Indeed, the science of psychology bears a lot of evidence which we use today in the treatment of gambling addiction. It's most difficult to study this in yourself, of course, with an inescapable bias against admitting your own vulnerabilities. I used to tell myself my addictions were easily controllable and I'd try prove it by imposing strict cold-turkey periods on myself. But that rush I get when I finally return to my habits - gambling included - makes me wonder if I'm not more of an addict than I'd like to admit.

A few characteristics describe me, but probably this the most:
The occurrence of abstinence syndrome (a set of unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms such as restlessness, irritation, insomnia, headache, loss of appetite) after cessation of activity from which addiction has been created.

I find myself in bed or even in thought sometimes, playing scenarios through my head... fantasy jackpot wins. Random crypto buys suddenly spiking a thousand times in price.

I didn't think we'd reach this point so quickly, believing Segwit to phase out legacy in a matter of years. But if even wallets like Coinomi taking it on fully, and they're about to be joined by almost all the major exchanges, it's quite possible we'll see full Segwit users before 2020. Native Segwit might still be delayed a little, ironic that the network and fees have never been freer and cheaper... making people put off what they felt they surely had to do when mempool was at its peaks.

I'm even seeing some older alt projects quietly upgrade to Segwit or planning to. It always takes Bitcoin to show the way, doesn't it?

Looks like you're well on your way towards that 2.5 goals. Liverpool's just fallen behind to a penalty in the 13th minute. Still backing them to win, and I hope they bite back to hit at least three goals. Grumbling at our defence and lack of clean sheets. Can't recall how many penalties we're giving away this season but I suppose it's a step up from the Carragher own goals we used to get?

Bad start to the week so far but plenty of time left for the Reds to get back into it. Half time score should be at least 1-1!

Honestly, I think most people who complain about kyc and privacy on exchanges are just kidding themselves. Same people probably don't have the same issue with social media, signing up for a phone line, credit cards etc.

I do agree privacy is important but those who value it the highest probably already do p2p or even find a way on dexs. People who already know how to live off grid don't have these frustrations. Those who don't, should realise it's pointless to complain about kyc on an exchange when their data's already all over Google.

Thinking about this, I think the adult industry as a whole doesn't fit much into the way porn is understood. That quote in the first post... The way we use technology supposedly to watch porn. That's not instinctive, that's conditioning. And no, I'm not an attacker or an apologist, I just simply have spent too much time with too many people whose realities are cocooned away from these industries.

Cash will be their realities probably for their lifetimes. Probably for their children too.

Almost forgot we're back in action, so don't forget to put your predictions in. Eight lovely games up tomorrow. I know I said I'd return to normal bookie backings, but I feel like I'm too far down the table to not take risks. International games will have taken some of their toll on the big teams - not that they're tired or anything but they always seem out of rhythm (or back in tempo)... thinking of my own Sadio Mane whenever he returns from int duty.

Let me boldly predict 2-1 losses for Man Utd and City, Huddersfield to drop closer to relegation zone with a loss to Newcastle... and no draws!

P.S. I'll get to my World Cup thread soon!

So Binance is being welcomed to Malta. Bitfinex to Switzeand. The Swiss used to love them being the money laundering capital of the world. But privacy banking has changed. Swiss bank accounts no longer the prestigious accessory of the wealthy.

Looks like they found a way back into the realm of financial exclusivity. Not sure the Bitfinexes and Binances will get away with this for long though.

Yeah the poisoned chalice of holding is the natural instinct to regret unrealised profits at past prices, coupled with the knowledge that many alts would have given far better value.

Which is why, if you're holding, don't pay attention to everything else around bitcoin. That's just white noise til you meet your end point years from now.

I'm selling whatever I need whenever I need. When I'm lucky I sell at a top. When not so lucky, I gotta sell at a dip, like what I had to do today.

We live in a world where some families survive on less than a dollar a day (that's an average of five people, so less than 20 cents). I didn't just read or write about them. I lived and worked with them. While it's true that 75k won't change the world, there's a lot of good that can be done with it. I think "changing" the world is always overthought. If you want things to improve, you just do your bit.

To OP: be a voice for the things you believe in. Advocate for, support, talk about. If you think blockchain and Bitcoin is what you want to do, take a look at some organisations exploring Bitcoin for their work. I don't personally like the UN, but that's a good place to start: https://unite.un.org/sites/unite.un.org/files/session_3_b_blockchain_un_initiatives_final.pdf

For more grassroots aspects, check out Helperbit and how they're trying to improve transparency in non-profits: https://app.helperbit.com/

Hmm. Not sure if Belarussians would take too kindly to that. The way I see it, this is just part of a trend by Eastern European nations to diversify economy, and they're always keen to embrace fintech, as can be evidenced by the late 90s and last decade's expansion in financial IT.

Russia wouldn't need a proxy in former Soviet bloc countries, I feel. They already are trialling several initiatives in various economic regions within Russia. Stalingrad with their new nuclear station this year already promising to supply crypto miners and industries, comes to mind.

Not supportive of any calls either direction now. I'm good either way. Bitcoin sticks around this range, I take it as consolidation. It continues to flounder in lower lows, good for me, I rake in cheap coin to my hoard. Bitcoin renews a bull run like last spring? I sell alts and get great value in BTC.

