It's mass production nowadays. The only thing that matters for them is pushing out as much hardware as possible, and that obviously doesn't allow them to maintain high quality standards. I actually expect it to get worse due to the new competitors that will flood the market with the same quality (if not better) hardware, but at lower prices. Bitmain will have to follow with lowering their prices, and that will again mean lower overall quality.

Actually, it is the most infamous mining/crypto related business in this market. People have no other option than to use them due to their cartel position, but it won't take long for this to change. It's just a matter of time.

Actually, decentralized exchanges aren't fast at all, which is the main reason the developments in that field progress in a slow manner. In no way right now can it compete with the services offered by centralized crypto exchanges. Another 'negative' aspect is that there is no way to combine fiat to crypto trades in a completely decentralized manner. The fiat aspect will always require permission from the service that's being used.

Regulations forcing exchanges to comply with all laws do however stimulate people to move over to decentralized exchanges, and at some point when the volumes justify actual development (more than is the case right now) in that field, things will definitely change for the better. But then again, not even decentralized exchanges are completely safe from malicious attacks as we have seen in the past. It's meant to provide decentralization, not total protection.

No steady growth? From last year November to where we are right now, the bottom development indicates very steady growth.

November 2017 bottom ~$5500
February 2018 bottom ~$6000
April 2018 Bottom ~$6400

And currently we're about to set another bottom. If that isn't the default definition of steady growth, then I don't know what is. Stop focusing on peaks, they only mirror hype/greed/speculation. Eventually the market will smash through $100,000 as well, it's just a matter of time. People need to stop expecting insane returns in a market that has no incentive and justification to moon any time soon. It's just a matter of logical thinking.

We aren't done with the sub $10,000 bottoms this year, accept it.

Brick and mortar stores are mixers as well.

If I walk into a store with a €200 note (coming from a drug deal or whatever illegal activity) to buy some candy or whatever low value item (which can be seen as a fee), I get 'clean' money in return. Stores know that it happens, but they can't stop it and don't support it. They just do their business in a legal manner, and that goes up for Bitcoin mixers as well.

If we go by your logic, then the entire world economy is *intentionally* supporting illegal activity.

Money is coming in, but it's not buying up the market in a craze pace, and it shouldn't be doing so without anything justifying that. If the group responsible for bumping the market up and down isn't doing anything, the market crawls back up slowly, that's clearly visible. These whales however don't see any point in letting the market go up slowly because they like the taste of money with their high leverage short-long trades.

It's Bitcoin's unregulated nature allowing these whales to do this, but once institutions bring in the much needed liquidity, these whales will be massively outclassed and won't be able to do shit anymore. There is always whale above whale. Current whales exploit the extremely thin market and the overall downish sentiment. It won't last for ever. Bitcoin cycles through these phases quickly and we are nearly there.

It is a Chinese exchange, but due to the restrictions there they are likely located in neighbour countries. If they are still located in China, then people can expect the Chinese authorities to raid them at any time of the day. That uncertainty alone (aside from it being shady or a potential scam) should be reason to avoid it.

I don't think there is much wrong with offering 0.1BTC max withdrawals. In the end it's their platform, and looking at the coins they have listed, they aim to attract the smaller traders. That lower withdrawal fee also helps them to avoid certain regulations that would require them to force through KYC/AML procedures. Nowadays exchanges have become a fort knox with their verification policies, so people tend to use these exchanges because of how 'open' they are.

I accept it legally, and people around me do. Even if it was illegal to accept Bitcoin, I would still do it. Who is the government to tell me that I can't use it? Bitcoin has more purity in it than everything else in the world.

Fuck the government. Not regulated by governments means that people have all the freedom to use Bitcoin. Regulations limit that if harshly implemented.

You have proven to be a government shill. Government this government that. Can you think for yourself or do you really have to ask permission from your beloved government to even breathe? Japan made Bitcoin legal, but hey, does that even matter to you? Perhaps you should ask your government if they agree with it or not.

If so, why didn't lower oil prices lead to lower electricity costs? The oil price crashed like there was no tomorrow and the electricity costs remained as they were, where in some cases the electricity costs have gone up slightly.

