Bailout the banks! Ah, the wonders of the fractional reserve banking system, if only people knew the truth...

Lose the Chicago school of economy, embrace the Austrian school of economy, and you won't ever have to see this "news" ever again.

But, good stimuli for Satoshi, and he/she/they did deliver the missing element: A coin that does not lose value over time. Now its for the rest of the world to take notice how this "deflationary" money works in the context of the economy. Keep the current practices, and it breaks. Move into Austrian economics, and it all fits.

Because the Austrians have long theorized around using something that doesn't lose value as coin, in their early 20eth century minds, that would be gold. Unfortunately gold isn't as reliable as Bitcoin, but such thing could not even be conceived back then.

As long as you all remain within the trap of the Chicago school, you will see that the governments bail out the banks. They are forced to, everything they depend on breaks with a bankrun. And bankruns can only occur with fractional reserve, because that's a legalized ponzi, and the illusion HAS to keep going, people must never learn most of the money out there doesn't even exist.

And Thus came Bitcoin... (cue "Also sprach Zarathustra" from Richard Strauss).

Do you think someone would bother making a coin and then support another? Of course they are going to push their coin as much as they can. Do you think BNB would have demand if they removed the "discount" of Binance's fees? I don't think anyone needs BNB for anything practical beyond trading it or keeping some to lower their Binance operations. Get out of Binance and its useless.

Think of it. What happens if Binance disappears tomorrow, Mt.Gox style? Do you seriously expect BNB's value to hold? bitcoin would.

Sure it might get some success, and even manage to convince some merchants to accept it, but don't be fooled, its no Bitcoin its as weak and dangerous as many other altcoins. Big company or not behind makes little difference, when they fall, they fall the same.

No one can make Bitcoin disappear.

Yes, pen and paper. And its cold too!

Hardware = physical.
Cold = unplugged (powerless).

Create a new wallet in a secure os/computer (can even be done offline). At wallet creation, you write down the seed words in a piece of paper with your own hands. This is the wallet itself, nothing else matters afterwards. But, before turning on the computer (and broadcasting), make sure you copy/print whatever public addresses so you can sends funds to it.

And now you are done. If you did with a live iso, when you turn off the computer the wallet is deleted, this is good, you only need it to exist in the blockchain, and the "keys" to it are within those seed words. So not protect/secure that piece of paper.

And now you have the perfect secure solution that can store unlimited amount of money and be unhackable, as long as you keep that paper secure. You should hide it in a clever place, preferably make another copy and store it in another physical location. You could get fancy and use a bank vault or whatever, even use stenography, mark words in book etc.

The pen defeats the axe (hack)

A hardware wallet in the "common" meaning, the electronic gadget, should NOT be used for storing long term / large sums. A hardware wallet is nice when you want a wallet that doesn't need a pc or phone, and like those, should be restricted for small amounts you expect to use over a day, or maybe over a month. For long term nothing defeats the paper.

Do not forget, this "hardware" wallet also MUST use the very same paper to write down the very same seed words. If you skip it you are simply taking a giant risk of losing access to it permanently. So in the end you are spending money to do the same thing, in addition to extra annoyances like password, 2fa, etc (its just like a software wallet, but in a less insecure OS).


There is a problem with a certain mindset, lets call it "American", in that something "secure" absolutely has to cost money. This is not necessarily true. You'd think the paper is dangerous (because free) while the gadget is not (because expensive), when in reality its the other way around. But here we return to the trust issue. Whom do you trust, yourself? The company that made the gadget?.

Remember what Bitcoin was all about in the first place: Trust. Fiat = trust in your government. Bitcoin = trust in code (you). The "you are your own bank" has bigger implication and responsibility. If you don't trust in you, you can STILL pay others to keep it safe, this is the way full reserve banking works, exactly like a bank safe, just imagine you put your money in the safe and not in the bank account.

No it doesn't. In theory it would reduce trades, but i don't think many traders actually participate in the event. However, network transaction increases, so moving coins in or out of an exchange is bothersome (ironic given the nature of the event).

