Source: https://archive.is/BZal2

In 2013, a man stored 43.6 BTC in his wallet, and protected it with a strong, 20-character password generated using a password manager called RoboForm.

Instead of simply storing this password in the password manager, he decided to store it in a file and encrypted it using a tool called TrueCrypt.

Some time later that encrypted file got corrupted, so he was unable to obtain the password to his wallet.

Now, the interesting part is that because of the way RoboForm generated passwords, it was possible to regenerate the same password and unlock the wallet!

Here's the video that explains this in more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5IySpAkThg

RoboForm used certain parameters like password length, use of upper or lower case letters, etc, which were simply guessed by the "hackers/researchers" based on other passwords that the man used in the past. But the crucial step is that RoboForm used the time of the system to seed the PRNG(Pseudorandom number generator) algorithm to generate the password. This reduced the number of checks dramatically and made it possible for them to crack it.

The password was generated on May 15, 2013, at 4:10:40 pm GMT. They were able to generate the same password that the software gave to the man at that time.

This is a happy ending, with the man now holding 30 BTC (he sold some and also paid the "hackers"), but it is also a cautionary tale:

If you use a password generator, make sure to manually edit it so that it is not possible for people trying to steal your money to do something like this.

Bitcoin is not used in mainstream, but you can definitely get a job that pays in Bitcoin today.

You can also pay in Bitcoin for certain things. We are in the process of potentially creating a Bitcoin world.

At the moment there are companies that take your Bitcoin and they process your bills with fiat, so in a way you can live today with Bitcoin only. For example check out this for Australia: https://www.livingroomofsatoshi.com and this for Canada: https://bylls.com

Same with lending: https://ledn.io

Just like we have the Bitcoin Pizza Index:



We should now have the Stimulus Check Index 

The most obvious answer is that with Bitcoin you don't need a bank.

You can make and receive payments all around the world, 24/7, securely and fast, with no middle man, and no permission from anyone.

Banks want to charge fees for holding your money, charge interest for lending your money, make decisions about whether you can or can't use your money, etc.

If people stop putting their money into the banks, and instead start withdrawing it and use Bitcoin instead you would have a bank run.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_run

Then the banks don't have money to lend or operate and they become insolvent and have to shut down.

That's pretty much it.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Diana Mondino, recently confirmed that in Argentina you can make contracts paid in Bitcoin:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/argentinas-minister-of-foreign-affairs-affirms-bitcoin-acceptance-for-contract-agreements

Recently, there was a story about a guy in Argentina who did just that to rent an apartment:


Here is the original story, in Spanish: https://www.pagina12.com.ar/703173-en-rosario-se-firmo-el-primer-contrato-de-alquiler-en-bitcoi



The first thing to consider is that the price in the contract is set in USDT, not even USD. The contract says 100 USDT, which is today the equivalent of $100. Here is the original in Spanish that mentions this:


Now, first of all that sounds very cheap for a full month of rent, but the most interesting part to me is that the price was set in USDT, which can at any time depeg: https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-and-why-do-stablecoins-depeg So, any month, those 100 USDT can represent a completely different amount of USD, which will then be converted to BTC.

The second thing to highlight here is that they are not paying the BTC directly to the other person wallet. They are using a centralized exchange called Fiwind, and basically they deposit their Argentinean Peso into the platform, exchange it to BTC, and then transfer the BTC in the platform to the landlord, monthly:


Apparently the centralized exchange is part of the contract, so maybe they are doing it this way to get all their fees from this person, and get some PR on the side.

It is a bit of a shame really, when they could have easily just paid directly from one person to another. The details of this story reveal that it's not really a direct peer to peer transfer, but a convoluted payment involving a third party. Might as well just pay it directly in Argentinean Pesos, or USD since they are setting it to $100 USD.

Missed opportunity. I think the main point here is setting the price in USD equivalent instead of the Argentinean Peso which devalues a lot over time.

