Well, Russia faced heavy sanctions for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and as a part of it, many of its banks were cut off from SWIFT. I guess they want to show their own people that they can build something of their own, and a fairly simple way to do it is to launch a CBDC. Also, if they manage to agree with potential allies like China or Iran, that digital currency could come in handy to avoid sanctions and get the trade going. So it seems like a good time to launch something. After all, with the war not going well for Russia, they need other achievements to appease the public.

We can't be sure that Bitcoin will continue growing in value at roughly the same rate it has been growing (with a decreasing multiplier so far) or that it won't just stop growing at some point. It's also unreasonable to plan for more than 100 years of investing because it's highly unlikely that anyone will survive long enough to see it and also people I believe people should be able to actively benefit from their investments, improve their lives and the lives of others with it. Otherwise, it doesn't really matter. So nobody can tell you how rich you'd be with such a strategy, but I like franky1's estimate.

I don't have any big regrets. There are small situational things, such as wasting a few hours on something you knew wouldn't work out or not walking away from a conversation you know isn't leading anywhere productive earlier. Those are the small things I regret, but not for long because I simply try to learn from them for the future and move on. As for big things, I thankfully have nothing to regret. I am sorry you didn't get that apartment, but not borrowing money when you're young and when it might not work out, as well as not borrowing from people with whom you have a complicated relationship which is boung to get harder because them giving you money will change the power dynamics is a reasonable decision. Also, you now know that an area can become well-developed and an apartment can rise in price pretty fast. Lessons learned, moving on is what I think is productive here. People similarly often regret they didn't invest in Bitcoin when they heard of it and it was way cheaper than it currently is. It's a typical regret, but since we can't change the past, dwelling on regrets is merely spoiling the present.

Op, I assume the country in question is the Philippines? Whether I'm right or not, I think it would be nice to have the info about the country you're talking about in the original post. I haven't heard of this company before. Is it a centralized payment service for crypto transactions? Does it convert the funds into fiat for merchants, or does it help them accept Bitcoin specifically (without converting it into fiat)? I'm happy that Bitcoin payments are spreading in your country, and in a way I understand why people turn to third-party services for that: while people could send Bitcoin directly to a specific address, that could also take a while, and a centralized service is, I imagine, working instantly.

The question is tricky because what can be bought without converting Bitcoin strongly depends on a country and on options we consider okay. If it's El Salvador, Bitcoin can probably buy $23k worth of anything because Bitcoin is legal tender there. If it's a country where Bitcoin is fairly popular, you can try to agree on purchasing pretty much anything with Bitcoin (as MusaMohamed pointed out regarding an agreement between a buyer and a seller). Then there are other options like crypto credit cards, and those can be used like any other credit cards (here's an example of what I'm talking about), but I'm guessing it's because the coins are automatically converted into the right fiat upon usage.

Thankfully, I don't find financial management difficult. I have been in financially unstable situations, but I tend to get out of them without trouble because I keep a rough track of earnings and spendings, ensuring that if the money is tight, I don't spend it on unnecessary things. I do agree with the op that some don't keep a good track of their money and may spend it on unnecessary things while later not having enough for essentials. I don't support a harsh approach of self-limitations because if you have extra money, you should spend it on what makes your life happier, even if it's the little things like buying a latte, a game or going out to eat at a nice place.

When people use stablecoins, I think they expect the coins to not have any major price fluctuations, and they rely on the stability that the name promotes. So it seems reasonable to me that stablecoins should be backed up by something that minimises the risk of it crashing. Holding a full collateral is exactly the sort of thing that would ensure the stability of a stablecoin, and while it can be a problem for issuers, I do think that the users will benefit from that. As long as Israel doesn't target decentralized cryptocurrencies and doesn't require them to be backed up by anything, it's fine by me.

Since he is an investor, it's not surprising that he sees Bitcoin primarily as an asset. And if we do that, he is correct that new assets can appear, attention to some other investment opportunities can replace attention to Bitcoin. Where I disagree is in the part that Bitcoin is just an asset while blockchain is technology. Bitcoin is a revolutionary type of money, a currency that isn't issued by any authority, that can't be faked, the price of which cannot be regulated, and where there is no limit of who can participate in issuing new coins as long as a person has financial means to purchase equipment with which mining would make sense nowadays.
Apart from all that, it's unfair to disregard how successful Bitcoin has been as a long-term investment option, how much it has grown and from what sort of lows it managed to recover over and over again.

I don't think Gmail is safe because email addresses to often get hacked and because a letter can disappear, get deleted or lost in the flow of others. I use encrypted messenger apps for that, but I know that it's not considered a safe option. It's just that I also realize that if I write it down somewhere, I'll probably forget where I put that piece of paper, I might accidentally leave it unattended while moving from one place to another, and I might not find it in my own flat. Memorizing is certainly not for me, as I'm very likely to forget the passphrase at some point. I consider the risk of such situations to be higher than someone getting access to my private messages in an app and finding the correct message there to hack me. Everyone should do their own thing and realize the risks of each solution. I'm thinking of moving offline with the seed phrase, but I haven't figured out a way that will work for me and minimize the risk of locking myself out due to forgetting where I put it.

