I disagree with you that leverage is bad, it is good, but use the leverage wisely. One of the advantages of leverage is that you do not need to have a big amount of money before you have the power to take certain risks. It would have been so discouraging to some people if they did not have access to leverage.

The leverage calculation is even very convenient in crypto trading where exchanges make it flexible for us. If it were to be the traditional brokerage arrangement, it would be worse. Imagine, you need to have at least $10,000 before you can place a single trade with x1 in Forex by using a lot size of 0.1 if you use the leverage of 1:1. This was, unfortunately, the least lot size one could trade when I started Forex trading then. Now tell me, how many people can have that kind of money to trade with?

Leverage helps us reduce margin and open more risk, it is we who should be mindful of the risk we take and focus/prioritise on our money and risk management. The issue with people using leverage is not leverage itself but overleveraging by using all the risk associated with the particular leverage they choose. This isn't good. Now, how is that the fault of the leverage itself or the dealing house offering it? No one forces us, my friend.

Bro, it took me a long time to read most of the links provided and I must say that I am so surprised about some of them including your position on the whole issue. Maybe you should choose more verifiable sources for your information that will balance things up with initial issues and causes fairly discussed, and not some random and sentimental ones like the above. I stand with Equity, Justice and Humanity. I repeat, I will never take sides against the three. But judging by all I know, I think Palestinians should have thought things through wisely before allowing more havoc. At least in recent decades, they always strike first, but to what end? Death and Destruction. Then why strike if not for foolishness?

Also, I've stated that Israel is overreacting, but let me tell you, war and military actions could be brutal, and it would have been worse if Palestinians and their allies were capable of dealing with Israel. They should have known better before daring them. As usual, this issue has always been controversial among people as we take different sides. Sadly, what we mostly read is what they want us to read and judging by how misinformation is flying these days, I am so confident that most of what you guys believe you know could be pure false, though an iota of truth will be there, but to what extent? That is why I disregard the too-long years' statements if actions and reactions are not fairly included.

What I know of the situation is a bit different from what you know, but regardless, one thing I am confident about in this present dispensation of Israel is that they do not throw the first punch. The hostility of Palestinians causes enough of what we see today. Do you mean they are the saint here and are never genocidal against Israel? The histories are there, including the most recent ones we all know.

Above all, I was surprised by the statement that Israel is not a country but a project. A project doing better than Palestine. If it is not a country, what is it by true (no sentiment) definition? An occupied territory? An occupied territory that is on the world map and backed by all the international laws possible? The world is not foolish.

Perhaps, you should read more about how countries of the world came to be, many were neighbours before, and some families, friends, and some were travellers who sojourned with some settlers before they moved to a nearby land to form their countries. No one, I repeat, no one brought their lands from heaven, and most of the countries you see today started by one history or another, and some are even similar to that of Israel-Palestian's story and they've moved on since nations have already been established regardless of how it happened. But the fact that Palestinians can't move on is the issue they have till now.

"Angering a giant when you are nothing compared to him can't be well with the person," they should be wise. Israel has been established on the world map whether they like it or not.

I thought differently when I read the disagreeing part, not knowing that you disagreed because you still believe in the cycle as usual. This, I also believe in, perhaps you did not get what I tried to state there. We all believe in the cycle of Bitcoin caused by some tradition that people have now gotten used to, I will never dispute that. Also, I have the same mindful speculation as yours where the bull run might end in the first half of 2025 max. Anything in extension is what I am not interested in.

That aside, what birthed my last statement was some kind of changes in the situation where, for instance, the ETF saga (a force) has changed the narrative and Bitcoin is hovering close to the ATH of the former cycle. Don't you think anything unforeseen is still possible due to that? This is my plight. It was just a reflection of a concern that Bitcoin has never achieved what it achieved now in the previous histories of the initial cycles. This means that unplanned external forces could cause a change even if we do not pray for that. So that we can continue to easily predict the Bitcoin cycle as usual.
 
Well, if that is the right word, Yes, I fear low capital inflow which is against the expectation of the majority. Nevertheless, anything I say is mere speculation and concern since I do not know the exact thing Bitcoin will do in the future. My insightful thought is that FOMO was experienced last year and I believe the huge investors that people expect would pump Bitcoin know the principle of striking an asset at a low price and the risk of buying at high levels. So, why wait till after halving if they are still interested?