It is my opinion that the more time that passes, the less this event is meaningful. There are more bitcoins than ever every year, and even less people willing to participate in it. This day should be renamed Bitcoin day as commemoration to that famous first block.

What are you talking about? the satoshi is the coin of the masses, and bitcoin belongs to the elite.

Actual silver coins have the very same problem of gold coins. In the physical realm, they can be counterfeited, and not everyone will be able to verify (in real time) that their coin weights exactly what it should, or is completely made of what it should. This built-in verification does exist in Bitcoin.

In any case a coin is only a means of storing value. It did not come to "redistribute" wealth. Sure it did help a few early believers, good for them, but for the masses, it will always remain a legend. The difference is Bitcoin brought us a coin that that is separate from the State, a coin that doesn't lose value overtime. We can use it or not, nobody is forcing us anything, unlike the State issued fiat...

Successful Free and Open Source projects always have a large list of contributors, often "unsung". Such is also the case of Linux, the kernel of an operating system most people use and don't even know (in Android). In the 11th year of Bitcoin, we should be thankful.

I guess it would be objective to see Bitcoin's source contribution, but often small ideas and discussion doesn't make it in line code count (especially when some optimization actually reduces it).

How about the other projects, Do you even know who wrote cgminer? In the Free and Open Source ecosystem, everyone builds on top of the shoulder of others, it is the way it should be, the only way to achieve progress. Proprietary closed software are evolutionary dead ends.

Yes, but as time passes, this will be less and less so. Don't think of bitcoin as a way to growth money, that side effect is naturally fading due to maturity overtime.

See those little gold price increases? That's where bitcoin is headed. Sure, you can still earn more with bitcoin, but its nothing like in the previous years.

100% increase is like going from 1 to 2. Do you remember when bitcoin went from 1 to 100? how about 1000? Those days are long gone, they are the exclusive treasure for the early investors.

People are expecting bitcoin to go from 7k into 14k (or hope it does) like it was the biggest of things, in reality that would be the same as going from 1 to 2. In my opinion, bitcoin is more likely to to not reach 2, but anything in-between. If it does manage to do 2x (100%) that is also ok, but don't expect the trend to last forever, it goes against its historical movement. When you see the entire graph, you should recognize the logarithmic curve, starts steep and fast, almost vertical, then transitions into slow and shallow, going horizontal. Bitcoin can never become fully horizontal and peg itself with fiat, because fiat production is unlimited. But it will approach it, just like gold. Gold, however, can suddenly go down, if more is discovered somewhere. There won't be any bitcoin discoveries (surprises).

In the end bitcoin is becoming a coin that doesn't lose value overtime, just as it was intended. "Digital gold" is not incorrect, but some people have the wrong conception of what gold is, or would be. People need to study Austrian economics and embrace a future of deflation, true savings based economy rather than debt/credit expansion fractional reserve endless bubble/crash cycles.

And they will, its only a matter of time.

How much are you wiling to bet? Besides today there is an abnormal surge in transactions due to the "proof of keys" event, you shouldn't use it as indication of anything.

But, i'm willing to accept the chance that bitcoin price might reach those levels at some point before the halving.

Oh, and Bitcoin just turned 11, just like the volume :3

Try Venezuela. Philippines haven't seen anything like it since the 70ies, last time you had your coin pegged. At least we share the same kind of tropical weather, except without the typhoons. We are doing so bad now, i know some people even went there, to Philippines, to earn a living. There are people from here going everywhere in this world, but indeed even there you can live better nowadays.

So thank God instead, you don't have to deal with Maduro and Maduro, and your wage isn't equivalent to 2 USD a month.

In the meantime the "first" world has actual things to worry about, such as the latest smartphone model. We cannot be worrying them with menial things like human rights, such things are overrated anyway.

Funny there is no mention of the display rendering bug in the first column of a table. I think this is a problem with either SMF, Bitcointalk, or the particular version of SMF used in bitcointalk (or some modding done by the admin).

