Don't count Libra yet as it can have many secret moves under its long sleeves, just waiting for the right time to be unleashed so the entire world can be surprised and even shocked. With its almost limitless resources, Libra can have the luxury of time so it can actually wait when things are simmering down, and they can start the guerrilla kind of attack to persuade many governments for its approval.

I am answering the number 1 choice: For Facebook a question of control/power? I believe that this is one of the primal factors why Facebook or Mark Zuckerberg decided to make a splash in the world of cryptocurrency via Libra. Just riding on Bitcoin, they will not have the total control they envisioned with Libra and I think Mark really hates not on the driving seat. Just like what he is doing on Facebook, he must be on the pedestal overseeing and controlling everything on Libra. Sadly, he is having some big problems with many governments.

However, I am expecting that soon, at the right time, Libra is going to launch a subtle charm offensive maybe even away from the prying eyes of the media and people like you and me. mark is not going to allow to be the recipient of a big black eye courtesy of the Libra hullabaloo.

Just like banks, these exchanges hold immense power and influence in the entire cryptocurrency market, whether we like it or not. Many of them are centralized organizations, and they are mainly for profits, of course. Is this good or bad. I would say that this set-up has some advantages and disadvantages, mostly depending on the person's point of view. Just like Binance, a very successful crypto exchange that is lording the industry it is on and eventually launched its own coin the BNB. I would not say that they are "controller" as the digital assets they are holding are not really theirs but who can discount the big influence of Binance in this industry?



Maybe what you have in mind is the current wealth distribution of wealth where only a certain or small percentage of the population owned the vast control of available resources and maybe thinking that the same thing can be happening with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. Actually you can be right. However, Bitcoin is not a tool to redistribute the wealth, far from that. And people who are concerned on this should maybe start buying Bitcoin and distribute to the homeless and the poor. The thing is that there is nothing we can do in case Bitcoin is not properly distributed to the population. Anyway, holding a Bitcoin does not mean that anybody can be the maser of the universe, and he can be commanding people to be his slaves. Far from that. I love some of the ideals socialists are offering but generally many of their ideas (as man-made as they can be) are not also working. Anyway, I digress.

Roger Ver just like CSW is just playing a game, a game of words so that he can get the attention that he is craving for. There is nothing substantial with what he said except that comment that people in the cryptocurrency industry has that tendency to be tribal and not accepting the fact that other platforms can also contribute to the overall growth of this industry, at least he got a good point on that.

Now, comparing Bitcoin maximalists to racists can be a great exaggeration and uncalled for statement. This is not words of a man who is really professional but of a wounded man who has many ax to grind to people who are not siding with his opinions and convictions. This is not the kind of leader that the cryptocurrency industry needs. All the politicking, name calling and everything in between are not all necessary and can be bringing harm to our industry. People with self-vested interests are not thinking of the overall welfare of the industry but just of themselves and the things they can get out of what they are holding.

This is really interesting. EOS is on top, Ethereum at number 3 and Bitcoin at just number 11. It should be noted however that this is just an opinion of a department of the Chinese government -- China Electronic Information Industry Development (CCID) to be exact -- and as to how they made the ranking that could be subject to some debates. In CMC, EOS is ranked number 7. There must be something with EOS that Chinese are falling in love with. The three criteria used in the rankings are: technology, application, and innovation.


There is a possibility for that. We know the media and all departments of the government will always toe their line whenever there is that directive from the top. In case, top honchos will decide that it is time to support Bitcoin am sure this ranking will be changed as fast as lightning. That is how China works. they speak the language of their top leader, come what may. In the meantime, a great congratulations to EOS for this unexpected recognition.

I would not wonder if soon Craig Wright can be patenting the whole of the moon and claim it for himself. As to what value he can get claiming the patents for the whole of Bitcoin only he can answer. This is an open-source technology and anybody can access it anytime, anywhere. The only reason I guess is that he wanted to be famous and to be recognized the whole world as the real guy behind this cryptocurrency. And because he is a big failure with the main test many people are asking (moving the coins owned by Satoshi Nakamoto), he focused his attention into something he can easily do. Good thing that the whole Bitcoin community is not sympathetic to this pathetic man.

About nChain, here some interesting articles about it I find to be useful and entertaining:

https://hackernoon.com/nchain-in-the-brain-return-of-the-fake-satoshi-1415a8b07f04\
https://www.coindesk.com/craig-wrights-nchain-is-hiring-a-lawyer-to-prosecute-its-crypto-patents
https://news.bitcoin.com/nchain-claimed-to-be-largest-acquisition-in-bitcoin-history/

Happy reading, everyone

 

I would not wonder why some governments are afraid of Bitcoin or think that Bitcoin can do them harm more than good. In the same that we have governments who are not open to the ideals of democracy and empowering the people, there will always be those that will not allow people to own and trade cryptocurrency. Maybe some have misconceptions about this based on what they usually hear and see in the mainstream media especially the possibility of being a tool for terrorists, money launderers and scammers.

