence is new to me, and it's super cool.  With this feature you can generate any number of mnemonic seed phrases, WIF HD seeds, and standard single-address private keys.  These keys are derived from your master seed, so as long as you've backed up your master seed phrase, you'll always have the ability to restore any of the derived seeds and keys.  For example, you can generate a 12 or 24-word seed phrase that's derived from your master seed to use for a hot wallet and if you choose to not write it down, no big deal.  You can always use the ColdCard with the same master seed to retrieve the hot wallet seed.

The Bip85 feature along with the single key generator can help improve privacy by creating wallets that are unaffiliated with your main wallet but can be recovered later if needed.  It is worth noting that the "Paper Wallet" generator creates random keys that are not backed up by your master seed.

The other feature I want to touch on is the optional USB connectivity.  ColdCard models prior to the Mk4 did not include this feature, they had no method of connecting to a host device (PC or phone) through the USB port.  They relied on transferring data through the use of the micro SD card.  The Mk4 can be used the same way, but it also provides the option to use USB connectivity so the wallet can work similar to other, more typical hardware wallets, i.e., it can be paired to a desktop client to sign transactions directly.  

Another feature it includes is the option to enable 4 megabytes of integral volatile storage.  This can be used to transfer wallet files generated by the ColdCard or save PSBTs generated on the host.  This storage is non-persistent and is lost once the device is logged off or powered off.

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Conclusion

The bottom line about the ColdCard, or just about any purchase can be summed up with one question; would I buy it again?  The answer is a resounding "Yes!"

I am of the opinion that all crypto currency wallets, hardware or otherwise should be open-source primarily for trust and transparency purposes.  I do find the ColdCard to be secure and practical hardware wallet.  All in all, I think it is a great tool for any bitcoin maximalist.

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It wouldn't take much to trick me, but I have a couple of tricks of my own to figure out if I'm being lied to.  All I really have to do is ask a silly trivial question about American Football.  If you're an American sports fan, you're either into football or there's something seriously wrong in your head.  Either way you ain't getting my spot!  

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I like Haaland, I noticed him a couple of years ago during one of the EUFA competitions.  I don't keep up with the Bundesliga so he hasn't been on my radar the last couple of years, but I expect he'll do great in the Premier League, but yeah, it might not be under Guardiola's management.

As for my favorite move, it still hasn't been finalized, but I like Raheem Sterling going to Chelsea.  Chelsea is so much closer to the championship than most teams in the top ten, certainly closer than they appeared last year.  Adding Sterling's speed would make a world of difference, in my opinion.

I agree that the word taint shouldn't be a part of it.  Language matters, and the language applied by detractors shouldn't be adopted by promotors.  I would rather see URLs like "chainhistory.com" or "chainillumination.org," something that doesn't have any derogatory meaning and makes no promises other than providing education and facts.

I'm not a developer of any kind, but if I can help in a project of this type please count me in.  If all I can do is contribute to a fund to hire a developer, I'm willing.



Bisq is great for those of us who are bitcoin maximalists, but to be honest I think they would need a lot of work to make altcoins more easily traded.  The most recent release does a great job implanting XMR sub addresses, but more stuff like that is likely to help.  I don't like the fact that you have to include shitcoins to attract new customers, but that's the world in which we live.


There are other options out there, Sparrow wallet has implemented a coinjoin coordinator called Whirlpool.  Samurai Wallet also has coinjoin implementation, but I don't remember the coordinator.  I tend to agree with o_e_l_e_o, there are better alternatives.

I think part of the problem is that these boards which tend to be the most visited by newbies are so full of shitposts and spam that it becomes cumbersome to find decent posts worth meriting.  I'm not a merit source, but I spend my sMerits like a drunken sailor, and I do actively try to give merits to users who need them.  I keep the B&H board on my watchlist, but again it is infrequent that I find a newbie posts worth meriting.

There are sections of the forum that I've noticed newbies getting a significant amount of merit.  In the technical related boards it appears we have a few merit sources and many higher rank member who earn a significant amount do share their sMerits with newbies on a regular basis.


Welsh makes a really good point here.  Rather than just counting the distribution of merits to Legendries vs. Newbies, a better metric might be to graph the number merits per post within the two subsets of members.  LoyceV also made a good point; newbies who earn merit don't stay newbies for long.  That might make it hard to really get a good picture of the situation.

Can't argue with that, I guess what I meant to say was that he doesn't seem selfish on the field.  



What do you really think are the odds of Renaldo matching or passing Messi's number of Ballon d'Or awards?  I mean, he's never played for PSG!