If I were to be asked, I don't consider negative population rate as something detrimental. In fact, it even helps us recover somewhat from the pressures of overpopulation that has been straining our planet for too long. It might have also been fueled by a lot of the younger generation deciding not to have kids, as they believe that having kids on this day and age isn't really ideal, for there are a lot of problems at hand that can't easily be solved even if we try to focus all our attention on said problems.

With the technological advancement Man has achieved in 2 centuries since the founding of the United States, IMO, we can safely say that declining population trends won't really be a problem in stimulating economic growth. They are now replacing lots of jobs with autonomous machines capable of doing the same work Man can do in an even efficient manner. In a supply chain and mass production POV, machines are infinitely better than their human counterparts, so less humans existing won't substantially have an effect on our future economically speaking.

Then again, the trend has to be reversed somewhat, to ensure that we as a species survive, but that's another topic to be discussed.

The only safe bet are those bets you placed knowing in advance how the match will play out. In other words, you know of the match fixing that will happen eventually hence you bet on the outcome. These patterns that you have found out isn't 100% exploitable, and could not be considered as safe bets because even favorites to win the match sometimes drop off of their game and deliver lackluster performance. While on paper it is a good betting strategy, in practice this will, most of the time, fail since you cannot expect favorites to always cover the odds that were designated to them by the linemakers.

While the ideas laid bare by altcoins on defi is really ground breaking and innovative, most of these projects lose traction in just a few months after they already get enough money from peers and the general public. It's true that most of these innovative altcoins will likely turn out as scams, though the innovation that they bring on the table can still be reused with the right set of minds that pick them up.

I wouldn't bank heavily on Defi and crypto payments overthrowing Visa and Mastercard. This will take a lot of time before people can be comfortable in making the switch.

The older generation always downplays the current economic conditions, and pins it to the youth for not doing much for themselves, hence why a lot of them are broke, and cannot afford basic things that they should be able to buy. The economic conditions in Sri Lanka is extremely critical, that no amount of hustle can help anyone weather the current economic crisis. Even if you are lucky enough to start a business, your consumers would be so poor to even buy from you, rendering your business bankrupt in a few months or so. Government aids can also save people for a limited time, and what everyone of them needs is a stimulated economy that creates jobs, but I don't think that the country won't see it anytime soon.

With the threat of omicron being a more transmissible virus, countries relying heavily on tourism such as Sri Lanka will have a hard time getting back on their feet.

It wouldn't hurt, though I am not sure whether it is the answer that Brazil is looking for in order for them to solve their economic woes. Bolsonaro's action plans aren't helping, too, and his priorities aren't even straight when it comes to repairing Brazil, or helping his constituents have a better life. His responses on the pandemic aren't even at the bare minimum compared to other countries, and the way he handled it all only worsened the conditions on Brazil.

His cronies would probably ask for a lot of prerequisites, and would surely on top of their corruption game before gambling in the said country is passed.

Those slips are crazy, and I must say that your picks are of great value as well. Pity I cannot bring myself to chuck in anything larger than $20 on sports betting even if it's already a sure win. I have some considerable knowledge when it comes to sports, but I don't really trust my picks too often that I don't really bet anything at all. Really wished that I had the guts to bet something on sports events that I'm very familiar with, but it is what it is.

Congrats to the wins and I hope that you do even better this year.

Pretty sure a lot of us here know that. But once your asset reached a certain value, I'm pretty sure you will sell it immediately and look for another investment. That's what happens most of the time, and pretty sure it still applies on today's scenario. You will have a lot of profits when you sell at the right time and buy again at a much lower pace rather than wait for it to grow incredible heights and waste time by doing so.

Binance, although just a year or so ago operates with lots of questionable practices, continues to expand on places where other cryptocurrency services are challenged. Lots of warnings have been laid out against them in recent times, and they ignored those for so long. I guess if they really wanted to expand, they would really do any compromises just to stay on top. They are still getting huge day by day, and it's just apt for them to transition from a rogue exchange that evades legislation to a platform that complies for the betterment of what they offer and protection of the people they serve.

Seeing how many great things one can do with lego sets, I do agree that their value will have a significant increase in the future. While they may remain as kids toys on most parts of the world, their cultural influence on all ages is undeniably huge, which may even be the reason as to why there is a growing market for lego enthusiasts. They even have master builders on some areas for each stores, which goes to show how they value legos as a whole.