Thing is the first column will be too thin. And, this doesn't show in the preview, only when you post.

Using ___ is a clever way to force the width. Another is to simply bypass the first column entirely by having an empty one.

many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words

many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words

many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words

vs

many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words

many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words

many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words many words

This is not true. Alice can wait and not serve you anything until it gets a confirmation, it is you Bob who needs to leave quickly. There is no reason for Alice to reject bitcoin, she could risk it and trust you or make you wait. LN is like a virtual tab that would help alleviate this in the future, but you could also have paid the coffee long before going into the shop (such as from your workplace).

Of course if you are a recurring customer, you would make the most use of it, since you both can leave the channel open and do several more transactions maximizing the LN use before consolidating.

However these concepts are hard to grasp for common folk, this won't be easy at all. Wallets need to be designed very carefully when they support LN. I see very little reason to use LN in most bitcoin transfers, others will try to (ab)use it for everything including a lambo...

There are none. Any version works. You should get an updated bitcoind and that probably has some dependencies that most distros should satisfy, unless you compile it.

I have nothing to say about altcoins but their requirements should be similar. It all amounts to what do you want to do with that laptop, because for the most bare needs you don't even need a gui (or a laptop, a raspberry pi or similar is good enough).

But anyway if you want recommendations, I'll say MX Linux. Its currently no.1 on Distrowatch.

Remember unless you plan to run your nodes pruned, they need space, LOTS of space, as in 300g or so for Bitcoin's blockchain alone and have the patience to wait for that to download. Pruned nodes will download the same, but won't keep the older transactions stored afterwards.

Decent wallets allow you to manual force it to 1sat/B. This means the usual transaction takes somewhere between 100 to 400 satoshis, this is a couple of USD ¢ at most. Online wallets, such as those from Binance, stupidly, won't allow people to set their transaction fee, which is added in addition to their own fees.

Here is my personal opinion: All those exchanges and online wallets that don't let you use 1 sat/B are idiots. Not everyone is in a hurry, most transactions can take some hours or even a day at the smallest setting. It is those idiots that inflate the myth that Bitcoin transactions are expensive, no they are not, they are very cheap, especially if you don't need the transaction confirmed within the hour, and MOST people don't really need it.

Want Proof? A traditional wire transfer can take days or even weeks. People can wait.

It is particularly insulting when mining pools do the same, maybe there are hidden reasons when they are pps, but typical min withdraw amount in those is 0.01 BTC which is horrible for a small home 10THs miner that needs to wait A MONTH before seeing a payout.

And most of it has to do with idiots not using 1 sat/B transactions. I can't wait for the time they will let us use 0.1 sat/B, which is apparently pending in Bitcoin core. I wish wallets dropped their "network traffic guessing" nonsense. Of course miners love it, at least those in pools that pay tx fees. Since those wallets can feedback loop themselves and cause their own (silly) peaks, which is even more reason to go manual.

The answer is: 1 satoshi per byte. Depending on the number of sources, but smaller amounts tend to use less sources. Some wallets intentionally spread the coins for anonymity reasons (or have options to do so) and that of course makes the transaction cost higher (more inputs). But if you don't care about that, you can have very cheap transaction fees even with "big" amounts.

Its bad, because this information will make its way into the dark web, and everyone will suffer the consequences. Before a "hack" would get your nickname and password, but now they'll get your documents.

In the name of "control" the State, as usual, makes things worse for everyone.

The only answer is: Bad Thing.

Never say never... I'm pretty sure it will, its only a matter of time... That is the only undefined variable, but the inevitability lies in the fact that, the USD has to lose value every year to comply to the school of Chicago dogma in economy. Unlike Bitcoin, the USD has unlimited units they can print if/when needed, while bitcoin is limited by design, even if more people want it.

Better use another name, because you could end tainted even when it's not your fault... Else you will have to spend energy, time and money for something that isn't your fault in the first place. Is that name worth such trouble?