Halving? What has halving got to do with the drop in posts? The number of posts may even be higher after halving, I mean a year after it when people have already forgotten about it as a past cycle. The reason you seek is more than that and I believe it is about the low available campaigns and the time you checked it.

Well, I believe that most of the users here are posting for the benefits through campaigns, it might be discouraging if some could not join any campaign due to one reason or the other. They will have to wait and post a little or nothing until they join. Many campaigns demand a few participants, while some are being held or paused.

Also, what is happening on the forum at times is angering some people to quit or reduce their activities as the case may be. What will help is when there are enough campaigns that are active, a whole lot of participation will follow compared to the one you saw this time. And I am sure that these statistics can't be discouraging always, if you check it in a month's time, it might have improved significantly.

You guys make it look funny to me at times when I read a thing like this because you seem to be over-emphasizing this, Do you mean that the person who learned through payment means is not wise? C'mon! It is not particularly true. I learned trading myself but I will never condemn anyone that learns it in a premium way. It depends on the person you are talking about, can the person be so clever like yourself or even have the time to search over and over again? These are good facts, especially if such a person can afford it, why not? One important thing about learning through payment is that the person will not be perambulating baselessly when looking for the right path.

The experiencer trader in the field who is willing to put him through for a stipend might make it easy for such a person and there is no big deal here. The research must have been done by the tutor and the right materials, teaching and guide delivered more easily than the way it would have been if the person went through all that by himself. Also, I have seen enough half-baked traders all over the place, and I think the reason is the way they learn independently. They actually do not have much guidance, if any, but could have started learning from the middle instead of learning it from the beginning. You can imagine anyone learning the alphabet starting from the middle, what much can such do? Only a few independent learners can vouch to be good traders today, so why take it as a big deal?

By the hard work you are talking about, let me believe you meant to say persistence because trading itself is not hard, and there is nothing hard work to be done when it is not hard. But it is such that is tricky, dynamic and very deceptive, if not frustrating, that is the area where we need to be wise and smart with it, and more reason why smart work is needed here other than hard work. Is it not to plus 1 and 1 to get 2? It is so simple, but the application of that in realizing it in trading demands you to be wise, smart and proactive about it. Besides, those who are looking for quick money in trading are just not serious, and when I started I heard people saying it is like going to the ATM machine to withdraw free money. But the reality proved them wrong as trading needs all of your activeness and calculation when you are doing it.

It might be simple calculations though but it must be accurate to keep you going. Also, one may be dedicated and train so well about the market but still have nothing to show for it, that is why I call the requirement smart work. It is all about how smart you are in your learning, training and actualizing what you trained for. This will help you as a trader to possess your trading strategy and system, management and plans. It is now left to you to include discipline, which helps further to keep traders on the right path and do what they want to do without allowing emotion to infest them.

You talk like a perfect seer/speculator which I do not advise anyone to do, Bitcoin is an asset and any asset could behave anyhow at times. And if at all you have the view that an asset can perform in a way, you should have backed that with a good explanation or analysis rather than just calling a price. What most people would say is what you just said, as if Bitcoin cannot have its own challenges and move toward $50,000. Why not? If Bitcoin goes lower to break the yearly low, it will surely turn bearish in sentiment and might hit $50,000 as if it was nothing. Notwithstanding, it will take it time to stabilise above that level to achieve your positive view, and I think that this is constructive enough.

As for the hitting of the $100,000, it is never impossible, and as a matter of fact, that is what most people expect. But have you also thought about where Bitcoin will get the higher capital to hit that level? Its liquidity demand is reducing. It has been struggling for months having been reluctant to breach above the year's ATH of about $73,850. How are you sure it would find it easy to reach the level now which will warrant it moving higher easily as you expected? Still, halving and people's reaction will play a key role here and you should know that Bitcoin will not automatically rise to $100,000. Let the sentiment of the market guide us effectively even as we are studying our charts for effective guidance above anything else.

This is not peculiar to shitcoins, because, by the definition of shitcoins, I believe they are referred to as worthless coins, unlike the way people make many good coins look like shitcoins. However, what you explained is happening on all coin listings on exchanges, it is artificial, so it could happen on the listing of good coins as well where the coin on the exchanges' chart would indicate some dangerous peaks and bottoms.

