It's not yet an established fact as to the existence of whales,i for one do not know if I should believe whether they exist or not..
We're told the system is decentralized,and of a truth it is,and I think that makes it open for numerous manipulations
Is it possible for a 1% number to effectively manipulate the entire bitcoin market to cause a massive collapse of the prices..

Really this whole whale scenario needs to be clarified,ive tried using the search button to read more on it,but I can't seem to find anything more informative that the normal "they own assets and control the market'
I really doubt the existence of whales(i maybe totally wrong),but if they do not exist,then who's behind this whole manipulations..
Probably it may simply be down to a lack/loss of investment in the bitcoin,which lead to a huge "drop off" of the currency..

Well I'm a noob in trading,and I do not really know much

You're right,this happens most times or the other,but when consistency comes into play,then it isn't going to happen for too long..
No forum member eats,sleeps,stays on the forum 247,so most times ones post could go unnoticed either from merit sources or members loaded with smerits to give out,thus such posts gets buried without getting due rewards..

But when you make such posts consistently on the forum for weeks then there is no chance such user wouldn't be merited,so it's basically not a hit and run affair,except for the spammers looking for one golden merit...
If you're a good member you'll keep contributing your own quota to the forum and in the long run you'll get merited,and it wouldn't stop there as you'll keep getting merited as long as you're being of good help..
Benefits of a good post history
Tman's guide to getting merits

You can study this threads,they'll help you.

From all logical view,those members have been on the forum for quite a while with an alt account,and sure have gotten to study how popular the Real jetcash is,thus were triggered to get an alt with something close to the name,for various reasons..
Probably they feel they could get favors from the real jetcash(merits)
Or maybe to act as an alt to jetcash in disguise,so anyone who ain't attentive may deal with them like he/she is dealing with a reputable member of the forum(jetcash)

A neutral/negative feedback could be appropriate in my opinion

There is no bad luck or ill fate associated with the bitcoin,this is simply a normal occurrence,and we all must have heard it in our early days on this platform that it's impossible to predict what's going to happen next(in relation to the price/value/volume)

Back to the topic:i do not think it's possible we'll see a dearth of miners, though we may see a considerable reduction in the number of miners,but definitely those who can cope with the current bearish market will mine from any part of the world they are in.

It costs a lot of money to mine,and it's laden with numerous competitors,the more reason why mining is really profitable

The aforementioned vices(according to you),have all being in existence long before the bitcoin nor it's underlying technology(the blockchain technology),ever was borne...
And it's fairly legal in most countries.
This definitely is not a bad side to the bitcoin as financial instruments have been used to fulfill the aforementioned even before the bitcoin..

There is no need for a "like" or "dislike" button, if you like a post,and you've got Smerits,you merit(like/appreciate)such posts,and if you do not have Smerits,another user/source may also merit such posts(If the post is worth it)

Definitely if you disagree(not necessarily dislike) with a post,the most sensible things to do is to air(comment)your views on why you think the OP got it all wrong.. It's basically that easy

Fiat banks are there to store your money in fiat currencies,and each and everyone on this forum makes use of banks when dealing with Fiat currencies,that isn't much of a problem
Except you're planning to liquidate all your assets into coins, which to me is impossible
If you're looking for decentralized exchanges to store your coins there are quite a handful of them,just based on your preference...E. g IDEX,FORKDELTA,this happens to be the two main DEX I know of

Most times new threads are created on this issue to draw more attention to those accounts,most times "the report to the moderator button",may or may not get their threads deleted..
And this is more of a case of five different accounts spamming the forum,i think it probably deserves a new thread..
So a moderator can look into them(five of them,probably as one person) and maybe dish out a stricter measure,maybe nuke the accounts or something like that

The bitcoin/technology behind it, has somewhat gone mainstream thus an increase in the difficulty of mining,this is to ensure that transactions are effectively confirmed,and also eliminate a breach..
Miners will continue to spend money to mine,as they are rewarded handsomely for it
It's not going to change anything,as miners would still be the ones to confirm transactions,only that they then wouldn't be rewarded with bitcoins,but solely transaction fees..