Considering that countries such as India, Pakistan, China and even Russia have huge number of population and with a good number of them aged between 20-40, these could have been one of the best grounds fro cryptocurrency to thrive and prosper. Sadly, we can not force those in power to change their mindset, at least for now. Let's just continue hoping that years down the road, there will be new leaders coming on-board that can bring in new perspective and can see the many benefits and advantages of cryptocurrency.

What is that common misconception you are referring to? I am glad to see another cryptocurrency exchange based in London which decided to stake its future in the competitive, overcrowded but potentially very profitable digital assets exchange industry. Your site seems quite legit and very professional. Promising to be "a uniquely user-friendly trading platform that's revolutionising the way people buy and sell cryptocurrency," I am sure that there is a bright future ahead of this platform. And with that partnership with that legal firm, I am sure that users of this exchange can experience a more secure, safer, more convenient, less hassle transactions. Please answer my simple concerns:

1. What are the three things that set Coinburp apart from the leading players in the exchange industry?
2. What are the assurance users have in case of a successful hacks into the platform?
3. What are the marketing strategies you guys are implementing to attract more users in and outside GB?

We should always remember that the blockchain technology and bitcoin are intertwined or interlinked but they remain to be two separate things. A country or its government can all be open and adopt the blockchain technology but will not allow the entrance of Bitcoin. China is known for this. Of course, a country that is convinced of the benefits of the blockchain maybe easier to convince to also let Bitcoin in either as an asset or a currency. Talking about those scams, it is sad that there are those who are using Bitcoin with their deceitful schemes and at the end partly destroy the good name of Bitcoin as people linked the scams to cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, let's hope and pray that eventually the government of Bangladesh will allow Bitcoin into the country.

I am sure that institutional money can be helping Bitcoin get more stable and yes in its liquidity and these can be helping Bitcoin be more known all over the world and can be a good catalyst for more adoption. Certainly, Bitcoin is fine without the coming of institutional money but since they are coming anyway why not just take advantage of it and enjoy the coming boom ride? I fully understand that Bitcoin should not be all about the money and it should not be seen as just an investment vehicle because Bitcoin is much more than that, but then again we are living in a world where realities should be dealt with. Certainly, there can be many things that Bitcoin or the Bitcoin community can be deviating from the original vision of Satoshi Nakamoto but there is a need to evolve and adapt otherwise we can be stagnant and not progress-oriented.

You defined both things (ICO & IEO) here clearly and with that let me say that the only big difference between the two is that while  in ICO the whole fundraising activities are usually done by the people behind the project, IEO is done under the supervision of the exchange contracted by the project, hence it is called as Initial Exchange Offering. An ICO then can later on transformed itself into an IEO when it is bringing the project to the exchange which accepted it. We are all assuming that the exchanges are doing the vetting or selection process credibly but this is not always the case and that is why many are looking at IEO as just the same dog with a different name. Can we say then is a lesser chance for an IEO project to do an exit scam? Maybe a little but nothing really substantial that we can say there is a guarantee for success. In other words, we must always be careful regardless if we are dealing with an ICO or an IEO.

I am suggesting that you start implementing this idea with your close friends, family, relative and even neighbors where there is a higher degree of trust all because you all know each other. Getting other people somewhere half-way around the world may not be that viable and feasible. At least, for me. However, i love the idea you are presenting here and anybody can actually do the same without being a part of the group. This is akin to regularly putting up a certain amount of money to your bank's saving account but this time with cryptocurrency. I think there is actually a company offering this same service while just using their app conveniently. A good idea like this if implemented by many people can make cryptocurrency more popular and easier to reach and accumulate.

This is interesting. So it is really possible to be mining cryptocurrency using supercomputer. The only problem was that their profitable enterprises was eventually caught. The arrest was made around February 2018 so the mining activities took place months before February. They must have really very good computers in there to be able to mine some Bitcoin, even if done for experimental purposes. This is telling us that Russia has the technology that can be used for mining digital assets and they (or the government) can take advantage of this if they wanted to.

There had been so many warnings on the possibility that PlusToken was just operating a big ponzi scheme but greed was the prime motivating factor which lead many people to believe that they found the best opportunity to make money just passively. In fact, members of the scheme even defended to high heavens the program thinking that it will not end or that the government will not do anything to stop the carnage PlusToken was into. The government had no choice but to act accordingly when it was already clear PlusToken was just another scam but this time the amount was really unbelievably huge, probably earning the title as the largest scam for 2019.

