You can do it if the gpu of your laptop is quite powerful. Most of the altcoins are GPU-based so you shouldn't get a hard time mining them if you have a powerful GPU. Just download the mining software and set the configuration to whatever altcoin you want to mine and then start mining right away. A friendly tip, mine altcoins that you think would make it big in the market and mine it in its infancy and keep a bunch. Wait for it to be available in the market then sell for btc.

Placing your money in a form of investment is already a risk itself, so if you are a newb in trading, you definitely want to learn something before diving and risking your money. Try to get as many information as you can before entering into the risky world of trading or you'll end up burning yourself.

Unless you have the $$$ then you can actually make a bump in the price. Tbh, it is very improbable for a small group of people to move even $10 in the current prices. What you're asking for is difficult to achieve, because you can't tell people what to do, and the fact that not all people have the $$$ to buy bitcoins.

Hoarding and holding too much is against the concept of bitcoin as a "currency". It may increase it's value, yes, but without some bitcoins rotating around the economy, who would want to use it in the first place? A small number of coins rotating might increase the price, but it also slows down the adoption rate, which is another factor towards bitcoin's success.

I got confused there tbh. Thanks for leading them to the correct line. I thought he's asking how the exchanges work basically. Turns out we're not in the same page. >.<

They can if they want to. But will they do it? It's not Facebook that accepts it. It is the payment processors that has the final say.

You're quite right about some "scammers" that you're talking about. But most of the time, they do troll and scam people around here. So yeah, a bit no-no for the 98%.

Where'd you get that number anyway?

If bitcoin took over, there wouldn't be no banks.
Just joking. if bitcoin took over, there would be no pressure from the banks to use their services and in turn, make the average man free from the chains of the banks. Sorry for the ideas in here. It's 4:00 in the morning. Hope after I wake up, I'll see a healthy discussion going on in here.

Wait, I'll ask you the same question: If bitcoin took over..

It is there to make sure that every transaction in the whole chain is "clean" at the least, and no double spending or whatsoever occurs within the entire blockchain. Well even if the whole transactions are transparent as you say, still people will have a hard time remembering all those strings of numbers for addresses and anytime they can change their addresses to a new one, so as to add another layer of security to their own holdings.

The recent times are the hard times for people. Recession forces people to cash out their savings and search for a possible investment that may save them from it. And correct, the miners dump every day to cover up for expenses, which in turn causes the price to decline.

This is basically the problem for some people here using btc. Why would you keep such a high number of coins in a wallet that is always connected to the internet? You don't need to throw that laptop though. Just check for some spywares and malwares that may have caused the disappearance of your coins. Hope you've learned a lesson from this, though a very expensive one. Sorry for your loss.

Mining? Definitely not a good time to mine. If you came up early in this field, maybe you'll get a nice profit. Before you start buying mining equipment, you must first calculate all the expenses you might face when you start mining. And also, decide whether your mining will really help you in making money by means of mining calculator. As for the miners, some miners are designed to "mine" SHA-256 algorithm-based coins and some are for Scrypt algorithm-based coins, so that means an Antminer can't process mining litecoins (a Scrypt-based coin.)

Nope. Just like a normal market, if I placed my price at 65, and another person on the other hand sells his for also 65, it's up to the buyer whose item will he/she buy. There is no luck involve in here, it's just the decision of the person buying what item and whom will he/she buys.

Yep. A separate address for spending and for storing is ideal. In fact, it adds a layer of security for you and your bitcoins. But if each transaction you would use a different address, that would be a pain in the ass. So mixing coins is a reality because it helps you secure your coins without creating a new address. Say create 10 different wallets for the purpose of mixing. Use one wallet that you will use for storage and the rest for transaction and spending purposes.

1. Wallets can't be deleted. it is there forever.
2. The blockchain records every single transaction in the chain. One cannot simply delete it by any means.
3. Wallets are free, you won't pay a single penny to have one. Just be careful on what wallet would you choose.
4. Creating a lot of address can help you "hide" the majority of coins by means of mixing it to addresses and sending it to a "stealth" one. In that way, hackers may get a hard time tracing your bitcoins (but keep in mind that it can be hacked if you're not careful enough.)
5.You can always send bitcoins easily with least tx fees, but it takes a lot of time to confirm as it is placed in the "low-priority" bracket of transactions because of lower fees.
6. Trading bitcoins for litecoins can be done in an exchange wherein you can be anonymous. You don't need to expose your bank account in this kind of trades because the exchange serves as the medium of transaction (or the midman) if you want to exchange that bitcoins to litecoins and vice-versa. Exchanges won't expose your banking credentials anyways.

Hope I helped a bit in here.

You can always import the privkey whenever you need to regain the bitcoins in a paper wallet. You just keep it in a safe storage because it isn't connected to the internet--which means it is not vulnerable or prone to any thefts.

The blockchain.info wallet and the Android wallet by Schildbach (if I'm not mistaken). Most of my holdings are kept in a paper wallet, laminated, and placed in a folder.

You need the hardware (asic miners) and the software (those downloadable "trusted" miners). But if you want to mine, don't mine btc directly. You'll end up paying for more than your profit.

I sell on a local exchange called coins.ph They offer a fast and reliable service to their customers. As for you, you can try kraken or bitstamp, or Local Bitcoins.

A crash would mean something below the $100s mark. Small dumping of weak hands can be the caused of this decline in price.