There is no meaning of creating such useless thread, IMO.
Also, you are not right. Avatar can be used only after having Full Member rank.
Edit- You have updated the OP now.

Legendary Member requires 1000 merit minimum.

Yes. Every ranked users got some defualt sMerits.
as far as I can remember, the following was distributed-
Member- 1 sMerit
Full Member- 8 sMerits
Sr Member- 20 sMerits
Hero Member- 40 sMerits
Legendary Members- 100 sMerits

Sorry, I was wrong. I can't remember where I have seen such data.

Here is the actual method of airdropped sMerits- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3342949.msg35131159#msg35131159
sMerit depends on last year's activity.

I don't know too much about the forum. I'm still trying to know the current situation since I am newly registered. Whatever I have learned till now from all the spambusters thread is-
"Anyone here with only intention of hunting bounty is spammers."
If someone joined here only for participating in bounty, s/he will definitely be a spammer. Anyway, my experience is limited. I still have lots of things to know.

90% paid bump/bot would reduce if this got implemented. Most of the ANN threads are bumped daily more than hundreds of time either through some users manually or with some bots. If 1 merit would required, the rate will significatly drop because most of the bots account get banned often.
Well, it would be more easy to say only Jr Member can post on altcoins thread. Newbies should be restricted, at least for avoiding the shady bump.

Agreed with OP. All the copypasta bans are valid. So, there is no mean of letting them apeal once again = flood in meta = more loads on mods.
I had also shared an idea previously. We can simply add a banlog where reason behind the ban will be mentioned.

I missed a word "Almost"
Thank you for the correction.

The sentence is not completed. Here is the full version.
"with this method this forum will not last long for bounty hunters."
It will be foolish to compare between cryptocurrency and a forum. Why do people join this forum? For having a discussion about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? OR, for having a passive income. With the merit system, bounty hunters will not be able to rank up anymore because they don't know how to contribute in a forum. On the other hand, people with real interest in this forum will definitely gain knowledge as well as share too.

I think you are misunderstanding my suggestion. It will not affect the current ranking system. One can rank up without reporting. Level 1 Reporter to Level 10 Reporter will be based on the reports. That's it. Ranking will be based on current system One can rank to member if s/he has 10 merits. Reporters will just get an extra Membership. That's it.

What about adding some more memberships (Sub membership)?

100 good reports
Newbie- Level 1 Reporter
Jr member- Level 1 Reporter
Member- Level 1 Reporter
~
Legendary- Level 1 Reporter

200 Good Reports
Newbie- Level 2 Reporter
Jr member- Level 2 Reporter
Member- Level 2 Reporter
~
Legendary- Level 2 Reporter

~~~~~~~~

1000 Good Reports
Newbie- Level 10 Reporter
Jr member- Level 10 Reporter
Member- Level 10 Reporter
~
Legendary- Level 10 Reporter

I have just shared my idea although this one is looking for badge.

I have not too much though. Anyway, I tried always to report if I find something which need to be reported. 95% accuracy, I had reported some threads which didn't get deleted and that's why the accuracy is lower, imo

I don't know which one you are talking about? Is it ChangeNow?
What theymos mentioned:
From this perspective, I think it's okay to promote an attack ads as long as it contains true information.

Although forum doesn't moderate scams, I think such kinds of ads should be promoted by forum itself for protecting its users.

Can you please move it to Help and Beginners? I think this thread isn't supposed to be here.

Some section/boards are excluded from creating self moderated thread so that no one can manipulate here. Also, tagged scammers aren't allowed to create self moderated threads.

May be or may not be. Everyone is free to decide. In my opinion, without proof, no accounts should be tagged. If you think about changes in posting behavior, you will find more than thousands.

Some can be found here-

I think soon there will be a solution because everyone is fed up with this. I have seen somewhere theymos said he is willing to spend $100k for solving this problem. Also, here is a statement from hilari-

Without strong proof that OP is the actual owner, I don't think DT will tag the account. Also, DT should not tag, IMO.

@OP
As per the rules of recovering account, you don't have any proof that you own the account. The possibilty of recovering the account near zero almost.
Anyway, I wish any trusted old member can verify the real owner in different ways so that you can get back your account. Good luck.

How will we be ensured that you guys are not cheating the airdrop with lots of entries? Just asking.
Is there a way to be sure or we need to trust you?

Shitposting office?

We need answer, we need answer. Please give us an a answer.
It's my colleague.

Got the payment. Thank you.

The style you are using for getting attention and highlighting the point, are really annoying and distract people. I just have skipped your reply cause I felt boring and it seemed you are trying to get attention = merit.

It's really a horrible question.