If we look at things from a wider perspective, every asset or industry that's not directly correlated to Bitcoin can still affect its market in certain ways. The main point however remains that it will likely be via an alternative route. In other words, increase in oil price leads to X to gain value, where X makes sure Y gains value, and because of Y gaining value it affects Bitcoin too. It's like a domino effect.

Everything with fundamental impact value has the potential to shake things up. Oil has that fundamental impact value.

It's impossible. It's nothing more than a showoff to make clear they are guarding the market and operate strictly to protect you, the investor/trader. Standard bla bla that isn't worth anything. If they already can't properly watch/guard traditional markets, how will they ever be able to do that with the brutal crypto market?

The crypto market consists largely of retail traders, all with emotions overflowing. They gain zero benefit from taking actions against you. They are likely just preparing themselves for the institutions that are slowly but surely entering the market. In that regard they can monitor activity in a far better way, and in case they cross the line, the authorities can actually make them pay for it.

Result in the end is that whales toying around will become more creative and find less obvious ways to manipulate the market, but with the exact same effect.

I agree with that, but the point is that everyone is free to use Bitcoin in the way they think it benefits them. Don't forget that the majority of the people are simple minded, and for that reason don't look at things from your perspective. They don't see the threats you are seeing. They don't see Bitcoin as way to avoid centralization. They don't see anything wrong with this system. This system and the government in their eyes stand for stability, safety, solidity, etc.

It's the result of years and years of brainwashing. It's something that's going to take decades to even slightly initiate a change. Good thing is that you don't have to care about it. You know how to avoid this system and what level of freedom Bitcoin allows you to have. Let others sink in their own misery. These people will only realize that they are following the wrong path by actually experiencing the consequences of their actions.

You don't have to be a professor to figure that out, it's just common sense because it applies to all emerging markets; they are speculative by nature, and thus an emotional roller coaster, and thus volatile.

I have said it before, large players play with people mentally to steer them into a certain direction, and that has been the case since the very beginning. This market is so small (still so today) that deep pockets can have the best time of their life in this market. If you add that there are now alternative ways (futures, options, etc) that will allow you to not only benefit once from manipulating the market, but two or three times simultaneously, manipulation suddenly becomes a whole lot more luctrative.

Holders don't have to deal with this volatility. If the market tanks, they can just buy up some coins and sit on them for years. Easy life.

It's a multi profit way, so from that perspective I really can't blame whales for using BitMEX and other platforms to short trade the market. All the lower side adjustments we are seeing are artificial dumps. If these dumps don't occur, the market will slowly crawl back up, but the whales toying around don't plan to let it recover, so the game continues.

I personally think that there is around 10% of downward potential left, so it might be a good moment to enter, or at least consider to do so. If the bottom development is following its path, then the next bottom is either just over or under the $7000 level. I made a relatively small purchase slightly below $7400 which I am happy with. It might be the last ever chance to buy at such levels, so better utilize it while you still can.

It's all about the agendas and motives of the higher hand. We're living in a world where everything depends on what law the elite think we should be following, and Bitcoin being haram or not fits in that category as well. Everything in the end is a personal choice of the elite, and I am happy that muslims have their own opinion depending on what country they are from.

Westernized muslims are more aware of the differences between them and everything that plays out in the middle east, and thus are more likely going to follow their own route.

In the end the main definition is important, and there is some abuse of power where words and important laws are being bend to make it appear different than it in reality is, all to convince people to follow that specific route. People in the middle east are more likely to follow this because they tend to take everything for granted (they don't know better), while the more educated westernized muslims know how to properly nuance things.

Bitcoin is meant to provide freedom and an escape from that what is suppressing you. How can that possibly be haram?

Simulating a hack of your account won't do anything since you are responsible for everything in the end.

You can always ask Bittrex what countries they 'cooperate' with when it comes to sharing data, but even if they don't share any of that with you (they are not obliged to do so), you should consider all your trading logs to be compromised. That's why people should always think before making use of centralized exchanges; everything can potentially have consequences for you.