Technically its not a problem. But you'll have to convince people again, and again and again that you are not related to the former scam.

Obviously nobody is making them anymore... Electric cars charge when they park, a commuter would typically do it at work and home, never ever wasting time elsewhere such as in a gas station.

Oil peaked in America in the 70ies, and is expected to peak globally in a few years. The oil doesn't stop overnight, it simply slows down extraction (not unlike bitcoin), and the reminder of it becomes more expensive and harder to pull out from the ground.

Calling it "scam" is the same as saying the Sun is a scam. Oil is not infinite, regardless of your mistaken opinion about electric vehicles.

In a few years, you won't find gas stations anymore. Lets see what will you do then. Better get yourself a bicycle... Oh, i have these negatives that need developed, could you take them to the "photo shop"? Oops, can't do that anymore can you? ¿How about renting a VHS tape? ¿What have you done to Blockbuster?

Current Tesla battery banks last at least a decade, they gave 10 year warranties on them since the first model S. Let me see the amount of (non-renewable) fuel you burn in a decade, and the harm the oil industry does to extract it in the same time span.

Li-ION (and derivatives) pack the highest density / energy ratio batteries ever had, 19th century technology had to be tethered typically using a hanging catenary like the trains still use.

You are of course welcome to close your eyes, and cover your ears, because electric vehicles are finally taking over. Still in doubt? Search this in Youtube: Tesla Smile.

Oh and it won't be your place, but mine, the last country on earth to see an electric vehicle. Its a sad effect of free gasoline. We even still use CRTs and analog TV here, Do you?

I'm only waiting for 0.1 sat/B tx, and maybe quantum crypto mitigations, but other than that not really much.

If anything, LN support belongs to wallets, ie. Electrum v4. How well (or bad) they implement it might alter its popularity. To me LN usage is a very rare situation where you somehow need "instant" approval. Most things can be bought in advance without the need for this.

Yes i guess core can still make things easier for LN, but its a lot of effort for something which is only rarely needed in my opinion.

I don't believe in mining to be correlated to bitcoin's market value. The value of things depend not on production cost, but on usefulness to those that buy it. It IS subjective. It is more valuable to me because i can do things i cannot do with my fiat. I am sure your fiat can do more things than mine, so you won't value it the same as i do.

Yes, its the sell refrigerators to Eskimos thing, not how much the refrigerator was to manufacture. Or, you are in the Sahara desert and you have gold but not water, and you are about to die and someone comes with plenty of water willing to part with it for your gold. You just don't care what that gold mining cost was... This is a fundamental principle in Austrian economics.

Yes, its not like there are 10 years of data and 3 previous halvings already.

Nothing important will occur during the halving, maybe before, and certainly after. Bitcoin production is dwindling to the point it simply won't matter how little of them are produced anymore. I have said before that most bitcoins that there ever will are already in the market and this is a fact.

Don't think mining is fundamental for bitcoin's price, the more time passes the less influence it has. Some people seem to believe the cost of producing a bitcoin is somehow related, but it isn't. Value of bitcoin is determined mainly by the usefulness factor by those who decide to own it. As time passes, the actual production cost has less and less of an influence to it.

You say its unpredictable but in my opinion its fundamental price won't deviate much from the logarithmic curve in all its lifetime. The earlier the stage, the faster it rises, the later the stage the slower. But never back down, because production is limited while the number of people that find it useful can only increase until a point (ie. world's population).

Blockchain is not Bitcoin. Blockchain can be used for anything including garbage coins. If someone says they are using blockchain technology, it tells you basically nothing, they are using a peculiar database.

Blockchain alone is NOT secure, without proper decentralization, and this is the main issue with these "State" attempts.

There is even people that dislike Bitcoin and use "blockchain" as a buzzword to promote their project (usually some garbage altcoin). So your suspicions should go high when you hear this word, rather than Bitcoin.

Of course there are some non coin projects that use blockchain, but these projects as well are not secure without proper decentralization, and most of them lack it, especially when they don't release the code so anyone can run their own node.