Russia have actually... done something? Quite amazing. They've been threatening since before human were capable of counting. It's a pisser for the locals but perhaps more agile options will take over. LBC has been slowly edging its way downhill for a long old time now.

There've been many question marks about their behaviour in the past. Just because you haven't been hacked does not mean you're a wonderful, wholesome person. Hopefully this will be resolved rapidly but no one should be thinking places like this are as solid as a real financial institution.

I've heard enough horror stories about all of those joints to not wish to commit fully to any of them. It's inconceivable for anywhere to have 100% happy customers of course but my main experience is with Wirex and I wouldn't class them as a totally competent organisation.

I dabble with them but I would never run important parts of my life through them.

There's been red lights since they came to prominence however many years ago it was. Memories seem short as ever. I never quite figured out how they moved beyond their volume bot zero free days so smoothly.

Hopefully it's cleared up rapidly but it should be a reminder to its users.

Didn't Mr Xu keep everyone's private keys in his girlfriend's grandmother's cupboard? And he had his employees trading on Okex's previous incarnation to keep the illusion up. And if I remember rightly he was 'investing' customer funds in crappy investment schemes, or maybe that was Huobi.

Lepoards and spots and all that.

There's criminality and then there's using a tool to fight the illegitimate tossers whose criminality is being inflicted upon you. I'd say for the vast majority it's the latter. It's one thing to be a Hamptons fat cat using BTC to sneak around, quite another if you're in a corrupt, or more corrupt, poo hole with the walls closing in on you.

It'll be Coinbase custody that accounts for several hundred thousand of those coins - https://custody.coinbase.com

It's not a particularly healthy situation but humans do love to centralise. What we need is a scare, ideally not a very damaging one, to remind people what's what. Everything's fine until it's not and when it comes to cryptoland that means full blown ugliness.

This is my cross examination.


1. When and why did you become interested in cryptocurrencies?

I read about it first in 2009 on an anarchist forum. The OP said it was going to change the world. I downloaded whatever and forgot about it. I reremembered in 2012 and investigated properly in mid/late 2013.


2. When and why did you buy your first bitcoin?

Bought my first in Sept/Oct 2013. Why? To get RICH.


3. How did you get on the forum?

I really can't remember. One of this forum's oddities is that it doesn't turn up as often in searches as you'd expect.


4.1. What prevents mass adoption of cryptocurrencies?

Education, or the lack thereof. You need to understand money as a whole first to get why Bitcoin counts. Not many do.


4.2. How do you think mass advertising of gambling projects has a positive effect on the development of the forum or harms the community?

If people want to chuck their money away gambling then so be it. I wouldn't advertise it myself, more than partially because the only thing I'd write about it is 'stop bloody doing it, twat'.
 

4.3. How do you consider whether 2-3 years of experience in cryptocurrency is enough to successfully invest or does an investor need to receive special education?

I invested long before truly understanding it. Maybe I still don't. Most others will be the same. Who am I to tell anyone else what to do?


5. What do you think of the current Merit system and signature campaigns?  Do they harm the forum?

Sig campaigns have been largely tamed. Merit is doing its job pretty well but I'd make ranking up in the middle ground a tad easier than it is.


6. The most useful forum topic? Most helpful users?

Anything with me in it and.. me again. I'm absolutely sublime.


7. 3 things you would implement on the forum?

A proper mobile version is the only major thing I'd change. It works for me as is. I'd love a demerit function but that could be abused horribly by people, including myself.


8. Do you trade on exchanges or invest in projects?

Nope. I'm shit at it and have failed almost every single time I thought I was a hero. I'll stick with what I know and do not very much.


9. Tell a story about your big profit or big loss?

Losses and profits have largely been on paper so far so they don't count in my book.


10. What do you think about the DEFI ecosystem?

Yet another broken piss take put together by clueless knobheads that'll burn everyone's money due to their dishonesty or leaving gaping holes for brighter people to exploit. Some day it may count for something. Not today.


