Bitcoin will always remain the top dog, but we shouldn't ignore the fact that Ethereum will keep growing as well. I don't like Ethereum, but we just have to admit that regardless of its purpose, it does very well.

On the other hand, if after all the years only Ethereum managed to grow this large, then it shows how weak this industry actually is. It will be extremely difficult for any coin to come close to Ethereum.

In an instant it wiped out the need for another platform to launch ICOs and other stuff on. What other than Ethereum does the market needs? It can do everything other tokens can do and it has the crypto mass on board.

It depends on who you are looking to transact with. If it concerns a store, then it's very likely that there are enough cheap routes leading to that store without you actually having an open connection with it.

If you for example only need to conduct one single transaction with an unknown source, then it doesn't even make sense to use lightning network. In that case it's much faster to conduct an onchain transaction.

People transact most frequently with services, merchants, gambling sites, sites allowing you to earn Bitcoin, and so forth. All these entities will enjoy plenty of cheap routes that you can use without being directly connected to them.

Give it some time.

There is no reason for the US dollar to lose, and it's not even a problem to use it to benchmark Bitcoin value.

The main problem is that people think Bitcoin will replace the traditional system, but that's not going to happen and doesn't even need to happen. It's about the freedom to choose which currency you are comfortable using.

For one person that may be the US dollar, where the other prefers to use Bitcoin. They can even choose to switch from currency based on the use and need at a specific time. Coexistence of currencies isn't harmful.

I think that's the best possible scenario if we want to see a longer term bull run take place. Currently we have the first of January to mind, which is an important day due to the value snapshot for taxation purposes.

Even if they reject it this year, they can't keep rejecting it endlessly. We'll get that ETF one way or another. If the market goes through a correction due to disappointment, see it as another great buying opportunity.

This is the only serious ETF that people actually have confidence in, where the other ones that have been delayed by the SEC stand no chance at all. Some of them even include altcoins, which is an absolute disgrace.

The problem isn't really with the platforms (networks) but more the mentality of most people here. If your only incentive to use crypto is to make profit, you won't ever bother to use it as currency.

It could be that fiat works perfectly fine the way they use it and they see no reason to use something different, or they don't know what Bitcoin is actually meant to change. I think both options play a role of importance here.

Most people in well developed countries don't transact much other than locally where fiat is doing a pretty decent job already. There is basically no incentive for them to use an alternative.

It will be difficult to get them on board. The other group needs education.

I think that most insiders wouldn't even share such valuable information with their family, because the more people know about it, the more likely it is that it will work against you, especially in this case.

Leaking information this sensitive and financially rewarding will definitely make sure that you are playing with your freedom. An opportunity to make money is never worth more than your freedom.

We're talking about the SEC here, and they will definitely make sure that you'll be suffering. Leaking information about bcash as happened with Coinbase is one thing, attempting the same with the government is silly.

Regulations will certainly affect criminal activity initially, but the only thing it's really doing is making sure criminals become more creative and less obvious. Criminals are always one or two steps ahead of authorities.

Noob criminals will get punished for their stupidity, where the smarter ones become more advanced with everything they do. Why do you think some cloud mining schemes manage to run for years?

The most obvious schemes have proven to fail much sooner than those who put effort in making themselves look as legit as possible. Promising massive returns is unsustainable and draws too much negative attention.

It's impossible to point out at this stage. If the price keeps increasing it can be seen as a bull run, maybe not one like last year, but a bull run doesn't necessarily mean it has to pump the price to insanely high levels.

I don't think this is a bull trap. It's pretty clear that people are focusing on the ETF and even sell their altcoins as a result, which explains why they have been performing poorly.

Whatever it turns out to be, make sure that you don't stay in too long hoping for something with a low overall probability of happening. Technically the longer term downtrend is still thriving. $8200 is only a bump.

I don't see anything interesting in these active faces in the media thinking to know more than everyone else. It's a guessing game that he's participating in, and time will tell how much of his talk will turn out to hold any value.

People are too bullish at this point, which is quite an indicator that there is a decent sum of money to be made by shorting their excitement. I'm thinking about going short between $9500-$9700.

If we happen to reach that far, the price has gone up considerably in a very short period of time and is due for a correction. Breaking through the $10,000 mark will form too much of an obstacle considering its importance.

Account age and rank doesn't say anything in times where account sales (not saying OPs account is bought) are as normal as people farting in public. It's frowned upon by most people, but it happens silently.

Most noobs always prefer convenience over security. Binance is the perfect example of how it stimulates people to not withdraw anything because of all the free coin rain it allows them to obtain effortlessly.

This whole industry mainly consists of messed up people only valuing their profits, where they totally discard any form of security or decentralization. Let them do whatever they want. It's their money they are risking, not ours.

Are you living under a rock or are you a paid shill?

