It makes more sense! Germany is trying to explore and encourage the actual usage of bitcoin as a medium for payment. That's what the basic usage of bitcoin. USA made it look like an investment which is certainly not the main idea behind bitcoin and they are self contradictory. While USA made bitcoin a property which is subject to capital gains tax, Arizona is planning to accept tax payment in bitcoins. So when a person pays tax using bitcoin in Arizona, it will be considered as a property transfer as per the existing USA legislation. No one know how to factor in and bridge that gap in legal structure. So Germany has taken the more sensible way for crypto.

It is also very encouraging news for the crypto community because Germany is the 4th largest economy of the world and an engineering production hub. So when a strong country has taken such decision, I am sure it will influence some more countries to take similar steps, especially is EU and serves as a reference case study for the rest of the world.

Personally I wouldn't pay my taxes in bitcoin. But it is a good news for the crypto community as a whole. Because if an US state start accepting bitcoin for any payments, it will make bitcoin legal tender in that state. Bitcoin will also receive free promotion which may make a lot of people intrigued about bitcoin which can significantly boost the adoption rate.

No we don't have any such day to remember the greatest financial invention of this decade because we live everyday with bitcoin. May 22, is the only day that is celebrated as bitcoin pizza day. If you are willing to know the story behind it, try googling it.

But I have a great idea to celebrate a day dedicated to bitcoin. While most of such "days" are constant in nature, lets have dynamic days for bitcoin that will change every year. The idea is to pick a date in last year, when the bitcoin price reached the top position.

For example, bitcoin price reached its peak value on 17th December last year. So the bitcoin day will be celebrated on the same day in 2018 to remember the best performing day for bitcoin. For 2019, we will pick up the date from 2018. How is the idea?

I believe, they don't directly have any control over the ads they serve because the use Google's ad service. So I can't blame coinmarketcap for that, but you can stop using google if you think they should not serve ponzi ads. Lol!!

But if we keep the ads aside, do you know any other website that can replace coinmarketcap? It is really informative and well maintained and I don't think we have any alternative available currently.

There are arbitrage bots available in the market but you must take caution before buying one. Also you need to have a good amount of initial investment if you wish to start with bot trading. But manual arbitraging is very much possible. However, I won't suggest to use bitcoin for arbitraging because of the time it takes to get confirmation. Either you keep decent amount of bitcoins in both exchanges or you need to use currencies like XRP, ETH, Deeponion or any other coins with almost instant transaction facilities.

But if you are new to the trading, arbitraging is not a recommended method for you. It requires quick decision making power and you need to be confident about your actions.

Absolutely it is possible. If bitcoin can reach upto 20k in 2017, it can easily reach 100k by 2050. We are yet to discover the vast application possibility of blockchain yet. It is just a p2p currency and an amazing investment as of now, but who knows what the future holds? I am sure majority of the countries will adopt bit by that time and people will be actively using Cryptocurrency by 2050. So 100k or even higher value is very much possible. At least I am optimistic about it.

That's exactly what I have mentioned in the point number 3. I have seen ICO bounties are not upfront about their requirement of KYC documents. I am active in few bounties and till date I didn't face any issue about the KYC. I always join the telegram group of the ICO and ask the admin of the group about the KYC requirement of the bounty participants. I only join the bounty after I get confirmation from the admin about the KYC requirement. Till date I have seen a very few ICOs are asking KYC from their bounty participants. Majority of them are not asking for KYC from the bounty participants. So it is somewhat OK as of now.


Lol! So you know how it feels when your identity data is misused by someone unauthorized. That's exactly I am trying to say to the community. Since you are from USA, you must be knowing that SSN data has an underground market. A lot of offshore call centers are associated in buying and selling of KYC data of USA people. But when it comes to ICO, no one is sure about their identity and the future usage of your KYC data. Till date, I have't seen a big scam surfaced from the ICO market on KYC data, but it may happen in future. So it's better to take precaution. 

"All that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, combated, suppressed - only to emerge all the more powerfully, all the more triumphantly from the struggle" - Nicola Tesla.

Where is crypto currency in his quote? Neither do I see anything about Disruptive technology. It is a general quote about technological advancements.

It is very easy to create fake IDs just like the fake accounts. Check google playstore from any android phone and you will see at least 20 different apps that will let you create fake virtual IDs. So a person creating fake accounts can also use those apps and create fake IDs to participate in ICOs. However, from my experience with ICO bounties, I have seen companies are not asking bounty hunters to provide their identity (at least a majority of them), so we bounty hunters are safe as of now.

I have created a topic long back on the same issue and also mentioned three pointers of the concerns. Do visit and share your opinion as well.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2946614.40

Thanks,
Avikz

I am not from Sri Lanka so I don't know which sites they have blocked. If you can give us a list if the sites that have been blocked by the Sri Lankan government, we would be able to comment on that. But the social media site blocking seems like a part of the ongoing issues with Rohinga refuges and Buddhists. So the ban should not be permanent. But if the ban is permanent, then it may go to any extent.

We need governments like Japan and Germany who can think progressive. If the Sri Lankan government bans crypto currency completely, it will show why a nation can be poor with no intention to come out of that situation, just like Bangladesh.

Wow!! That's a good news! Germany is the 4th largest economy of the world and one of the top countries to have the highest per capita income. So when such encouraging news comes from such a country, it's a good news for the entire crypto economy. I am sure we will see an influx of new investors in the crypto market soon which will provide a strong support to the bitcoin price which is needed. I really hope other countries in EU will soon adopt the way Germany adopted the crypto currency for a better future. 

