The issue with both books and instructional videos is that they are often purely theoretical and cannot be applied in practice. Generally, I'd like to agree with all three options made by the OP; however, not everyone is capable of reading books. Personally, I struggle to be concentrated on reading a book; my mind simply wanders off after some time. I don't know if it's ADHD or something. Moreover, not all books provide you with accurate information, but this rule applies pretty much everywhere. In summary, books are a great choice if you're up to reading; there are many out there from successful writers.

The forum, on the other hand, does have some useful content, but you need to filter it; not everything here should be taken into account. This also applies to YouTube and other social media, which are filled with self-proclaimed entrepreneurs who are usually reiterating common and outdated knowledge that can be found with a simple Google search or are simply trying to lure victims into paying them or inviting them to their pyramid scheme.

It's certainly not an individual phenomenon, but a worldwide issue. However, some countries have been affected more than others, something that can be quickly identified by checking the annual inflation growth for each country. Everything is pretty much more expensive—rent, electricity, gasoline, not just groceries. Vegetables have doubled in price; snacks, soft drinks, and so on have also seen massive increases that aren't justified; and don't get me started on meat and dairy products. Even chicken and pork were generally considered cheap a year or two ago; now they're unbearable.

I used to buy chicken fillet at approximately €6 to €6.50 per kg, and now it's up to €10, and pork steaks from €4.50 to €5.00 to over €7.00 to €7.50. Buying cheese such as Feta or any large-cutting cheese is out of the question. Even budget supermarket chains such as Lidl are too expensive nowadays. The unfortunate is that I don't see any stop at this madness, prices seem to keep increasing.

Certainly, even though I'm not situated in a third-world country as others mentioned, $80 for a job that would require me to work for 2-3 hours at most is a bargain. I didn't make that amount of money in two days when I was working, let alone now that I'm practically unemployed. The accused had a simple job that he agreed to do, and assuming that he didn't have the time, he should have turned down the offer and returned the money immediately. It's astonishing that such opportunities do not come often on the forum; I myself hadn't noticed it, because if I did, I'd be willing to participate. On top of that, a successful review would open up more opportunities in the future; how can someone not see this?

And I don't understand—is the accused being ironic now? What is this reply, "Bye for now"? I don't get it; is he implying that he's not going to return the money after apologizing in the first place? I'm not against charging interest, since that's how a loan would act, but in the meantime, it's of outmost importance for even the starting 0.003 BTC to be returned.

That's correct; all coins, including Bitcoin, are correlated to each other; when Bitcoin crashes, the rest follow. Thus, this rule can't exactly be applied word for word. However, it does apply in cases such as Terra, XRP, or Fantom, all of which were coins that were dumped for a variety of reasons that weren't directly associated with a market crash. So, diversification helps you avoid losing money on coins that fail over the course of their lifetime. I don't see how diversification in altcoins could lower the risk; certainly established ones such as Ethereum and BNB are safer options, but that doesn't change what has been mentioned earlier.

I understand your point: Bitcoin cannot multiply itself in value as it used to in the past. It's currently trending at $26,000, and a new ATH would get you to $70,000, yielding approximately $40,000 to $45,000 at most. It's funny how we're talking about thousands of dollars like they're peanuts. However, if your strategy is that simple and efficient, why doesn't everyone do it? I'm not trying to be offensive by any means, but no established altcoin, such as Ethereum, BNB, Polkadot, or many others, is going to go x10 in value either.

You're mostly referring to pump and dump coins, or generally those that are hyped and are extremely volatile from the moment they're listed. Although it sounds like a great idea, it is not as simple as that, not to mention how risky it would be to invest $25,000 in altcoins that you may not be familiar with. The concept that Polkadot, for instance, or any other low-priced altcoin is more likely to double, triple, or quadruple in value is completely false because that would require billions in order to reach the necessary market cap and ultimately the price we're discussing.

I understand the OP's point of view; similarly to how we didn't know back in 2010 that Bitcoin would skyrocket and exceed prices of $60,000, we don't know what may happen in 2025 or 2030, and so on. The possibilities are endless, but it doesn't necessarily have to go positively; it can go both ways, one of which is what this user has suggested, and I totally agree. They say that there's no theoretical limit, but in practice, it can't rise forever.