- Cryptopia is a horrible exchange.
- You can't safely deposit funds to trade or invest there.
- Contacting support is more difficult than launching a space shuttle.

If you don't believe any of this, just perfom a simple search on this forum or Google. You'll see how many people are being victimized by that exchange, which at the end of the day is people's fault as well. Don't use this exchange.

I don't think it's actually bad news for Ethereum. All it does is point out that people are willing to pay the fees in order to get their transaction through. People see this as a negative event, I see it as increased demand.

Coins with no network activity won't ever suffer from high fees, which is exactly why they never take off. Full blocks have proven to be a successful way of increasing value, and usually add to their decentralized longevity.

Ethereum's blockchain size has grown past the 1TB mark already, and that within a very short period of time due to the ICO hype eruption. If things stay as they are, it will become a 2TB blockchain within a year from now.

Institutions are playing safe game mostly, so I'll assume that the $20 billion hedge fund allocates way less than 1% of its assets to be invested in crypto. No way they will blindly dump money in crypto.

Hedge funds mostly fill up a very small percentage of their portfolio with speculative assets, and crypto fits in that category as well, even though it's far more speculative than anything else in the regular market.

Coinbase won't do anything other than up front stating what coins they are looking to research and list. I'm sure the employee responsible for the leak will not bother doing the same ever again. It was far too obvious.

People underestimate how important professional custody is. Institutions won't massively enter crypto without any wall street bank or other high level corporate entity offering custody services.

Why would they trust Coinbase or Xapo with billions in funds? Institutions like to keep things safe within their own circle, and Coinbase as largest crypto entity definitely isn't part of that.

I have read that Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are both considering offering custody services for their clients. If they ever get it working properly it will turn out to be insanely bullish for every crypto enthusiast.

There isn't even anything to scale. Why would you scale upwards if the block scarcity only goes through the roof during spam attacks or extremely short term usage peaks? Currently 1MB blocks are doing well enough.

I'm sure that if ever there is a need for an increase in block space, it will happen. It will only happen when the majority consistently shows that Bitcoin needs an upgrade, not because a minority of wealthy bullies want it.

You are constantly looking for ways to talk down on everything related to Bitcoin, and that for a very long period of time. You're either a troll of nature, or a paid shill (not sure what's worse).

I very much doubt that people investing in bcash are going to spend it. BitMEX pointed out that bcash mainly functions speculative object, more so than any other coin, where even Roger even admitted that.

The people with free coins could either choose to cash out, or spend, where the latter seems more likely and more favorable to avoid paying tax. Spending crypto in most countries means you're exempt from paying tax.

If you are really curious and into blockchain analysis, you can always allocate time to roughly figure out how much bcash is being processed through BitPay. If people spend hard enough they'll run out of coins in a year or two.

Is it possible to hit $5000 or lower this year? Definitely. People need to stop focusing on positive events and start calculating how realistic a negative event is with how bearish the overall market still is. Open your eyes!

This market is far too niche in order to take certain outcomes for granted. Last year no one expected a bull run, but it happened, where this year a lot people seem to expect one, but it won't happen.

The thing with bull runs is that they happen when no one expects them, because that will add to the fomo hype. It makes sense as well because if people expect a bull run, they have bought already and will only sell.

You can't have a bull run with more sellers than buyers.

Currently there are an equal amount of scenarios where reaching $10,000 is possible and where $5000 is possible before the end of the year. In both cases it's either $2500 up or down.

It seems to me that the market has been driven up by existing money instead of new money entering crypto, which is a bit worrying actually. It makes me feel less comfortable with current levels.

Good thing is that I have enough fiat ready to be put in action in case the price drops, and that's the most important thing. If you have fiat ready you won't ever be shocked or disappointed by a correction.

Keep dreaming. The majority of the people buy their first coins through centralized services that require at least some form of verification. If you don't do anything to get rid of that taint, you have no privacy at all.

It's actually quite dangerous to easily assume that you enjoy a great deal of privacy just because you're using Bitcoin, while in reality privacy barely exits in this industry anymore.

There have been quite a number of drug dealers that were busted just because they thought that Bitcoin's anonymity would protect their identity and such. It's pure ignorance but people will slowly learn in the coming years.

Monero is gaining popularity consistently.

I find that quite quite pathetic actually. If you can't do basic level research yourself, you're just a loser and a brainless imbecile. If it's too much to ask for then people shouldn't be anywhere near the crypto industry.

Honesty is almost nonexistent here. Pretty much everyone is out to sell you a rigged and biased version of this industry. It's much better to acknowledge that you suck and don't belong here as noob. It will save you a lot money.

I wish it was different, but it's not unfortunately. I'm sure that regulations will take care of a large part of the scum activities here, but it's impossible to get rid of it entirely. People need to watch their steps and not trust anyone.