There are places where a bicycle is a crucial mode of transportation, pretty much a must. That's because in some countries the villages can be quite big to walk around but not big enough for public transport and there is no infrastructure for using cars on a regular basis. Or countries and cities where people tend to cycle instead of using cars or public transport because there's a strong eco-friendly culture and good infrastructure for this. I hope that in op's case a bicycle wasn't as important, so selling it to invest in Bitcoin was a good idea. The thing about investing in Bitcoin is that it seems safest to go for long-term investments. This way you can simply wait out the bear market and not be concerned about the temporary losses. Good luck!

It's cool that you have a blockchain degree and that Bitcoin changed your life so much. I hope it didn't bring you sadness, and you don't regret leaving the lawyer's career you had. But why do you believe Bitcoin will lose half of its market value (share of market capitalization?)? It's currently at 40%, and it was at 38% in 2017, more than 5 years ago. It fluctuates, but it's at record low level or anything, and it's the top market share that makes the coin #1. Ethereum was at 18% in 2018 and is currently at 17.2%, so again, it's not like it's gaining on Bitcoin. Bitcoin can lose some of its share, yes, but that doesn't mean that Ethereum won't lose any of its and would surpass Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is the strongest crypto out there, the leader by market capitalization. It is used in various ways, such as for trading, as money, for long-term investment, and I think it will continue to be used this way. Bitcoin seemed to be losing slowly against cryptos in 2017, but didn't. The bear market of 2018-2019 left many deeply disappointed in altcoins, various applications and promises they made. I don't see that sort of potential being regained by anything else, and I feel like Bitcoin is now standing more confidently as a king than it was years ago.

From the thread, it seems like nothing changes much because Bitcoin was already available in Hong Kong, and it's not like Hong Kong is making a leap forward by making it legal tender (I mean, it's not making Bitcoin legal tender). As others have mentioned, China's influence should not be underestimated here, as Hong Kong is legally a part of China, even if it does have a special status and a distinct history. I don't think China would allow a very drastic departure from its own crypto policies in Hong Kong, and China is in control there, so it's not like Hong Kong could ignore China's restrictions and do its own thing. So, unfortunately, I don't think anything will change even if some legislation gets approved soon.

Op, if you're referring to a particular article or a set of data, it would be great to add a link to the original post, so that we can discuss it more productively. If crypto payments are rising, it's wonderful. But is it measured by total volume or a number of transactions? Are there particular countries/regions that stand out in this regard? Are there particular goods/services or industries where these payments are rising more than in other areas? All those things would be great to know. A valid point was also raised in the thread about direct payments (self-custody) vs centralized services.
As for me, I don't have a business, but as a private teacher I would accept Bitcoin for lessons. However, everyone I know prefers fiat payments. Also, given that lessons don't cost much, transaction fees could be a significant part for such small transactions.

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I didn't know about Bitcoin back then, and I haven't heard this story, so thanks for sharing it. Of course, very few people could imagine where Bitcoin would end up in a matter of several years, but it's cool that someone tried giving BTC away as prizes, even if it was for the last prizes. It might be among the very early cases of using Bitcoin. But like the op and some others, I don't think I would have had the patience not to sell the minute it starts costing something measurable.

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The concept of CBDCs has been around for a while, but it seems that it's a technology that some experiment with, not something that will take over the world. As I see CBDCs more in competition with fiat cash than with cryptos like Bitcoin, I am not concerned much about their development. If they are made with an obligatory identification in mind and are meant to eventually replace cash, then it's a privacy concern, but only if fiat cash gets outlawed or using CBDCs at least for some purposes becomes obligatory. So far, we are not close to these things becoming reality, so experiments can continue without much harm because people can choose not to use them.

If the USA decided to ban cryptos and introduce criminal responsibility for crypto operations, I'd be very surprised because I think there are strong enough democratic foundations in the US that wouldn't allow such things. That being said, even if we imagine that it happened, I would thankfully not be hurt by that much because I don't live in the US and don't intend to live there. My country has a long-term crypto-friendly roadmap, and I am sure that the US wouldn't be able to change that. Such a decision can have a major impact on the price and then countries may start choosing sides more actively, but I'm confident there will be enough countries that consider it a mistake and will allow Bitcoin to prosper on their lands.

I don't think small children should be concerned with investments, but I do think that an age of primary school is appropriate to start familiarizing a child with what money is, how it works, and what kind of money there can be. After all, kids often play games like Monopoly or apps that give them some tokens, which they can use in-game to purchase something or upgrade characters. So it's not entirely irrelevant. And in the light of discussing fiat, gold and other things, Bitcoin can also be mentioned as a kind of online money, but not the kind that a company or a country can control.
As for the elderly, these are adults, and unless a person is suffering from a severe cognitive impairment due to their age, I think it's totally fine to tell them about Bitcoin. Not to push them, but to tell them if they want to know something and at the level they are interesting to know of it. My older relatives who are in their late 70s roughly know about Bitcoin from me, although sometimes only at the level 'it's the Internet money', as some of them don't use laptops, smartphones or the Internet at all.
Bitcoin isn't just an investment, so it's okay to tell people about it in different ways.