I think that eventually somewhere within the future Bitcoin will be completely replaced with a faster, more energy efficient, and simpler consensus algorithm based cryptocurrency. Bitcoin mining has become somewhat centralized with only a few with the capability of maintaining the cost to really make a decent profit. Who can compete with a freaking warehouse of miners?
   Adoption will increase when U.S congress becomes more favorable toward Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, also the interface must become so simple that anyone can use the technology hassle free, from children to grandparents.

Many people hate Libra because it is a platform created by Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. I think it is an really bold step to take that could help cryptocurrency become a lot more mainstream.  Many would disagree, but Facebook is a worldwide platform that extends its reach to all corners of the globe. Even if you don't use Facebook, you might have used one of Facebook's apps like Instagram, or whatsapp. If your into VR perhaps you've heard of the Occulus rift, another Facebook product.
   If the Libra platform were to launch successfully I believe adoption of cryptocurrencies would increase dramatically maybe even over night. Congress understands that this could make Facebook way to powerful so it is having a difficult time gaining a green light to go ahead with the launch.

Nobody knows for sure, only time can really tell what will happen, but as of now everyone is really on there toes waiting to see what happens. Suprisingly massive anti-war protest have been taking place all throughout the United States as people are really rallying together to voice their opinions. Whether or not this will segue a change is another story.
    Politics tend to be tricky to follow, so much misinformation out there obscuring the truth. On top of that what a way to ring in the new year  , this really may not end well, but all we can do is wait and see. To remain optimistic I hope there is no war, I'm a little on edge, but will continue to follow the news to see what happens.

I think the guy was noble for wanting to teach others, especially within a country like Korea but really he didn't practice his due diligence and is now facing the harshest of consequences. North Korea has a lot of smoke with the U.S, mainly because of all of the threats they have made to wipe it out. This guy Virgil is extremely lucky that he isn't being tried for treason or worse. He could at least have went to contact Dennis Rodman for help first, they literally love Rodman over there more than Michael Jordan as weird as it may sound.

I can't speak on another's culture but I believe life, society and culture tend to work differently and wildly varies depending on which part of Africa your talking about. For the most part people are doing rituals as apart of their traditions, perhaps some go and visit a local village medicine man, while others practice the magick themselves. In some parts of the world, the occult is woven into the very fabric of basic religion, so morals, principles, and ethics in one place could greatly differ from another.
   The money ritual is most likely a belief that if they follow a certain list of steps in succession, then they will attain their desire from the spirit/deity/universe that they seek and ask for assistance. This might even involve some form of harm to another, regardless of it being done to family or not. It is believed in many African traditions that the gods don't care what humans do here on earth, as long as they get their cut of the money, whether it involves a sacrifice, contract, etc.
  Many don't believe in magick, rightfully so, as science does take a lot of the woo out of the seemingly magical. The occult world should never be underestimated though, what may seem like magick to some could be considered as a high science to others, those with the ears to hear will hear!

Quote from: Author C Clarke
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

I think dropping out for the time being is good for this major corporations in order to distance themselves on an innovation that has yet to segue into mainstream regulation yet. Congress is holding Libra back, partially in fear of the repercussions it could have by having a company as large and as far reaching as Facebook has become. I think fear, uncertainty, and doubt are whats holding Libra back. Perhaps the worlds leaders aren't ready for a globally used cryptocurrency, because that's  most likely what Libra will end up becoming, stable-coin or not.

Don't do it, if you have to question any validity of a potential transaction then there is a chance that it is too good to be true. Lets be honest for a second though, does it really sound like it is a legitimate offer or does it sound like it is too good to be true? The return on interest alone sounds highly unbelievable even for  High Yield Investment programs which are risky and sketchy all together to begin with. I'm willing to bet you're going to lose that money if you send it, especially to a Telegram bot at that.
  I'm not here to give investment advice but remember to practice your due diligence before making any mistakes that could potentially be costly!

One of the hardest things to practice in the crypto sector is practicing your due dillgence. It is something I try to push myself to remeber but often find my self being lazy and doing half assed work. It is important to research very thoroughly until your sure it is a legitimate investment because it seems as though the schemes are growing.

Hey, I think we have arrived at a period were we are going to face heavy scrutiny amongst congress and regulation. Bitcoin and blockchain has been around now for 10 years strong. Cryptocurrency was bound to play the regulations game sooner or later, so as of now I believe that the crypto scene is just going through all of the legal motions. Once we progress a little further, I hope an ETF is passed.

In the year of 2017 ICO'S were really starting to take off, the scene was ripe with them, but on the other hand the market was heavily unregulated and the SEC, CFTC and the other big boys were starting to really take notice. A really big ICO at the time was Centra, I even participated in the campaign towards the end of it because all of the popularity it was gaining.
  Needless to say, the whole project ended abruptly and really badly, when all three guys who were the founders were indicted on federally charges for fraud. They even had "Flyod Mayweather" & "DJ Khaled" working in the bounty campaign by endorsing them, it was one of the reasons I joined, I thought if these big names are endorsing a project it had to be legit. Boy was I wrong, really learned a hard lesson their, Thank god I never touched the bounty reward. Possibly dodged a bullet
   Remember to practice your due diligence and be careful when investing in, or joining ICO bounty campaigns, not only could they be scams, but also could be in violation of securities laws.