Generally, a small percentage of the total population knows about Bitcoin, and an even smaller one possesses over 0.01 BTC, which shows that we still have a long way to go to achieve any kind of mass adoption, which in my opinion will never occur because Bitcoin is now seen as an asset and an investment rather than a currency, which was its original purpose.

There's only one way to find out: patience.

Good ol'days. I started by reading a random article on the internet, then created my first wallet on Blockchain.com and started messing with faucets. Back then, there were so many faucets that your mind couldn't perceive them. I remember countless lists of some kind of provider, of which I can't remember their names, who were acting like middlemen. Multiple faucets paid directly to them, and after accumulating a decent amount, you could go ahead and withdraw it to your actual wallet. I'm pretty sure that in the hypothetical scenario of these middlemen still existing today, I'd have decent amounts of BTC abandoned in them. Then there was the Xapo wallet, which had its own list of faucets that paid directly to their wallet.

Oh man, I wish I could go back in time, not just for the BTC but to relive being young and carefree.

I'm not saying that the OP is at fault. Certainly, there's a reason that the other 99 applicants went along and stuck with the original plan, to deliver a constructive review, in which the accused failed even after receiving an extension; these are the terms he agreed to. Royse is a well-known campaign manager; I understand the reason he did it, but it's how each individual has a different point of view. Personally, in the only review in which I participated a while ago, I completed the review and then got paid for it.

The worst of all is that he hasn't returned the money as he should have already. I understand that something unexpected might have happened, but in that case, if he's unable to deliver, it's mandatory to refund the manager immediately and have someone else fill the vacancy in the review campaign.

I've been watching this report since the day it was originally posted. Although I'd like to attempt to not be harsh against the accused, but he received payment in advance for a review he hadn't completed. Unfortunately, the OP shouldn't have paid in advance, but I'm guessing that he wasn't expecting an Sr. Member to scam him for such a minor amount. I'm siding with EarnOnVictor; he's right. The accused had plenty of chances to make up for the review he didn't complete, and on top of that, he is failing to return the money after he missed the deadline twice. If he wasn't capable of conducting the review, he shouldn't have gone ahead and accepted.

I understand the accused was perhaps in a dire situation to not be able to afford $80, but he should have been more considerate and gone ahead with the review, supposing that his side of the story is true. Now, for less than $80, he has permanently ruined his reputation and his chances of ever rejoining a signature campaign. An Sr. Member account could generate up to $150–$200 if he was willing to put in the necessary effort and create constructive content; such an account is worth much more than $80 in the long run.

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I honestly could have purchased but did not, as I don't have a stable income at the moment and will not have for at least two more months and possibly even more, apart from signature campaigns and another minor source, which isn't enough, especially if you consider that signature campaign earnings strictly remain in my wallet untouched till the market recovers. Thus, at least for now, I prefer not to use any of my own money towards such investments because that would be risky and reckless. I have savings that are enough, so I could justify an investment; I'm not currently struggling, but as I mentioned earlier, I don't have a viable income. Thus, I prefer to play it safe and avoid using my own money, at least until I can afford to spend more without depleting my savings.

I'm possibly going to regret it in the long run because Bitcoin is quite affordable at the moment and the capabilities of a 100% yield are extremely plausible in the next year.

Although gambling websites have improved their security measures, I will have to disagree with you. The most major exchanges, such as Coinbase or Binance, are established financial institutions that deal with transactions worth billions of dollars on a daily basis. Of course, they take security extremely seriously, which sometimes makes it tiring and annoying. Binance requires two separate 2FA authenticators just to log in to your account: one code from your phone's authenticator app and one through your email. I had once requested a 2FA reset on another reputable exchange, and the whole process took over 2 to 3 days to verify my identity.

Both industries have suffered from exploits that are almost impossible to prevent, as hackers keep finding ways to penetrate the top-notch securities of these institutions. Fortunately, I don't recall any major recent hacks, but I might be wrong as well.

