Huge jump today for those that have invested...84 cents USD

We'll see how it goes, but promising progress so far 

BTC Address: 1BzodAPBY9jQNvJ5TWwWPVsxg7i8jT22yY

Wow what a great fight.  Aldo and Holloway looked sharp.  Aldo had a good start and was on point with his counters, but didn't throw any leg kicks.  I'm happy for Holloway...well deserved.

lol what platforms are being used for betting with bitcoin?

Agreed - that's a good tip, but I'm not going to bet on this particular fight.  Home crowd is a huge advantage, and I'd probably lean towards Aldo to win the fight, but not with much confidence.  I'll watch this one for entertainment and bet on the ones I'm more sure of (not that it's a sure thing either)

Yeah I'd say Aldo has the best leg kicks in the UFC...maybe Edson Barboza is close.  He looked good against Edgar.  If he can damage Holloway's front leg...the later rounds especially are going to be tough.

WEC Aldo is no more...those flying knees and crazy knock outs...he's more into technical boxing now.  In his defense, it's difficult to fight like he used to in WEC as a long time champion.

Yeah I do find that people that do enjoy gambling often (that are not professional), don't have a good understanding of how odds work, or what the odds are for games that they do play.  It would be more based on intuition, luck, or superstition.

I remember enjoying Finite in high school, mainly because a lot of the course was focused on probability, and many examples would be based on card or table games, to calculate odds.

Gambling does seem to fill a void for some.  Those with a fulfilling life are more likely to resist falling into the trap...but when you don't have a lot going for you, it may seem like a way to acquire wealth. 

lol...why should Holloway put on a good open workout for the crowd when they're yelling out that he's going to die? 

I'm torn between who to choose between Aldo and Holloway.  I'm for Holloway, but tough to bet against Aldo.

Any of you guys bet via bitcoin?

There are many legal drugs that are highly addictive such as oxycontin or morphine (or any optiate), and there are illegal drugs that are not addictive at all (lsd, psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis, dmt, etc.).

The government is not looking out for your health by making non-pharmaceutical drugs illegal.  Most deaths in the states are from completely legal drugs (tobacco, alchohol, prescription drugs).

There will be no illegal drugs when all drugs are legalized.  Doesn't make sense to put anyone in jail for doing drugs in their own house.

What you refer to as "big fish" are organized crime, meaning they are part of the system we are in.  There is no removing them unless drugs are legalized.  Prohibition has failed miserably throughout history.

Let's split crime into two categories.  Crimes that have a victim and victimless crimes.

Victimless crimes would include things like drug purchases and sales or gambling/betting where illegal.  These things were being done long before bitcoin was around and there's no victim, so it's just a "crime" as a result of a pathetic policy.  After all, "The only danger of smoking weed is that you might end up in jail".  Perhaps it does increase the ease in acquiring drugs or gambling if it's not readily available locally.

For actual crimes, with a victim, where someone is caused harm...I don't think there would be an increase with Bitcoin.

Yeah treating gambling as a source of income, where you "need" to end on top...I think that's where it starts to get dangerous.

If you go in with money that is acceptable to lose, and understand the odds are against you, but you just might luck out, then it's fine.  This goes for games where you're playing against the house.  For playing poker against other people, then it depends on your ability to play relative to your peers.

Logic would keep you from being addicted, which is more of an impulsive/emotional response.

Mirko was great in pride and I the type of training they did back then was different.  They didn't do as much research into the opponent and develop in depth game plans.  It was okay to be a one sided fighter back then.  He had great take down defense and the lethal kicks.  But in the UFC, people are constantly looking out for his kick and it wasn't a surprise anymore.  He also wasn't able to adapt and keep his opponent guessing...he just continued with the same style and had trouble evolving.

As for Aldo vs. Holloway...hard to say for me as well.  Holloway's confidence is at an all time high.  I think it's safe to say this will be a stand up fight, so depends on if Aldo can chop the leg down and land hay makers to rock Holloway, who has a great chin...or if Holloway can put pressure on Aldo and get him moving backwards, and in boxing distance.  I see it being pretty even as they're both beasts.

Winning money through gambling gives us a huge dopamine response (reward system that feels great).  Once that fades, we would naturally want to have that feeling again by winning.  Some people are better at managing this with logic and rationale or even fear, but others are dopamine fiends and need to continue to play.

I've been bullish with Bitcoin, and to be honest it has gone up quicker than I expected.  I'm not surprised at the price, but I am a little surprised at how quickly it got to where it's currently at.

The regret is that I got a small amount of bitcoin through sig campaigns a couple years ago, but didn't invest my own money into it.  Stayed in the stock market and cash instead, which haven't gained anything close to bitcoin.

Signature campaigns are a source of income, and can be categorized as self-employment, but depending on where you live and what the cost of living is, it will mean different things to different people.

For example, I've been to some countries in Asia with a significantly lower cost of living and lower salary on average than say North America.  There was a general labourer that was employed for $125/month in Indonesia.  This is enough to pay for the cost of living for him.  He would be able to quit that and be employed through signature campaigns, and probably make a bit more money depending on how mature the account is.

However in Europe or North America, it's not a significant amount of money to cover anything close to the cost of living.  So it can be a hobby where there is some income associated with it, but another source of income is definitely required to get by.

I would think it's an issue with how some of the signature campaigns are managed.  I think that signature campaign managers should be "scouting" good quality posters that they'd like to promote their product, rather than everyone applying to be a part of a signature campaign, regardless of whether or not they support the product.  When the criteria for accepting people into a campaign is lax, then a high quantity of low quality posts are the result.

Of course this would require a lot of time and due diligence for the campaign managers, and not everyone may have that type of time.

Firstly, who gives a fuck about tobacco companies?  They're pretty comfortable killing off their customer base without any remorse at all.

Legalization doesn't necessarily lower the price.  Having legal marijuana means that it will be subject to regulations and taxes, which may actually increase the price.  In Canada, marijuana should be legalized by 2018.  And so far, from what I can see from "medical" dispensaries, the cost will increase in comparison to the black market.

Not everyone knows how to grow plants or will take the time to do so.  Our legalization will allow 4 plants per household.

In the current financial system, a lot of resources are dedicated to banking, and getting money from the central bank, as it passes through the banks until it reaches the end user.  So getting money to a productive capacity isn't as efficient as it could be, as the banks become the middle man and take a piece for themselves.

Also wealth and income dictates the cost of debt.  The cost of borrowing depends on level of affluence; the more wealthy the cheaper the debt.

From this perspective, Bitcoin would be more fair, as no one would get preference over anyone else.  Whether that would actually improve an economy depends on how it's treated, but I think the potential is there.  Removing banks from the equation and getting funds directly to a productive capacity would have some benefit to people as a whole, at the cost of the elite and large corporate interests.

If you're going to get in the time machine, don't waste your time with bitcoin...just go win the lottery

And in terms of hoarding bitcoin...everyone has their price.  Very difficult to get the whole world to agree to never sell.  Plus some people use it to actually transact rather than use it as a storage of value.

For anyone that has already invested in Storj or has any insight, what platform would you recommend to buy/sell?

You need to do some traveling around the world to experience different cultures and environments and see how you feel.  Regardless of what anyone recommends here, different places around the world suit different people.

Are you willing to learn a new language?  If not, that will narrow your potential countries greatly.

Having traveled to 18 countries so far, I would likely choose Bali.  But I personally wouldn't choose a place to "settle".  If you prefer something else in the future, why restrict yourself to a single place?