China was considered as the sleeping giant and now this giant is all ready to be the next superpower economically, militarily and politically. Soon, it can also be the giant for Bitcoin and of course, the blockchain technology. With blockchain technology, China has been on the forefront developing innovations using the technology. With the recent official statement of China's president on the blockchain technology, many are speculating that it is just a matter of time when the China market will once again open up and dominate the Bitcoin scene. This is quite possible, indeed. Combining the hyped-up power of the halving next year and the coming of the new Crypto Law from China, I am now seeing a real big bull run in 2020. Welcome to the world of China!

I also happen to have some friends who are using the OKEx platform to do crypto trading and I have not heard any kind of complaint so this must be working good for all of them. With some research I made on OKEx, I can say that this is one of the most legitimate and reliable cryptocurrency exchange. Now based in Malta, this must be serving customers all over the world. In 2018, OKEx is one of the top ten cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of volume of transactions and am sure that in 2019 its rank has already improved a lot because of its ongoing expansion plans.

The man is just taking us for a good ride. He is just joking and the only reason he looks serious is because the media loves to cover whatever he is going to say outrageous or not. However, I am going to give John McAfee a good credit for being charismatic as he can easily command the attention of the media to his side, albeit the Bitcoin community somehow not finding him cute and cuddly. He can predict whatever amount for Bitcoin but only time can tell if his prediction will come true. As to eating his own stick bread in front of  live television camera, don't count on that guys, am sure there will be no audience interested to see it no matter the size, shape or color.

Comparing what Bitcoin as an investment can bring is just like comparing a green apple to Jamaican berry. You are even lucky that you are getting 5% pr annum interest from your bank because here in my county the usual interest most big banks are giving is just around 2% and there are even those offering less, but I think we can get much better rates if we deposit in a cooperative bank plus tax is exempted. By miles, Bitcoin is definitely a much better proposition however unlike the banks here the price of Bitcoin can pullback extremely but with much bigger possible rewards. Compared to the real gold and stocks, Bitcoin can still be coming out as the big winner especially in today's bullish environment. As they say, the bigger is the risks the rewards can be so great. Congratulations on your good profits.

Certainly, Bitcoin had not been invented and adopted for the sake of eradicating poverty. In the first place, nothing can really erase poverty from the face of the planet but we can just minimize its impact on people. There are many tools and programs that anti-poverty groups/agencies are using to address this problem and some are effective and some are not. However, if you happen to be one of the many who acquired your Bitcoin during the faucet days and you hold on to them, then I am sure if you were a poor guy before you can now enjoy the riches you might be dreaming of. And that brings us to another misconception that Bitcoin is a get-rich-quick scheme and so when it failed to bring the money to people (or some speculators) the conclusion is that Bitcoin is just another scam. Personally, I don't see any wrong with us desiring for money because that is given, considering that we are living in a costly world where inflation is eating up our income, but looking at Bitcoin this way is just like looking at a coin in one angle. Maybe it is not Bitcoin's job to fight poverty but the blockchain technology may offer some help directly or indirectly.

I agree with some of your suggestions here but I am sure that you must be aware that since Bitcoin is decentralized we don't have any central figure or leadership that can decide on the many suggestions you are bringing here. And even if there is someone leading Bitcoin, it might take some form of a superpower before many things you brought up can be implemented. For example, talking about scams projects, how should we implement clearing them out of the marketplace? To do that, you need some regulations and who will be implementing them, the government or the industry itself? Remember that we don't have self-regulation yet in this industry but that can be a good way to start with this mess. There are so many good things that are not coming true as we many times deviate from the ideal settings all because we are living in a real world where imperfection and weakness of human nature abound. Yes, it is quite easy to say we should reset or stall things for a while but who should we entrust the power to decide on this matter and what are the parameters we should be following? Am sure a debate like this can be taking us more than 10 years.

In USA, at least Bitcoin is not declared to be a "persona non grata" unlike in China where the stand of its government is quite firm though of course we know that many Chinese are still into cryptocurrency. China is however more interested with developing the advantages and benefits of the blockchain technology and soon can be the big leader in this field where USA seems not that so greatly interested of (that is, compared to China).

In case this is true that there is a significant uptick in cryptocurrency users in USA then at least this is good news for the industry though we have to admit that we still have to eat tons of hamburgers before the widespread adoption and use that we all dream of can come true. Anyway, there is no deadline for that so slowly but surely is much better than nothing at all. That article above is citing many good and encouraging figures, it is a good read.