Well, I am happy to tell you that you should disregard those peaks and bottoms, they are not real. I've witnessed Binance and top exchanges listing coins and tokens with dangerous bullish and bearish performances that are nonexistent. All you should take seriously in this regard is the present price of the coin/token and the current behaviours which I advice you to study for a long period before making a decision on the coin/token.

More importantly, it is good to research the projects effectively to know whether to buy them or not, and not rely on the nonsense chart representation on exchange platforms that has been inflated and deflated with no good explanation for it.

I never took WIF seriously at first, and I must say that I regret it. The BOME which I took seriously eventually disappointed me as it made it known that its important rising had been done on the first day of its listing where it rose sharply by almost 20 times in less than 24 hours. Well, any project that garners about $1B in crypto space is no longer a bad project, and investing in it will not be an issue. WIF has garnered more than $2.5B already, which makes it a very good coin that will not fail this cycle if the entire cryptocurrency space does not fail.

The only issue that could be of concern is when the whole cryptocurrency board turns negative, that's is the only time we can see all other coins/tokens, including WIF selling significantly and not returning higher for more than a year. In the absence of that and with the present prominence it is getting which is also the indication of future performance, it is good to buy it and keep it for at least a year. And for the fact that it is a project listed on the Solana ecosystem, it is a good one as the Solana blockchain is not being taken lightly in the crypto space for now.

One thing you refuse to understand is that we are not the same person, so we can't have the same personality, and I so much respect the plight of @Baki202 which I replied to. The plights are all genuine, but the caution, control and solution that will be attributed to them could be different, and that difference could be based on our different personalities which I respect so much. You may live your life as though you do not care about others, but others can't be like you because they are not you. We have different kinds of people, some will dare you, do bad to your face and do not care at all, while others may even be worse. But you also see other people who are good and care to a fault, so people can never be the same. As it is, just as I replied in line with the context, if the solution to the whole issue is for him to gamble privately in his closest, why not? Even if he is such a private that do not want people to know what he does with his life, especially about gambling, whyn't he go for it?

Technology has helped gambling and gamblers to that extent, it is never by force we go out to gamble or be lousy about our gambling activities, especially the winnings.

Mind you, the settings of his locality matter as well, maybe it is possible he can't just risk it and not be detected by people. If the guy is a well-known person in that locality, even the agent who attended to him when he placed the best could be the one who would leak it out to other people. From there, unnecessary knowledge happens which could lead to demands and begging from him by people. And when you are a generous type, you would want to satisfy enough people to avoid further issues since it's his locality we are talking about. In light of this, it is better for him to have a concern about his gambling activities and outcomes while gambling outside even if he would be forced to do it once in a while. These are serious concerns even if you take them lightly, and you should know that everybody can't lead a life of I-don't-care-about-others you tried to preach.

Without mincing words, I've always noticed that Bitcoin gained the cycle popularity for two main reasons, which are; 1. Through halving (the main scarcity plan with the economics of limited supply and high demand originally planned by Satoshi) and 2. The tradition attracted by halving.

Owning to number 1, Bitcoin was never planned to move in cycles, it is just coincidental as it was only planned to be scarce. The scarcity could be evenly achieved without translating into a cycle and would have just helped it grow. And initially, Bitcoin never behaved so hugely as it later did afterwards, the performance was gradual based on how gradually it was attracting investors' attention. But the fact that people buy and dump it depending on how it behaved before and after halving made it naturally create some kind of cycle, a tradition that now translates to the periodic cycle as we see it now.

In other words, the halving is so important here, it becomes the cause to attract investors at some specific time (pump/FOMO). After a while that the effect of the halving has been effectively weighed in the market, people start dumping Bitcoin again due to FUD and the fear of losing back their gains. At this point, it will attract little or not investment which will overall lead to massive dump. This two scenario become the tradition as Bitcoin gain more popularity and more people adopt it. They now embrace this as a reality which I do not think will ever change unless something serious forces the change.

However, I don't think that can be good if this cycle changes.

Your points are not without faults and I would have loved it if you numbered them just as you listed them.