I think we're overestimating bitcoin on some facets. Bitcoin isn't meant to replace the current fiat system but rather, co-exist with it and act as an alternative. While it is true that there are lots of improvements that we can still have for bitcoin, it will still not suffice to meet the specs of fiat.

Or perhaps bitcoin can serve as an inspiration to the system that will be replacing fiat. The framework is already there, and the concept has already been proven. It will come, but I don't think that it is bitcoin that will topple fiat off of its throne.

I only stick with the casinos that I'm already familiar with, though at times I still try to see to it that I will try and play on other platforms just to check things. In the end, I would still go back to the platform that I originally play in as I've already been accustomed to the games, the user interface, and everything that platform has to offer to me.

Also, if other reputable members of this forum have already vouched for the new casino/platform, then perhaps I would try and play with a couple dollars just to see if it's worth it.

I never really expected $100k at all for 2021. That's just asking for too much, though it is still possible with the amount of money that is pouring on the market, plus the FOMO that could entail the initial price movement. December is usually the month in which the direction of the market is decided. This December doesn't really bring anything like that, as we are only going sideways from the initial drop from $60k.

Perhaps their reasoning was they don't need any profits, they just need to save their money just to weather the COVID-19 panic and ride out the storm. And once they saw that it isn't so bad after all, they began to pull out their assets before banks can even begin to make use of those savings. But I do agree, they could have gone for other options for their money instead of just keeping it on the banks. Since most people didn't really have a job back then, keeping your assets in bitcoin—which performed dramatically well in 2021—would have been the best option. But it isn't for everybody, I guess.

It's very rare to see a bank acknowledging bitcoin's benefits towards the common folk, because normally they would promote their service and their own products rather than other things that could potentially shadow what they are offering. Perhaps, banks in Germany really have a somewhat different business model that allows them to do things like this and still be on the safe side of things. Nevertheless, it's cool that a bank believes that bitcoin is a part of the future that we're all marching forward to.

It's always the main selling point of media and journalist. They can always announce bitcoin dead whenever there are slight hiccups on the price, and if the market is trading on a somewhat slow pace, they will say that bitcoin is not really fit for big money, or safekeeping of value. They can paint the picture however they like, but in the end, people know that bitcoin always thrives despite being surround constantly by FUDs and negative elements that want to see bitcoin done for.

Most of those who give license to operate don't care much about the platform after they have successfully passed the initial requirements. It is only before licenses are renewed when they'd start to be strict and whatnot. AFAIK, Curacao license have the simplest requirements and cheapest of fees, hence why gambling operators prefer to use them over any other licensing platform. Moreover, Curacao doesn't really investigate scam sites albeit receiving reports, thus damaging their reputation in the gambling community, making people think twice in playing on platforms with the said license.

It's as if the IRS is treating theft and bribery as legal and normal forms of where people can get their money from, even going so far as urging people who committed such crimes to file their "gains" on tax. Idk whether I should be happy with this meme-y decision or not, but it's certainly going to receive a lot of mockery from other countries for a long while.

The government agencies of the United States seem to get dumber and dumber every year, with propositions that seem sarcastic at first due to its silliness, and ending up being the real thing.

I wouldn't bank on the metaverse 100%, but I don't like to call it a fad either. The development of the metaverse may even cause AR and VR advancements to accelerate, although of course if projects are really enthusiastic about it, and are really into making the developments for that certain field. Otherwise, it's just yet another money grab from the devs and nothing has changed at all, apart from some pockets that are robbed of dollars that went to nothing.

I do remember that there was one discussion here in this forum about Satoshi and Nick Szabo's writing style, and there were some examples too, but the post got flooded by 'skeptics' easily which led me to believe that maybe it is too far fetched for someone as genius as Satoshi to pin someone as the creator of bitcoin since that would be giving that someone some form of 'authority' over bitcoin, which he so despises.

Perhaps Elon could just go back to building rockets instead of using the media to gain attention once more. But at least his guess is somewhat sensible, so there's that.

Apart from getting that passive income from bitcoin, it also helped me realize that there is more to money than just being spent and kept on banks. Bitcoin taught me how to handle my finances, and how to not willingly trust third party institutions such as banks when it comes to my own money. Overall, bitcoin helped me get some gigs I never thought I would be doing, and taught me lessons I never thought I would be needing.

It's great to hear that a fellow bitcoiner found gems when trying to learn about cryptocurrencies. Enjoy the great holidays that you have right there. I hope that aside from the monetary gains, you also find your way into financial literacy as well, just like I did.