I'm not directly buying Bitcoin myself; instead, I rely on signature campaign payments and never cash out a single Satoshi. Payments are made on a weekly basis, and due to some personal stuff going on now, I've missed a week or two. However, despite me not buying Bitcoin myself, this is still a form of DCA, because I could potentially withdraw every payment that went through. If I was in a dire financial situation and needed the money, then I guess I'd be forced to do it.

The last time I checked, my DCA, or average purchase price, was approximately $28,000, which means that I'm at a loss now. Although I don't find it significant enough to bother me, In my opinion, a decent average purchase price is somewhere between $24,000 and $25,000, which isn't too low nor too high to not be presented with great opportunities in the future. Unfortunately, even though I was in the Bitcoin scene quite early, I didn't have the chance to own Bitcoin when its value was significantly lower.

I've had the exact same experience quite a few times and have now resorted to avoiding the conversation. A few days ago, I had another one tell me that Bitcoin stabilized and that's how it'll remain from now on. I tried explaining, but to no avail. I didn't bother any further.

While I like the idea and concept from the plumber's point of view, he's getting paid somewhere that he doesn't have direct access to; he can't spend it as easily as he can with a $20 bill; thus, my best guess is that he's using it as a saving-investing measure. On the other hand, I wouldn't pay with Bitcoin myself, as I feel that I'm spending a valuable asset along with any possible fees for something unnecessary. Moreover, as BlackHatCoiner mentioned, I'd prefer others not to know that I have Bitcoin, especially someone unknown as a plumber.

I've only used Ubuntu once, quite a few years ago, and it's a completely different environment that I couldn't get used to. However, they're definitely safer and ideal for such applications, which makes me consider it, especially now that I've installed a second HDD, one of which could be Windows and the other Ubuntu. It'll only be isolated for the wallet, which would make it a lot safer than it being on a Windows environment that's been used at the same time.
Antiviruses can be bypassed when it's a new type of malware or virus. After user reports, they update their software to include such malicious attempts. Back then, there wasn't a single mention similar to my case, so I guess I was probably one of their first victims. Reporting to the authorities wouldn't change a thing; I had no details other than a wallet's address, and while the amount I was scammed was petty for them to even bother, they'd laugh at me if I reported that my 25 XRP coins, then worth about $10, were stolen due to a fake extension.

It's certainly not for everyone. I had attempted it back in 2017 or 2018 and wasn't too successful, if I'm honest, and gave up, and it was completely my fault because I put in no effort whatsoever, while I had no experience back then and fortunately, only suffered minor losses. After I started getting involved with cryptocurrencies in early 2021, I decided to involve myself again after spending some time on the forum. I aimed for at least 8% to 10% profit on each trade, and I'd conduct 2 to 3 trades per week, depending on the market situation, of course. I was far from being ready to trade on a daily basis; sometimes I'd hold for a few hours, other times for a day or two, and sometimes even more, as times were much more volatile back then.

It was honestly a fun and interesting experience; however, it's extremely nerve-racking and stressful. As an anxious person myself, I wouldn't be able to keep up for long because it would start affecting my mental health and free personal time. So yes, trading isn't something everyone can handle; thus, I decided to keep holding my Bitcoin until I'm satisfied with the results.

No, the address is not changing when copy-pasting. The extension was displaying the hacker's address instead of the right deposit address; thus, you're practically handing over your coins to the hackers. The extension though wasn't probably installed for a long time, because its script was slowing down tabs and making them crash.

I'm going through a fresh Windows installation as we speak, even though my computer looks safe so far, as no antivirus can detect any kind of malware right now. I had used the Brave browser in the past; I don't know if it also had the extension installed, but it didn't suit me. It's not the browser's fault; it's just that I find Chrome more convenient due to the synchronizations through my Google account, which sync all the necessary data I'm using daily. On top of that, I use their services, such as Google Drive, Gmail, Photos, etc., on a daily basis.

Before the automation of Google services and the Chrome browser, I used to use Firefox and preferred it as a browser overall; it was also a lot lighter than Chrome.

