I remember the days when online crypto gambling sites offered us the option to invest directly into their bankroll (like the one in my sig). Nowadays, it's hard to find one that does. The only I've found is Bitvest. But activity on the site is quite low compared to its rivals.

I was wondering if it's still worth investing in an online casino's bankroll? If it is, could you share where can I invest my BTC? Any suggestions and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

If I want to travel to another country and want to have foreign currency beforehand, where can I sell my BTC? I'm talking about selling BTC to a foreign currency before leaving my home country. Is this possible? And of course, is it legal? Just curious to know.

Any suggestions and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I remember the days when mining XPM was still a thing. The cryptocurrency had an innovative approach to PoW by using prime numbers instead of traditional hashing algorithms. As of now, the Primecoin project is inactive with little support from mainstream crypto exchanges.

I was wondering if there are other XPM alternatives that are based on prime numbers? These days the industry is focused on speculative "meme" coins, and worthless NFTs, so it's hard to find projects that are truly-innovative. Especially on the PoW side, when the market is largely-composed by PoS coins.

If you know of any other coins like Primecoin, please let me know. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I've read about this new token where you can mine it on your phone. It's just like Electroneum and Pi.Network. Only this one lives in the Solana blockchain. PoW-based tokens are not new, as we already had 0xBitcoin on the Ethereum blockchain.

Is it worth mining ORE on your phone? I'd like to know your experience with it. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

With central banks struggling to keep inflation under control, people are beginning to lose trust in the traditional financial system. Some politicians (eg: Javier Milei) even suggested to abolish central banks as they're the main cause of the world's economic problems.

If the global economy continues to deteriorate, do you think central banks will collapse? If that happens, it will be the end of Fiat for good. In such a scenario, do you think Bitcoin will become the currency of the world?

What's your opinion? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The risk of loss will always be there. Even if you diversify your investment across multiple "meme" coins. You're much safer investing in BTC and ETH alone than "meme" coins. If you're looking to make short-term returns, "meme" coins are for you. Otherwise, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.

Among the popular "meme" coins on the market, I think only Dogecoin will survive for generations. Shiba Inu comes close to it in terms of community support. The Shibarium L2 network is one of the latest innovations from the Shiba Inu project. Other "meme" coin projects are lacking behind in this regard. For what I know, the crypto market is unpredictable. Hence, it's advised to proceed with caution to avoid losing everything in an instant.

Exactly. Politicians usually lie to get the attention of voters. Argentina's President Javier Milei hasn't been able to keep up with his promise of abolishing the central bank and declare BTC as legal tender. Not even the dollarization of the Argentine economy (through the USD) has been accomplished. El Salvador might've been the first country to adopt BTC as legal tender, but it still uses the USD for day-to-day payments. I guess it's too early for countries to completely abandon the USD.

Rest assured that the time will come when the USD loses traction as the reserve currency of the world. Rising US national debt, and constant money printing (inflation) should lead us there faster than we've previously imagined. The real question would be: Which currency will replace the USD in the future?

In the short term? Yes. But in the long term, BTC should be able to reach a new ATH. The current dip could be attributed to rising tensions in the Middle East. Market prices will dip, but they're expected to "pump" in the long run as the world heads into uncertainty. I think the ETFs are just the tip of the iceberg. Who knows? The crypto market behaves in many strange and bizarre ways. So we should expect the unexpected.

If history repeats itself, Bitcoin could eventually surpass Gold in terms of market cap. Buying and holding BTC now is the best decision to make. With Fiat currencies losing ground, I'm certain things will get better for Bitcoin and the whole crypto industry. The question is: Are you ready for the huge pump?

The problem with XRP is that it's too centralized. Maybe if it was decentralized, it would've been a huge success by now. The current state of the XRP Ledger, allows the US government to enforce regulatory action at will. Ripple, Inc. is going to have a hard time battling against "Uncle Sam", unless it decides to step down from the XRP project. By leaving it in the hands of the community, the cryptocurrency can reach new heights. Otherwise, expect market prices to stagnate for as long as it lives. Not even a bull market will save it.

You can see how the recent BTC "pump" had little to no effect over XRP's price. The coin is struggling to reach $1. It reached a little more than $3 a few years ago, but hasn't gone back ever since. There are far better options on the market. Instead of XRP, why not choose a decentralized alternative like XLM?

Exactly. Who's to say government officials are using crypto to circumvent sanctions? I'd bet Putin and Russian oligarchs are already doing this. Of course, citizens will be prohibited from doing such a thing. It's what usually happens in authoritarian countries. I think China is in the same boat.

There's nothing the West can do to stop this, especially when crypto/Blockchain tech is decentralized. They'd need to shut down the whole Internet to make it happen. But you and I know that's impossible. Maybe crypto will become the main source of funding for Putin's "war machine" in the long run?

Inflation means higher market prices for finite supply assets like BTC and Gold, right? With the global economy struggling to get back on its feet, we should expect BTC to reach a new ATH after the halving. Demand might've increased lately because of the spot ETFs approval in the US. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The crypto market is unpredictable, so anything can happen.

Either market prices go up or all the way down the drain immediately after the halving. We won't know for sure until the event happens. One thing is certain and that is Fiat's days are numbered. Buying and "hodling" Bitcoin instead of saving money at a bank is the best decision you'll ever make. Who knows if BTC goes as far as replacing traditional currencies (Fiat) in the future?

While I appreciate your enthusiasm, the truth is that XRP hasn't been able to reach a new ATH for some time now. It got past $1 once, but it usually stays below $0.70. Not even the company's victory over the SEC lawsuit had a massive impact over XRP's market price. I think it has to do with the huge number of coins in circulation, and the number of tokens held by the company itself.

