Lightning Network is being tested as we speak, and even you could choose to contribute by reporting bugs, potential issues, etc. Ultimately, we need something to bring Bitcoin to the next level, because if that doesn't happen, Bitcoin won't be able to cope with the increased demand, which is something that we at all times should avoid. It's clear that Segwit alone won't do much in that regard, and that's something obvious even without Segwit being utilized right now. It was never meant to solve anything in terms of scaling, but more to buy time in the runup to Lightning Network. We'll see what happens, but I am confident in a good end result, where we definitely need it to succeed in order to stimulate further adoption.

That's actually a fantastic initiative, which at the same time allows people to save their Bitcoin holdings just like they save a part of their fiat salary every month. I would even accept getting paid in Bitcoin partially where I work. It's not the first time a certain tech related business allows people to accept Bitcoin as partial salary form, but a great way forward nonetheless. I like how Japan is utilizing Bitcoin in the way every country should do it. It's not all that long ago where Japan made an astonishing entrance in the Bitcoin world, and in such a short period of time, they have achieved things other countries wouldn't be able to achieve in five years.

I find it quite entertaining that if similar entities talk about Bitcoin's increase, they talk it down like it's just this or that underperforming causing people to flee into Bitcoin, or that it's absolutely based on nothing and that it will crash sooner than later. It not only shows how bitter these people are, but also how ignorant. In every shape or form they deny that people buy themselves into Bitcoin because of the fact that it offers financial freedom, and a way to escape from an economy only making people lose out on purchasing power. I get it that people look to bank on Bitcoin's massive boom, but I have seen an exponential increase in people understanding how Bitcoin offers more advantages than simply burning their savings where they lose purchasing power every year. People are sick and tired of this, and in some cases even economists admit that there is far too much fiat into circulation.

One thing has become clear - as long as there is money flowing into Bitcoin, these prices are well justified, even when most of the people think they're not. It's the demand pushing the market to newer highs. I too had the impression that the market was overbought, but it seems that the market has proven me wrong, and that goes up as long as the demand keeps thriving in current fashion. In previous market conditions it would have corrected already, but this is something that stands on a completely different level. At some point it will correct, but no one here has even a slight clue of when it will be. It might be at $20,000, or $30,000, or even $50,000 - only time will tell how long the strong demand can maintain its intensity.

It's normal and temporary at the same time. Bitcoin search results have peaked before and then came down again, where Bitcoin right now experiences its biggest ever boom, and even to such a level, that basically every news channel reports about Bitcoin reaching record after record high. It attracts a lot people now the mainstream media is jumping on Bitcoin due to how it is. People simply don't want to yet again be one of those snobs that didn't jump in Bitcoin sooner, and for that reason do it now. The fear of missing out definitely plays an important role here. Most of the people joining don't know a single bit about Bitcoin other than the fact that it has been going up.

Correct. It's the most logical step for people there to follow considering how open and nearby Japan is. Also, Huobi is cooperating with a Japanese firm to launch YEN nominated exchanges, which again confirms that Chinese players are shifting to Japan, and from there eventually spread out further over the Asian continent. I am sure that Japan and other countries in the Asian continent will look happily forward to this, considering that it potentially means more job opportunities and capital being invested in there. China is just tackling itself instead of keeping a potential threat to their economy outside. People will always have their ways of investing and using Bitcoin - nothing can take that privilege away from them.

In that case, you can wipe out 75% of the population. Bitcoin according these people is either a tulip bulb bubble, or an internet boom bubble. I have seen plenty of lengthy articles describing the similarities between Bitcoin and a tech company not making any profits, but still attracting billions in capital during the internet boom bubble. It's insane how some people don't manage to think further than what they have in their mind already. Funny thing however is that something such as Bitcoin that according to them is nothing more than a hype based on absolutely nothing, is still worthy enough for them to report about. They are either governmental shills or just bitter that they aren't part of this revolution due to their stupidity and ignorance.

Not necessarily. At the end of the day, services are free to incorporate Bitcoin in the way they want, and there isn't anyone or anything preventing them from doing so, which I am very happy with. Bitcoin is freedom and doesn't discriminate like PayPal & Co are doing. Services incorporating Bitcoin increases Bitcoin's utility, which is something we all strive for, right? Best thing of all is that we still have the choice to make use of something or not - no one forces us to use something we don't want. Ultimately, I honestly don't see much reason for PayPal to ever incorporate Bitcoin. They are growing every quarter of the year consistently for quite some time now, and it doesn't look like it will stop. So regardless of what we think of PayPal, they are marketing themselves very well, which translates into long term growth.

Governments can't do much other than to regulate the market in a way they feel comfortable with, maintain some sort of control, have people pay their due taxes, etc. If everything points in that direction, the government won't form an obstacle at all. You have to look at it from the perspective that Bitcoin as being the new kid on the block, needs to accept the fact that the government won't sit back and let it take over everything. I am perfectly fine with regulations as long as they are fair and allow Bitcoin to grow further, and currently, this is exactly the case. If governments wanted to stop Bitcoin, or at least 'minimize' it, they should have gone all in with their efforts years ago - it's too late now.

As expected, a relatively normal trading day with just the regular dose of volatility, nothing really special. If you browse through the forum, then the general expectations are that the market would boom massively at the time of opening the future markets. Despite the price having gone up madly already this year, people somehow still aren't totally satisfied. It takes time for these future markets to have somewhat of a significant impact on Bitcoin's market, where we still have more important entities to come on board, such as CME and Nasdaq, and who knows what follows after that. Institutions at least have a way for now to gamble through these Bitcoin tied futures, which is something we years ago could only dream of.

