You are definitely right.
Losing one (1) BTC is a huge-loss but like the title of the thread, investing into cryptocurrencies or investing in general is not for the weak-willed and minded. Before you start to invest, you should consider that money as "MONEY THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO LOSE. You also should know the repercussions of your decision when you invest something big and to an entity whose security is less compared to the other types of investment. Nevertheless, a loss is still a loss and your only remedy is for you to accept and move-on. That's what investing is and it is not always a bed of roses.

Well technically, it really depends on the country's laws that you are staying in. Normally, bitcoin itself is not taxable but mining is. A lawyer at our BSP (Central Bank) told us that bitcoin mining falls under the 'other income' bracket thus making it taxable. But I am pretty sure that most people earn their bitcoins through investments, trading, campaign signature or even gambling.
Also do note that the government will only tax something that they can control. Bitcoin in itself is decentralized, meaning no government entity can regulate it.

Well in order for someone to be rich in bitcoin, he/she must invest and risk large amounts of money for the yield to be higher. Compared to the other types of investments, the cryptocurrency world is still the investment that has minimal regulations compared to the others. Stocks have the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), gold prices are being regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), and bank investments like bonds are regulated by our respective Central Banks.

Recently, there have been news circulating about regulations being imposed in some countries against illegal bitcoin miners and trading companies who do not comply with the requirements given by the government. But there still lacks a government institution who can regulate bitcoin and that is the reason on its high volatility in the market. Let us embrace this opportunity because once the government regulates it on the future, expect prices to be controlled at a certain level, which would affect most investors like us.

Definitely.
I have a friend who trades bitcoin on a daily-basis and earns around $9000-$10,000 per month depending on the price crash of bitcoin. He also utilizes other coins as well for his trading. Though one requirement that you need is that, you need a large amount of capital in order to earn that amount of money monthly. He risks most of his cash and coins. I asked him some questions regarding stocks and forex; he told me that he already experience losing large sums of money and investing into cryptocurrency was his bread-and-butter throughout the years.

Well this a huge step-forward for the cryptocurrency world as it now has an option to pay food using bitcoins! But are you seriously going to waste your assets for food? Let's think it this way, if an average meal at KFC is around 0.0002 btcs and the current price of bitcoin is around $13,700, you would waste a lot money if the price skyrockets in the future! As we all know, bitcoin is very volatile and its price may vary everyday. I wouldn't want my investments to be touched until it matures to my deisred level.

You are right.
Fiat as our international currency is recognized around the world as the main medium of exchange. Considering that there are countries that still follow the barter-system payment, introducing cryptocurrencies as main currencies will not be feasible due to economic discrepancies per country. Also remember that half of the population around the world are living in poverty and have no access to the internet. Lastly, cryptocurrencies in general exist within the internet and is intangible compared to fiat. It is easier to have something that you can hold-on as to something that can be potentially hacked in the internet.

When we think of sports or the olympics, it is composed of individuals who have sheer knowledge and skills about the said sport. They are trained since birth and they rely on their confidence and SKILL rather than something that cannot be controlled, which is LUCK. Gambling is an activity that primarily deals with luck. Since its nature is relatively based on odds, regardless of your skill or physique, if it isn't your day you are bound to lose. Why would gambling be a sport when there is no competition at all?

One might argue that poker takes some serious skill for you to manipulate other people and it is also being televised around the world. But again, you cannot control the cards being shown at the table. All require some luck for you to win.

Why do you think that 2018 will be the year of bitcoins? Instead of bitcoins, I guess that 2018 will focus more on the growth of altcoins in the market. Many altcoins including ripple, ethereum, neo, etc. have been showing good signs of price increase last two weeks ago. If you are thinking of investing short or long-term, try exploring some altcoins in the market, especially ripple (which I heavily recommend).
Personally, I think bitcoin would be a litte more stable this 2018 due to a lot of recent news circulating the media about its legalization and utilization into some countries. There also have been regulations happening in some countries which also play a factor on its price.

Actually, the ban is only applicable to cryptocurrency companies who do not meet the standard qualifications and requirements provided by their government and not entirely ALL of them. As we all know these kinds of news will result to a decrease on bitcoin's price, which may be an opportunity for us investors to buy bitcoins for long-term goal. Like what others said in the forum, I really do hope that before you post controversial topics like this you must first double-check your facts to avoid confusion to some people. Even the smallest of things may yield the biggest effects.

I think this is normal especially since the media hyped bitcoin about its price increase throughout the years. Also, more investors means more price increases in the future. This is what keeps cryptocurrency alive, which are investors and large trading companies. I mean, who would not want potentially double their money within a year? Compared to other types of investments (i.e. bank investments, stocks, gold, real-estate, etc.), investing into cryptocurrencies may potentially yield you greater results within a shorter period of time.
The only problem that may happen in the future is government intervention. If they made a system that may regulate cryptocurrencies, we may expect the prices to decrease and to be controlled at some level, which may disturb the market.

Exactly.
I have been saying this for a long time but the endless cycle of losing streaks will continue if the individual does not know WHEN TO STOP. The number one problem with gambling is that, people have this mindset that gambling would answer all of their financial needs and problems. Due to that HOPE that they are clinging, they tend to gamble more despite on a losing-streak. This creates an endless cycle of exhaustion of money due to the lack of discipline and false hope. Gambling is not only dangerous, but also contagious to the public especially when one gets addicted to it.

Like what you guys said, the perspective on cryptocurrencies primarily depend on the individual on whether how he/she treats it to be. For example a student might consider cryptocurrencies as alternative income (therefore currency) from payments they receive in doing signature campaigns, trading, or doing services for another. On the other hand, an investor might view it as an asset which has the potential of doubling its value in the long-run or for earning short-term income by investing it in a span of a year.