First, I often read people mentioning the maximum 21 million BTC supply, but they often see the positive side due to the lesser supply it may cause with the higher demand it could cause. However, they neglect the limitations it can cause for the progress of Bitcoin. No wonder some crypto projects avoided that limitation and even made their projects more scalable than Bitcoin. All these are pros even if we are finding some excuses to prove that Bitcoin is better. And of course, it's uncontroversial that Bitcoin is the number one cryptocurrency in the world. It prepared the table for other cryptocurrencies and is the pioneer, what do you expect? It is already inculcated into the mainstream of the financial market and I expect it to take the front roll and role for as long as possible.

However, I hope the government will not someday clamp down on it, I don't trust them. This will be severe on the private and corporate users due to its decentralisation. Bitcoin is a true decentralised cryptocurrency, it has always been the headache of the government and they've never hidden their grievance about that. If that is left out of it, Bitcoin is the biggest name in the crypto space and will remain like that as long as cryptocurrency exists.

Any way money could be made should be effectively explored. After all, it is about the money and not the process or channel at which the money was made, and so far it is legal, I believe it is worth it. What I can relate to what you narrated above is smart work, it is not necessary you do that hard work before you get the money and have it in abundance. In this computer age, those who are smart with their thinking and doing are engaging with the least work and making more money. Nevertheless, we should think of the consistency of the money before we can relax and be comfortable with it. If the money is made in a risky way that can't be replicated to call it a sustainable money that one can depend on, it is too dangerous.

Fine, one can hit it big in investments or win the big Jackpot, however, if such cannot do this over and over again to sustain his living, then it is to what reasonable end? I have enough people who hit it big one way or the other, but they later went broke, and even the properties acquired were later sold because they relied on what they should not have relied on, something that can bring them consistency. For this, whether it is the daily job, business/investments or even gambling (I don't support this as a mainstay), one should ensure that it is such that will feed, clothe and make them comfortable, which includes that of all their dependents.

I could only think of:

"Free/Find Only For Fun"

Are you now calling Israel a terrorist? Then you are not being sincere. If your country faces what Israel faced in the hands of Palestinians/Hamas, I hope you would fold your hands and only watch. They've responded in a low magnitude in the past, but to what end? For Palestinians/Hamas to kill them overnight again? If this happened to your country, maybe you would understand their plight to now control that territory by force. As for Iran that you seem to be backing, they are the actual terrorists, as they've openly shown their support for Hamas and many other militants, terrorists, militias and whatever you can call them in the region. Israel might have been too reacting, which I do not like, but to have peace, they are trying what they believe is good for them. Some people don't feel some pain until they experience it, I don't blame them. Hamas should have thought of the humanitarian aspect rather than being blind with Iran's support before striking a country that could beat them multiple times over. What did you say when their backed terrorists were attaching and bombing the innocent ships across that region and attacking Israel's territory?

Some people don't talk about actions that backfire, it is the reaction caused by the action they talk about.

Anyway, that's by the way. As for Gold and Bitcoin, Gold is a safe-haven asset but Bitcoin is not. So we can expect Bitcoin to disappoint during a time of uncertainty (risk appetite). However, there is no escalation after the terrorist attack by Iran, and this could be the main reason why Bitcoin sold sharply days ago but has stabilized in the early time of today. However, contrary to what you said about Gold, it also sold sharply due to the news, only that Gold often recover in such a situation over time, this is even as it is still not able to recover fully yet. Hopefully, before the end of this week, it might have made a tangible recovery, and I don't exect less for Bitcoin as well because the tension is being doused already.

I've always known and affirmed it that "what a man can do, a woman can also do it." So, women increasingly participating in gambling is not a surprise to me, the world is evolving and technology is further helping in this regard. Fine, in many places of the world, there are some things that men do in the open and women will not dare to do it in the open, this is even if such activity is not banned in the country. It is that bad, and an example of such a thing is gambling. Taking my country as an example, you would hardly see women who will boldly go to the regular betting centre unless the lady is shameless or a local/illiterate kind of lady.

Unless such a lady follows a guy there where the guy is the one involved in the activity directly, or she sends someone there in a situation where she will not be there physically. The exempt here is the big gambling centres, and of course, in such a setting, women are often there for different purposes other than gambling, just as we see in bars, hotels and luxury places. But today, with the help of technology, in her privacy, any woman can simply open her phone and gamble without anyone knowing what she is doing in her private life. To buttress this, the percentage of women gambling is increasing globally. And if this 2024 article is right, then it's possible women are now leading.