The risk, as in the odds, is the same really for poor and rich.

Both can go "all in" and face the same odds.

That might be $20 for the poor person or $200k for the rich person, but in the end if they lose, both lose it all. Same risk, with same odds.

Maybe it would be even better to show the worst that can happen when gambling. That's something that casinos definitely don't want to be seen.

They only show the good parts. Also gamblers will always just share their wins, never their losses.

If someone is OK with that, then fair enough. At the end of the day everyone should be able to do whatever they want with their lives.

I would argue there are almost no professional gamblers.

In the sense that professional means you are getting paid to do something. That's where the term "go pro" comes from. Say a skater goes pro, that means they are paid to skate.

A gambler that dedicates all their time to gamble is not a professional gambler, because for most of them they end up paying to gamble. The opposite.

Yeah, but honestly you don't even need to gamble a single time to understand how it works.

You can study probabilities, or even just see what happens in casinos.

Soon you realize that most people end up losing instead of winning.

There is an element of entertainment as well, which is valued differently by different people though.

True.

At the end of the day Bitcoin, or any project, really is only successful if people use it.

If no one cared about Bitcoin, then it doesn't matter how brilliant it is.

Literally you need a second person to run Bitcoin, it is impossible to do it by yourself.

Bitcoin allows for pseudonymous transfer of money. It is not anonymous.

Basically every transaction has a unique identifier. If you somehow link your real world identity with that unique identifier, then your real identity is linked with that transaction.

For example, when you transfer from a centralized exchange into a wallet and then you send from that wallet to somewhere else using the same address, that's a clear link.

Yeah, casinos will try their hardest to keep you betting after you won with multiple sounds, lights, etc, to keep you hooked.

They definitely don't want you to leave after you win.

Notice how when you run out of credit the whole machine just stops the lights and noises.

It's all a mechanism to keep you putting more and more money in.

It is indeed a tricky business, because there is a lot of regulations around it.

But, if you manage to bring people in, and make sure no one hacks your casino, then it is a really lucrative business.

Most governments will want to have a slice of the pie as well, so many fees are just part of doing business.

The thing is that rich people can end up broke in the same amount of time that a poor person.

They both have the same odds, and the rich person has the ability to spend more per gambling instance.

So, if they have the same outcomes in every step, and the rich person has, say 100x more money than the poor person in the beginning, but bets 100x every step, then they both will lose all their money at the same time.

The odds are the same for everyone.

Gambling is clearly a place to make money as long as you are the person running the casino.

The whole thing is designed so that the probabilities are against the gambler. The house always ends up winning in the end.

There is some level of entertainment that is provided, but the price some gamblers are paying is clearly more than what any person would reasonably expect for the amount of entertainment.

I don't really know too much about Roger Ver, but I watched a few videos he posted.

He was basically living in a tiny island, St. Kitts and Nevis, where he is a citizen of.

He mentioned in the video how great it was that they don't have to pay taxes there.

No idea about the details, but it seemed to me that he was too focused on the tax part.

Maybe he didn't pay taxes to US when he stopped being a citizen around 2014?, no idea.

The beauty of Bitcoin is that you don't have to trust anyone, you can always verify.

Bitcoin is independent of any single person, even Satoshi Nakamoto.

Also, Bitcoin is money, it's not political. Bitcoin is for everyone.

I think that this is a personal choice.

Some people want to pass their wealth to the next generation.

Others want to save with a good financial instrument such as Bitcoin and then sell it whenever they need money for something, like buying a house, etc.

There is no general answer to this I think.

Yeah, the worst thing you can do is continue putting more and more money into it and end up with less and less money.

It takes self control to stop, but it is clearly the best way to move forward.

It is a slippery slope I have to say, because it is so similar to the drug addiction, as in "the first one if free". They want you to get addicted to winning, while actually losing most of the time, but they don't tell you that.

It is an incredibly interesting industry that has roots in how the brain works, it is fascinating, and so lucrative for the people running the show.