That also crossed my mind, but back then, I couldn't bring myself to rewind if I possibly did such a thing. However, it would make sense, as I probably wouldn't suspect a Google Sheets extension. I would like to know in order to prevent something similar in the future. As far as I know, no torrents were downloaded anywhere close to the date the extension appeared. I have no evidence that they are to blame, and to be honest, I do doubt to this day that it was the cause, as it was two torrents for Adobe software that were supposedly by a so-called reputable torrent source.

However, I never use Microsoft Edge. I get that I could possibly accept a pop-up without realizing it, but what about Edge? I've never used it in the past, and up to this day, I hadn't realized that it was also installed there, which means that the infected files were still on my computer but were affecting a different application.

This was the worst part; no antivirus software or VirusTotal was able to detect the malware when I fell victim to the extension. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it, and I probably wouldn't have suspected it myself if Binance's customer support agent hadn't mentioned checking for possible malware. It didn't make any sense, and nothing was able to detect it on my computer if I hadn't seen it myself and realized it. It's delightful that at least now, a year later, it's fully recognized by even free software such as Malwarebytes. I also had the Brave browser installed, which swegmen1 was using when he was scammed, but I didn't think to check if it had the extension installed on it.
I just rechecked the quarantine history, and the majority of the malware found was involved with the fake extension that was left on Microsoft Edge. Fortunately, it seems to be gone for good. I'll do a clean installation of Windows soon. The most frustrating matter I'm facing is that I could never track what caused the extension to install—was it a torrent or another kind of software? I guess we'll never learn.
Malwarebytes caught some stuff on the registry too, but I've got no clue what it is about. My wallet has no transactions on it, and I intend to keep it that way. I'm generally a little paranoid after this incident and will be extra careful if I make any transactions. So far, after I manually deleted the extension files a year ago, I've faced no issues, nor have I suspected that something was off.

Unless we're talking about an extravagant amount of money, $50,000 or even $100,000 can hardly be life-changing—well,  $100,000, possibly depending on how you manage them, but you get my point.

Anyway, first of all, welcome to the forum, and secondly, to answer your question, Bitcoin has made a significant difference in my lifestyle, which I'll analyze briefly. Generally, I don't praise Bitcoin as a panacea that some users here do; it's great and all, but it's not free money coming from the sky. I don't understand why some keep persisting that it's the key to our financial well-being and to freedom, because it's not. I've been here since 2014, had two major breaks in between, and overall, Bitcoin has added something to my routine: the forum, the posting, the reading of meaningless analyses and articles that keep the day going. Aside from the "hobby" part of it, it's providing additional income through investments and signature campaigns that I'm yet to introduce in my daily life, as I keep everything aside for the future, which provides me with hope because things on a worldwide scale aren't progressing too positively.

Excuse me for grave digging such an old thread, but I figured it would be best to revive it rather than come up with a new thread since the update is referring to the exact incident.

I haven't had access to my computer for the past few months due to personal reasons that aren't the main subject; thus, I had my laptop completely abandoned and left in a state of despair. I strongly remember that if I uninstalled the extension through Chrome's extension manager, it would simply reappear the next time Chrome was launched. Thus, I resorted to finding the corresponding files in the data folder and deleting them myself. This worked, although Chrome appeared to still attempt to launch the now-missing extension, as seen in the following photo. However, that didn't bother me too much since the extension was practically gone. Keep in mind that no kind of antivirus software was able to spot anything unusual, even if I selected Chrome's folder directly.

Today I decided to do a long-needed cleanup on the computer after more than half a year of being inactive. I started with a malware scan from Malwarebytes, and to my surprise, it still detected the fake extension! However, the extension was found on Microsoft Edge, something that completely slipped undetected because I generally use Chrome and never spotted it on Edge.


It also certainly found malware in Chrome's folders because, after the scan was complete and the threat was wiped, the message on the first screenshot stopped appearing, meaning that it wasn't trying to launch it anymore.

So, this is hopefully the last update on this thread, and the reason for me to update it is due to it no longer being undetected by antiviruses, as I was pleasantly surprised by Malwarebytes, which caught all threats. Up to this day, I still haven't found any clues on how this extension got installed, nor can I suspect any torrents that I have used in the past. Thus, keep your software and Windows updated at all times, as security breaches are becoming more and more dangerous.