The issue of gamblers starts the moment they believe they can make money from it. It may still be limited in risk in that sense if the gambler is wise to have approached it carefully, but the moment the gambler allows desperation towards the earning of money through gambling, then the main issue starts. This is why you would see gamblers losing and do not know it is the right time to quit or take a break for fresh breath to be taken. Gambling should never be done in desperation, this will only bring in emotion, and when the gambler is emotional, anything could happen. This can now be aggravated depending on the kind of mind the gambler has. If the gambler is such that has a weak mind, then anything can happen. I've seen a gambler who needed to bet just $25 in the whole gambling session but ended up wasting $1115.

This is simply because such a gambler allows emotion to rule him. He must have thought that his luck was in the next game, but before he knew it, more losses were just piling, and his eyes must have cleared when he had lost that huge amount of money with either no more money to wager anymore or a friend/concerned people near to him cautioned him before he got his mind back. This is how gambling could be so devastating if we are not careful.

This is more reason why we should be disciplined as gamblers, as it's what can help us preserve our sanity towards it. We should have those calculations, budget and management, and also have viable plans that we should never deviate from no matter the situation on the betting floor.

Before I answer your question, let me try to respond to your curiosity about the whole episode. You should know that gambling is not as bad as some people take it, and at times, you may think it is a regular gambling mate but could be a gaming partner. Regardless, the wife knows his husband, and for the guy to have boldly introduced his gambling mate means that they are not irresponsible. If they were irresponsible towards gambling, it would rather be a different thing entirely and the guy would not be so bold to introduce such a person. Even if he saw him, they might have greeted casually, and nothing more, to have warranted further introducing the relationship they have together.

For the record, I know spouses who are gambling and nothing bad is happening in the marriage, and in some cases, it is the woman and not the man to surprise you. It only depends on how we engage in gambling, and if it's positive, I do not see any reason why it should be a stereotypical affair that the spouse would be ashamed of.

Yes, but on one condition. I must be responsible in doing it and the gambling mate must be presentable. However, I do not see this coming because I am a private person which my wife knows of and appreciates so much. Such as a gambling mate would have been priorly discussed with her if there was any. For this, it would be a rude shock to her in that circumstance.

Luck or not, we should do the right thing at the right time, and I do not know the reason why someone would still be betting when he is tired or his current mood and psychology do not support that. What do you expect? Well, I do not pity people like this if I should be frank, gambling is not by force, so why not engage in the activity when everything is set? What if the gambler presses $2000 instead of just $20 while wagering if he has big funds in the account? The risk is too high compared to the benefits, it is better we do the right thing in this regard. I wonder how such a person will even calculate and forecast well depending on the gambling aspect we are talking about, it's certainly that kind of risk I will not be willing to take.

For me, I gamble in casinos when I want to have fun. This means that I can't have fun when I am stressed and the solution to that is to rest and cool my head off first. I can only have fun when my body is active, including being in a good mood for the gambling activity. Also, I gamble the sports for the money, to be precise, but I do this strictly and professionally (if that is the right word to use). I make sure that I do thorough research and also make comparisons online these days. That's a whole lot of work that can't be done in a hurry and surely when I stress my mind, I won't be able to do that because it takes hours of my time to get the conclusion on the entire team I like to bet. And since health is wealth, I better postpone the quest.

You have said it all by pointing to the fact that you are a private person, my friend, you better keep it that way. Thankfully, we have the privacy option in our gambling activities by silently opening our betting apps and doing our thing in our closet in such a way that people might not even know we gamble. If this is what you love, then always do it. And if you are such who cares about giving, you can still do that on a different volition by knowing the people in need and helping them without telling them the source of your income. They do not have to know to the point that they know what you do and be using it to insult you later like you said.

Although I do not see shame here, once you are good at gambling and earn through it, those who are even begging you for the money should be the ones burying their heads in shame and not the other way around where they insult you. For what?

Alternatively, if you are such that like to go out for gambling and are only concerned about the people you would see there and who might know you, why not change location? After all, it is not everywhere you would know people that will be disturbing you. I made this last suggestion because, at times, we can't do everything in isolation, we should mingle as well too. Or else, you might kill your social life if you think you can be doing everything privately.