Good thing with Bittrex is that it isn't a direct fiat exchange, which significantly lowers the priority for local tax departments to act in these cases.

If I was you I would just ignore it. Don't wake up sleeping dogs when it isn't needed, because it will definitely work against you.

$5000 is quite on the lower side and would indicate a serious drop in demand since it will break through several bottoms.

Main bottom is still what I believe to be ~$6000 that we marked back in February.
Main main MAIN bottom is ~$5600 that we marked last year.

Regardless of the price jumping up and down, long term speaking higher bottom development indicates growth, it's just that the upper (speculative) layer isn't really convincing, and it shouldn't be without anything interesting for people to jump on. In other words, the market is still going up, but not in the speculative way people like to see it go up.

My bottom development structure;

level 1 ~$5600
level 2 ~$6000
level 3 ~$6400
level 4 ~$7000 (in progress)

The gap between level 3 bottom and current price is ~$1400 so we have plenty of more room for downward force. It doesn't mean we will be going down that much, but we have some breathing room.

Nothing can help the financial system, it's doomed to fail with how it's set up. Bitcoin is no world-problem-solver. Bitcoin is just a layer on top of the current system, where everything below that layer is rotten to the core. People are supposed to hedge that rotten system by using Bitcoin, the government itself will just keep sinking down as hard as always, don't let them take you down with them.

Their motto is debt = good; why do you think the majority of the people became way poorer throughout the years, and the rich became richer? You as debtor are filling their pockets. It's not just a way to control people, but also a way to conveniently make sure that capital from you keeps shifting towards the elite.

Simple life lesson; if you can't pay for something yourself (ie, with your own money), then don't buy it. You'll thank yourself for that later on.

The big boys behind Ripple own more than 25% of the total coin supply, which accounts for +25 billion Ripple's. I'm sure a fraction of that can make Coinbase still list it.

I can't blame Coinbase if they end up doing it eventually, it's a business so it has to please itself and the shareholders, and Ripple has the wealthiest backers in the market.

The good old times where Bitcoin and Litecoin were the main pairs are over, but it shows progress in this entire industry. I'm happy how things move forward. I just hope that the competition doesn't just keep staring at how Coinbase constantly pushes itself to the next level. The larger it grows, the more centralized this market becomes, and thus the more MtGox's scenario (in crash terms) is becoming part of the picture again in case something goes horribly wrong.

Lightning is supposed to tackle fees and confirmation times, where on top of that it will allow a crazy number of transactions to be processed per second, so it's definitely a step in the right direction. Early testing is looking good, but once it's globally deployed the real test will start; the mass is the last stress test for Lightning. If it handles the mass, then it is going to explode (positively speaking) for sure.

Technically speaking, there is no such a thing as a free traditional payment service. Even if you don't have to pay fees directly, the merchant that's paying the fees includes them in whatever you end up buying, so you pay them anyway. It's just that people think they don't pay fees. In the end, there isn't anything that you can use for free in this world; everything has a price.

Offline transactions aren't that much of a problem with how people use their debit/credit cards to pay for things wirelessly, or they use their smartphone.

Theoretically it looks good, but the problem is that the regulatory framework is far too complicated. If you follow one route as professional party, you have to abide by two or three other rules, which is just insane. I get it that there have to be rules, but this isn't stimulating economical activity. It only creates confusion and prevents parties (mainly smaller ones) from entering the market.

Just look at how many institutions are ready to jump on board, but the legal route for them is either completely blocked, or so complicated that the risks of by mistake crossing a yet unknown line is just not worth the potential penalties, whatever they may be. It's not for nothing that a lot of the current institutions use proxies to get at least some direct crypto exposure.

I don't think I have ever seen you consider something to be significant news. Definitely refreshing.

It's normal. If the current system (that we nearly all consider to be rotten to the core) doesn't cause you any sort of problem, what incentive will there be for you to use an alternative? The more this shitty system works against the people and the regular economy, the more they will be tempted to ditch it and use something else. Bitcoin is THE safe haven asset, and that in several fields. At the end of the day, it's action = reaction that we see happen now Bitcoin is an available option.