Bitcoin and gold both are structurally different from each other. You can touch gold but not bitcoin. You can make ornaments out of gold as well. Gold is not always seen as an investment in many countries where as bitcoin is mainly seen as an investment by majority of the crypto enthusiasts. These basic factors sets them apart even though there are few things in common.

If you compare the rate of return from both gold and bitcoin investment, I am sure bitcoin will stay in the top place as you've already mentioned. But if we talk about the capital protection, bitcoin is one hell risky venture. Bitcoin's price can go to any level within a very short period of time. But on the other hand, gold price is way more stable than bitcoin which makes it a preferred investment to many people who are not capable to jump into high risk ventures. So both are different and should not be compared.

Correct! I was about to say the same thing. Converting money in to bitcoin through a centralized exchange will not help them to hide the dirty money trail and it will be easier for the government to catch them quickly. But anonymous currency like xmr or deeponion will be an ideal choice. Also while coverting they should make a cash deal instead of using any bank account. This way the trail can be hidden, otherwise, everything will become public.

I don't know how many times they will legalize and then criminalize Cryptocurrency!! Russian finance authority seems confused about their actions and unable to come up with a proper legislation from some time now.

But whatever happens, it will just be another exit from a communist nation like China who believes in strong centralization of power. A temporary impact will be there but nothing for long term

Technically you are right. Bitcoin doesn't have any intrinsic value if I look from your perspective and the value should be zero. But again if I look at the blockchain technology keeping the bitcoin aside, I see immense future use of this technology. We are yet to discover the immense possibilities it can offer in our daily life. We have probably discover 10% of its possibilities and rest 90% will come up in future.

You can see major governments are now researching on blockchain technology to put it in its rightful use. There are big consulting companies like BCG, Deloitte, EY are recruiting blockchain professionals to discover its diversity. So the technology itself has a value. Bitcoin being the pioneer of this technology, inherited that value. So if you look from my point of view, you will see a value.

But if I keep everything aside and talk about just the price, it is a store of value. While rest of the world riding the tide, why would I not do the same and earn some money in that process? It doesn't matter whether it has intrinsic value or not. Till the time, there is a market for bitcoin, you will always see people like me riding the tide.

You have spoken about the technology side in your thread. It certainly needs higher amount of data transaction and speed, lower power consumption and stronger security. But then what? What to do with lightening fast speed and strongest security if there is no market? So let me talk about the economical perspective here,

1. Market for crypto currency:
It is the main thing needed for a crypto currency to survive and thrive. Today, we have a massive online market of crypto currency where people are are buying and selling it, but when we look at the goods and services market, we see a big blank space. We have a very few options where we can use our crypto currency for regular purchase of goods and services. Whatever small options we have, that is too restricted by countries. So we need our merchants to accept crypto currency for a healthy crypto ecosystem. Here technology can bridge the gap currently exists.

2. Regulations:
It might sound awkward but it is true. Regulation can make the crypto market shine like a moon. Over 90% of the world population are very conservative about their finances. These percentage of population would not try anything new in their entire life if that particular thing is not approved and regulated by their government. The statistics looks shocking but it's true. The members of these community don't come under this percentage hence it will be hard to digest, but try talking to your grandparents about crypto currency and ask them to invest in it, you will understand the fact. If crypto currency is adopted and regulated by a majority of the government, the entire market dynamics will change for better.

There are other factors as well. However, these two are the basic factors which will help crypto currency to be adopted by the common mass. Obviously we can't think anything less about the technological aspect of it because we will need to infrastructure to support this market and technological advancements is the only we can achieve that.  

That's what a basic regulation does. EU is not doing anything differently. Every government wants to regulated anything where funds are being raised and also to increase the tax income. Also I wholeheartedly support if EU will bring some regulations on the ICOs. That is very much needed. Majority of the ICOS are scam and run by a college kind in disguise of a professional looking website. We need to cut such craps down from the crypto market to bring back the credibility. If the scammers can roam free, ICO market will soon become similar to HYIP market and the entire crypto currency industry will loose the faith of common investors like you and me.

Bitcoin price trend doesn't really follow the real world stock market technical analysis techniques. So probably after two bear flags, bitcoin price may go up. Stock market is very much regulated and hence there is scope of technical analysis becoming true. But on the other hand, bitcoin market actually shows the free market behaviour and raw reflection of human sentiment which certainly doesn't go along with real world techniques.

Dominance percentage of bitcoin over entire crypto currency market, is not a very important ticker for the traders and speculators like me. Because we have seen in the past, that dominance actually doesn't help to increase the price of bitcoin. It is just a ticker among all other tickers and not a very significant one. It just shows the public interest on bitcoin over all other crypto currencies. So increasing market dominance is a good news in general and vice versa. But it won't really help us to achieve anything.

Currently the dominance is increasing because the value of entire crypto market is going down and bitcoin is somehow managed to maintain the decrease within a certain percentage limit. It doesn't signifies anything great but yes, it just tells us the overall health of bitcoin among other competition.

Diversification is the key to a healthy investment portfolio. So it is always better to have more different types of coins. However, if you are going to invest out of your pocket then be choosy and always research before you leap in with your hard earned money. But if you are targeting ICO bounties where you don't need to invest out of your pocket, try to join as many as possible. Because out of 10 bounties you will receive, you will probably see value in two or three coins and rest all may be useless. So for bounties, definitely try to have as many as possible, but when it comes to investment, research well before you jump in. Because if you don't research well, you may end up loosing your entire investment.