You probably heard wrong I guess..
Can you provide a valid link to this supposed information,maybe then we can start believing otherwise..
This is part of the manipulation plan in my opinion to spread panic in the bitcoin system,but as always we'll ignore such information as we're well used to it, and also used to how the bitcoin bounces back after a brief crash

What truth exactly are you fighting for, probably the battle was in the wrong section,or the war in general shouldn't be fought(off topic)
Your posts cannot be deleted unjustly,exept probably on a self moderated thread, and theymos advices one to be careful when commenting on such threads as the OP is the umpire of the thread...

But in case your thread was deleted by a mod,there is a high chance they are right,everyone gets one or two deleted replies every now and then,it's nothing to get worked up over

Was your account banned permanently or was it a temporary ban,whats the message you received

You're not a merit source yet, neither do you look to be on your way to being one..
It doesn't stop you from applying,but the odds are 100% you won't be chosen as a merit source..
Start of by being a good member of the forum,and earn merits through your contributions,that way you earn merits and hence Smerits,as for every merit you earn you received 0.5 Smerit

And through that means you'll be able to merit quality posts you come across,without even being a merit source

Even if it's absent on the forum rules,common sense demands it, that we at all times try to be meaningful and walk away from discussions that we have paltry knowledge on..
If most forum users can basically stick with such natural phenomenon,then it's the first step in cleaning this place up

This days there's more introduction message on the Beginners and help board that there actually are quality posts that would lead to a quality discussion,i really do not understand what's special about telling the forum "I'm from A country and invested in bitcoin since B years now,hope I'm welcome here", if you weren't,you wouldn't be in here posting,would you..

It's basically a sign that such user has basically nothing to offer,the first thing to be done on the forum is to go through the sticky threads and anyone who does so wouldnt introduce themselves like we're in some round table discussions
You're by a mile one of the most active high ranked member/merit source on the beginners board and definitely your efforts are appreciated..
I understand it's not so easy to find meritable posts nowadays

I beg to disagree a little bit, aren't there enough tools,probably on the internet,in this forum and elsewhere to get a noob in trading get started,without having to seek for knowledge from the wrong or illicit source..
When one comes on board in an unfamiliar territory,the right thing to do will be read about the mistakes of others in the past(the internet provides us this)and learn not to make such mistakes..
And in this modern world there are many tools at our disposal for us to learn even without a tutor per se

No matter how much we preach the hodl/patience game, i Still think it's almost impossible for any investor right now to refrain from panicking(on various degrees though)

I'm not much of an old trader,and I must be honest with you,i have had urges to sell off in the past few days,at least with the hope of cutting down on possible/potential losses..

Some say it's the end of bitcoin,others say it's a normal market trend, the market has been filled with speculations and predictions,but none is really anything to hold on to..

No one really knows what's next for the bitcoin,ill still exercise more patience as I'm already at over --40% loss

Congratulations@OP,you already had it coming a long time now, since you hit the 250 merit requirement,activities was the final hurdle..

Now you're finally there,you definitely have contributed immensely to this forum,and your rank testifies to that....

Hero member status is next up on the cards...

Definitely they are, the internet happens to be a wonderful tool,and hardly anything you wish to research about is missing on it..
You can definitely surf the internet,and definitely you'll get excerpts of the books mentioned by the OP,and you can read and download them

I do not get you,satoshi was present in the past,and was actively engaged in discussions on the forum,it didn't change much,other than back then discussions were really of high quality,and were definitely worthwhile...
If satoshi happens to be on the forum,i do not see what that will change,he will simply reply to threads he wishes to,and contribute to the forum,just as theymos does,theymos only replies to threads that are actually enticing,and threads that draw him out....
I doubt if satoshi is on the forum with a different account,he can watch over the forum without owning an account,as he already has one, which has been inactive since 2010