I'm yet to see if the proposed stablecoin by Ripple, Inc. is going to have a positive effect over XRP's price. The vast majority of investors are focused on "meme" coins, NFTs, and smart contract platforms these days. XRP lacks real use cases compared to the rest of the pack (mainly BTC and ETH). Unless it replaces the SWIFT system, and becomes the main ledger for the US CBDC, don't expect it to go anywhere soon. Crypto land behaves in many strange and bizarre ways, so anything's possible.

I've seen stablecoins with a "blacklist" feature "baked" into the code. If they can do that, it'll be easy enough to make a regulatory-compliant digital currency on a public blockchain network. The real problem would be obfuscating sensitive transactions. Especially on transparent ledgers such as Ethereum and XRP. ZKPs (Zero Knowledge Proofs) provide the solution to this, but I doubt the XRP developer team are going to integrate it. It makes more sense to develop a private blockchain network where central banks like the FED and ECB have full control over it. Existing stablecoins could be "bridged" to such chain if governments want to.

Whenever Ripple's stablecoin, Tether's USDT, or Circle's USDC will be the next US Digital Dollar, you can be certain that paper money's days are coming to an end. The world will be fully digitized, giving governments more control over our lives. We won't truly own anything. I sure hope BTC stays alive by the time CBDCs rule the world. Otherwise, it will be the end of privacy and freedom for good.

Exactly. Developers must stay anonymous if they really want to protect decentralization + censorship-resistance. The problem is that most investors won't trust a project without publicly-known developers. Especially VCs and institutional investors. They'll believe it's a scam.

It's this reason why most crypto projects reveal the true identities of their creator. This is bad because it makes it easier for governments to prosecute developers when they find something they don't like (like what happened with the Tornado.Cash mixer). We have Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin, Cardano's Charles Hoskinson, Polkadot's Gavin Wood, etc. Only a small portion of crypto projects were developed by an anonymous person (or a group of people). Bitcoin's founder is unknown, but most developers from the Bitcoin Core project are known to the public. I guess we'll never be able to experience true censorship-resistance.

As I've stated before, decentralized marketplaces will remain a niche to those who actually care about their privacy or want to circumvent government restrictions. The majority will keep using centralized marketplaces (eBay, Amazon) out of convenience. At least, we have a choice.

Don't get your hopes too high. Especially when "Wall Street" is in the game. Giants like BlackRock and Fidelity might push the adoption of LN payments soon. They will only look for what's best for them (lower fees, near-instant transactions at the cost of centralization), instead of what's best for the people (decentralization, self-custody). I've read somewhere that the Bitcoin Core project is being funded by banks. I wouldn't be surprised if that turns out to be the case with the LN in the future.

The "off-chain scaling solution" may be facing issues in terms of user experience and liquidity, but it will get "better" in the long run. Money is what makes the world go round, after all. So if the aformentioned entities pour money into the LN, developers will be well-funded to fix issues and improve the network. I sure hope BTC stays decentralized and censorship-resistant forever. Else, it was good 'til it lasted.

Received. Thank you!

I'm curious as to which flaws does Bitcoin have? If you mean scaling issues, that's no longer a problem thanks to the inception of L2 networks (like the Lightning Network) and sidechains. And the transparency of the Bitcoin Blockchain is more of a feature than a bug. It helps us detect criminal activities on-chain, which is not possible on privacy-focused Blockchains. Corruption can't happen on a transparent ledger anyone can audit.

Altcoins are only there to help test out  new features before they're launched on the main Bitcoin Blockchain. They're also an avenue for investors to make money if they get in early. Those who missed the "Bitcoin train", now see an opportunity in altcoins to achieve financial independence. The term "altcoin" will continue to be used as long as we have cryptocurrencies that are distinct from Bitcoin. Some projects will die, while others will last a lifetime. Just spend your money wisely, and there should be nothing to worry about.

That's the problem. Projects with a promising vision often fail due to lack of community support. The crypto industry these days is focused on hype instead of utility. I guess decentralized marketplaces will remain a niche for the tech/privacy inclined. In countries where authoritarianism restricts freedom, decentralized marketplaces does wonders. From what I've seen, most of the decentralized marketplaces have their own software/network protocol. I haven't seen a marketplace based on smart contracts yet. Would you imagine developers doing something like this? If they launch a decentralized marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain, it will be truly-unstoppable.

Of course, governments will sanction it (especially the US government). But that won't be the end of everything. The same way Tornado.Cash survived (despite the sanctions), the same way will happen with a decentralized marketplace based on smart contracts. I sure hope we don't see a Silk Road 4.0 in the future.

Of course. LTC and XMR are often viewed by many as currencies. NOT a long-term investment or store of value. I guess their total supply has something to do with this. Bitcoin's limited supply and deflationary mechanism has led the majority to use it more as a Gold alternative than anything else. There's nothing we can do to change this, especially when "Wall Street" is involved. Only a small portion of people will use BTC as a currency for day-to-day payments.

Given that the majority is "hodling" BTC, the Lightning Network and other subnetworks/sidechains will remain a niche for the tech enthusiast. At least, people have a choice. Who knows where on-chain fees will be in the future?

Exciting times ahead for Dogecoin and the "meme" coins industry. If Coinbase launched futures trading, does this mean Dogecoin will get its own spot ETF in the future? Sounds crazy, but I've learned that anything's possible in crypto land. If DOGE gets a spot ETF, then it would be treated as a serious currency/investment than a joke. I can imagine prices going all the way to the moon afterwards.

It seems like the opening of futures trading had a positive impact over BCH and LTC's market prices lately. Especially BCH which went from around $200 to nearly $700 per coin. Who knows if current DOGE holders are about to get rich soon?