Personally, cryptocurrencies are both asset and a currency depending on the situation currently presented. As a student like me, I view it as extra money for my services and I also invest the other half of my earnings as a long-term asset.

Basically what you should be looking before you invest in any altcoins is the number of volume in the market. As we all know, if the volume decreases due to a number of people buying the price may potentially increase. But then again, having a low set of volume means that there is also a threat on its existence in the market. To answer your question, alternative coins or 'altcoins' are relatively good alternatives for you to earn short/long-term
profit depending on which coin you choose. I recommend that you should check the link that I will provide below as it shows the hierarchy of cryptocurrencies in the market. Also, it shows the present value of these coins and real-time volatility that may help you with your decisions when investing.

Link: https://coincap.io/

Though our intention might be pure and good, it might be very unpractical for them to cash-out their bitcoins for various reasons:

• Being poor means they are morally incapacitated, thus having a stable internet connection might be difficult for them to achieve;
• Lack of any background or knowledge into bitcoin makes you susceptible to scams by people around you;
• They are obligated to have their own e-wallet, which again force them to connect to the internet; and
• There are a lot of alternative options for you to donate rather than giving bitcoin which is much complicated for them to handle

Like what I stated above, there are a lot of options for you to donate instead of giving them bitcoin. The thought of giving them something that is electronic in nature only adds insult to injury in their situation. Though it may be very idealistic, I think that providing them food/clothing or money may be the better solution.

Earning bitcoins is relatively advantageous to everyone regardless of their state as OFWs, working students, employees, or even unemployed people. Talking about OFWs, I am not entirely sure if there exists a fee on transferring bitcoin from coins.ph to another coins.ph account. From what I know, transferring bitcoins to another wallet address has a corresponding mining fee which is expensive currently. Not to mention, they should be careful when using bitcoins and they must be knowledgeable about the laws on the country that they are working to avoid any illegal mishaps.
Lastly, the presence of coins.ph as a wallet provider in the country significantly helps almost everyone who has bitcoin due to its enormous capabilities and options to choose from.

Rather than focusing on the negative aspect, I see this as the perfect opportunity to invest into bitcoin and some other altcoins, considering that their prices will increase in the next 2-3 weeks. Like what you said, the decrease on its price was due to the domino effect caused by bitcoin since almost all of their increase in prices are directly proportional to bitcoin's price.
Nevertheless, this would be the perfect opportunity to risk and to explore other altcoins like ripple due to its potential in the future. Lastly about China's banning of miners, this may be a double-edged sword in the price depending on the extent of damage done.

First of all, welcome to the world of cryptocurrency! Just to give you a quick background, investing into bitcoin or altcoins may potentially yield you large amounts of profits compared to any other investments in the world. But in order to achieve that ideal situation of being rich, you must be knowledgeable about the basic economic factors and you must also be updated in the news relevant to bitcoin that may help you in buying or selling it.

There are a lot of methods for an individual to earn bitcoin. Below are some of the methods that I think that are suitable for your current state:

• Participating into campaign signatures by creating meaningful threads and comments that will support the forum for newbies just like you;
• Buying and investing into bitcoin, either for short or long-term goals;
• Trading into different coins for profit;
• Gambling your bitcoins (but this requires a capital and is very risky in its nature); and
• By doing services around the marketplace (this requires technical skills depending on your client)

Due to bitcoin's volatile nature, it may be difficult for one to predict its final price in the market. By this reason, the price of bitcoin tomorrow might be higher compared than today and that is why the ideal time to invest is always TODAY. I highly suggest that you rank-up your account for you to be eligible to join campaign signatures as I consider it as a reliable method of earning alternative income, considering that you are a student.

*Edit: Just a quick note, people around the forum worked hard to earn their bitcoins. Posting your wallet address and expecting someone to help you by sending you coins may be a bold move and it may be very unlikely for someone to give you help, especially that you are still a newbie. Build your way through and start from scratch like most of us here. Good luck!

It highly depends on the country that you are staying together with its implemented laws about taxes. From what I know in the Philippines, mining bitcoin is categorized under our current laws as 'other income' thus making it taxable by the government. But if you earn bitcoin primarily from investments, trading, gambling, or even payments at campaign signatures, I do not think that the government has control over it. Due to bitcoin's decentralized nature, it may be very difficult for them to regulate these transactions especially with anonymity being a factor.
But who knows maybe in the future, they might produce a device that may track-down transactions per individual making those taxable.

We are on the same boat.
The year 2017 was the highlight of the cryptocurrency world due to the fact that most of them got exposure through the media because of the hyped given to bitcoin. When people realized its potential of earning income faster and shorter compared to other types of investments, they bought large amounts of bitcoins/altcoins catching the attention of large trading companies and investors while increasing the price in the market.

Like what I mentioned before, the price of bitcoins last January 2017 were only around less than $1,000 and today it skyrocketed up to $15,000-$16,000. Not to mention, altcoins like ethereum, ripple, neo, etc. entered the spotlight due to their increase in prices as well. Just hold your investments as of now and let time do its magic.

I mean who does not want to be richer? Assuming that the news is true and legit, this is definitely an opportunity that I do not want to be missing in investing. When big and famous investors enter the world of cryptocurrency, this increases the reputation in the media and slowly eliminates the stigma of bitcoin being a bubble soon to pop. Another thing, rich people tend to gamble more since they have the means of providing themselves capital.
I do not believe that he will invest everything on one (1) go and he needs to diversify his investments into different altcoins or other types of investments to reduce the risk of losing everything.