In the USA you will owe CAPITOL GAINS tax on the growth in value if you sell your coins. It varies depending on your tax bracket and the state you live in. It could be as high as 20% or as low as 0%. Typically you should expect to pay about 15%. The good news is that you likely pay twice that for the money you earn at work.

What I have seen since 2010 is that there is Bitcoin and there are scams. Even if you find the more legitimate alt-coins you are kidding yourself to think you are "Diversifying your portfolio". If Bitcoin fails for some reason then it is extremely likely that it will effect almost all (all?) alts. On the other hand, if an alt collapses it is just another normal day.

I thought it might be valuable to point out some of the key differences between FaceBook’s new Libra coin and Bitcoin. They are certainly not the same. The greatest features of bitcoin center around it’s decentralized network.

Bitcoin is:

• A currency that disconnects your identity from your money.
  
  Owned only by the user who posses it. 
  
  A currency that has a production, circulation, and distribution which is beyond the control of any government, business, or ANY entity at all.
  
  A currency that can be used in any country for any transaction and is beyond anyone’s ability to compel or deny a transaction.
  
  The cheapest, fastest, and most secure way to send money yet invented.
  

Libra is:

• A currency that ties not only your basic identity to your money, but includes all the details found on your FB, instagram, What’sApp, and other social media. A near perfect coin for stealing your identity.
  
  Owned by a banking cabal including PayPal, MasterCard, FaceBook, Andreessen Horowitz, etc. Users may use their coins if they follow all rules required by the owner companies. Users must also accept that these rules may change at any time for any reason the owner companies decide.
  
  A currency who’s distribution, supply, and all other parameters are under the complete control of the owners. They can change the valuation or double the circulation.  (Owners, not Users – FaceBook and it’s partners are the owners of the money)
  
  A currency that can be used at FaceBook’s partner stores. It allows FB partners to pry into your spending habits in an unprecedented way. You may only use their money if they receive a cut of the money and all transactions are allowed only if FB decides it is okay for you to do. 
  
  A patch over an archaic banking system that is insecure, ridiculously slow, and very
  expensive.
  

In the past working with banks was sinful and not allowed as Christians are not supposed to engage in usury.  Direct giving, and therefore bitcoin, was the only acceptable donation. Can you imagine that now, lol. Usury is the business many large churches are in.  If you are like most, then your God is 3% MasterCard.

Bitcoin Special Victims (BSV) 

Why God why do people get so off track when all they have to do is secure bitcoin?

What seems to be asked is "How can we force some bitcoin users act in our interest instead of their own"?

Answer: You can't. That is what fair is all about. Nor can anyone take your money, they can only buy it with your permission. If you pay $5 for a bitcoin then sell it for $4... No one "stole" a dollar from you.

I'll just add it to the list of laws I do not obey. 

If you are not running a full node then it may be said that you do not own any bitcoin.

It looks like it.

1. Create ScamCoin and pre-mine 1000.

2. Now sell one to your best friend for $1000  = Current marketcap $100,000.00!

3. Next have your friend sell it back to you for $2000 = current marketcap $200,000.00 = 100% growth per day!

Now I have a coin that blows bitcoin out of the water on paper. Of course it is actually worthless, but if I can convince a few people otherwise I can sell my pre-mined coins and just walk away from the project. Remember that the "problem" most alts are trying to solve is the problem of you having money that a scammer wants.

The problem with most money systems is not that some are wealthy and others not, it is the unfairness of fiat systems. Bitcoin is mathematically, provably fair. If someone has a lot of bitcoin is is because they bought it. There is nothing unfair about that and the seller is not losing anything unless they foolishly sell at a loss.

So if you are upset by "whales" buying up all the bitcoin, consider that you could have done that. Consider that that no one can compel you to sell your coin, and that you set the price. It is completely fair. There is absolutely no path whatsoever to any commie redistribution of the wealth. You can create a fork or make a coin that keeps anyone from getting rich, but good luck with that.

That is a beauty. Those guns have a cult following at club where I shoot ( http://winnequahgunclub.org/ ).

My gun budget is way over sanity right now or I would consider it.   

Owning a casino.

I think it's funny that he does a good job arguing why C.W. is not Satoshi. Then outlines an equally merit-less argument that he is. 

Africa stands to gain a lot from bitcoin. They may skip the "bank" phase of economic development and move directly into modern cryptocurrency. Perhaps in the same way they skipped landlines as their phone infrastructure developed.

Thank you for your response! I had a friend download and install the app for a look. I didn't mess with it much, but I could not find a way to load the wallet with BTC. I assume it can send and receive? It would suck if I had to buy exclusively from them.

It is the the money I use for purchasing anything on the internet. I have rarely sold BTC for dollars or other local currencies.  But I use it all the time. Just ordered some nice Pendleton blankets over the weekend.

https://www.overstock.com/Pendleton-blanket,/k,/results.html?SearchType=Header 

I don't get why so many people buy money then sell it? Ti's money, spend it up and save all the fees!

Can someone DL this app and try it? I'm not an iPhone user.

Does it allow spending bitcoin outside of their affiliated stores? It would suck if I HAD to spend my bitcoin on Starbucks.

How much are the fees, and how are they structured? Do I pay to deposit or withdraw or spend, etc. ?

Global trade wars, stock market overvalued, sanction regimes everywhere. Whales have nothing to do with it. The flight to bitcoin is completely logical.

You seem to realize that alt-coins are almost always scams, so why not just avoid them? There is nothing to fix and no new coin or group is needed. All these things disappear if you just stay away from alts and use bitcoin.

I agree. But I was assuming the password on his shared windows 2000 computer is "god". And that his hotel wifi connection mysteriously requires installing screen share software. In that case it only marginally reduces security.