11. Is your anonymity a vital necessity or precaution?

You may as well guard it and hang on to it. Once it's gone, it's gone. You may become a big player in the future and bitterly regret throwing it away.


12. The last cryptocurrency book you read?

Digital Gold, Nathaniel Popper. Probably the only one I've read.


13. Advise 3 cryptocurrencies/tokens for investment in the next 1-2 years?

Rapecoin, BBQ coin, Trumpcoin. Rapecoin raises awareness of the 'victims of rap', it dropped the 'e' after some thought it was a little offensive. BBQ coin is apparently the tastiest coin you can buy and there's very little edible crypto out there so there's a gap right there that needs filling. Trump sure has a bright future ahead of him.


14. How much will Bitcoin cost at the end of 2020?

12-14 grand.


15. P.S. (Optional)

Hello, you.

I didn't say it was practical or feasible. It no doubt is not.

I guess you could run a 'nice' mixer with Carebears and stuff on the main page and farm out a horrible one with photos of axes and roadkill and stuff. Then I'd lease that to the FBI.

Of course, and I wouldn't have the time anyway and I presume mixers can't be arsed because of that. But if it's red hot and direct from the source then I would choose not to aid them.

I think at this point he's mainly enjoying being feted by a new group of people. Expect him to open his novelty t shirt and mug store any second now to extend his honeymoon. The real test is when it falls through the floor. It may of course end its fall at a price that's way higher than where it is now.

If I ran a mixer I absolutely would reject stolen coins that are directly traceable. You can be an enabler of privacy and not criminality. If it's a bit murky so be it, if it's straight from an outrageously publicised theft then I would refuse to aid their getaway. Needless heat and helping scum to profit is not my idea of fun.

I think it's quite possible.

However if OP can't figure out that that really doesn't matter then they need to up their Adderrall infusion. Its fate is in the hands of the people who populate its system. They're the ones who decide its course and its future and there's no possible way of pulling the wool over their eyes.

We'll have to wait and see. I think it's laughable myself but there are also different types of safe haven. Nothing will save you when everything's turning to shit. If you live in a country with a weak currency and also controls over moving it then it could well be pretty darned handy in a way few other things are.

As you say by the time you add up buying property your tax saving, unless you're talking tens of millions of dollars, will evaporate. And after all that outlay you're stuck in Monaco which is a comically horrid place to live. There's something in the mind set of people willing to give up everything and embrace something worse for nothing other than money that's reflected strongly in places like these.

Even when someone has built a good reputation you shouldn't become complacent. If there are options to protect yourself then take them, even if they're a little more hassle and expense.

There've been quite a few 'trusted' accounts that were either building a long con or lost their mind and screwed people. And it's surprising how tiny the amounts often are that people are willing to throw away their account over.

Can you point us to one of these funds?

I remember many of the crypto dabblings run by proper legacy heavyweights often report results that are much, much worse than the general market. It's like comparing actively managed stock funds to passive trackers. A lot of the time the tracker does a whole lot better.

Any fund offered by any crypto no mark is basically guaranteed to be a crock of shit.

I can't see any heavyweight player ever going anywhere near any exchange. There's no depth and not enough appetite for the amounts they'd want to offload. Every time giant amounts have turned up like the Silk Road coins or Cumberland Mining's offer for all of the Gox coins, we get a glimpse of the OTC dark side. It'll be ready for any of this too.

You never know. It's quite possible. I wonder who we'll have to sacrifice in future. Perhaps we'll need to make sure Tether keeps limping on then we can push it off a cliff and watch it plummet into the abyss at the right moment.

As for China I think it was a strong factor. For some reason exchanges elsewhere always worked their way up, China smacked them down and they'd run screaming. I remember all the talk of '95% of trading happens in China' when it was actually 5-6 teenagers with bots, and the exchange owners of course.

https://www.coindesk.com/nydig-raises-50-million

Stone Ridge Holdings Group, whoever the hell they are, has 10,000 BTC that they're referring to as their 'primary treasury reserve asset'.

I wonder how many there are yet to out themselves.