Bitcoin's selling feature as being a cheap way of transacting has never been much of a viable long term thing. It was obvious from the very beginning that the further we go in time, the more importance fees will have, and the further we go in time, the higher the level of adoption becomes, and the higher the fees will be.

As we speak, miners don't need to spam the network anymore to artificially inflate the fees, because the insane usage peak is doing that already. It's like an auction where the highest bidders are the winners - people outbid each other's fees to get their spot in the next block. It's a situation where economics are the dominating factor, and this is something that will not change with Bitcoin in current form.

It did. Even in such a fashion, that people don't see new all time highs as something interesting anymore - it has become far too common.

Because of the future markets going live today? Not sure if we'll be seeing much interesting happening as I believe that the future market will be traded in a conservative manner initially. People expecting that it will make this market explode in value overnight will be disappointed for sure. It will take time before we start seeing in what manner the market reacts.

I am fairly sure that much of current levels is purely dedicated to the acceptance of the future markets. It's insanely bullish if we think about how institutional capital will be able to steer this market to newer highs, but on the other hand, I don't rule out that we're close to the temporary top already since current levels might have the future market counted in already.

The market has always been volatile, so that's nothing new here. Difference now is that the market is going up constantly, which makes trading a less interesting option, and even something that will likely make you lose out in certain situations. Liquidating positions to buy back a certain percentage lower is more like gambling than actual trading based on knowledge. Every time you liquidate a position, you risk seeing the market increase further, and thus make your trade inefficient and costly. Holding by far is the better option to go for, regardless how capable you as trader are. I have taken a temporary leave of absence from trading till the market calms down and becomes a bit more predictable.

This article is nothing special, but there is a very pleasing pattern visible amongst all these articles. Where Bitcoin according to these clowns was supposed to crash hard after reaching $1000, and it didn't, it would crash at $2000, and didn't, and then crash at $3000, and again didn't. In other words, they constantly keep raising the threshold at which they believe the market will crash. At a certain time they will point at $1,000,000 to be a level that they believe it might crash. They just keep raising the bar till Bitcoin reaches levels it probably can't grow beyond anymore, and when the market tanks by that time, they will say -> I told you so! Yep, at some point they will be right, and they will gladly rub it in your face.

It's a glitch as they like to name it, which even if so, is a horrible flaw. I read that there is a simple version, which in order to obtain all sensitive data that isn't meant to leave the device itself, requires an entity to obtain your hardware wallet physically to get it disassembled, and a more 'advanced' way where disassembly isn't required. In both cases the hack is only viable when an entity has managed to obtain your device physically. It can't be done through the internet or whatever. In other words, for one aware of how to utilize this hack, your hardware wallet doesn't offer you any security over a paper wallet containing your naked private key. Not sure if the newer devices being shipped still have this flaw on board, but it's definitely concerning.

I don't see why merchants are reluctant to accept Bitcoin due to the high volatility. If you look around, there are several payment gateways giving you all the convenience and protection you need against the volatility. It's a pretty lame excuse to be honest. Merchants are solely interested in generating sales, where they don't care how it happens. As long as long as it happens and it's cheap, they should embrace it. Other than that, what I am more surprised about, in a good way, is that people more than ever before are looking to hold their coins for the long term. Back in the days we would have fallen back to far lower levels already, where right now even the $10,000 level holds firmly.

Ok, you teach them all things they need to know, and when they at some point see that you are nothing more than an obstacle for them, they'll get rid of you and have everything much sooner. Never make people 'smarter' than they need to be, and especially not when it comes to you 'promising' them a pretty pay day at some point. It's money that dictates the world, and even family won't hesitate to stab you in the back. If you want to proceed anyway, always make sure you use something like multisignature, which at all times requires several entities to sign.

That's straight nonsense. If your friend is trading in such a profitable manner that he doubles his capital in a matter of months, why don't you just follow him in his process and trade in the exact same manner? You state that you know how to do it right because of him, so what exactly are you waiting for? It makes no sense to turn down such an opportunity if it was real, where on top of that, you could still be participating in signature campaigns. Also, if your friend is such a capable trader, how could he then be sucked into the altcoin market so much that it has taken him down? Every noob knows that when Bitcoin is pumping, altcoin markets tank. Things don't add up here.

I actually was wondering where kwukduck was all this time. I have learned one thing here, and that's as long as kwukduck remains ultra bearish, we'll keep going up. Current post 'proves' that kwukduck is still the old kwukduck, basically how he has always been, and I don't want it to change anymore. I however have to point out that kwukduck isn't the only one looking at these future markets with an unsatisfied feeling. It's something that has been part of plenty discussions, but everything thus far lacks any sort of credibility since it's just speculation. It will take a good few months before we really start to see how professional parties will impact the market. I am looking forward to the opening tomorrow. I don't expect much fireworks honestly, but who knows, I am up for surprises.

Back in the days it was more like blind speculation, where people now due to the adoption that's picking up gain more confidence. In addition to that, people aren't selling their coins like they used to do back in the days, so the corrections that we are going to experience in the future will not be of the same magnitude anymore. People now more than ever understand that selling Bitcoin will most likely only end up in a big disappointment due to the constantly increasing price. People who secured profits around $3000 thinking having made a great deal, look back frustrated if they haven't bought back their coins at significantly higher levels after that. Shorting Bitcoin will cost you badly in this market, and it seems that people somewhat start to understand this.