The Russians boast that they sell quite enough gas and oil despite the sanctions, and how could it not be when the whole EU depends on their gas, and China, with which they do business normally, can easily buy everything that others do not want.


Sanctions have no effect in the short term, and some analysts say it would take years for Russia to feel them in the right way. Russians are finding holes everywhere, so despite the ban on passenger planes, they continue to fly across the EU using the so-called "Serbian backdoor", which has not imposed sanctions on Russia. What does the EU say about the behavior of a country negotiating EU accession? Nothing, they pretend not to be aware of how someone is undermining their sanctions, if they can be called sanctions at all.

I think that devices like hardware wallets should avoid such methods because such a method is simply not safe and can be misused in various ways. Whether someone comes into possession of your fingerprint and makes an identical copy, or someone forces you to unlock the device that way - all the way to someone doing it while you sleep or you are not fully conscious.

When it comes to replacing a seed with a fingerprint, then it is an even greater nonsense and security threat. I personally would never use such a device, and I believe many others think so too.

There is probably a reason (I do not know personally) why Sweden and Finland are not members of NATO. I always thought it was because of some general neutrality in the sense that they didn’t want to be part of a military alliance. However, this is not a time when it is wise for both countries to join NATO, unless the whole process takes a few weeks - and I think that could provoke Russia to attack Finland in the first place.

I looked at Finland standing in the ranks of countries in terms of military strength, and 59th place is not something that would give them confidence that they will not be attacked. According to the same ranking, Ukraine ranks 22nd, and according to everything we can see on the ground, they justify it with strong resistance.

In addition, NATO is strong on paper - but if we take the case of a 6-ton, 14-meter drone that flew 500+ km and hit Zagreb (Croatia) a few days ago without any defensive action, then we see how hollow that defense actually is. Investigation suggests that the aircraft was carrying an explosive device (120 kg bomb) which fortunately did not explode.

A man estimated to have a net worth of about $220 billion is certainly not dependent on crypto assets worth perhaps a total of $1 billion. In addition, we have previously concluded that his actions only angered the crypto community, and many lost a lot of money because of him. His statements that he still holds crypto certainly have no impact on the market, but if he had published the opposite I believe some would have panicked quite a bit.

A man who needs to be constantly present in the media obviously has some sort of disorder, and besides if anyone has had a chance to watch any of his interviews, his knowledge of cryptocurrencies is at the level of some slightly more advanced beginner on this forum.

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Perhaps some of his actions will be clearer to you if you understand his connection to both altcoins he always mentions.

I don’t know how the current situation around plagiarism could be described, but let’s just say it’s a lot harder for someone to get a perma ban than before. Here let us take the example of a member @BenjaminGlover reported for plagiarism/paraphrasing on February 17, and has not yet been banned and continues with shitposting in Bitcoin Discussions.

To make matters worse, we are pretty sure that this is one of the alt account from the same person who has already been banned at least twice for the same thing.

This is how it works in the EU:


In the end, it all depends on the parliaments of each member state that may or may not have to pass such a law. The AML5, that was adopted a couple of years ago has not yet been adopted in my country - which means that I can go to a physical crypto exchange and buy or sell cryptocurrency up to EUR 2000 per transaction without KYC, which means I can draw dozens thousand EUR per day using various individual branches of this type.

I agree in principle that this may be the wrong way to fix some things after the vote is over, but given the value merits have for all members who need them for ranking, no matter what, I think a large number of votes are motivated precisely because they wanted to get the award. I am also called an idiot, a fool, and a clown because of my views (and I especially thank those who supported it) - all because someone wants to win rewards in every possible way, unscrupulously trampling on everyone to their goal.

If it is possible to change this in any way, even in a way that may not be 100% correct, my vote is for the proposed changes to be applied to the current vote.

I don't know if it's possible to calculate how much money went in the direction of all those thousands of altcoins and how much goes every day, but if there was only Bitcoin surely most of the money would go in its direction which would mean more people today in a much better financial position than what they are today.

One should not shy away from the fact that some have made their fortunes by trading in altcoins, but investing in Bitcoin and trading in altcoins are not in the same category to me. Rare are those who can complain that Bitcoin has brought them losses, but there are very many who have believed in various Bitcoin killers over the years and have been waiting for some new crypto king.

Yet I would never put myself between someone's money and the choice of investment, which means that if someone wants to invest in some altcoin, I can only tell him "I invested in Bitcoin, and you do with your money whatever you want".

I would agree with this thinking that people have an understanding of what Bitcoin really is and how it can help them become more financially independent, but I don't think there is a global awareness of that at the moment. If we take into account that according to some estimates there are at least 100 million people in the world who invest in cryptocurrencies (meaning not exclusively in Bitcoin), and even if we double that number to 200 million - globally very few people are willing to invest in Bitcoin.

In times of inflation and wars, people have been very careful with their money so far, I wonder if it is the same now or they will start to think differently.


The beginning of the year was not promising in that regard, but it seems to me that we should not expect any spectacular things in terms of price in the current conditions. I think it's good that the price stays stable in the range of $35k to $45k, and that upper limit so far shows very high resilience. It is difficult to say what will happen with the war and how drastic the inflation will be, and the price of Bitcoin will depend a lot on it.

There will be no change, it's a crazy idea of people who don't even know how to define Bitcoin, let alone what POS would mean for Bitcoin. The proposed laws would not actually apply to all those cryptocurrencies that already exist and are traded or mined in the EU, but would in some way try to force them to start using green/renewable energy sources.


EU bureaucrats are not even able to read studies that clearly show how harmless Bitcoin mining is in the overall picture, let alone when it comes to the EU.