Nah, these big groups are just as lucky or unlucky with their calls. Follow a number myself, even paid to have a look at discussions. Very well thought out analyses, some of them, and staunch non shilling followings but they were roundly proven wrong a month ago calling the bottoms.

Just goes to show, this really is a guessing game.

Right news on Transferwise, at least, if they haven't changed their decision from several years ago. They were my choice for easy/cheap bank transfers but Revolut is solid and crypto friendly (I've used it successfully). It's actually a lot cheaper than using your bank account to transfer overseas.

But as timerland points out above, why not consider p2p (buy from another trader)? There shouldn't be any problems transferring to trader accounts and there are loads accepting bank transfer (including myself).

If you really, really want roundabout ways... you could purchase gift cards and use them to buy Bitcoin. Several exchanges I've used accept Amazon gift cards. Google it, a few big names pop up (and even Localbitcoin traders, some accept).

So after proving yourself wrong time and again, you still want to insist on making these calls? You do have a point, in that Bitcoin's crazy highs and lows are a knock on effect from the flood of newcomers whose only use for Bitcoin is speculation on trading. But you're ignoring that it's actual intended use is still growing, despite the battering it's had (and don't forget it's still hugely profitable if you bought coins a year ago).

Resilience is one thing, growth in the face of FUD is quite another. Credit to you though, for keeping this account. Most naysayers disappear when they're proven wrong.

No, that was me, the Mt Gox minnow. Hard to tell the difference, but you generally see the whale come up for air every few weeks. Spurts of sell action usually clue in on the surface. Mt Gox whale is migrating now to the great Bitcoin reefs at Coinbase and herding bottom feeders under his massive body to spread the rumours.

He would be a little more active if not for all that litigation. Got to send the whalers their long awaited fiat. Guess what whalers will do when they get their hands on that cash. Buying action on the horizon!

No I wasn't actually, thanks for alerting though. Just read up on it. I'm not much of a sportsperson myself, though I played football/street football every day for many, many years (til I got old heh heh) and nothing got to me more than cheaters... divers, those unsportsmanlike fouls. I never learnt how to even roll on the ground if I fell, instinctively my mind was just on the ball and on the game. Match fixing is on another level, since that's greed and not a "winning at all cost" strategy.

I have hussled plenty though when gambling cards! My favourite is to play at the same table with an "assistant" who helps me look at my cards and "advises" and "accidentally giving me away". Always among friends, and always for the banter, but sometimes getting the desired result. I'm not sure that qualifies as cheating, especially when playing poker and they all know I do that.

There's always a code with gamblers. Murky as mud, blurry as hell. But there's definitely a code.

Thanks for this. I follow tipsters pretty much randomly, as eventually I tend to follow my own judgments (okay, maybe instincts haha) when betting on sports but I have spent time following some tipsters, if only because their statistics interest me. Trying to learn or spot common traits among winning tipsters don't really work, especially as most tipsters don't accompany their tips with analysis (and those who do like on ESPN, aren't very good at winning!).

I would add that profit %s are quite useless since it depends on systems they use to make bets. I like those sites that track all tips and automatically update statistics, by way of stakes... which allows you to see average wager sizes, and risks, so you can tell those who make consistently good calls with consistently sized wagers. This weeds out those who like to "gamble" on a big stake doubler to make up for many bad calls.

This sounds like the most reasonable explanation. It is a lot of coin, after all, millions of dollar's worth, so bitfinex is simply covering their asses with this one. To OP, unfortunately, they do have the right to request for verification to prove ownership and identity, it says so in their terms. To what extent, it's difficult to say.

Notary public and all that won't cost you much but I would take the advice of others and just engage a qualified legal practitioner to get all this done for you. Pretty sure they'd do it for a small fee probably less than 1% of that 500 BTC.

Not a terrible cost to pay, considering the sum involved. Why anyone would want to store so much outside a wallet they don't control I wouldn't know....

And, even if they somehow fall victim to exploit, you can be sure as a majority user, you'll get some protections. Refer to Bitcoin exploit of 2010 where billions of coins were created. Refer to Ethereum which was created after a major exploit in the original chain.

Exploits aside, yeah. Cryptocurrency is probably the safest bet for money right now, and will be for a good many years, probably enough for our lifetimes. People say things like quantum computing but really, blockchain tech will do more than stay ahead of that curve.

P.S. Why're all the news outlets saying the NEM was successful "laundered"? I thought successful laundering implies the funds have been successfully cleaned.

Always happy to help out. Please, please do come back and share your findings. We get students like you all the time, coming here for research. We supply all the data. And we seldom see them return to share.

Comments on your survey: You really need an introduction page to be taken seriously. Doubt this is a Master's thesis. Unless standards at unis have really dropped since the 1990s. I mean, Alexa and crypto assets? Doubt very many of us here would use that.

Actually, it seems the seller is requesting for cash (US dollar) payments, so it would seem Arbitrade is the one likely to make more money in the long term (yes, they're paying out in bitcoin, which will be converted to USD in seller's account). Since the instalments are happening over long-term, I guess Arbitrade should be paying far fewer coins over the instalments than if they did today. Still a win-win, of course. We needed pizza to kick things off. Nothing wrong with Mandela goldfingers to keep the spirit alive!