Some pretty good advice to give, the way the market volatility fluctuates, you could really end up losing it all, especially if one isn't careful enough. When you diversify your portfolio you have a better chance of coming out on top, but it involves a lot more work. You have to constantly check the market in order to make sure that your coins are doing well!

I really doubt that the entire scene of ICO'S and IEO is dying but at the current moment they have almost slowed down to a crawl, it is because many were scams to begin with. Now that the SEC has the scene in a vice grip, scammers have slowed down, but there are some legitimate projects out there that are being postponed or are afraid to push forward due to the regulations for securities. I don't believe every ICO is selling securities, but many are I guess!

I don't agree, not every influential crypto based content creator is disingenuous or just out for the money. A lot of educational and informal content got taken out during the sweep as well. They were sweeping a lot of content just by being guilty of association to cryptocurrency or blockchain. Your absolutely correct though, some of these influencer's don't have the real answers and are here just to monetize off of the scene. These content creators are also practicing freedom of expression. If anything it's the censorship within itself where the fault lies, it's not like it was pornographic material but crypto related themes. 

Disclaimer: "My post does not constitute legal or investment advice, I am not a financial adviser or a lawyer and I am not accredited within these professions. I'm just here to post my opinion on the thread topic and question. If seeking financial or legal advice, please consult with your local professional."

I think you should practice your due diligence first, and do lots of research. If your unfamiliar with investing here is a free resourceful guide https://www.investopedia.com/ . Never invest more than what your willing to lose, unless you want to lose the shirt off of your back. Another resourceful guide for beginner investing, a school with free courses. https://www.babypips.com/learn  Only you can decide what to invest in, and whether or not what your investing in is worth your time and money.

Remember to practice your due diligence, Now go get'em tiger!

There really must be some grave mistake, because I don't see Theymos or other important admin on the list. Not to be a kiss ass, but this community is the very foundation of Blockchain and Bitcoin. From here many things came into being, so many projects, so many opportunities for earning extra income. In order to be a community there must be a common vision, the ability to agree to disagree. An infrastructure where the commonality that we share is an equal responsibility to share, uplift, and correct the mistakes as we progress further.
  This forum is an awesome community, the core members are very active and their voices are often heard as the infrastructure of the forum is always changing, usually with new policies to help police the chaos that ensues. The merit system is a good example of good policing, collectively agreed upon in order to improve and keep a steady foundation here. When I first started posting here I was ignorant and participated in some of the "Tom foolery" of being a newbie. With help from the community I have learned a whole lot and now try to practice my due diligence with each post so I don't contribute negatively here on the forum.
  I know developers deserve all the praise and glory, but what about the pillars of our very own community? If  the forum were to just vanish one-day out of the blue, how much of an impact do you think it would really have on the Bitcoin scene, especially for those who find employment here (myself included)?

I feel that the many crypto heros here are going unsung  

Just my two cents

I really don't think that it is cryptocurrency that the banks are bullish on but instead the technology behind cryptocurrencies like the Blockchain and the consensus algorithms. Last time I checked, banks were uneasy about the idea of cryptocurrency and within the past some banks even gave their customers trouble who transacted using cryptocurrencies. 2019 helped segue adoption and regulation because the big boys like the SEC, CFTC, and IRS were clamping down, issuing statements, and releasing small spurts of guidance here and there signaling that the crypto sector was finally being recognized within the law, so hopefully full regulatory guidance is not too far off.

These security risks are becoming more and more prevalent theses days as the technology advances. The thing here is that your absolutely correct about beeing more careful. On android the "Google PlayStore" is a pretty secure place to download apps. So I think that by using my smart phone all  throughout the day some of my lazy downloading habits from android tend to rub off onto my PC use when using downloaded browser extensions. It's a new year and I really should be practicing my due diligence better.

It's a matter of looking at the glass either half empty or half full. Bitcoin was designed to decentralize transactions of a digital asset acting as a currency, operating within a peer-2-peer based network. The number of assets is scarce being 21 million exact. People adopted  Bitcoin then supply and demand handled the rest, while accompanied by a small (at that time) but budding community. I think that in order to take the next step the regulators have to regulate and issue guidance because this a a new frontier operating within some gray areas because it doesn't quite fit the mold within current legal policies on everything.
  One mold it does fit is the tax sector. The IRS has taken the first initiative to shine a light on a dark road that hasn't been full paved yet. The SEC is the second which told us to use the "Howey Test" to help us the investor navigate these legal gray roads that many cryptocurrencies are leading to!

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency has come a very long way in these past ten years. The original code has been modified, re-visioned, added on to so much that an entire market has cropped up around it with alternative coins. Some alt-coins started off as purely clones, I'm sure Satoshi had predicted this would happen being that the code was open source. Then some projects started to emerge with real innovations, not just clones but coins with new features and better consensus mechanisms. Nobody really knows for sure but this year could indeed be Crypto's year, So I try to remain optimistic in this situation.

2019 was a rough year for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency but it was expected because at that time, the regulatory bodies and policy makers where really starting to discuss and even take public action against Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Institutional investors also had tried numerous times to get a Bitcoin ETF passed but all have failed miserably, but not in vain though, the SEC has been working closely within the cyrpto sector especially regarding securities regulation. I believe that the U.S is at the forefront for taking the necessary steps forward to comply legally in order to get Bitcoin and cryptocurrency off of the ground.