The key thing in everything is to adapt to the existing situation, and that means changing life habits. If the price of fuel is too high for you, try to use public transport more or if you live in a smaller place why not use a bicycle, it is completely free, it is good for health and the environment. As for the price of electricity, you need to turn off all devices that you do not use because they consume even when in standby mode, and replace ordinary light bulbs with energy-saving ones. If you have the conditions set up a few solar panels that will definitely pay off and give you free electricity for years to come.

And what about Bitcoin? Haven't we talked all these years about inflation coming and that it's wise to invest in Bitcoin to preserve and increase the value of our assets? 4-5 years ago you could have $1000 in your wallet or bank, and you could invest it in Bitcoin and worry less about inflation today.

In order to reduce our dependence on everything that others produce and sell to us, we must begin to change and become a society that produces to be self-sufficient at the level of the individual, family, and community.

The end of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency is a very likely option, but these stories of the collapse of their currency have been circulating in the media for decades, and yet they are still holding up very well in spite of everything. In the current global order, all the great powers will feel the negative effects on their economies because massive sanctions were not imposed on a small insignificant country, but on Russia, which was a very important player in the global economy.

Neither the dollar will collapse nor will Bitcoin become a global currency in the sense that it will be accepted by world powers such as the US, UK, EU or Japan - simply because they can have no control over a system that is fundamentally decentralized.

Bitcoin is showing its strength in these difficult times when people from all over the world send their donations to the country that needs it, without having to ask anyone for it, or having to give up their anonymity. If central banks were to get involved in the whole thing, there is no doubt that the price of Bitcoin would rise significantly, but we all need to ask ourselves if we really want that.

We can agree that there are millions of Bitcoins on the market if we take into account OTC as well, which means that 30k BTC (even if it is not an internal transaction) is something hardly worth mentioning, although it seems like a lot to an ordinary mortal. Demand is definitely much lower than supply, and due to its speculative nature, part of what investors buys always returns to the market.

From the perspective of a small crypto trader, a few thousand dollars up/down doesn't mean too much, but someone who has 50 BTC and knows how to trade them skillfully can make a significant profit, especially in the times we have at the moment.

Obviously, the OP is sentimentally tied to that account, otherwise he could really just make a new account and reach some of the higher ranks. But here we must always keep in mind that the administration will always start from whether the OP has any significant value for the forum, and whether it has the support of the community. As things are, the OP did not have support 3 years ago, in reality it does not have it today - and if his request was approved, the question is what to do in some similar cases that would occur in the future.

Things like this are not something the administration wants to deal with, because not doing anything sends a clear message, and any positive decision can create even more situations like this in the future.

I remember someone selling crypto ATM in the UK and mentioning among other things that the business is very profitable and has a fee of about 20%, but I can't find that thread - it may have been deleted for some reason.

Personally, it is strange to me that all these companies have been operating since 2014 and were not regulated in the sense that they had any mechanism that would prevent money laundering. If it had happened in a third-world country, no one would have said anything, but in a society that should be far more organized and regulated, it is really news that attracts attention.

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5% is more than enough to be profitable, but what about one of our companies that has a fee of as much as 10% (AD), and deals with the purchase and sale of gold (I think you know who it is). But if you want cash in hand and without KYC sometimes you just agree to such conditions. For larger amounts, however, I would not agree to such conditions, and fortunately, there are still alternatives.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5389248.0

Posted in Bitcoin Discussion, but moved to Exchanges - although it made sense to be here as well because it concerns Bitcoin. I think the first thread should be given priority in the discussion.

I am not at all surprised by such behavior, because Serbs are brothers to Russians (by religion) and by weapons. If we remember what Serbs did from 1991 onwards in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, then it is no different from what their Russian brothers do in Ukraine. What is far more dangerous at the moment is Russia's support for the secession of Republika Srpska, which wants to be part of Serbia, which without a doubt starts a new war in the Balkans.


But can't censorship be achieved the way China has been doing for some time? Keeping a country like Russia completely separate from the world would certainly not be easy unless they plan to implement the methods that North Korea has. That would mean sending millions of the problematic to labor camps, and exploiting them there to the death.

The rules are known, and each case of plagiarism is approached individually by the administration. If they judge that someone is valuable to the forum to the point that it goes beyond a permanent ban, they give him a second chance, and as a punishment, a signature ban is issued for a definite period of time.

One of the key things is how much the banned member actually wants a second chance, and how much the whole community supports him. From the example we have had the opportunity to follow for 2 years, we know that perseverance and unconditional support still pay off, but I think that such support in the forum can be expected by really few members who would find themselves in such a situation.

I am a longtime user of one HW and I will not name them because I do not want to give them a free promotion, but I will just say that no one should be trusted blindly, especially if they are not completely open-source. Although such devices provide a certain amount of security when it comes to creating your seed words (the whole process takes place offline on the device), there are always possible vectors of attack that at this time no one is even aware of.

What is far safer (though not easy for many) is to create a cold wallet that will always be completely isolated from the internet and thus prevent any possibility of being hacked. Most HWs need to connect to the internet to be able to install coin apps or make a firmware upgrade on them - and this completely nullifies all those claims that describe them as cold wallets.

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@Outhue, a lot of relevant information can be found in -> Hardware wallets

Bloody diamonds and bloody gold, a sad story that is one of the hallmarks of some African countries. Although I posted a link showing that many people are privately searching for gold, they are probably selling it to local powerful people below cost, and they are then looking for ways to sell it illegally.

I can only say that I am sorry that one continent so rich in valuable raw materials, including gold and diamonds, still does not allow its people to live lives worthy of man.